Kate Garraway was forced to cut short a debate on Good Morning Britain after a comedian repeated Boris Johnson’s comment that women in burkas “look like letterboxes”.
During a debate about cancel culture, comedian Leo Kearse claimed the remark was merely a “visual gag”.
The outspoken comedian also compared the phrase to saying white men with rosy cheeks look like gammon.
Kearse said: “Boris Johnson said he thought that women in burkas look like letterboxes.
"That’s not an expression of hate it’s just a visual gag because they look a bit like letterboxes, it’s not a hateful thing.
“The only hateful thing I can see is people doing the cancelling, destroying people’s lives. Like a public execution. Destroying people’s lives based on offhand jokes.
"I think cancel culture is poisonous and it’s changing our culture."
The comments quickly sparked a response Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, who said his comments were “utterly reprehensible”.
She said: “Your words are utterly reprehensible that you have that audacity to reinforce the ugly words said by Boris Johnson. Acting like the lives of those Muslim women are less important than a privileged man.
“They were abused on the street, they were attacked, their ordinary lives were negatively impacted. And you sit there with the audacity to think it's OK to justify it and that is why you are part of the problem."
After the two continued to shout over each other, Garraway and fellow host, Ben Shepherd, were forced to cut the debate short and go to an advert break.
Mr Johnson made the infamous comment about burkas in a Daily Telegraph article in 2018.
He said full-face veils should not be banned, but it was “absolutely ridiculous” women chose to “go around looking like letter boxes”. He also compared them to looking like “bank robbers”.
