Piers Morgan called Naomi Osaka a ‘brat’ for refusing to speak to press – and was reminded of his TV tantrum

Naomi Osaka caused a stir in the tennis world by refusing to appear in front of the media during the ongoing French Open Roland-Garros tournament - and later quit the whole tournament after being fined for the decision.

She said she would no longer appear at press conferences to protect her mental health - which, in an era where people are more open about their mental health struggles, feels like a positive step to take.

But, never short of an opinion, Piers Morgan blasted her in his Mail Online column, calling her an “arrogant spoiled brat whose fame and fortune appears to have inflated her ego to gigantic proportions”.

She wrote on Instagram: “I've watched many clips of athletes breaking down after a loss in the press room and I know you have as well. I believe that whole situation is kicking a person while they're down and I don't understand the reasoning behind it.”

But Morgan said he read her measured, vulnerable message with “fury”.

Naomi Osaka announced she would be withdrawing from the French OpenAP

“What Osaka really means is that she doesn't want to face the media if she hasn't played well, because the beastly journalists might actually dare to criticize her performance, and she's not going to 'subject' herself to 'people that doubt me.'”

There’s just one flaw in his claim that avoiding scrutiny and tough conversation is the mark of an “arrogant spoiled brat” - he did the exact same thing on Good Morning Britain before quitting the show.

He walked off the set in March after co-star Alex Beresford condemned his comments about Meghan Markle.

Morgan had faced heavy criticism for his remarks about Prince Harry and Meghan, following the couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Beresford said: “I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle. You’ve made it so clear a number of times on this programme, and I understand that you had a personal relationship with Meghan Markle and she cut you off. Has she said anything about you after she cut you off? She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to. And yet you continue to trash her.”

At this point, Morgan stood up and walked away from the Good Morning Britain set, saying: “OK, I’m done with this.”

And Twitter users we’re quick to remind him of it:

The internet never forgets.

On Monday she quit the entire tournament - a move people used to point out to Morgan just how tough a toll the tournament had taken upon her.

Alas, at the time of publishing, he seemed unrepentant.

And the next day, in reference to people reminding him of the GMB incident, he added:

Don’t think that’s the last we’ll hear of this...