Culture

Piers Morgan storms off set after being called out for ‘diabolical’ behaviour towards Meghan Markle

Alex Beresford Piers Morgan Good Morning Britain Meghan Markle

(Twitter/Good Morning Britain)

Piers Morgan stormed off the set of Good Morning Britain (GMB) after co-star Alex Beresford called him out for his “diabolical” behaviour towards Meghan Markle.

Beresford confronted Morgan the morning after Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on ITV.

In the interview, Meghan revealed she had experienced suicidal thoughts due to the abuse she received after marrying Prince Harry, detailed how the palace failed to support her while she was experiencing racist abuse, and alleged that members of the Royal Family shared “concerns and conversations” about “how dark” her unborn child’s “skin might be when he’s born”.

Morgan declared on Monday (8 March) that he did not “believe a word” Meghan said during the interview. He added: “I wouldn’t believe it if she read me a weather report.”

On Tuesday morning’s (9 March) GMB, Beresford addressed Morgan’s comments, saying: “This is absolutely diabolical behaviour.”

He said: “[Harry and Meghan] have had an overwhelming amount of negative press.

“I watched the programme yesterday, and yes, they had some great press around the wedding… but everything that has followed since has been incredibly damaging to Meghan’s mental health and to Harry.”

Beresford told Morgan he understands the he doesn’t “like Meghan Markle”, something he said he has made “clear a number of times on this programme”.

He added: “I understand that you had a personal relationship with Meghan Markle, and she cut you off.

“Has she said anything about you after she cut you off? I don’t think she has, but yet you continue to trash her.”

At this point, Morgan stood up and stormed off the set, saying: “OK, I’m done with this.”

Beresford continued as Morgan walked off, adding: “Do you know what? That’s pathetic. This is absolutely diabolical behaviour. I’m sorry, but Piers spouts off on a regular basis and we all have to sit there and listen – 6.30 to 7 o’clock yesterday was incredibly hard to watch.”

On Twitter, Morgan was roundly criticise for his hypocrisy while Beresford was praised for standing up to him.

Artist Obi Arisukwu said Beresford did to Morgan what “Piers Morgan does to Meghan Markle every single day, and his fragile a** ego couldn’t take it”.

Author Malorie Blackman thanked Beresford for calling out Morgan’s treatment of Meghan.

“Meghan Markle dared to ghost Piers Morgan, and he’s bad-mouthed her because of that ever since,” Blackman wrote on Twitter. “Alex Beresford calls him on it, and he walks off in a flurry of snowflakes.”

Comedian Tegan Marlow summed the moment up perfectly by comparing it to an iconic moment in the 2004 hit film Mean Girls. 

Morgan defended his actions on Twitter, saying he needed to take himself out of the heated debate. After someone questioned if the moment was staged, Morgan confirmed it was “real”, but the “debate that followed was very strong” which apparently was “worth a bit of @GMB family tension”.

He also said he would “prefer not to sit there listening to colleagues call me diabolical”.

Meanwhile, calls are growing for ITV to reprimand Morgan for his comments regarding Meghan’s experience of suicidal thoughts, particularly given ITV is running an ongoing high-profile mental wellness campaign.

The mental health charity Mind said it was “disappointed and concerned” by his remarks on “not believing Meghan’s experiences abut suicidal thoughts”.

“It’s vital that when people reach out for support or share their experiences of ill mental health that they are treated with dignity, respect and empathy.”
Mind added that it is in conversations with ITV about the incident.

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