Presenter Piers Morgan has threatened a social media user with legal action after they claimed he bought a large portion of his massive pool of Twitter followers.
Earlier this week, the Good Morning Britain presenter appeared ecstatic as his following on the micro-blogging site hit 7.5million.
“BREAKING: 7.5 million. Thanks for following!” he told his fans on Tuesday (May 12) morning.
BREAKING: 7.5 million.
Thanks for following!— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 12, 2020
Read more: Enraged Piers Morgan bets MP Andrew Bridgen 10k that he won’t ‘be sacked by Christmas’
But now, the daytime TV favourite’s had to deny claims he paid for his popularity on Twitter.
What did Piers say?
A user calling themselves the Anonymous Journalist, tweeting from the handle @AnonymousJourn9, shared a thread in which they claimed to have compiled evidence showing a significant portion of Piers’ followers are paid-for bot accounts.
I have never bought a single Twitter follower.
Since it was posted on Tuesday, the thread has racked up thousands of likes and retweets.
Piers picked up on it and – livid at the claim, which he denounced as an “absolute lie” – threatened legal action if it wasn’t taken down.
I don't know who you are, but this is an absolute lie. I have never bought a single Twitter follower, and wouldn't know how.
So I strongly suggest you delete this defamatory thread before I take further action.
cc @TwitterUK @Twitter https://t.co/v3t9mENnO0— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 14, 2020
“I don’t know who you are, but this is an absolute lie,” he warned. “I have never bought a single Twitter follower, and wouldn’t know how.”
Piers added, tagging Twitter’s own accounts for support: “So I strongly suggest you delete this defamatory thread before I take further action cc @TwitterUK @Twitter.”
As of Thursday (May 14) afternoon, the thread is yet to be taken down.
One of Piers’ followers asked him: “Can you address the main point made @piersmorgan. Are any of your followers bots? If so how many? If you don’t know this information, how can you be certain this thread is an absolute lie?”
Piers says he ‘never bought a follower’
He replied: “I’ve no idea. All high profile Twitter users have bot followers, and Twitter purges them occasionally (I’ve lost around a million followers in past two years during these purges). But I have never bought a follower, that is a lie.”
I've no idea. All high profile Twitter users have bot followers, and Twitter purges them occasionally (I've lost around a million followers in past 2yrs during these purges). But I have never bought a follower, that is a lie. https://t.co/oIDF2P3a0T
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 14, 2020
It seems Piers’ Twitter nemesis, Lord Alan Sugar, has also gotten involved.
Follow me man I want to DM you @AnonymousJourn9 @Lord_Sugar https://t.co/zwpf73hKfL
— Lord Sugar (@Lord_Sugar) May 14, 2020
Read more: Colonel Tom Moore’s GMB interview leaves fans in tears after he discusses late wife Pamela
The Apprentice host followed the Anonymous Journalist account and encouraged them to follow him back so he can send them a direct message.
“Follow me man I want to DM you @AnonymousJourn9,” he wrote
Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know what you think of this story.