What did Piers Morgan say about Meghan and why did he leave ITV show?
ITV announced that controversial morning show host Piers Morgan has left the network after UK Ofcom received thousands of complaints over his remarks.
On Monday’s Good Morning Britain show, host Piers Morgan said that he "didn't believe a word" of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex had told Oprah Winfrey about her mental health in an interview. This caused an uproar among viewers prompting over 41,000 calls to Ofcom, the United Kingdom’s broadcast regulator Office of Communications, which opened an investigation.
ITV spoke with Piers Morgan and a spokesperson said "Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add." The departure of the host will take effect immediately.
What did Piers Morgan say about the Duchess?
Sunday’s airing of Oprah Winfrey's interview with Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, saw accusations of racism and an unwillingness of the Royal Family to help with the strains that Meghan was experiencing. Piers Morgan on Monday‘s show picked up on these comments to make disparaging comments of the couple and the interview calling it a “trash-a-thon” of the monarchy.
"The fact that she's fired up this onslaught against our Royal Family I think is contemptible," Morgan said.
Referring to her admitting to Winfrey that she had had suicidal thoughts Morgan said "Who did you go to? What did they say to you? I'm sorry, I don't believe a word she said, Meghan Markle. I wouldn't believe it if she read me a weather report.”
Morgan is confronted with his comments
Later on in the program on Monday, Morgan defended the Royal Family on the accusation of racism in what he called a “race bombshell” brought up in the Winfrey interview. Meghan told Winfrey that a member of the Royal Family had raised concrens over how dark-skinned the couple’s son Archie would be. Morgan questioned whether it was really racist to wonder what color or how “dark” the skin of a mixed-race couple's child might be. This prompted a heated exchange with guest Shola Mos-Shogbamimu.
On Tuesday Morgan was confronted by fellow ITV weather presenter Alex Beresford regarding his commentary on Meghan over the years. Beresford criticized his colleague for "continuing to trash" the duchess, saying that Monday’s program “was hard to watch”. Fed up with the criticism; Morgan said “You can trash me mate, but not on my own show,” and walked off the set. Morgan returned to the set later for a discussion with his colleague regarding race.