According to Jeffrey Dean Morgan, TWD fans need to get over a t-shirt controversy that features his character Negan’s Lucille bat and victim-selecting rhyme on ‘The Walking Dead.’ In fact, the actor is even calling the ordeal stupid.
U.K. department chain Primark was recently forced to pull a t-shirt that has Negan’s baseball bat and the words, ‘Eeny meeny miny moe, catch a tiger by the toe.’ A lot of customers complained that the shirt is not only offensive, but racist as well. In the United States, an offensive and racist slur was used instead of the word ‘tiger’ in the popular rhyme a century ago.
One Primark customer who complained about the shirt told Britain’s The Sheffield Star, “This image relates directly to the practice of assaulting black people in America … It is directly threatening of a racist assault, and if I were black and were faced by a wearer I would know just where I stood.”
Jeffrey Dean Morgan took to his Twitter account to share his thoughts on the controversy, tweeting, “Holy crap people are stupid.” For their part, Primark pulled the shirt off their store racks and issued a statement. They apologized for the rhyme and clarified that the quote and image were simply taken from ‘The Walking Dead’ show and nothing else.
Of course, that’s not the only controversy ‘The Walking Dead’ has been dealing with lately. The show was forced to cut down on it’s violence after viewers complained that it was getting pretty gruesome. Back in October, viewers were shocked by the season premiere’s grisly deaths, forcing producers to reevaluate the show’s level of violence.
Many fans were particularly concerned about the midseason finale. Three characters were either shot in the face, gutted or beaten with a pipe. Spencer’s death was the most violent, while Olivia’s death left her with a bullet hole in her cheek.
So far producers have not made any comments about the t-shirt controversy. ‘The Walking Dead’ airs every Sunday at 9 p.m. on the AMC network. Tell us, what do you think of the t-shirt controversy? Did Primark make the right decision by pulling the shirt off store shelves? Or do you agree with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s statement? Drop us a line with your thoughts in our comments section below. Also, don’t forget to check back with CDL for all the latest news, recaps and spoilers on ‘The Walking Dead’ right here!
