Famous scientist Richard Dawkins’shuts down’ during an interview with Piers Morgan, calling it “heartbreaking.”

Outspoken scientist and atheist Richard Dawkins has shut down during an interview, refusing to answer a question in an awkward exchange.Renowned scientist Richard Dawkins has shut down during a TV interview with Piers Morgan, refusing to speak when asked about author Salman Rushdie and a UK ISIS bride stuck in Syria.

The uncomfortable scenes played out during an appearance on Piers Morgan Uncensored, with a clip of the exchange — dubbed “heartbreaking” by one commentator — viewed more than 1.2 million times on Twitter.

Dawkins declined to comment when repeatedly pressed on whether Shamima Begum – a British woman whose UK citizenship was revoked after she travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State group, and last month lost an appeal in her fight to restore her citizenship – should return to Europe.