Piers Morgan leaves ITV after rant about Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview
British TV presenter Piers Morgan has abruptly left his job on the ITV show Good Morning Britain following the backlash against his vociferous criticism of Meghan Markle.
“Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain,” the network said in a curt statement today.
“ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”
That statement came a few minutes after Morgan posted this somewhat cryptic tweet.
Morgan tweeted a grandfather clock with the words 'Tick Tock' which you can find here.
Actor Jameela Jamil was one of the first to respond to Morgan’s sacking on Twitter.
She claimed that she “almost killed myself a year ago because of Piers Morgan’s relentless campaign of lies and hated against me”.
MORGAN’S ROYAL RANT
In one of several furious rants after the Sussexes’ interview with Oprah Winfrey, during which Meghan described her struggle with suicidal thoughts, Morgan declared: “I don’t believe a word she says.”
However, ITV’s chief executive later revealed that she did believe Meghan and said Kevin Lygo, the channel’s top programmer for media and entertainment, had spoken with Morgan in recent days.
“I completely believe what she [Meghan] said,” Carolyn McCall said during an earnings conference call with journalists.
She said Mr Lygo was “speaking to him on a regular basis and has done so the last couple of days”, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Asked whether Morgan would lose his ITV job over the issue, Ms McCall said: “We are dealing with that as we speak.”
She said that “the most important thing with mental health that ITV does and is totally committed to, is that we support, we get people to speak up, we listen, we say everyone has to listen and everyone has to believe because that’s how you get people to speak up. So we are very committed to that.”
She noted that Morgan had qualified his comments on Tuesday morning, when he explained that his “real concern” was his “disbelief” that someone in the royal household would have refused to let Meghan access help when she told them of her mental health issues, as she claimed in the Oprah interview.
“It’s not for me to question whether she felt suicidal,” he said. “I wasn’t in her mind and that’s for her to say.”
His explanation came after UK mental health charity Mind said it was “disappointed and concerned” by Morgan’s comments.
The cracks began to show when one of his co-presenters, Alex Beresford, openly condemned his colleague’s behaviour in an extraordinary statement that saw the suddenly deeply sensitive Morgan walk off set.
Beresford accused the presenter of “trashing” Meghan because she “cut him off”.
Beresford pulled Morgan up on his claim the press coverage of the couple was glowing until after their wedding.
“I watched the program yesterday and yes they had some great press around the wedding, but what press is going to trash someone’s special day?” Beresford said.
“There was bad press around the engagement, before the engagement and everything that has followed since has been incredibly damaging — quite clearly, to Meghan’s mental health and also to Harry — and I hear Piers say that William has gone through the same thing, but do you know what, siblings experience tragedy in their life and one will be absolutely fine and brush it off and the other will not be able to deal with it so strongly.
“And that’s clearly what has happened with Harry in this situation. He walked behind his mother’s coffin at a tender, tender age in front of the globe. That is going to shape a young boy for the rest of his life. So I think that we need to all take a step back.”
Speaking directly to Morgan, Beresford said he “understands” that Morgan doesn’t like Meghan, telling him “you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this program, a number of times”.
“And I understand that you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle, or had one and she cut you off. She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to,” he added.
“Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has, yet you continue to trash her.”
Morgan got up and left his chair, saying he was “done with this” before storming out of the studio. Beresford said that was “pathetic” as Morgan strode out, adding: “Sorry, can’t do this.”
And he wasn’t done yet. “This is absolutely diabolical behaviour, I’m sorry but Piers spouts off on a regular basis and we all have to sit there and listen. 6.30 to 7 yesterday was incredibly hard to watch.”
WHY DOES PIERS MORGAN HATE MEGHAN SO MUCH?
Setting aside accusations that he is simply racist and a misogynist, the pair do have history. They began talking in September 2015 when Morgan followed the actor on Twitter and she sent him a direct message that read: “Well hello there – thanks for the follow. Big fan of yours!”
The pair apparently exchanged messages and emails over the next year-and-a-half and had “amusing” debates about Suits storylines before meeting at Morgan’s local pub in Kensington, west London, in June 2016, The Mirror reports.
Morgan described Meghan as an “old mate” on GMB in 2017, adding: “We had 90 minutes in my local pub over a dirty martini and a pint of hand pumped Harvey’s.
“Trust me I’ll be milking that 90 minutes if she becomes our princess for the rest of my days.”
He said they were “great buddies” and revealed he was pushing for Prince Harry to propose to her.
However, Morgan also claims that after their meet-up, Meghan went to a private members club to see Prince Harry and then “went cold”, with the pair never speaking again.
“She met Prince Harry at the dinner that night, went on a solo date with him the next night, and I never heard from her again. Not a word. I’d been ghosted,” he said
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