Just as abruptly as he stormed out of the studio on Tuesday morning after his co-host denounced his continued criticism of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Piers Morgan says that he will no longer host ITV's Good Morning Britain, effective immediately.
This fallout occurred in two parts, but it is predated by years of Morgan chastising Markle for tearing Harry away from the royal family. The first incident took place on Monday following Oprah Winfrey's explosive interview with the couple. In the interview, Markle shared that, at points, she had suicidal thoughts. She also revealed that a member of the royal family raised concerns about how dark her baby's skin would be. On Twitter, Morgan labelled the interview an "absolutely disgraceful betrayal" of the Queen. Further, he said that he expected this "vile destructive self-serving nonsense" from Meghan — but not Harry.
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Morgan then went on to attack Markle by questioning whether she was being truthful about her mental health, which he was immediately reproached for online. "Just another reminder that anyone who criticizes Meghan Markle is deemed a racist bully," he tweeted later that same day. Since then, he tried to walk back his insensitive take. But clearly, he didn't walk back too far.
The second incident occurred on Tuesday while on air. Morgan's Good Morning Britain co-host, Alex Beresford, had enough of his excessive criticism of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. "I understand that you don't like Meghan Markle, you've made it so clear a number of times on this program," Beresford said to Morgan. "And I understand that you've got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle, or had one and she cut you off...Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don't think she has, but yet you continue to trash her."
At that point, Morgan stood up abruptly and walked off set, saying: "Okay, I'm done with this. Sorry, no, sorry...see you later, sorry, can't do this."
But this is nothing new for Morgan, who has actually cultivated a brand of chastising Markle for years now. Morgan met Markle years ago. He followed her on Twitter and she reportedly messaged him saying she was a fan of his. They chatted online before meeting for a drink in London in 2016 while she was in the city to watch Serena Williams at Wimbledon.
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"We had two hours in the pub, she had a couple of dirty martinis and a couple of pints — we got on brilliantly,” Morgan said during an appearance on the Late Late Show. "Then I put her in a cab, and it turns out it was the cab that took her to a party where she met Prince Harry. The next night they had a solo dinner and that was the last I ever heard from Meghan Markle. I never heard from her again...Meghan Markle ghosted me."
According to Grazia, Morgan — all while claiming to not care about Markle — has tweeted about her more than 60 times in the last month alone.
Following Monday's broadcast, U.K. media regulator, Ofcom, said it received over 41,000 complaints about Good Morning Britain in response to Morgan's actions. In a statement released by the company on Twitter, it said that it is launching a formal investigation into Monday's episode of the show, specifically Morgan's statements about Markle's mental health, citing that it goes against Ofcom's "harm and offence rules."
ITV released a short statement which reads: "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."
So it appears that Morgan's entire dislike of Markle is based on her lack of desire to maintain a relationship with him, which frankly is a phenomenon that reeks of sexism and misogyny. He is not entitled to her time, friendship, or anything else. Plain and simple. Morgan thinking otherwise — and then spending years criticizing her in front of millions of people — just goes to show that he should have been off the air a lot sooner.