Piers Morgan celebrity feuds: A history of A-listers taking on the TV host

The journalist and TV presenter has a long list of celebrity feuds to his name

In the world of Twitter punditry, Piers Morgan's celebrity feuds have become somewhat of a background noise. His complaints are near-constant, so much so that you may not even notice them anymore.

The former CNN host, who hosted his own talk show on the network from 2011 to 2014, now spends a significant amount of his time arguing with A-listers on social media, often generating eye-rolls – and garnering attention – in the process.

On Wednesday, Morgan found a new rival in the form of Ariana Grande. The 22-year-old singer criticised the 53-year-old journalist after he accused Little Mix of using nudity to sell records.

He initially shared his comments about the group on Good Morning Britain, in a segment dedicated to their new single Strip.

Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jesy Nelson, and Jade Thirlwall can be seen in an image shared on social media and in the video clip for the song posing nude with insults such as "ugly", "talentless" and "slutty" written across their bodies.

The campaign has been presented as a way to celebrate self-confidence in the face of criticism, but Morgan insisted it was just a marketing ploy, claiming there is nothing empowering about the band's nudity.

Grande publicly sided with Little Mix during a mounting Twitter argument with Morgan, which escalated to a point when the pundit referenced some of his past celebrity spats with Kim Kardashian, Emily Ratajkowski, and Chrissy Teigen.

"Very disappointed @KimKardashian @emrata & @chrissyteigen haven't (so far..) raced to defend @LittleMix & @ArianaGrande over their 'nudity is the only way to succeed' campaign. Come on ladies!" he wrote.

Here are seven celebrities who didn't mince their words when their turn came to quarrel with the TV host:

Lady Gaga

Back in December 2016, Lady Gaga revealed she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a past sexual assault.

Gaga, now 32, had explained two years prior that she was raped at the age of 19.

After she disclosed her struggle with PTSD, Morgan accused her of doing so for her personal benefit, tweeting among other messages: "I come from a big military family. It angers me when celebrities start claiming 'PTSD' about everything to promote themselves."

Gaga shared several polite responses with the pundit, including one in which she told him: "If anyone in your family suffers from it, I pray they have more good days than bad. It has affected me & my whole family."

She also agreed to an interview with Morgan to discuss the topic further. The journalist celebrated the news by tweeting: "I rather admire @ladygaga for agreeing to an interview after my criticisms. Should be a fascinating debate. I'll press my meat suit."

Gaga didn't appreciate his quip (an apparent reference to the meat dress she wore to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards) and warned him: "If you continue to shame me in the process of kindly agreeing to interview w/ u I'll happily do the interview with someone else."

JK Rowling

The Harry Potter author and Morgan got into a very public Twitter argument in February 2017.

It all started when Morgan insisted on Real Time With Bill Maher that the Trump administration hadn't, in fact, put into place a "Muslim ban" with its travel ban targeting seven countries, including five with Muslim majorities. Australian comedian Jim Jefferies welcomed Morgan's remark by telling him: "Oh, f*** off."

Rowling watched a clip of the exchange, retweeted it, and wrote: "Yes, watching Piers Morgan being told to f*** off on live TV is *exactly* as satisfying as I'd always imagined."

Morgan shot back: "This is why I've never read a single word of Harry Potter."

The writer was none too impressed and asked: "Because you had a premonition that one day the author would roar with laughter at seeing you called out for your bulls*** on live TV?"

Rowling and Morgan's exchange carried on, with Rowling at one point referring to the pundit as "celebrity toady Piers Morgan".

Kim Kardashian

In March 2016, Kim Kardashian became one of the many women who have angered Morgan by taking their clothes off.

After the reality TV star shared a nude photo of herself on social media, Morgan offered to purchase clothes for her and alluded to her husband Kanye West's $53m debt, which had just made headlines.

"I know the old man's $50m in debt, Kim – but this is absurd. Want me to buy you some clothes?" Morgan wrote.

Kardashian asked him to refrain from making such comments in the future, saying they were more appropriate for Ashley Madison, the dating service for married people or those in relationships.

"Hey @piersmorgan never offer to buy a married woman clothes. That's on some Ashley Madison type s***," she wrote.

Ruby Tandoh

The former Great British Bake Off contestant was one approached to be on Good Morning Britain and took it as a chance to voice her disregard for Morgan.

In April 2017, she shared a screenshot of an exchange she had with a person asking her whether she would consider making an appearance on the show.

"I know it's just your job so no hard feelings," Tandoh told that person, "but Piers Morgan is a sentient ham and frankly I'd rather die."

Morgan, perhaps inspired by Mariah Carey's early-00s "I don't know her" jab at Jennifer Lopez, asked in a tweet: "I'm devastated. Who is she?"

Emily Ratajkowski

In July 2016, Ratajkowski posed in a revealing photo shoot. Morgan offered to buy her some clothes, just like he had done for Kardashian in a similar instance a few months prior.

"Do you want me to buy you some clothes? You look freezing," he wrote.

Ratajkowski declined the offer, telling him: "Thanks, but I don't need clothes as much as you need press."

Anderson Cooper

In September 2014, Morgan – who exited CNN that same year – claimed the network's star anchor didn't have as much pull, ratings-wise, as most people think.

“Could I have done with a better lead-in? Yes,” he told Politico.

“Anderson is a great field reporter, but does he drive big ratings at CNN, outside of a big news cycle? I don’t see any evidence of it."

Cooper didn't respond directly to Morgan's comments, but CNN fought back in a statement.

“For the two and a half years that AC 360 served as the lead in to Piers Morgan’s programme on CNN, it always delivered a higher rating than Piers’ programme," a spokesperson wrote in reference to Cooper's show, which is still airing.

"And for the seven months that Piers Morgan’s programme led into AC 360, 360 always delivered a higher rating than Piers’ program. It is sad that Piers is trying to find a new job by misrepresenting how he performed in his old one."

Chrissy Teigen

Morgan has been one of the many recipients of Teigen's repartee on Twitter.

The conversation sparked from a tweet in which Morgan mused: "I hope people don't make me sound too perfect when I die. No coats of sugar please."

John Legend, Teigen's husband, replied: "You could test us by announcing your retirement."

Teigen chimed in: "From what? Trolling isn't a job (I've tried)"

Morgan took a jab at Teigen's own career, tweeting: "Maybe I should take up a proper job, like modelling?"

Teigen, however, didn't seem too bothered when she shot back: "It keeps me nice and not-racist so sure, give it a go."