Good Morning Britain's Martin Lewis has apologised for the choice of wording he used in a Twitter poll he set up this week.
Posting on Tuesday (March 28) to his 2.2 million followers, Martin asked how people would react if someone providing them with a "one-off service" said something "casually racist" – with the response options included in the poll asking readers if they would call them out on their behaviour, or ignore it.
A number of Martin's followers soon pointed out that the expression "casually racist" has negative connotations, as it minimises racism.
He later clarified that he didn't want to perpetuate the use of a "loaded term" or diminish any form of racism, apologised, and made it clear he would not be using such an expression again.
Martin added: "Just an apology. I used the term 'casually racist' here, which I hadn't realised was a loaded term.
"I was aiming to describe an off-hand comment, to build a picture of the situation, not in [any] way to diminish the fact that it is racism.
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"Some people have sent me interesting posts on it, which I've read, thank you. It isn't a term I'd use again."
Martin also shared of his own experiences that there had been occasions where he had "called [racism] out politely" and made it clear that he didn't agree with what was being said, but added that there had also been other occasions where he had not done so, "when the person felt aggressive and I just disengaged".
It was recently announced that Martin, who's been a Good Morning Britain guest presenter for some time, will now be appearing on the ITV breakfast show on a more permanent basis, committing to at least a dozen shows per year.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
