Tabloid editor-turned-talk show pundit Piers Morgan has resurfaced with a new television show a year after his controversial departure from ITV’s flagship breakfast show, Good Morning Britain
Why controversial?
Because in a segment in Good Morning Britain (GMB) on Monday March 8 2021, Morgan said he “didn’t believe a word” that Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, had said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey which had aired on CBS in America the previous evening. In the interview, part of a TV special titled Oprah With Meghan And Harry, the Duchess had spoken about her mental health, her suicidal thoughts and among other criticisms of the Royal Family she had claimed that an un-named individual within it had asked about the skin colour of her then-unborn son. Morgan, a supporter of the Royals and a persistent and vitriolic critic of Meghan Markle, took issue with the veracity of her claims.
What happened next?
The following morning an on-air spat blew up between Morgan and weather presenter Alex Beresford, who is bi-racial, in which Beresford claimed Morgan continued to “trash” Markle. “I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle,” he said. “You’ve made it so clear a number of times.” In response, Morgan stood up and walked off the set. Following the debacle, media regulator Ofcom received a record 58,000 complaints, though they were rejected on the grounds of free speech.
And now?
Morgan is back. He is about to launch a new programme titled Piers Morgan Uncensored on Talk TV, a new channel to be launched in the UK on April 25 and owned by (guess who?) Rupert Murdoch. The channel’s chief executive is one Rebekah Brookes, a former editor of the News Of The World and one of those implicated in the phone hacking scandal. She was subsequently cleared of all charges. “Piers is the broadcaster every channel wants but is too afraid to hire,” Murdoch said when the new channel was announced last year. Morgan’s show will also air in the US as part of Fox Nation, a spin-off of Murdoch’s right-leaning (to put it mildly) Fox News network.
What does Morgan say?
A lot, as usual, none of it designed to smooth choppy waters, build bridges or otherwise placate those who detest him (there’s a long line of haters, with John Cleese at the front of it). Speaking ahead of the launch, Morgan promised to “uncancel those who have been cancelled”, described his departure from ITV as “a farce” and doubled down on the criticism of Meghan Markle which had brought it about. “I used to think I was uncensored,” he said. “Then of course when I left Good Morning Britain, it turned out that I actually was being censored in the sense that I was told I had to apologise for disbelieving Princess Pinocchio or I would have to leave the building.”
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