I DON’T BELIEVE HER
MORGAN STANDS BY WHAT HE SAID AS IT’S REVEALED MEGHAN COMPLAINED TO ITV ABOUT HIS COMMENTS
BULLISH Piers Morgan has launched a fresh attack on the Duchess of Sussex, saying he still did not believe ‘a word’ she said, following his Good Morning Britain exit.
After losing his role on the flagship ITV breakfast show, he compared himself to wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill, while condemning what he called Meghan’s ‘diatribe of bilge’ to Oprah Winfrey.
Morgan spoke out as it was believed Meghan was behind his departure as ITV News’s royal editor Chris Ship revealed she had complained to the broadcaster over his on-air tirade doubting her claims that she had suicidal thoughts.
The 55-year-old yesterday insisted his leaving was ‘amicable’ and that he and ITV bosses ‘agreed to disagree’ – but made no apology for his comments about Meghan, following criticism by mental health campaigners, including the Mind charity.
He tweeted a photo of Churchill with the caption: ‘Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on.
‘Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions.’
The war of the Windsors
Morgan later told reporters outside his home in Kensington, west London: ‘If people want to believe Meghan Markle, that’s entirely their right.
‘I don’t believe almost anything that comes out of her mouth and I think the damage she’s done to the British monarchy and to the Queen at a time when Prince Philip is lying in hospital is enormous and frankly contemptible.
‘If I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly-held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge she came out with in that interview, so be it.’
He also described himself as only going into a ‘temporary hibernation’, saying: ‘Although the woke crowd will think that they’ve cancelled me, I think they will be rather disappointed when I re-emerge.’
His final show on Tuesday saw him storm off air when weather presenter Alex Beresford accused Morgan of ‘trashing’ Meghan after she had ignored him.
Beresford said: ‘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 walked out, thundering: ‘OK I’m done with this. Sorry, can’t do this.’
He returned but ITV later confirmed his resignation, as Ofcom launched an investigation after receiving more than 41,000 complaints about his behaviour.
ITV shares plunged by more than six per cent when markets opened, as its flagship breakfast show aired for the first time post-Morgan with usual co-host Susanna Reid and stand-in Ranvir Singh.
The broadcaster’s stocks on the FTSE250 closed at 126.35 points on Tuesday, but yesterday lurched to 118.45 at one point, down 6.25 per cent – with analysts warning Morgan’s loss could further hit already-
struggling advertising revenues. Neil Wilson, from online trading platform Markets.com, said: ‘Investors may be a little worried about the loss of ratings for GMB.
‘It wasn’t exactly doing that well before he joined and its prime time slot will have repercussions for ads. Love or loathe, Morgan boosted ratings.
‘It could also be that investors are worried about an investigation over comments made by Morgan on air.’
The setbacks came 24 hours after ITV revealed annual profits had plummeted by more than a third after the pandemic hit advertising revenues.
It posted a 39 per cent drop in pre-tax profits to £325million for last year, as revenues fell 16 per cent to £2.8billion.