Music superstar and an icon in her own right, Beyoncé has sometimes referenced Marilyn’s bombshell glamour in the past (see here) – and now her latest photo shoot has prompted a bizarre tirade from journalist Piers Morgan, The Standard reports.
“The former Good Morning Britain host, 60, shared an image of the award-winning singer on X (formerly Twitter), dressed in a bedazzled denim ensemble from a new Levi’s advert. In the photo, Beyoncé sports a cropped denim jacket, matching jeans, curly blonde hair and silver heels — a look many praised online.
But Morgan took a different view, writing: ‘Very disappointed to see Beyoncé culturally appropriate Marilyn Monroe in her new Levi’s ad.’
‘Have a day off,’ one user replied, while another commented: ‘A white British man talking about cultural appropriation. The jokes write themselves.’ Others questioned whether Morgan even understood the concept. ‘Do you understand… words? Do you know what culture means?’ one wrote. Another added simply: ‘Attention-seeking ting, Piers?’
Several pointed out that Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortensen, was not a natural blonde nor was she a cultural symbol in the way that Morgan had implied. Even legendary singer Dionne Warwick weighed in, tweeting: ‘Getting involved in women’s business again, I see…’
Morgan later defended his post, insisting it was satire: “Oh not you too, Dionne… it was a JOKE!” He followed up with another tweet, writing: ‘I would say I can’t believe anyone took my obvious Beyoncé joke post seriously… but I forgot the woke brigade have zero sense of humour.’
It’s not the first time Morgan has caused uproar with his opinions on prominent Black women. In 2021, he famously walked off the GMB set after refusing to apologise for comments about Meghan Markle, claiming he didn’t believe her mental health struggles following her royal interview with Oprah.”
Furthermore, Beyoncé’s layered tresses and glammed-up jeans were probably inspired by singer Dolly Parton rather than Marilyn’s more traditional denim style. Beyoncé recently covered Parton’s ‘Jolene’ for her Grammy-winning country album, Cowboy Carter, and Dolly is also featured on another track, ‘Tyrant.’
The Marilyn Report 