- Piers Morgan quit his morning show after criticism of his comments on Meghan Markle’s mental health.
- Multiple reports said he quit after his bosses asked him to apologize on air.
- On Wednesday, Morgan tweeted that he still didn’t believe what Markle said in her Oprah interview.
Piers Morgan quit the TV show “Good Morning Britain” on Tuesday after refusing his network bosses’ demands that he apologize for remarks he had made about Meghan Markle’s mental health, multiple reports said.
On Monday, while discussing Markle’s revelation in her interview with Oprah Winfrey that she’d had suicidal thoughts but was denied help from senior members of the royal institution, 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.”
The British broadcasting regulator Ofcom said on Tuesday that it had received 41,000 complaints about that episode of “Good Morning Britain” and had launched an investigation. Chris Ship, the royal editor at ITV, the channel that hosts the show, tweeted on Wednesday that Markle had formally filed a complaint about Morgan’s comments to the network on Monday.
As criticism mounted, network bosses at ITV asked Morgan to apologize on air, but he refused and left the show, according to reports from The Telegraph, the Mirror, and The Sun.
ITV declined to comment on the reports when reached by Insider on Wednesday.
“Piers was not going to back down,” an ITV source told The Sun. “He was asked to make an apology but refused. He says he is entitled to his opinion and is always going to stand by it.
“When he refused to apologize, there was a stand-off. And ultimately it ended with him telling producers he would not host the show anymore,” The Sun’s source added. “His contract was coming to an end this year anyway, but he said he wouldn’t do the job unless it was on his terms.”
“Staff were very upset after Monday’s show and I don’t think senior management could ignore that,” The Telegraph’s source said.
ITV was reportedly also worried about how Morgan’s comments would affect its work with the mental-health charity Mind.
“Mind also expressed their concerns to senior execs at ITV saying it clashes with their campaign,” The Sun’s source said.
On Tuesday, Morgan walked off the “Good Morning Britain” set after a cohost, Alex Beresford, suggested that Morgan had an ax to grind with Markle for ending their friendship.
“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. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has, but yet you continue to trash her,” Beresford said before Morgan stormed off.
As Morgan’s coverage of Markle went viral this week, a clip from 2018 resurfaced in which he described being “ghosted” by Markle after she started dating Prince Harry.
Credit insider.com
