Have racist claims climbed to absurd levels today? The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan certainly thinks they have.
In light of the recent Walking Dead T-shirt controversy in which U.K. retailer, Primark, removed a particular T-shirt design from their stores after a customer condemned it racist, Morgan tweeted in response saying, "Holy crap people are stupid."
The shirt in question depicts Negan's notoriously lethal bat, Lucille and the words "Eeny Meeny Miny Moe" behind the bat. Avid fans of the show will quickly recognize this as a quote lifted from the scene in which Negan is deciding who of Rick's group will be slaughtered by Lucille.
However, a customer read something entirely different in the design.
According to the customer, Ian Lucraft, the popular children's rhyme has ties to historical racism, in which the U.K. version substituted the word "tiger" for the N-word.
"We were shocked when we came face-to-face with a new T-shirt with a racially explicit graphic and text," Lucraft said. "It was fantastically offensive and I can only assume that no one in the process of ordering it knew what they were doing or were aware of its subliminal messages."
In a statement made to TheWrap, the spokesperson for Primark issued a formal apology for the design.
"The T-shirt in question is licensed merchandise for the U.S. television series The Walking Dead and the quote and image are taken directly from the show," the spokesperson said. "Any offense caused by its design was wholly unintentional and Primark sincerely apologizes for this. Primark has pulled the product from sale."
So, legitimate racist claim or just a call for attention? You decide.