Piers Morgan has decided to leave Good Morning Britain after a row over remarks he made about the Duchess of Sussex's mental health
Author: Wardah Sempa | Tuesday 9th March 2021
Piers Morgan has decided to leave Good Morning Britain after a row over remarks he made about the Duchess of Sussex's mental health. Ofcom launched an investigation into Monday’s episode after receiving more than 40,000 complaints about Piers Mogan's remarks on Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah.
ITV confirmed that the presenter had decided to leave the breakfast show, saying in a statement: “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 presenter had made comments on Monday’s show about Meghan’s claims during a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired in the US on Sunday night to have had issues with her mental health. Ofcom said that it had received 41,015 complaints about Morgan’s comments as of early Tuesday afternoon and had launched an investigation to see if he had broken the UK broadcasting code.
In Winfrey’s interview with Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, the duchess detailed how her mental health had deteriorated while she was pregnant and a barrage of negative press and lack of support from “the firm” – the apparatus surrounding the royal household – which had repeatedly turned down her appeals for help and discouraged her from leaving the house for months.
“It was all happening just because I was breathing,” Meghan said, breaking down in tears during the interview, which was broadcast on ITV on Monday night. “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. That was a clear, real, frightening and constant thought.”
Morgan, who has been a constant critic of Meghan, questioned on Monday whether she was telling the truth.
“Who did you go to?” he said on Monday morning’s GMB show. “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.”
During Tuesday’s programme, Morgan addressed his comments, saying: “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 on the record my position about mental illness and on suicide. These are clearly extremely serious things that should be taken extremely seriously, and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and help they need every time.”
On the same show, however, Morgan stormed off the set after the discussion about Meghan with his colleague Alex Beresford.
TV gold
— Friday Nights Chippy Night ( thehoodedclaw66) (@ArlArse666) March 9, 2021
the big baby stormed off #piersmorgan #MeghanandHarryonOprah #RoyalFamily #GMB #goodmorningbritain pic.twitter.com/ipOEJ9UOJT