Piers quit after Meghan complained to ITV boss (and firm’s value plunges £200m)
PIERS Morgan yesterday refused to back down over his criticism of Meghan Markle as speculation grew over what role her complaint to ITV played in the presenter’s departure.
Morgan dramatically quit as the host of Good Morning Britain late on Tuesday after he refused to apologise for comments he made about the Duchess of Sussex.
It has now emerged that Meghan contacted ITV – reportedly chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall – to complain about Morgan’s comments relating to mental health.
This came after Meghan admitted to interviewer Oprah Winfrey that she had suicidal thoughts in the past.
The interview was screened in the US on Sunday and by ITV on Monday night. On Monday morning, Morgan, 55, who earned an estimated £1million-a-year as GMB host, had insisted he did not believe a word of what Meghan had said in the interview.
Shares in ITV plunged in the wake of his resignation with almost £200million wiped off the company’s value. It is claimed the duchesses’ email of complaint to ITV – apparently received on Monday – was not about personal attacks by Morgan. Instead, it centred on the impact his remarks could have on mental health generally.
Mental health charity Mind had criticised Morgan’s remarks and media watchdog Ofcom revealed on Tuesday it is investigating after receiving more than 41,000 complaints about Monday’s show.
Last night insiders said Meghan’s email would have rattled ITV chiefs, with sources saying they felt it had been a factor in the tough line with the presenter.
It is understood that Morgan was unaware throughout the discussions that ITV had received the email from Meghan.
One source described the email as a ‘piece of the body of evidence’ ITV bosses had against Morgan.
Another source said it had probably played a significant part in what happened. Yesterday Morgan did not back down from his earlier criticism of Meghan, saying he did not ‘believe almost anything that comes out of her mouth’. The former Fleet Street editor claimed the damage she had done to the monarchy when the Duke of Edinburgh was unwell was ‘enormous’ and ‘contemptible’. This followed a tweet in which he said: ‘Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on’.
Campaigners yesterday said they were writing to ITV and Ofcom amid concerns of a ‘chilling effect on free speech’.
Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, expressed fears it looked like ITV was ‘happy to censure’ a journalist ‘at the request of a member of the Royal Family’.
Thousands of fans have now signed petitions calling for Morgan to be reinstated amid claims GMB had beaten BBC Breakfast in ratings for the first time ever on Tuesday pulling in 1.29million viewers – hours before Morgan quit the show. Former BBC presenter Andrew Neil, who is launching new channel GB News, said he we wished to talked to Morgan about a role, calling him a ‘great asset’. On Tuesday’s show Morgan had sought to clarify his earlier comments, saying it was not for him to question whether Meghan felt suicidal. He had said suicide and mental health should be taken ‘extremely seriously’.
But ITV bosses felt this had failed to resolve the matter and the situation was made worse following Tuesday’s on-air row with GMB weatherman Alex Beresford over Meghan, which led to Morgan walking off the set.
It is understood Morgan was asked to apologise for any impression he had given that he was not taking mental health issues seriously enough. But it is believed he felt he had clarified it properly onair and felt no apology was necessary. Sources said this led to a stand-off where if he did not apologise he would have to ‘exit’ the show, which he decided to do.
It is thought he believed that an apology would make it look like he was conceding that he believed what Meghan had said in general in the interview.
Last night one industry insider said: ‘I think the whole world could see that it had crossed a line on Monday and so the fact that the Sussexes said something to Carolyn McCall – I don’t think we should be hugely surprised.’ They added: ‘I think it was a piece of the body of evidence in front of them.’ But they added Morgan’s departure had come as the result of a ‘combination of things’.
Another source said: ‘There’s a lot of woke people at ITV bombarding the management and they just weren’t going to let it go.’
They added that Dame Carolyn had ‘wrapped the mental health umbrella around ITV as a brand’.
Yesterday Morgan, speaking outside his London home, said: ‘I believe in freedom of speech, I believe in the right to be allowed to have an opinion. If people want to believe Meghan Markle, that’s entirely their right.’ He added: ‘If I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly-held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge that she came out with in that interview, so be it.’
ITV’s shares closed down 3.8 per cent last night – wiping £193million off the market value. Financial commentator Ed Cropley, of Reuters, said Morgan’s exit could cost tens of millions of pounds in lost ad sales.
‘Happy to die for freedom of speech’ ‘Chilling effect’