ITV director 'is fighting to REHIRE Piers Morgan'

Is the door ajar for Piers Morgan at GMB? ITV Director of TV Kevin Lygo ‘is fighting to REHIRE the presenter’ as viewers sign petitions to get him back on air after his tirade at Meghan Markle’s Oprah lies was CLEARED by Ofcom

Ofcom yesterday cleared Piers Morgan and Good Morning Britain of breaching the broadcasting code
But ITV admits there are ‘no plans’ to bring Piers Morgan back to its flagship breakfast show that he hosted
The channel’s director of TV Kevin Lygo said to be fighting a ‘one-man mission’ to bring him back to the show
Mr Morgan revealed job offers he has received ‘accelerated’ since he was found not to have breached code
Mr Morgan dismissed Meghan Markle’s claims about suffering racism and being suicidal as a serving royal
He said: ‘I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word she says. I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report’
More than 57,000 people including the Duchess of Sussex complained to Ofcom about the GMB presenter
Regulator rejected complaints on racism, being unsuitable to children, as well as suicide and mental health
Ofcom has ruled the programmes on March 8 and 9 ‘contained sufficient challenge’ and protected viewers
ITV’s CEO Dame Carolyn McCall is under pressure to explain why she failed to defend the star broadcaster
Mr Morgan claims that Meghan contacted his boss and implored action as both were ‘women and mothers’

The presenter’s former ITV colleagues and a string of respected broadcasters yesterday hailed the regulator’s ruling confirming his right to free speech after dismissing more than 57,000 complaints about his criticism of Meghan Markle including ‘not believing a word’ she told Oprah Winfrey about her experiences of suicidal thoughts.

Last night The Sun reported that ITV’s director of television Kevin Lygo, described as a ‘big fan’ of Mr Morgan, was on a ‘one-man mission’ to bring him back, although an insider said he was currently ‘fighting a losing battle internally’.

The development came after the UK’s broadcasting watchdog called attempts to silence MailOnline columnist Mr Morgan a ‘chilling restriction on freedom of expression’ after the Duchess of Sussex was among a wave of people who complained that his questioning of her account of royal racism and suicidal thoughts was ‘harmful’ and ‘offensive’ to viewers.

Following the announcement however, ITV revealed they ‘have no current plans to invite him to present Good Morning Britain’, with one source saying: ‘Piers decided to leave. We accepted his decision.’

The Sun said that despite My Lygo’s lobbying, Good Morning Britain bosses viewed there being a ‘slim to no chance’ that Mr Morgan would return to the ITV show, which he quit in the aftermath of the coverage of Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview which Ofcom went on to investigate.

It remains to be seen if other hosting roles at the network could be made available.

Speaking about losing his GMB job yesterday after the Ofcom decision, Mr Morgan said: ‘I didn’t want to lose my job in the first place, but I only really want to work for someone who supports freedom of speech and free expression, and I felt frankly that ITV let me down and let their viewers down.’

Petitions to have Mr Morgan reinstated in his GMB role are still being signed, with three different appeals on Change.org reaching a collective total of 264,201 signatures.

Executives at ITV are currently hunting for a potential permanent replacement as the programme struggles with viewer figures. It is believed Martin Lewis and Richard Bacon are among the favourites.

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-tongued 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?’

Questions remained last night over whether there is still a ‘slim chance’ that Piers Morgan could return to host Good Morning Britain after he was triumphantly cleared of breaching broadcasting rules by Ofcom for comments he made in a debate over Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview on March 8 (pictured)

More than 57,000 people – including Meghan – contacted the regulator after the former Good Morning Britain presenter said he didn’t believe the Duchess’s claims about experiencing suicidal thoughts when she lived at Kensington Palace

Mr Morgan, pictured alongside his wife Celia, quoted former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in his latest Instagram post

Piers Morgan leaves home in West London on Wednesday evening with wife Celia to attend the GQ awards at Tate Modern

ITV’s former Guardian chief CEO Dame Carolyn McCall (left) was last night also under pressure to explain why she forced Mr Morgan out in March, while it was also reported that ITV’s director of television Kevin Lygo (right), described as a ‘big fan’ of Mr Morgan, was on a ‘one-man mission’ to bring him back to GMB

GMB overtook BBC Breakfast in its ratings war on the day Piers Morgan resigned – and the ratings gap appears to be growing. BBC Breakfast is the yellow line, GMB is the blue

Petitions to have Mr Morgan reinstated in his GMB role are still being signed, with three different appeals on Change.org reaching a collective total of 264,201 signatures

The 56-year-old host then shocked viewers by walking off camera during a heated on-air row with weatherman Alex Beresford, before quitting the programme hours later after refusing to apologise

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 yesterday: ‘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.’

ITV’s left-leaning former Guardian chief CEO Dame Carolyn McCall is also 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.

Piers Morgan’s ITV colleagues and a string of respected broadcasters yesterday hailed Ofcom’s ruling confirming his right to free speech after the watchdog dismissed 57,000 complaints about his criticism of Meghan Markle.

Senior British journalists have declared that the judgment meant a ‘pillar of our freedom’ in the UK had been ‘reinforced’.

Mr Morgan wrote in a MailOnline column yesterday: ‘I’m delighted that Ofcom has so emphatically supported my right to disbelieve the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s incendiary claims to Oprah Winfrey, many of which have since been proved to be untrue. This is a resounding victory for free speech and a resounding defeat for Princess Pinocchios. In light of this decision – do I get my job back?’

He added in his column: ‘I was reliably informed recently that Meghan Markle wrote directly to my ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall the night before I was forced out, demanding my head on a plate.

‘Apparently, she stressed that she was writing to Dame Carolyn personally because they were both women and mothers – a nauseating playing of the gender and maternity card if ever there was one. What has the world come to when a whiny fork-tongued actress can dictate who presents a morning television news programme?’

Ofcom yesterday found no rules were breached and backed Mr Morgan’s right to ‘rigorously challenge’ the Duchess’s account of suffering suicidal thoughts and claims she experienced racism at the hands of the Royal Family. The decision has led to a flurry of calls demanding he is given his job back, with fans using the hashtag #bringbackpiers claiming the show is ‘dying a slow death without him’.

In complete vindication for the journalist, 56, Ofcom ruled: ‘Mr Morgan 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’.

And in a damning indictment of his former bosses and the 50,000-plus people who complained, the watchdog found: ‘The restriction of such views would, in our view, be an unwarranted and chilling restriction on freedom of expression both of the broadcaster and the audience.

Mr Morgan immediately hit back at ITV’s statement for ignoring the central thrust of Ofcom’s conclusion amid calls for him to be reinstated on their flagship GMB programme

Broadcasters praised Ofcom’s decision and said the ruling protects freedom of speech in Britain and the ability of presenters to be ‘sceptical’ about claims made by ‘the rich and powerful’

‘Overall, Ofcom considered that there is a high public interest value in broadcasting open and frank discussions about race and racism, as long as they comply with the Code.

‘We also considered that the Interview between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Oprah Winfrey contained serious allegations and it was legitimate for this Programme to discuss and scrutinise those claims’.

Mr Morgan insisted he would continue to lead the charge against ‘insidious cancel culture’, reports the Sun.

What Ofcom said about the complaints about Piers Morgan and GMB

What Ofcom said about allegations that Piers Morgan’s opinions about Meghan Markle’s Oprah interview were ‘harmful and offensive’:

‘The Interview between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Oprah Winfrey contained serious allegations and it was legitimate for this Programme to discuss and scrutinise those claims including their veracity. Ofcom is clear that, consistent with freedom of expression, Mr Morgan 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. The Code allows for individuals to express strongly held and robustly argued views, including those that are potentially harmful or highly offensive, and for broadcasters to include these in their programming. The restriction of such views would, in our view, be an unwarranted and chilling restriction on freedom of expression both of the broadcaster and the audience.

However, in instances where such viewpoints carry a potential for harm or offence, it is the responsibility of the Licensee to ensure that adequate protection from harm and sufficient context is provided’.

Among the other 57,000 complaints, not upheld by Ofcom, were:

The Programme incited hatred and racism;
Comments made by Piers Morgan were not duly impartial;
Susanna Reid did not do enough to challenge Mr Morgan’s views;
Mr Morgan was only giving his opinion, which is a right under freedom of expression;
The content misrepresented facts by selectively showing newspaper front pages;
Mr Morgan mocked the American accent, which is offensive;
The combative tone of the programme was not suitably scheduled for child viewers

He told the newspaper: ‘This is a woman who smeared the Royal Family when Prince Philip was ill in hospital and later died.

‘She is a woman who has caused the Queen appalling, extra aggravation as she buried her husband.

‘And for me to be accused of being racist for simply disbelieving two people — who we now know said many untrue things in that Oprah interview — is outrageous.

‘Absolutely nothing I’ve ever said about Meghan Markle has anything to do with the colour of her skin. That slur made me very angry.

‘This cancel culture is a form of fascism that has to end.

‘I intend to continue leading the campaign against this insidious cancel culture, and to promote freedom of speech and freedom of expression.’

Mr Morgan also said the number of job offers he has received ‘accelerated’ after his comments about the Duchess of Sussex were found not to have breached Ofcom’s broadcasting code.

Speaking outside his home following the broadcasting watchdog’s ruling on Good Morning Britain, he said: ‘I have had loads of offers and they have accelerated in the last 10 hours, as you can imagine, and I will take my free speech campaign around the world and all I require is to have an employer who believes in it as passionately as I do.’

Morgan said the rise in Good Morning Britain’s ratings during his stint on the programme means he is a ‘valuable commodity’, adding: ‘I’m considering some very interesting offers right now and I will make a decision quite soon.

‘This is a landmark ruling by Ofcom today. This is Ofcom saying I and any other broadcaster is entitled to say to a public figure, “I don’t believe you”.

‘Because if they had gone the other way and said I had to believe Meghan Markle even when she was lying, where does that leave us with Government ministers who I was challenging during the pandemic?’

Reacting to yesterday’s ruling, which will infuriate the Sussexes, ITV News royal editor Chris Ship, who appeared on one of the shows that attracted 57,000 complaints, tweeted: ‘So what does ITV do about Piers Morgan’s job at Good Morning Britain now Ofcom has cleared him and the TV network of a breach of the broadcasting code?’

Mr Morgan’s former co-host Susanna Reid, who remains the star of GMB, has not commented publicly but retweeted the Ofcom report in a show of tacit support for her friend who was forced to quit after ITV’s left-leaning former Guardian chief CEO Dame Carolyn McCall ordered him to apologise.

Veteran broadcaster Bill Neely, who has worked for the BBC, ITV and most recently as NBC’s Chief Global Correspondent tweeted Mr Morgan and said: ‘Congratulations. Important ruling for you and for the whole of broadcasting in the U.K. A pillar of our freedom reinforced’.

Sky News’ Editor at Large Adam Boulton wrote: ‘Ofcom is doing a splendid job standing up for freedom of speech and presenters’ right to be sceptical of the rich and powerful’. MailOnline journalist and GB News host Dan Wootton said: ‘Piers Morgan rightly cleared by Ofcom. Freedom of speech wins the day! And woke ITV ruined their own hit breakfast show in the process. Wouldn’t want to be Harry waking up next to Meghan in Montecito in the morning when she picks up her phone’.

But in its statement yesterday ITV claimed that it was its ‘editorial decisions’ that led to the ruling that Good Morning Britain was not in breach of the broadcasting code over Piers Morgan’s controversial comments about the Duchess of Sussex.

The broadcaster said in a statement: ‘We welcome the Ofcom ruling that Good Morning Britain did not breach the broadcast standards relating to harm and offence.

Pressure on ITV’s ‘leftie luvvie’ £900,000-a-year CEO Dame Carolyn McCall who defended Love Island and Jeremy Kyle – but not Piers Morgan

Left-leaning former Guardian boss Dame Carolyn McCall joined ITV as chief executive on £900,000-a-year in January 2018.

As well as earning a near seven figure salary, she is eligible for an annual bonus to a maximum of 180 per cent of salary, a long-term incentive plan up to 265 per cent of salary and a generous 15 per cent pension allowance.

The mother-of-three – one of just seven female FTSE 100 bosses – was with easyJet for seven years after previously running the Guardian Media Group.

Gordon Brown and Labour handed her an OBE for services to women in business in 2008 and won a Damehood in 2016 while boss of budget airline easyJet.

At the time rival Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary dismissed her as ‘some old media luvvie’ due to her lack of airline experience.

Dame Carolyn, worked her way up in the media company after starting as a research planner and became a close ally of former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger.

The pair built up the paper’s website but were criticised for failing to make it profitable.

Since joining ITV she has also been rocked by a series of scandals, including the cancellation of the Jeremy Kyle Show after a suicide.

She was dragged before MPs last year (pictured) and insisted guests gave ‘informed consent’ and knew the nature of the programme they were appearing on.

When accused of broadcasting a ‘human freak show’, she said: ‘It was adults, they went through a screening and vetting process, they went through quite a lot of hoops before they went on that show.’

Ms McCall also said she would be comfortable with her children appearing on Love Island.

She left easyJet after Adam Crozier stepped down as ITV boss at the end of June of 2017. Ms McCall has also held a non-executive director post at Burberry, sat on the board of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and is a Trustee at the Royal Academy.

‘The ruling sets out clearly that it was the balance and context the programme makers provided which was key in mitigating against the potential for harm and offence which could have been caused by Piers Morgan’s comments.

‘It is because of the programme’s editorial decisions and the opposing views which were forcefully expressed by other presenters and guests that the programme did not breach Ofcom’s rules.’

But Mr Morgan has dismissed ITV’s reasoning – and tweeted: ‘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.’

Within 48 hours of the Oprah interview on March 7 this year, Mr Morgan was forced to quit GMB after he refused to apologise for his ‘honestly held opinions’, costing ITV around 790,000 viewers and millions more in advertising revenue with the ratings gap between GMB and rival BBC Breakfast still growing. On the day Piers quit, GMB was in the lead.

Other complainants to Ofcom accused Piers of failing to be ‘duly impartial’, ‘misrepresenting facts’ and ‘mocking’ Meghan’s American accent. Complaints that his views on GMB on March 8 and March 9 were unsuitable for children were also thrown out.

Mr Morgan this evening took to Instagram to share a quote from Prime Minister Winston Churchill,

He wrote: ‘Everyone is in favour of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.’

In what is being hailed as a victory for free speech, Wednesday’s Ofcom report found:

The Interview between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Oprah Winfrey contained serious allegations and it was legitimate for Good Morning Britain to discuss and scrutinise those claims including their veracity;
Piers Morgan 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;
The restriction of Mr Morgan’s views would be an unwarranted and chilling restriction on freedom of expression both of ITV and the audience;

Royal biographer Angela Levin, author of 2018 book Harry: Conversations with the Prince, said yesterday: ‘Marvellous result from Ofcom that Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah can be criticised. Upbeat for freedom of expression. I also wonder if Piers Morgan will get his job back.’

Royal expert Robert Jobson said: ‘Well done Piers Morgan on the Ofcom decision. A victory for common sense and free speech.’

One Tory MP welcomed the decision and said: ‘It is a question of free speech. He [Piers] shouldn’t be censored for what he says. I think the views he expresses, many people in the country would probably agree with.

‘It is common sense: You don’t have to like what he says but he has a right to say it.’

They added: ‘I would be extremely nervous if a regulator was stopping people on TV saying what they thought.’

This morning’s ruling is highly damaging and embarrassing to ITV who face questions over its failure to protect the free speech of its star presenter, who quit 48 hours later after the former Suits actress complained directly to chief executive Carolyn McCall who ordered him to apologise.

The Duchess of Sussex told tens of millions of people that an unnamed royal was racist towards Archie, said Kate Middleton made her cry in a row over bridesmaids dresses and accused Buckingham Palace of ignoring her pleas for help when she was pregnant and suicidal.

Human rights lawyer pours scorn on Omid Scobie’s claim that Ofcom could have breached the Human Rights Act

Royal author Omid Scobie’s suggestion that Ofcom could have broken the Human Rights Act by clearing Piers Morgan over his comments about Meghan Markle was yesterday dismissed by a legal expert.

The watchdog found Good Morning Britain was not in breach of its code after Mr Morgan said that he ‘didn’t believe a word’ of what Meghan told Oprah Winfrey.

But Mr Scobie said he questioned the decision because ‘freedom of expression’ under the 1998 Act is subject to the restriction of ‘protection of health or morals’.

However, a human rights barrister insisted Mr Morgan is not a public authority so is not himself bound by the Human Rights Act, and therefore cannot have breached it. Adam Wagner, of Doughty Street Chambers in London, added that Ofcom had not breached its duties under the Act after it gave a ‘detailed and reasoned’ response.

Mr Scobie, who co-authored Prince Harry and Meghan’s biography Finding Freedom, is a trusted media contact of the Sussexes and often defends them in the public eye.

Mr Scobie tweeted last night: ‘Under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act 1998, freedom of speech ensures everyone in UK ‘has the right to freedom of expression.’

‘But it is not absolute – that freedom can also be subject to laws and ‘formalities, conditions, restrictions… necessary in a democratic society’. One of those restrictions is ‘protection of health or morals’, which makes me question Ofcom’s decision.

‘While everyone should be free to express opinion on public figures, discrediting a person’s mental health issues on TV reinforced a dangerous stigma and put others at risk.’

Replying to a comment by one of his 71,000 followers, Mr Scobie later added: ‘It sets a worrying precedent for Ofcom to be giving the nod to this kind of commentary.’

In the hours after the interview aired in the US, which ‘exploded’ Harry and Meghan’s relationship with the Royal Family, Mr Morgan told Good Morning Britain viewers: ‘I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word she says. I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report. The fact she has expressed an onslaught against our Royal Family is contemptible’. And on her claims she told palace officials she ‘didn’t want to be alive anymore’, Piers asked: ‘Who did you go to? What did they say?’.

Mr Morgan also said on the breakfast news show, whose ratings he transformed during his six years as presenter, that Meghan had ‘scripted in’ discussions on mental health and race that could ‘be played against the Royal Family’.

At the time of the interview, The Times reported that palace staff had accused Meghan of being a bully.

Mr Morgan said: ‘Her camp immediately said: ‘They can’t be believed. Those victims can’t be believed’. And yet we’re supposed to believe everything Meghan Markle now says about her own terrible ordeal of bullying and racism and all the rest of it? You can’t have it both ways. We’re not allowed to believe the apparent victims of her own bullying, but we have to believe everything she says’.

More than 57,000 viewers complained to Ofcom after the presenter’s gave his view on Meghan’s performance. Hours later ITV executive Kevin Lygo is said to have told off Piers before the channel’s chief executive Ms McCall, the former boss of the left-wing Guardian newspaper, sided with the duchess in a public statement and said: ‘I completely believe what she [Meghan] said’.

The following day he then shocked viewers by walking off camera during a heated on-air row with weatherman Alex Beresford who accused him of unfairly ‘trashing’ Meghan. Piers quit the programme hours later.

Mr Morgan is understood to have again been ordered to apologise – but he refused and quit instead saying he had the right to tell viewers his ‘honestly held opinions’ and declaring: ‘Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on’.

Ofcom’s ruling said: ‘Mr Morgan 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. The Code allows for individuals to express strongly held and robustly argued views, including those that are potentially harmful or highly offensive, and for broadcasters to include these in their programming. The restriction of such views would, in our view, be an unwarranted and chilling restriction on freedom of expression both of the broadcaster and the audience.

‘Overall, Ofcom considered that there is a high public interest value in broadcasting open and frank discussions about race and racism, as long as they comply with the Code. As set out above, we also considered that the Interview between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Oprah Winfrey contained serious allegations and it was legitimate for this Programme to discuss and scrutinise those claims.

‘The restriction of such views would, in our view, be an unwarranted and chilling restriction on freedom of expression both of the broadcaster and the audience

‘Ofcom is clear that, consistent with freedom of expression, Mr Morgan 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’.

Piers Morgan said his win was a ‘resounding victory for free speech’ and asked if he would be getting his GMB job back

Fans have urged ITV to ‘do the right thing’ and get the star back on their show

Mr Morgan’s former co-host Susanna Reid retweeted the Ofcom result yesterday in tacit support of her friend

Ms Reid (left yesterday) and ITV Royal Editor Chris Ship (right) were also cited in yesterday’s report as challenging Mr Morgan and giving context in the debate on the Oprah interview

How Piers Morgan was forced off GMB after his criticism of Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview

Sunday March 7 2021:

1am GMT: Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey is broadcast – rocking the Royal Family with allegations of racism towards Archie, claims they ignored the Duchess of Sussex’s suicidal feelings and that they were cut off financially by Prince Charles

Monday March 8:

6am: Hours after the broadcast in the US, Piers Morgan hosted Good Morning Britain.

Reacting to the show he said: ‘This is a two-hour trashathon of our royal family, of the monarchy and everything our queen has worked so hard for and it’s all been done while Prince Philip lies in hospital.

‘They trash everybody. They basically make out our Royal family are a bunch of white supremacists by this race bombshell. They didn’t name any which one it was, they just throw it out there so it could be anybody. Well, you better say it fast.

‘Who did you go to? What did they say to you? I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word she said, Meghan Markle. I wouldn’t believe it if she read me weather report. The fact that she’s fired up this onslaught against our Royal family I think is contemptible,’ he said.

9pm: Millions in the UK watch the show when it is shown on ITV, who paid £1million to broadcast it.

Tuesday March 9

8am: Piers Morgan storms off the Good Morning Britain set live on air after the show’s weatherman Alex Beresford accused him of unfairly ‘trashing’ Meghan Markle.

They had been discussing the Sussexes’ bombshell interview with Oprah, where the couple accused the Royal Family of racism.

Morgan, stood up and said: ‘Ok, I’m done with this. Sorry. You can trash me mate but not on my own show. See you later’. As the GMB host marched off, Beresford persisted: ‘You know what that’s diabolical behaviour. That’s pathetic’.

After a hasty ad break, Morgan returned and said: ‘What we need to do Alex is talk to each other in a civilised manner given we work on the same show on the same team. You launching into a pretty personally derogatory monologue on one of your colleagues probably isn’t one of the best ways to go about it’.

1pm: TV boss Carolyn McCall publicly refused to deny Piers Morgan could lose his job on Good Morning Britain over his comments about Meghan Markle. She said: ‘We are dealing with that as we speak’. Dame Carolyn also threw her support behind Meghan as she ‘completely believe what she said’ about her mental health.

6pm: Piers Morgan quits Good Morning Britain with immediate effect having refused to apologise because of freedom of speech.

The episode on March 8 became the most complained about moment in the watchdog’s history, with more than 50,000 people complaining.

And later it emerged that Meghan had made a formal complaint to ITV about Morgan.

Morgan’s comments were criticised by mental health charity Mind and Ofcom has said a significant number of the complaints claimed his remarks could potentially dissuade viewers experiencing suicidal thoughts of their own from seeking help, for fear of not being believed or taken seriously.

Viewers accused Mr Morgan of ‘harmful rhetoric’ that ‘made a mockery of suicide’ and of ‘belittling’ the Duchess of Sussex’s personal account of experiences of racism.

But on Wednesday the regulator announced that the programme had not breached the broadcasting code.

In a 26-page decision summary, Ofcom said that the programme ‘contained statements about suicide and mental health’ which could be ‘harmful and highly offensive’ but that there was ‘sufficient challenge to provide adequate protection and context to its viewers’.

It continued: ‘We also considered that the comments about race in the programme could have been potentially highly offensive, but that the comments were sufficiently contextualised.

‘Therefore, our Decision is that the programme did not breach the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.’

Mr Morgan no longer works on GMB, having quit the ITV show on the evening of March 9 shortly after Ofcom launched its investigation under its harm and offence rules. His departure was announced by ITV’s director of television Kevin Lygo.

Since then Good Morning Britain’s ratings have plunged as the show has failed to find a replacement host with a string of stand-in appearances.

The ruling by Ofcom puts CEO Carolyn McCall – formerly of the left-wing Guardian newspaper – under pressure to explain why she did not stick by Mr Morgan, a decision which has cost the station millions.

The report covers Good Morning Britain’s shows on the mornings of March 8 and 9 which were presented by Mr Morgan and co-host Susanna Reid, with the first episode coming hours after the Oprah interview with the Sussexes aired.

It focuses heavily on part of the opening discussion from March 8 in which the hosts play a clip of Meghan talking about having suicidal thoughts.

In the CBS interview, which also aired on ITV later, the Duchess of Sussex tells Oprah ‘I just didn’t want to be alive anymore’, that these suicidal thoughts were ‘very, very clear’ and ‘I needed to go somewhere to get help’.

Going back to the studio for reaction, Mr Morgan responded to the clip saying: ‘I don’t believe a word she says, Meghan Markle. I wouldn’t believe it if she read me the weather report.’

Ms Reid hit back at Mr Morgan, saying: ‘Well that’s a pretty unsympathetic reaction to someone who has expressed those thoughts,’ adding that the comments could not be ‘brushed over’.

Ofcom said Mr Morgan appeared to ‘disbelieve’ what Meghan had said on having suicidal thoughts, adding that they had ‘concerns audience members may have been discouraged from seeking help about their mental health’.

However in their ruling, the regulator said Mr Morgan’s opinion was clearly challenged in interventions by Ms Reid and ITV’s Royal Editor Chris Ship.

ITV faces backlash after Ofcom cleared Piers Morgan for his criticism of Meghan Markle’s Oprah interview as calls grow for presenter to return to GMB

‘Woke’ bosses at ITV were criticised last night after Ofcom ruled Piers Morgan did not breach its broadcasting code with his criticism of Meghan Markle.

The regulator cleared Mr Morgan over his comments about the Duchess of Sussex, which sparked more than 50,000 complaints, following her Oprah Winfrey interview.

And ITV were accused of ‘ruining their own hit breakfast show’ six months after the row in March which saw him quit the programme after six years.

Others said it was ‘very disappointing’ that Meghan ‘made ITV roll over with one phone call’ after she made a formal complaint about the broadcast.

Viewers called on ITV to ‘bring back Piers’, urging them to ‘see sense’ and ‘do the right thing’ – while MailOnline columnist Dan Wootton led criticism of the channel.

He said yesterday: ‘Piers Morgan rightly cleared by Ofcom. Freedom of speech wins the day! And woke ITV ruined their own hit breakfast show in the process.

‘Wouldn’t want to be Harry waking up next to Meghan in Montecito in the morning when she picks up her phone.’

Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie said: ‘Great news for Piers Morgan as Ofcom clear him over his Meghan Truths on GMB. He told it like it is. Bloody nose for CEO Carolyn McCall who forced him out. Well said Ofcom for backing free speech.’

Presenter India Willoughby added: ‘At the end of the day, Piers Morgan was right. The fact Meghan MarkUp made ITV roll over with one phone call – very disappointing.’

Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, told talkRADIO yesterday: ‘The idea that anyone who criticises Meghan Markle must be racist and that any criticism of her is a form of racism is just ridiculous.’

Ofcom said it approached ITV for a comment on their preliminary view that the show was not in breach of the code, but the corporation declined to comment.

In concluding remarks, Ofcom added: ‘We were particularly concerned about Mr Morgan’s approach to such an important and serious issue and his apparent disregard for the seriousness of anyone expressing suicidal thoughts.

‘Had it not been for the extensive challenge offered throughout the Programme by Ms Reid and Mr Ship, we would have been seriously concerned.’

Ofcom said yesterday that Piers Morgan’s comments on the Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey were ‘potentially harmful and offensive’ but ruled Good Morning Britain was not in breach the broadcasting code.

An Ofcom spokesman said: ‘This was a finely-balanced decision. Mr Morgan’s comments were potentially harmful and offensive to viewers, and we recognise the strong public reaction to them. But we also took full account of freedom of expression. Under our rules, broadcasters can include controversial opinions as part of legitimate debate in the public interest, and the strong challenge to Mr Morgan from other contributors provided important context for viewers.

‘Nonetheless, we’ve reminded ITV to take greater care around content discussing mental health and suicide in future. ITV might consider the use of timely warnings or signposting of support services to ensure viewers are properly protected.’

Ofcom also received 802 messages that expressed support for Mr Morgan and objected to his ‘removal’ from Good Morning Britain.

Ofcom added that they approached ITV for a comment on their preliminary view that the programme was not in breach of the code, but the corporation declined to comment.

Mr Morgan however gave a personal response to the preliminary decision, saying that views that ‘had the potential to be offensive also had the potential not to be’ and it would not be right for Ofcom to ‘shut down’ alternative points of view.

He added it was ‘perfectly reasonable’ for a journalist to ask a question regarding discussions in bi-racial families about the skin colour of an unborn child in an appropriate context – a reference to Harry and Meghan’s claim that one royal asked ‘how dark’ their child’s skin would be.

Within days of Mr Morgan quitting the show, nearly 200,000 people had signed petitions demanding he be reinstated to his presenter role.

Mr Morgan responded to the soaring petitions on Twitter, writing that although the support came as a ‘pleasant surprise’ he would not be returning to GMB.

It later emerged that Ms Markle had herself made a formal complaint to Ofcom about the TV host after he dismissed her account of suffering suicidal thoughts and experiencing racism at the hands of the royal family.

The interview in which she made the claims to interviewer Oprah Winfrey received 4,398 complaints.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of the mental health charity Mind, which had previously criticised Mr Morgan’s comments, said yesterday: ‘Today’s ruling by Ofcom found that, although Good Morning Britain was not in breach of its broadcasting rules, Piers Morgan’s comments during the programme were potentially harmful and offensive to viewers.

‘Ofcom’s ruling also stated the need for broadcasters to take particular care over how mental health as a subject is presented to audiences, so as ‘not to convey a message that sharing experiences of poor mental health could be met with disbelief, derision, or a lack of sympathy’.

Since Mr Morgan’s departure, Good Morning Britain’s ratings have plunged as the show has failed to find a successful replacement host with a string of stand-in appearances

PIERS MORGAN: Ofcom’s vindication of me is a resounding victory for freedom of speech and a resounding defeat for Princess Pinocchios who think we should all be compelled to believe every fork-tongued word they say – now, do I get my GMB job back?

‘Everyone is in favour of free speech,’ said Winston Churchill, ‘but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone else says anything back, that is an outrage.’

He could have been talking about Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, two people who think they have both the right to drop endless incendiary unsubstantiated bombshells about their family AND the right to censor and silence anyone who dares to disbelieve or challenge them.

Back in March, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent two hours spray-gunning the Royals to Oprah Winfrey in an explosive interview on prime-time US television.

They claimed a member of the Royal Family had been racist about their son Archie, and that their little boy had been banned from being a Prince because of his skin colour.

Back in March, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex spent two hours spray-gunning the Royals to Oprah Winfrey in an explosive interview on prime-time US television, writes PIERS MORGAN

Hours later on GMB, Piers said he didn’t believe a word Meghan Markle said triggering furious protest from her fans of the couple. Yesterday Ofcom announced that they had rejected all the complaints against Piers

Meghan also claimed that she told several senior Palace officials she was feeling suicidal, but they told her she couldn’t have any treatment because it would be bad for the royal brand.

Oh, and she stated as fact that she and Harry secretly got married three days before their official wedding, in a private ceremony conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

On ITV’s Good Morning Britain a few hours later, I said I didn’t believe a word Meghan Markle said.

This triggered a furious protest from fans of the couple who accused me of being a racist callous misogynist who was belittling Meghan’s ‘lived experience’ of mental health and racism.

But it was simpler than that: I just didn’t believe her.

Not least because it was immediately established that some of her more outlandish claims, like the secret wedding and Archie’s princely ban, were provable nonsense.

As the furore grew, a record number of 57,000 people, including Meghan Markle herself, complained about me to the UK TV government regulator OFCOM.

ITV’s Chief Executive, Dame Carolyn McCall, responded by saying that she believed Meghan’s mental health claims, and I was then told by my employers to either apologise for what I had said or leave the show with immediate effect.

I decided to leave.

As I explained in an article for the Mail on Sunday several weeks later: ‘I wasn’t going to apologise for disbelieving Meghan Markle, because the truth is that I don’t believe Meghan Markle. And in a free democratic society, I should be allowed not to believe someone, and to say that I don’t believe them. That, surely, is the very essence of freedom of speech? If I said I now believed Meghan, I would be lying to the audience, the very thing I’ve accused her of doing.’

Yesterday, in a stunning verdict, Ofcom announced that they agreed with this argument, and rejected every single complaint against me.

Their report is lengthy and detailed, but in the end, it came down to an unequivocal and emphatic endorsement of my right to an opinion.

‘OFCOM is clear that, consistent with freedom of expression, Mr Morgan 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,’ they declared, adding that their Broadcasting Code ‘allows for individuals to express strongly held and robustly argued views, including those that are potentially harmful or highly offensive, and for broadcasters to include these in their programming.’

It concluded: ‘The restriction of such views would, in our view, be an unwarranted and chilling restriction on freedom of expression both of the broadcaster and the audience.’

Chilling… wow.

Ironically, I would imagine that word will prompt a very chilly reaction from the self-satisfied Sussexes as they slurp kale smoothies in their California mansion over breakfast this morning.

Make no mistake, this is a watershed moment in the battle for free speech.

If OFCOM had found against me, that would have signalled the end of every UK TV journalist’s right to express any honestly held opinion on air lest it upset the likes of Meghan Markle.

The whole point of journalism is surely to question and challenge statements from public figures, particularly when no actual evidence is produced to support them?

Five months on from my sudden departure from GMB, at least 17 of Meghan and Harry’s claims in the Oprah interview have now been shown to be false or disingenuous.

The whole point of journalism is surely to question and challenge statements from public figures, particularly when no actual evidence is produced to support them? writes Piers

The poor old Archbishop of Canterbury was even forced to publicly deny he’d conducted a secret marriage ceremony because that would have been a criminal offence and he might have been sent to prison for it.

More pertinently, none of the couple’s most sensational and damaging statements about racism and mental health have yet been supported by a shred of evidence amid furious denials from the Royal Family.

So, my observation that I didn’t believe Meghan Markle is looking stronger by the day. And for the record, I still don’t believe her.

But that’s not really the point.

This is not about me, or Meghan Markle.

It’s about free speech and the right to have an opinion.

We now live in a woke-ravaged era where it’s become a punishable offence to say what you really think about almost anything for fear that someone, somewhere, will be offended.

This insidious ‘cancel culture’ as it’s been termed represents the most serious threat to democracy in my lifetime.

People all over the world are being shamed, vilified, and even fired from their jobs for expressing an opinion that the woke brigade don’t like.

Every day, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook explode with self-righteous judgements handed down by the court of woke public opinion, and the consequence is that debate is being destroyed at the altar of political correctness in a way that would have Churchill turning in his grave.

This was a man who fought off the freedom-muzzling Nazis, for God’s sake!

Yet now people calling themselves ‘liberal’ are behaving like the worst kind of fascists.

That’s why this OFCOM ruling matters so much.

It was preposterous that I had to leave a job I loved because I didn’t believe a demonstrable liar.

But it happened because the corporate world has been cowed into surrendering to the woke mob whenever it bays for blood.

I was reliably informed recently that Meghan Markle wrote directly to my ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall the night before I was forced out, demanding my head on a plate.

Apparently, she stressed that she was writing to Dame Carolyn personally because they were both women and mothers – a nauseating playing of the gender and maternity card if ever there was one.

What has the world come to when a whiny fork-tongued actress can dictate who presents a morning television news programme?

So yes, I’m obviously delighted that OFCOM has supported my right to disbelieve the Sussexes’ lurid claims against the Royal Family, many of which have failed to stand up to even a scintilla of basic scrutiny of the kind that a woefully enabling Oprah should have conducted.

This is a resounding victory for free speech and a resounding defeat for Princess Pinocchios.

As OFCOM determined, to have restricted my right to disbelieve her and Harry would have been ‘chilling.’

And when Meghan and Harry, whose unofficially authorised biography is titled ‘Finding Freedom’, lick their failed censorship wounds yesterday, I suggest they heed the words of George Orwell: ‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’

Just one question remains: does this mean I get my job back?

Ofcom’s ruling in full

Prince Harry lectures world on sharing vaccines from his Montecito mansion telling GQ Awards ‘news and social media misinformation’ creates ‘vaccine hesitancy’ – hours after losing Ofcom bid to censure Piers Morgan (who was in the audience)

ByJacob Thorburn For Mailonline

Prince Harry has blamed ‘those who peddle in lies and fear’ in the news and social media for vaccine hesitancy during a surprise virtual appearance at the GQ Awards.

The Duke of Sussex, 36, delivered a chiding speech urging governments to do more to vaccinate poorer countries, warning ‘until every community can access the vaccine and until every community is connected to trustworthy information about the vaccine, then we are all at risk’.

Speaking from his Montecito mansion more than 5,00 miles away, the beleaguered Prince lectured his star-studded London audience on ‘media misinformation’ and the importance of sharing vaccines.

Harry later presented the Heroes of the Year Award to Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, Professor Catherine Green and the team behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at Wednesday evening’s GQ Awards in London.

In attendance was Piers Morgan, who yesterday won a resounding victory for free speech after regulator Ofcom ruled he had not broken the broadcasting code for his comments on the Duchess of Sussex following her bombshell Oprah interview.

Mr Morgan’s ITV colleagues and a string of respected broadcasters today hailed Ofcom’s ruling confirming his right to free speech after the watchdog dismissed 57,000 complaints about his criticism of Meghan Markle.

Senior British journalists have declared that the judgment meant a ‘pillar of our freedom’ in the UK had been ‘reinforced’.

The Duke of Sussex, speaking at a surprise virtual appearance at the GQ Awards at the Tate Modern in London, delivered a lecturing speech urging governments to do more to vaccinate poorer countries

Prince Harry blamed ‘those who peddle lies and fear’ in the news and on social media for vaccine hesitancy

His comments come hours after Piers Morgan, who was in the audience at the GQ awards in London, won a resounding victory for free speech

Prince Harry said: ‘As people sit in the room with you tonight, more than a third of the global population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.

‘That’s more than five billion shots given around the world so far.

‘It sounds like a major accomplishment and in many ways it is, but there is a huge disparity between who can and cannot access the vaccine.

‘Less than 2% of people in the developing world have received a single dose at this point. And many of the healthcare workers are still not vaccinated.

‘We cannot move forward together unless we address this imbalance as one. At the same time, families around the world are being overwhelmed by masses of misinformation across news media and social media, where those who peddle in lies and fear are creating vaccine hesitancy, which in turn leads to divided communities and eroding trust.

‘This is a system we need to break if we are to overcome Covid-19 and the risk of new variants.’

Harry hailed the team behind the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, who received the heroes of the year award, as ‘heroes of the highest order’ who ‘have done their part’.

‘They are our nation’s pride and we are deeply indebted to their service. For the rest of us, including global governments, pharmaceutical leaders and heads of business, we have to keep doing our part,’ he said.

‘That must include sharing vaccine science and supporting and empowering developing countries with more flexibility. Where you are born should not affect your ability to survive when the drugs and know-how exist to keep you alive and well.’

Piers Morgan and Good Morning Britain have been cleared of breaching broadcasting standards over a heated debate about Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview where he said that he didn’t ‘believe a word she says’ on March 8 (pictured)

The UK’s broadcasting watchdog this morning called attempts to silence the MailOnline columnist a ‘chilling restriction on freedom of expression’ after the Duchess of Sussex was among a wave of people who complained that his questioning of her account of royal racism and suicidal thoughts was ‘harmful’ and ‘offensive’ to viewers.

Ofcom today found no rules were breached and backed Mr Morgan’s right to ‘rigorously challenge’ the Duchess’s account of suffering suicidal thoughts and claims she experienced racism at the hands of the Royal Family. The decision has led to a flurry of calls demanding he is given his job back, with fans using the hashtag #bringbackpiers claiming the show is ‘dying a slow death without him’.

Speaking to the Sun, Mr Morgan 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?’

Mr Morgan immediately hit back at ITV’s statement for ignoring the central thrust of Ofcom’s conclusion amid calls for him to be reinstated on their flagship GMB programme

Meghan Markle reportedly wrote directly to ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall the night before Mr Morgan was forced out, ‘demanding his head on a plate’, he wrote in his MailOnline column.

Prince Harry’s surprise GQ Awards speech in full

‘I’m deeply honoured to be introducing our final awardees, who you’ll immediately recognise for their landmark contribution to the fight against COVID-19.

Our heroes of this evening are Professor Sarah Gilbert, Doctor Catherine Green, and the entire team of dedicated Oxford scientists.

Their breakthrough research on the Oxford Vaccine has brought the world one of our greatest tools for achieving vaccine equity.

They also approached their mission with a humanitarian urgency. In April of last year, the Oxford Team packed up a shipment of research cultures and stealthily sent it to India—an early example of the biotech collaboration we need to bring this global crisis to an end.

Until every community can access the vaccine, and until every community is connected to trustworthy information about the vaccine, then we are all at risk.

That’s a common refrain my wife and I have heard in convenings with vaccine experts, heads of industry, community advocates, and global leaders.

As people sit in the room with you tonight, more than a third of the global population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.

That’s more than five billion shots given around the world so far.

It sounds like a major accomplishment, and in many ways is.

But there is a huge disparity between who can and cannot access the vaccine.

Less than two percent of people in the developing world have received a single dose at this point, and many of their healthcare workers are still not even vaccinated.

We cannot move forward together unless we address this imbalance as one.

At the same time, families around the world are being overwhelmed by mass-scale misinformation across ‘news’ media and social media, where those who peddle in lies and fear are creating vaccine hesitancy, which in turn is dividing communities and eroding trust.

This is a system we need to break if we are to overcome COVID-19 and the rise of new variants.

The Oxford Team have done their part. They are heroes of the highest order who gave us an instrument to fight this disease. They are our nation’s pride, and we are deeply indebted to their service.

For the rest of us—including global governments, pharmaceutical leaders, and heads of business—we have to keep doing our part.

That must include sharing vaccine science and supporting and empowering developing countries with more flexibility.

Where you’re born should not affect your ability to survive, when the drugs and know-how exist to keep you alive and well.

Thank you, again, to Professor Gilbert and Doctor Green, who The Guardian called “Two ordinary people who managed to pull off an extraordinary feat while dealing with the everyday stresses that come with being full-time mums and breadwinners in a notoriously insecure and poorly paid field.”

But tonight, we’re not honouring two ordinary people. These are two exceptional people—with a remarkable team—who are a bulwark of humanity.’

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