Watch: Piers Morgan reflected on the moment he quit Good Morning Britain
Piers Morgan has vowed to cancel ‘cancel culture’ and “annoy all the right people” as he launched his new TV show.
The 56-year-old TV presenter reflected on his dramatic exit a year ago from Good Morning Britain as he unveiled Piers Morgan Uncensored, which will air on new global channel talkTV from Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
Morgan said: “A year ago today, I was forced to leave a job I loved, at the peak of its success, for having the audacity to express an honestly held opinion.
“This shouldn’t happen in any democracy supposedly built on the principles of free speech and freedom of expression.”
He added: “I’m delighted to now be returning to live television with a new daily show whose main purpose is to cancel the Cancel Culture which has infected societies around the world.
“I want it to be a platform for lively vigorous debate, news-making interviews, and that increasingly taboo three-letter word: fun. I also want it to annoy all the right people.”
Read more: Piers Morgan turned down ‘about 20’ jobs before taking News Corp role
The TV presenter left ITV’s GMB in March last year after sparking a record number of complaints by saying he did not believe claims made by Meghan Markle about her mental health in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
He has since been cleared by broadcasting regulator Ofcom, which ruled he was “entitled to say he disbelieved” the royal couple and that “the restriction of such views would be an unwarranted and chilling restriction of freedom of expression”.
The comments sparked more than 57,000 complaints to Ofcom, including from Meghan and Prince Harry themselves.
In the Winfrey interview, Meghan said she had approached people in the royal “institution” for help after she had suicidal thoughts, but was turned down.
Read more: Piers Morgan asks ‘GMB’ for his job back
Morgan said while discussing the interview on GMB: “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 a weather report.”
Later that day, ITV released a statement announcing Morgan had “stepped down” from his role as co-host of the breakfast show.
Morgan called his departure from the programme “amicable”, saying: “I had a good chat with ITV and we agreed to disagree.”
He later said: “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.
“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.”
