Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan labels man who called shirts racist 'stupid'

Jeffrey Dean Morgan starred as Negan in The Walking Dead. Photo / YouTube

Jeffrey Dean Morgan isn't very impressed with Primark's decision to pull a T-shirt from their Walking Dead merchandise collection.

The actor, who played the murderous Negan on cult zombie show The Walking Dead, tweeted his rage after a T-shirt stocked at international clothing store Primark was discontinued.

The shirt in question featured a bloodied baseball bat with the words "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" in reference to what Negan says before killing his victims with his bat.

The phrase is taken from a children's rhyme that goes: "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, Catch a tiger by the toe." However, the reference sparked the boycott because the original rhyme, which dates back to before 1820, used a derogatory slur in place of "tiger".

The shirt that one Primark shopper deemed 'racist' and 'offensive.

Ian Lucraft, a shopper in Sheffield, UK was so offended by the T-shirt he complained directly to Primark's Chief Executive Paul Marchant.

"We were shocked when we came face-to-face with a new T-shirt with a racially explicit graphic and text," he told Sheffield News.

Lucraft, who is a Methodist minister in the area, said the shirt brings the racist history of the rhyme to mind, even if it doesn't intend to.

pic.twitter.com/L5R7DFOlqo

— Jeffrey Dean Morgan (@JDMorgan) October 11, 2016

"It was fantastically offensive and I can only assume that no one in this process of ordering it knew what they were doing or were aware of its subliminal messages.

"The slogan is 'Eeny meenie miny moe ...' It stops there, but of course we all know what the original said.

Mr Lucraft said the complementing image of the baseball bat covered with barbed wire and blood also unnecessarily conjures up a dark past of American history.

Primark eventually issued an apology for the "offensive" T-shirt and announced they would be "removing the product from sale", after explaining their decision to stock it.

"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 fashion chain said.

But since that announcement, Morgan tweeted his anger writing: "Holy crap people are stupid".

Holy crap people are stupid. 'Walking Dead’ Shirt Pulled From Stores After Complaint of Racism https://t.co/cpeIqcxTwJ

— Jeffrey Dean Morgan (@JDMorgan) February 22, 2017

The controverisal slogan and image referenced on the T-shirt is from a scene in the finale of the show's sixth season.