ITV will not rehire Piers Morgan for GMB: ‘Piers decided to leave’

As we discussed, Piers Morgan was “cleared” in the months-long Ofcom investigation into the some-odd 57,000 complaints filed against him for his final days on Good Morning Britain. Piers was on-air on GMB on the days following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Oprah interview, and Piers predictably had vile things to say about Meghan, racism, etc. I’m not going to parse the Ofcom ruling because I truly have no idea how Ofcom works or what the broadcasting standards are in the UK, but from where I sit, Ofcom basically just confirmed that Piers has the right to whatever vile speech he wants, and that he’s allowed to make ad hominem attacks and engage in whatever character assassination he wants, so long as there’s some kind of “balance.”

The Daily Mail dutifully published a hysterical screed by Piers wherein he attacked Meghan once again and also “demanded” his job back. The Mail also published a series of statements from other broadcasters and journalists calling Ofcom’s decision a victory for free speech. So will Piers get his job back? Apparently not, lol:

A row is developing between Piers Morgan and ITV tonight after sources at the channel said he would not be getting his job at GMB back – despite being cleared by Ofcom over criticism of Meghan Markle that led to him being forced out. A string of broadcasters have come out in support of Piers, and ITV’s left-leaning former Guardian chief CEO Dame Carolyn McCall is under pressure to explain why she forced him out in March hours after the Duchess of Sussex complained to her directly and allegedly demanded his ‘head on a plate’, Mr Morgan said in his column.

However, the channel issued a statement today claiming that it was Mr Morgan’s GMB co-panelists’ discussion and contextualisation of the comments that cleared him – and said nothing about the presenter’s right to express an honestly held opinion.

ITV also revealed they ‘have no current plans to invite him to present Good Morning Britain’. A source said: ‘Piers decided to leave. We accepted his decision’.

It comes as Mr Morgan revealed the number of job offers he has received since leaving ITV’s flagship breakfast show has ‘accelerated’ since he was found not to have breach Ofcom’s broadcasting code.

Speaking to the Sun, he slammed the Duchess of Sussex as the ‘Queen of Woke’ and described her as a ‘whiny, forked-tounge actress’.

Mr Morgan said: ‘The woke brigade think they can vilify, shame, silence and get fired anyone who has an opinion they don’t like. Meghan Markle is the queen of this culture, who personally sought to have me lose my job — and succeeded. Why are she and Prince Harry entitled to have their opinion but I’m not entitled to mine?’

He immediately hit back at ITV’s statement for ignoring the central thrust of Ofcom’s conclusion, stating that he was ‘entitled to say he disbelieved the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s allegations and to hold and express strong views that rigorously challenged their account .

He said today: ‘Hmmm, ITV have just put out a statement saying I only won the ⁦Ofcom⁩ case against Princess Pinocchio because my colleagues expressed different opinions to mine. That’s not what the ⁦Ofcom⁩ report says in its conclusion. I suggest ITV reads it again.’

[From The Daily Mail]

It sounds to me like Piers was already massively unpopular within ITV and Good Morning Britain, and that ITV’s argument is basically “he quit, we didn’t fire him, but we’ll hold him to his choice.” While Piers brought viewers to GMB, were they the viewers advertisers wanted? It feels like Piers simply appeals to “Little Britain” racists and Brexiters, not the demographic any TV show or TV station wants. Plus, I truly believe that ITV corporate probably just had a fundamental moral problem with continuing to give Piers a platform to spew hatred. Fox News said “wait what??”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Source: Read Full Article