Piers Morgan gets hate for his Larry King tribute

Piers Morgan is accused of being selfish and disrespectful with his blunt tribute to the late Larry King.

Tributes and messages of prayers and support poured in following news on the death of Larry King on Saturday, Jan. 23 from COVID-19. One of those who remembered the veteran talk show host was Piers Morgan, whose tribute was met with hate online.

The English broadcaster's homage did not sit well with readers who thought he made it all about himself. Morgan took to Twitter to share that he considered the 87-year old his hero not until they had a falling out because of their work.

"RIP Larry King, 87. A television legend," Morgan first wrote.

"Larry King was a hero of mine until we fell out after I replaced him at CNN & he said my show was 'like watching your mother-in-law go over a cliff in your new Bentley.' (He married 8 times so a mother-in-law expert) But he was a brilliant broadcaster & masterful TV interviewer," he added shortly after.

It did not take long for netizens to call out Morgan for his tribute. Some found it disrespectful to bring up a past feud.

"For god [sic] sake. All you had to say was RIP Larry King. A true hero of mine. The rest was so unnecessary," one user commented and another wrote, "Imagine making someone else's death about yourself."

Pierce you are clearly jealous that Larry King is from the oldest and greatest country on earth and you aren’t. And this is coming from a youth football coaching legend, not some random clown ?
— Three Year Letterman (@3YearLetterman) January 23, 2021

"What's the point of this tweet? Couldn't you simply say that he was a brilliant broadcaster and masterful TV interviewer and it was a privilege to follow him on CNN? Would that have been so difficult?" one more user replied.

Meanwhile, there were also those who praised him for being frank. One claimed that he was only being honest and that he still found a way to make his tribute to King respectful.

"I appreciate it. Hate phony stuff," the user wrote to which Morgan replied, "Me too. Larry hated me replacing him at CNN and never made any secret of it, which I found very sad because he was one of my heroes - but I still think he was a superb broadcaster & one of the all-time TV greats."

Anyone who is actually familiar with Larry's sense of humor will say to you that he would have loved this joke! I personally find Piers insufferable sometimes but I think this was an appropriate little funny tribute!#piersmorgan #RIPLarryKing https://t.co/ImOB84mSOQ
— Li'l Sebastian MD (@Li_lSebastian) January 23, 2021

The 55-year-old "Good Morning Britain" host likewise told another that "Larry loved that mother-in-law joke, and he would have found the hysterical reaction to my tribute ridiculous."

Despite the backlash, Morgan stood by his tribute to King and blamed the pandemic for making "everyone nuts & it helps them to scream irrational abuse at me," which he said he is ok with.