Eamonn Holmes draws flak from bosses for calling Meghan Markle 'uppity' after viewers complain term is racial slur
Eamonn Holmes has been reprinted by ITV bosses ever since he used the word "uppity" which is commonly known to be an insult for black people.
The issue came to light from a viewer after Holmes used the word while talking about the incident in which Markle attended the Wimbledon tournament and spectators were asked not to click any pictures of her, according to a report by Daily Mail.
"If you have an uppity attitude, you're only through the door two minutes and suddenly you're sitting at Wimbledon and your royal protection are saying, 'No photographs, no photographs!'," he said while reporting the incident.
After this, one of the viewers made a complaint to ITV as they stated the word had a racist meaning attached to it and was often used as an insult for the people of the black community. TV network's Head of Diversity, Ade Rawcliffe, was also notified about the complaint.
The word "uppity" was previously used by people in the US during the 19th Century for black people who did know their place in the community.
ITV later defended Holmes stating that he had no knowledge about the connotation attached to the word and added that the word would not be used again by him or anyone associated with ITV in the future.
Sources that have been working in ITV told the outlet that Holmes has been made aware of the meaning and has been warned not to use the word again in the future. Meanwhile, the source also revealed that ITV has banned the word from being used for any of its productions.
Rawcliffe also came forward and decided to break her silence on the incident. "Eamonn was unaware of the history of the term 'uppity' and how it could be interpreted when describing Meghan Markle."
"We are not saying that ignorance is in any way a defense, he was using the term to describe what he interpreted as arrogance," she shared.
She added, "The origins of the term have now been explained to Eamonn and the wider editorial team and it won't be used again. We apologize for any offense that this may have caused you."
Despite this, people were upset that Holmes did not come forward to make a public apology. Recently, an ITV spokesperson said, "At the time of the broadcast in July, Eamonn Holmes was unaware of the history of particular usage of the term 'uppity' and how it could have been interpreted when describing Meghan Markle."
The statement further read, "Eamonn was using the term to describe what he interpreted as arrogance. The history of the term's usage was clearly explained to Eamonn and the editorial team at the time and it won't be used again."