Piers Morgan, the “Good Morning Britain” host who regularly writes on U.S. issues, put singer Mariah Carey in a strange situation during a live interview on Monday morning.
Morgan asked Carey about the mass shooting in Las Vegas, which left at least 58 people dead and hundreds more injured on Sunday, Oct. 1.
Carey was slated to appear on “GMB” to discuss her upcoming tour. The theme of the interview then changed when the hosts learned about the shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas. Carey was sprawled on a sofa with a Christmas tree in the background.
“It’s terrible because people are just going out to listen to music and that’s what they want to do,” Carey said. “They’re out for the night and then something like this happens, nobody could have expected it. It’s just wrong. I don’t really know what to say.”
Carey didn’t seem to know the extent of the shooting, as the news had just broken.
“Horrified to hear about the shooting in #LasVegas. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. Praying for everyone’s safety,” she later wrote in a tweet.
Viewers criticized Morgan for the interview for “bad taste.”
Added another: “Finding #gmb in bad taste this morning, breaking Vegas news to Mariah Carey looking for some sort of scoop or reaction.”
“Give Mariah Carey a break. She was on GMB to discuss a Christmas tour not the Las Vegas shooting. It’s not her fault she was blind-sided,” wrote another person.
Another added: “@GMB bit unfair to put Mariah Carey on the spot there.”
Morgan attempted to defend the move to interview Carey about the shooting, saying she was briefed about the shooting
“We told Mariah’s people before the interview,” Morgan wrote in a tweet. “Her reaction seemed very relevant given she’s a performer who often has residence in Vegas.”
“Mariah was booked to do an interview about her UK Christmas tour. Obviously news events in Vegas have now taken precedence,” he added.
