Piers Morgan isn’t exactly saddened over his departure from “Good Morning Britain.” In fact, the TV personality is reveling in all the newfound attention.
Over the weekend, he told the New York Times’ Ben Smith, “I’ve got the whole world talking about me in varying degrees of either praise or shame.”
Smith noted that the television host made that statement “with satisfaction.”
Last week, Morgan hurried off the set of the British morning show after he was called out by co-host Alex Beresford for his criticism of Meghan Markle’s comments about racism and suicidal thoughts in her blockbuster interview with Oprah Winfrey. Subsequently, ITV announced they had parted ways.
Morgan wasn’t deterred by the negative reaction from the public or his co-host after he took aim at the Duchess of Sussex. In fact, he doubled down.
“On Monday, I said I didn’t believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I’ve had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don’t,” Morgan tweeted last Wednesday. “If you did, OK. 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.”
For what it’s worth, Beresford, the colleague with whom he sparred, isn’t celebrating the explosive end of Morgan’s “GMB” run.
In a statement posted on Twitter Thursday, Beresford said “Piers’ departure sincerely wasn’t the conclusion I was hoping for.”
Beresford wrote he doesn’t regret calling out Morgan’s words: “I hoped we could reach a place of understanding,” his statement read. “It’s sad that we weren’t able to get there, but challenging his opinion was not an outrage.”
In his Times chat over the weekend, on the other hand, Morgan delighted in what he sees as the “American culture war” coming to Britain — and his part in ushering it across the pond.
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