It is understood ITV bosses asked the 55-year-old host to apologise after saying he 'didn't believe a word' the Duchess said, but he refused.
Source - Daily Telegraph - 10/03/21
Piers Morgan has stood by his comments on the Duchess of Sussex, saying he still does not believe what Meghan said in her interview as Good Morning Britain went on air for the first time since his abrupt departure from the show.
Morgan left following a backlash against his incendiary comments about the Duchess of Sussex and her headline-making interview with Oprah Winfrey.
ITV announced that the presenter and journalist was leaving the news programme on Tuesday with a brief statement.
Morgan has since said he stands by his comments and does not believe what Meghan told Winfrey, after she discussed her issues with mental health and suicidal thoughts.
On Tuesday morning, while his spot was filled by Ranvir Singh, Morgan posted a picture of Sir Winston Churchill on Twitter and said: "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. 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."
Morgan quit amid claims Meghan submitted formal complaint to ITV
Piers Morgan sensationally stepped down from Good Morning Britain amid claims the Duchess of Sussex submitted a formal complaint to ITV about him, write Camilla Tominey and Anita Singh.
The outspoken presenter left the show on Tuesday after earlier storming off set following a row about his coverage of Meghan’s Oprah Winfrey interview with GMB weatherman Alex Beresford.
"ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add," the broadcaster said in a statement.
An ITV spokesman refused to deny suggestions that the pregnant royal, 39, had submitted a formal complaint about the former Mirror editor after he told viewers on Monday he "didn’t believe a word" of what she told the US chat show host.
In her two-hour interview with Prince Harry, Meghan claimed she was nearly driven to suicide by life in the Royal family.
Mr Morgan responded on the breakfast TV show he hosts with Susanna Reid by saying: "I don’t believe a word she says. I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report.”
His dismissal of the Duchess’s claim that she "didn’t want to be alive any more" at the lowest point of her royal life was at odds with ITV’s mental health campaign, Britain Get Talking.
Ofcom launched an investigation following more than 41,000 complaints about the remarks after mental health charity Mind said it was "disappointed" by his comments.
It is understood ITV bosses asked Mr Morgan to apologise to the Duchess on Tuesday's show but he refused. The broadcaster bought the rights to the Oprah interview for a rumoured £1 million and its news anchor Tom Bradby also secured an interview with the couple during their Africa tour in October 2019.
The broadcaster suggested he had no regrets about the move on Tuesday night, tweeting: "Thinking of my late, great manager John Ferriter tonight. He'd have told me to do exactly the same thing. @GMB #TrustYourGut".
Mr Morgan also has a contract to write for the MailOnline and Mail on Sunday, the newspaper sued by Meghan after it published a letter she wrote to her father Thomas Markle Snr.
The Duchess’s spokespeople declined to comment.
Piers Morgan breaks cover
Piers Morgan labelled the Duchess of Sussex's comments in her interview with Oprah Winfrey as "contemptible".
Speaking outside his London home after quitting Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, the presenter described his departure from the programme as "amicable", adding: "I had a good chat with ITV and we agreed to disagree."
Morgan added: "I'm just going to take it easy and see how we go.
"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.
"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 that she came out with in that interview, so be it."
Good Morning Britain will be 'very different' without 'Marmite' Morgan
Susanna Reid said Good Morning Britain will be "very different" but "shows go on" as she addressed he former co-host's exit.
Before leaving the show, Morgan had stormed off the set following a heated discussion with his colleague, Alex Beresford, about the duchess.
Reid, opening Wednesday's programme, addressed her former co-star's leaving and nodded to his often divisive presence.
She said: "A number of people will know the news and many of you will not and will be surprised that Piers Morgan is not here this morning.
"Now, Piers and I have disagreed on many things and that dynamic was one of the things viewers loved about the programme.
"He is without doubt an outspoken, challenging, opinionated, disruptive broadcaster.
"He has many critics and he has many fans. You will know that I disagreed with him about Meghan's interview. He himself clarified his comments about her mental health on the show yesterday."
Reid said there are "many voices" on Good Morning Britain and "everyone has their say".
She added: "But now Piers has decided to leave the programme. Some of you may cheer and others may boo.
"He has been my presenting partner, Monday to Wednesday, for more than five years and during Brexit and the pandemic and other issues, he has been a voice for many of you and a voice that many of you have railed against.
"It is certainly going to be very different but shows go on and so on we go."
Ranvir Singh, Reid's co-presenter for the morning, replied: "Well said."
She described Morgan as a "big character" and said "many viewers will be absolutely gutted".
Singh called Morgan "Marmite" and acknowledged his role in Good Morning Britain's success.
During Tuesday's programme, weather presenter Beresford defended Harry and Meghan during his discussion with Morgan.
He told the presenter: "I understand you've got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle, or had one, and she cut you off.
"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."
Ofcom also announced on Tuesday that it was investigating comments Morgan made about the interview.
The watchdog received more than 41,000 complaints about his remarks on Monday's Good Morning Britain.
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