Piers Morgan is leaving his hosting job at Good Morning Britain, following controversial comments he made about Meghan Markle’s mental health.
Deadline reports that Morgan’s resignation came after UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom announced that it would investigate the former CNN anchor and Good Morning Britain to determine if he violated broadcasting rules with his comments. Remarks he made on Monday’s show about Markle’s revelation that she was suicidal drew over 41,000 complaints from viewers.
“Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add,” an ITV spokeswoman said in a statement.
On the morning after Markle’s explosive interview with Oprah, Morgan said he didn’t believe that Markle experienced suicidal ideation. “I don’t believe a word she says, Meghan Markle. I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report,” he said. His co-host, Susanna Reid, called Morgan’s reaction “pathetic.”
Morgan addressed his comments on Tuesday’s show. “When we talked about this yesterday, I said an all-encompassing thing I still don’t believe what Megham Markle says generally in this interview and I have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said. But let me just state my position on mental illness and on suicide,” he said. “On mental illness and suicide, these are clearly extremely serious things and should be taken extremely seriously and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and the help that they need every time. Every time. And if they belong to an institution like the royal family they should seek that help and be given it. It’s not for me to question if she felt suicidal I am not in her mind and that is for her to say.”
But things didn’t end there. After being harshly criticized by co-host Alex Beresford, Morgan stormed off the set.
After calling Morgan’s behavior “diabolical,” Beresford tweeted about the incident.
