On Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, Richard Madeley sparked confusion by asking Eddy Jones about Ghana, despite the fact that the British musician was born in Guyana.
The 75-year-old singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist came on the show before being recognised on the Camden Walk of Fame for his musical achievements.
In the 1960s, he was a founding member of the Equals, one of the UK’s first multiracial pop groups, and wrote their number one, million-selling tune Baby, Come Back.
He is also well-known for his solo work, which included the publication of the anti-apartheid hymn Gimme Hope Jo’anna and a Grammy nomination for the 1983 song Electric Avenue.
As Richard and co-host Kate Garraway began the conversation by complementing Eddy on his young appearance, they discovered that the actor was born in 1948 and migrated to the UK when he was 12 years old.
Here, however, the facts became rather less verified as Richard continued: ‘And when you left Ghana, it was dirt poor, wasn’t it, when you were a kid?’
Eddy instantly appeared perplexed as he pondered about what Richard had asked him, resulting in an uneasy quiet.
As the hitmaker then responded, ‘Was it?’, Richard doubled down, seemingly not realising the faux pas he had made, as he added: ‘I thought it didn’t get oil rich until a bit later?’
‘It didn’t get oil rich until 2015, I think,’ Eddy offered, to which Richard could be heard saying: ‘Yeah, yeah, a lot later.’
Eddy was, of course, referring to his birthplace of Guyana, which is located on the northern continent of South America.
However, Ghana – formally the Republic of Ghana – is a West African country with an oil sector that dates back to the 1970s.
Eddy was probably thrown by Richard saying ‘Ghana’ instead of ‘Guyana’…#GMB
— Marjorie Minge Superstar (@MadameMinge) August 29, 2023
Oh jeeez Richard Madeley calling Ghana ‘dirt poor’ and asking Eddie Grant about it when he is from Guyana 🙄 SMH..this guy @GMB make it stop !!!!
— DJ NIKKI BEATNIK (@djnikkibeatnik) August 29, 2023
Richard Madeley "interviewing" Eddie Grant was pure cringe.
Eddie looked so perplexed and offended.
Talking about being poor in Ghana and Ghana being oil rich now when Eddie is from Guyana, just bizarre.— That 90s Kid®️ (@R1cky_Rees) August 29, 2023
‘Oh jeeez Richard Madeley calling Ghana ‘dirt poor’ and asking Eddie [sic] Grant about it when he is from Guyana SMH… this guy,’ commented one viewer on X, formerly known as Twitter.
‘Eddy was probably thrown by Richard saying ‘Ghana’ instead of ‘Guyana’…,’ wrote someone else, in a nod to the silence after Richard’s question.
‘Richard Madeley “interviewing” Eddie [sic] Grant was pure cringe. Eddie looked so perplexed and offended.
‘Talking about being poor in Ghana and Ghana being oil rich now when Eddie is from Guyana, just bizarre,’ another person added.
‘When Richard Madeley said ‘when you left Ghana it was dirt poor’ to Eddie [sic] Grant from Guyana,’ observed another exasperated audience member.
The episode also mentioned Eddy’s current legal battle with former US President Donald Trump, who borrowed his song Electric Avenue in a tweet criticising now-President Joe Biden during his 2020 campaign without permission.
‘I took him to court because of the lack of respect basically,’ said Eddy as he pointed out that Trump did the same with many other artists too, including the Rolling Stones.
‘But they don’t have that kind of control over their copyright like I have over mine,’ he added.
With the case ongoing, Eddy pointed out: ‘I don’t talk about it, the lawyers talk about, and who wants to talk about Donald anyway?’
At the end of last year, it was discovered that, rather of pleading the fifth amendment, Trump had given a court-ordered deposition in response to the complaint.
Both parties’ lawyers are said to have agreed to a gag order in the case.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays form 6am on ITV1.
Source My Celebrity Life.
