Piers Morgan has quit Good Morning Britain hours after the launch of a social media campaign. The Ofcom received more than 40,000 complaints regarding the host. It is ironic since he came to this decision when GMB received their highest ratings yet. His six-year-long association with the breakfast show transformed it to be a must-see TV with a string of exclusives and his strident opinions.
The tough-talking morning show host, who contributed to the high ratings of the ITV show received backlash over comments on Markle’s claims during her enlightening interview with Oprah.
The 55-year-old host walked off-camera during a heated on-air argument with weatherman Alex Beresford whilst discussing the interview.
GMB weatherman Alex Beresford had told Piers: ‘”I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle, you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this program, and I understand you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle and she cut you off”.
He stormed off saying: “I’m done with this after he was challenged on his position regarding the Duke and Duchess by his co-star.
This exit left the studio in awkward silence before they decided to take a break.
After being criticized by mental health campaigners, Morgan was asked to apologize but he stood his ground.
A myriad of tweets criticized the host and supporting Meghan – some sharing direct links to the Ofcom complaints page. Among those launching criticism at Morgan were Labour MP Dawn Butler, who copied on the Twitter page of ITV.
Morgan’s Response
Today he addressed these remarks and said: “When we talked about this yesterday I said as an all-encompassing thing I don’t believe what Meghan Markle is saying generally in this interview and I still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said.
“But let me just state for the record on my position on mental illness and on suicide.
“On mental illness and suicide these are clearly extremely serious things and should be taken extremely seriously and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and the help they need every time,” he added.
“And if they belong to an institution like the Royal family and they go and seek that help they should absolutely be given it.
“It’s not for me to question if she felt suicidal, I am not in her mind and that is for her to say.
“My real concern was disbelief frankly and I’m prepared to be proven wrong on this and if I’m wrong it is a scandal, that she went to a senior member of the Royal household and told them she was suicidal and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family.
“If that is true a) that person should be fired and b) The Royal family have serious questions that need to be answered,” he continued.
Despite his clarification, the damage is done. The social media campaign has become a wildfire with tens of thousands of complaints leading to the host’s shocking decision.
The public is divided over this situation. Some of Morgan’s friends, families, and former guests of the show came to his defense saying that he ‘paid for his opinion’.
Source: Daily Mail