Susanna Reid abruptly cut off a spokesperson for Just Stop Oil on Wednesday morning after he admitted he did not watch Good Morning Britain.
The moment followed a contentious debate on the ITV morning programme, in which spokesperson for the activists Sam Johnson defended the second day of widespread disruption by protesters on the M25.
Susanna co-hosted the ITV programme with Ed Balls as the show played footage of a motorway blocked and gantries climbed by Just Stop Oil activists that morning.
Susanna told Sam in the studio that the British public are ‘distracted’ by the actions of the activists from the message behind it.
He replied: “The media always want to talk about the what. We need to talk about the why,” after which Susanna demanded to know if he watched Good Morning Britain.
After he admitted he had not, Susanna launched into a furious response as she refused to let him speak again.
She said: “So you don’t have any idea what this programme does. You have no idea who our meteorologist is – Laura Tobin – who is one of the most outspoken people on climate change, who has written an entire book talking about what we each need to do as individuals on climate change.
“And you have the audacity to come on here and say that we’re completely distracted and we’re not talking about the issues.
“We talk about them every single morning. You’re not getting people on your side, including people who would naturally be sympathetic to your cause.”
As he continued to say her name in an attempt to interject, Susanna continued: “Sorry, I’m going to end it there, because you’ve already said you don’t watch and you don’t care. Thank you very much indeed.”
Good Morning Britain viewers at home expressed their grief at the disruption caused by the protests and praised Susanna for her ‘sassiness’.
One took to Twitter writing: “Corrr the climate change sassiness in full flow on GMB this morning,” as another said: “Things are indeed heating Up Susannah let rip.”
“That Reid meltdown was like an ice cap,” another wrote as a fellow viewer said: “Susanna was having none of that!”
However, not everyone agreed with the moment as some labelled it ‘unprofessional’, with one writing: “I mean, you might think that bloke is a bit of an idiot, but the end of that interview was totally unprofessional and just done for headline grabbing attention.”
