Entertainment

Piers Morgan: The British public backs me over Harry and Meghan

He departed Good Morning Britain following the controversy.
He departed Good Morning Britain following the controversy. He departed Good Morning Britain following the controversy.

Piers Morgan accused the Duke and Duchess of Sussex of “complete hypocrisy” over their interview with Oprah Winfrey and said he has the “universal support” of the British public.

Morgan left his job on Good Morning Britain last month after saying he did not believe what Meghan had told Winfrey.

The duchess said she was ignored when raising concerns about her mental health and that racist comments had been made before the birth of her son, Archie.

Piers Morgan
Piers Morgan Piers Morgan has once again defended his comments on Meghan and Harry (Jonathan Brady/PA)

In his first TV interview since he departed Good Morning Britain, Morgan spoke to US conservative news personality Tucker Carlson and stood by his comments, accusing the couple of the “most extraordinarily disingenuous smear, hit job” on the royal family.

And he said he has the backing of the public. Morgan said: “Old, young, black, white, it didn’t matter. They’ve been coming up to me in their droves all day every day.”

Morgan said people either agree with his comments on Meghan or defended his right to free speech.

“The British people have seen through this,” he told the Tucker Carlson Today programme on the Fox Nation streaming service.

Morgan said he has had a “lot” of job offers since leaving Good Morning Britain and explored the circumstances surrounding his departure.

He briefly walked off the set after a confrontation with weather presenter Alex Beresford.

Morgan described his former colleague as “the stand-in weather guy who does the weather occasionally”.

He added: “He’s not a journalist. But he’s somebody I’ve helped with his career a number of times when he’s asked me to.”

Morgan accused Beresford of a “premeditated attack… on a personal level”.

He said he should not have walked off the set. And Morgan addressed his former Good Morning Britain co-host Susanna Reid’s on-air statement regarding his departure.

He said he “didn’t particularly like it”, but suggested she was “in the grip of fear”.

Morgan added: “I honestly think she was in the grip of fear. I think she was fearful that if she went too far in saying nice things about me, the same thing might happen to her, that there would be a huge Twitter pile on.”

Oprah Winfrey interviews Duke and Duchess of Sussex
Oprah Winfrey interviews Duke and Duchess of Sussex The Duke and Duchess of Sussex made a string of allegations against the royal family in their interview with Oprah Winfrey (Yui Mok/PA)

In his interview with Carlson, which lasted for more than an hour, Morgan described Meghan, who rose to fame starring in TV drama Suits, as the “delusional duchess who is on the make”.

Criticising the couple for their commercial deals with the likes of Spotify and Netflix, Morgan said, “they’re not making all this money through talent – Meghan was an OK actress on a show not many people watched”.

And of Harry, Morgan praised his work in the Armed Forces, before adding: “What’s happened to that guy? That he’s turned into this whiny brat in his mid-30s complaining his dad isn’t still financing everything he does.”

Asked by Carlson what the future holds for the duke, 36, and duchess, 39, Morgan said: “She has a track record of ditching everyone and everything when they cease to be of use to her so my advice to Harry is make sure you remain of use.

Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Harry and Meghan sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry (PA)

“And his primary use, it seems to me, is he has a royal title and she has been ruthlessly exploiting that title to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.”

He accused the couple of telling “so many ridiculous whoppers” in their March interview with Winfrey and dismissed claims he was racist for not believing them.

He said the interview was “tacky, tasteless, disingenuous, and I’m afraid, I believe, in some cases, downright lying on a global scale”.

And Morgan used his appearance on Carlson’s show to rail against what he described as the “woke mob” and urged the public to “stand up and say ‘no'”.

He pointed to Sharon Osbourne’s recent departure from a US chat show as an example of so-called cancel culture.

Osbourne left The Talk after defending Morgan against allegations of racism over his comments on Meghan.