Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan stormed off set during a discussion about the Duchess of Sussex with his colleague, Alex Beresford.
On Monday morning, Morgan delivered a scathing review of Harry and Meghan’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey which had aired overnight in the US and has since been broadcast in the UK.
During the interview, the couple, now living in the US, made a number of explosive revelations, among them an allegation that a member of the family – not the Queen or Duke of Edinburgh – had made a racist comment about their unborn son, Archie.
'I've been in situations where I haven’t called out racism based on how it’s been treated in the past.’
‘We have to get comfortable talking about the uncomfortable.’@piersmorgan and @alexberesfordTV have a frank discussion over Harry and Meghan’s accusations of racism. pic.twitter.com/p2Y86A7peb
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) March 9, 2021
Discussing it on Tuesday morning, Beresford said: “They’ve had an overwhelming amount of negative press.
“You know, I watched the programme yesterday and, yes, they had some great press around the wedding, but what press is going to trash someone’s special day?
“There was bad press around the engagement before the engagement, and everything that has followed since has been incredibly damaging, quite clearly, to Meghan’s mental health and also to Harry.
“And I hear Piers say William has gone through the same thing but, do you know what, siblings experience tragedy in their life and one will be absolutely fine and brush it off and the other will not be able to deal with it so strongly and that is clearly what has happened with Harry in this situation.
I’m sorry but @piersmorgan is way off the mark!
— Alex Beresford (@alexberesfordTV) March 8, 2021
“He walked behind his mother’s coffin at a tender, tender age in front of the globe. That is going to shape a young boy for the rest of his life, so I think we all need to take a step back, and I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle, you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this programme…”
“And I understand you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle or had one and she cut you off. She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has but yet you continue to trash her…”
Morgan then stood up and said: “OK, I’m done with this” and walked off set, saying: “Sorry, no… sorry, can’t do this…”
The ITV programme host’s scathing comments on Monday drew criticism from mental health charity Mind.
— Mind (@MindCharity) March 8, 2021
The charity criticised Morgan and said it was “disappointed and concerned” by his comments after Meghan said she had had suicidal thoughts.
It added: “It’s vital that, when people reach out for support or share their experiences of ill mental health, they are treated with dignity, respect and empathy.”
Morgan returned to set after stalking off for a lengthy conversation with Beresford and co-host Susanna Reid.
Sitting back at the desk, he said: “Sorry, much as I’d like to sit here taking abuse from you for hours on end, that’s not going to happen…
“I’m just not prepared to take that. I’ll take it from people outside, I’m not going to take it from you as one of our team…”
‘It was real for her.’
‘She felt she couldn’t approach anybody without with press getting hold of it and talk about the issues in her heart.’@Drhilaryjones says the only thing that matters with Meghan's admission she had serious mental health issues was that she needed help. pic.twitter.com/KdzvFsyKiD
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) March 9, 2021
Beresford said the situation was personal to him, especially the alleged comment about Archie’s skin colour.
He said: “I have the luxury of knowing you on and off screen and we’ve had conversations, I know where you stand on things… I’ve got a great amount of respect for you, Piers.”
Morgan also addressed his previous comments regarding the duchess’s mental health that had come under fire.
He said: “When we talked about this yesterday, I said as an all-encompassing thing I don’t believe what Meghan Markle is saying generally in this interview, and I still have serious concerns about the veracity of a lot of what she said.
“But let me just state on the record my position about mental illness and on suicide. These are clearly extremely serious things that should be taken extremely seriously, and if someone is feeling that way they should get the treatment and help they need every time…”
Buckingham Palace has not yet responded to the Sussexes’ interview.