Piers Morgan storms off set of Good Morning
Britain in Meghan row
ITV co-host calls presenter’s behaviour towards
Duchess of Sussex ‘pathetic’ and ‘diabolical’
Morgan later returned to the set and the discussion of
the Sussexes’ interview resumed.
Lucy
Campbell
Tue 9 Mar
2021 09.22 GMT
Piers
Morgan stormed off the set of Good Morning Britain on Tuesday after his
co-presenter, Alex Beresford, criticised the way he “continues to trash” the
Duchess of Sussex.
His
co-host, Susanna Reid, was forced to send the ITV show to an early break after
the row boiled over and Morgan walked off live on air. Beresford called his
behaviour “pathetic” and “diabolical”.
The pair
had been discussing the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s tell-all interview with
Oprah Winfrey, which aired in the UK on Monday night, that threatens to have
devastating repercussions for the reputation of the UK monarchy.
Among the
most damning disclosures in the interview was the claim that a member of the
royal household had asked Prince Harry about about how dark the skin tone of
their baby son, Archie, would be.
Buckingham
Palace is under mounting pressure to respond to the racism allegations in the
interview, which Harry has made clear are not related to his grandparents, the
Queen and Prince Philip.
In the exchange
on Tuesday morning, the GMB weather presenter Beresford noted the
“overwhelming” amount of negative press Harry and Meghan have been subject to
since they got engaged and the impact it has had on the couple’s mental health.
Speaking to
Oprah, Meghan detailed how her mental health had deteriorated while she was
pregnant amid the barrage of negative press and lack of support from the firm,
which had repeatedly turned down her appeals for help and discouraged her from
leaving the house for months.
She
disclosed that she had suicidal thoughts during that time and was afraid to be
left alone. “It was all happening just because I was breathing,” Meghan said.
“I just didn’t want to be alive any more. That was a clear, real, frightening
and constant thought.”
In
reference to Morgan’s previous claim that he used to speak to Meghan and she
“dropped him” once she started dating Harry, Beresford told him: “She’s
entitled to cut you off if she wants to … yet you continue to trash her”.
Beresford
said: “I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle, you’ve made it so clear
a number of times on this programme, and I understand you’ve got a personal
relationship with Meghan Markle and she cut you off. 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 called his behaviour “pathetic” and “diabolical”.
He 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.”
Morgan later returned to the set and the discussion of
the Sussexes’ interview resumed.
The ITV
chief executive, Carolyn McCall, said a senior executive at the broadcaster had
talked to Morgan about his criticism of Meghan.
Morgan, a
former CNN presenter, has previously criticised the couple and said they sought
publicity on their own terms without the scrutiny that came with the job.
McCall told
reporters that Kevin Lygo, ITV’s director of television, had spoken to Morgan
in recent days about his comments. She added that she had not spoken to Morgan
or seen Tuesday morning’s programme yet as she had been presenting ITV’s annual
figures.
She said
ITV had many voices, was committed to supporting mental health and that the
company could not control what Morgan said on Twitter. “ITV has many voices and
we try and represent many voices on ITV every day,” she said, insisting GMB was
“a balanced show”. “It’s not about one opinion.”
Morgan’s
comments that he did not believe Meghan’s disclosure that she had suicidal
thoughts have drawn criticism from the mental health charity Mind, which said
it was “concerned and disappointed” by them.
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
added: “I completely believe what she [Meghan] said. It’s important
everyone does.”
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