After receiving backlash for his Meghan Markle comments on Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan is now leaving the show.
ITV said in a statement, “Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain,” They said, “ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”
Earlier today, Piers Morgan stormed off the set of GMB after his co-host, Alex Beresford, chastised him for “continuing to trash” Meghan Markle.
After Morgan stormed off live on air, his co-host, Susanna Reid, was forced to put the ITV series on hold. Beresford described his actions as “pathetic” and “diabolical.”
Later, Beresford tweeted: “I wish I had the privilege to sit on the fence. In order for me to do that, I would have to strip myself of my identity, and that’s not something I can do. It’s not any of our places to pick apart claims of racism in order to make us feel more comfortable.”
The hosts of GMB were discussing the interview that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex did with Oprah that aired in the United Kingdom yesterday, which threatened the UK monarchy’s reputation.
During the interview, The Duke and Duchess revealed that one of the royal household members had questioned the skin tone of their baby boy, Archie. Buckingham Palace is under increasing pressure to react to the interview’s racism charges, which Harry has said are unrelated to his grandparents, the Queen and Prince Philip.
This morning, Beresford mentioned the “overwhelming” amount of negative press Harry and Meghan have been subjected to since they got engaged, as well as the effect it has had on the couple’s mental health.
In the interview, Meghan revealed to Oprah how her mental health had deteriorated during her pregnancy due to a bombardment of negative press and a lack of encouragement from “the firm,” which had consistently denied her requests for help and prevented her from leaving the house.
She then admitted to having suicidal thoughts at the time and being scared of being alone. Meghan explained, “It was all happening just because I was breathing.” she explained, “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought.”
“She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to…yet you continue to trash her,” Beresford said, referring to Morgan’s previous assertion that he used to talk to Meghan before she “dropped him” and started dating Harry.
Beresford said: “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. 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…”
Morgan, 55, then stormed out of the studio, saying: “OK, I’m done with this, sorry, no, can’t do this.” Beresford added: “I’m sorry, but Piers spouts off on a regular basis, and we all have to sit there and listen; 6:30 to seven o’clock yesterday was incredibly hard to watch, incredibly hard to watch. This is, you know, he has the ability to come in here and talk from a position where he doesn’t fully understand.”
Eventually, Morgan returned to the set, and the show resumed.
Carolyn McCall, the ITV chief executive, said a senior executive had spoken to Morgan about his criticism of Meghan.
Morgan has previously chastised the pair, claiming that they wanted attention on their own terms without the pressures of the job.
His remarks that he did not believe Meghan’s admission that she was having suicidal thoughts drew condemnation from the mental health charity Mind, which said it was “concerned and frustrated.”
The charity said: “It’s vital that, when people reach out for support or share their experiences of ill mental health, they are treated with dignity, respect, and empathy.”
Mccall says she has talked to Morgan about his previous comments before but claimed ITV had many voices and that they were committed to mental health support and couldn’t control what Morgan said on Twitter. “We try to represent many voices on ITV every day,” she said, insisting that GMB was a “balanced show.” Adding that, “It isn’t about one person’s opinion.”
“I completely believe what Meghan said,” McCall added. “It’s critical that everyone does.”
