Jeffrey Dean Morgan responds to complaint alleging ‘Walking Dead’ shirt is racist

Feb. 23 (UPI) — “The Walking Dead” star Jeffrey Dean Morgan took to Twitter Thursday to weigh in on a complaint made in England about a show-themed T-shirt featuring a quote from his character.

“Holy crap people are stupid. ‘Walking Dead’ Shirt Pulled From Stores After Complaint of Racism,” Morgan tweeted, along with a link to an article from The Wrap regarding the controversy.

The shirt in question features the words, “Eeny Meeny Miny Moe,” alongside the image of a barbed wire-covered, baseball bat, The Wrap reported.

Morgan’s character Negan famously uttered the children’s rhyme as he tried to decide who to beat to death with his bat at the end of Season 6 and beginning of Season 7. Negan continues his creepy recitation with “catch a tiger by the toe,” as per American tradition.

But Primark shopper Ian Lucraft told the Warwick Courier he found the words on the shirt “fantastically offensive” since British people have in the past used a racist word in place of “tiger” when repeating the rhyme. That line of the poem is not included on the shirts, however.

“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. … 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.”

Primark apologized in a statement to The Wrap and said the shirts have been removed from its stores.

“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,” a Primark representative said. “Any offense caused by its design was wholly unintentional and Primark sincerely apologizes for this. Primark has pulled the product from sale.”