Piers Morgan's Meghan Markle Tirade Sparked Record Amount of Complaints
When Piers Morgan made controversial comments regarding Meghan Markle following her March interview with Oprah Winfrey, he prompted a record number of complaints to pour into UK media regulator Ofcom. On Monday, Dec. 20, the media regulator revealed that more than one-third of the complaints it received throughout the course of 2021 were in relation to Morgan's controversial remarks on Good Morning Britain.
Throughout 2021, Ofcom received more than 150,000 complaints, 80% of which were in relation to five episodes total. The largest number of complaints, totaling 54,595, according to Deadline, came just after Morgan's comments on Markle, which eventually prompted his exit from the morning program. During that March episode, Morgan, one of Markle's most vocal critics, cast doubt on the Duchess of Sussex's claims she struggled with her mental health amid a barrage of negative press and lack of support from "the firm." Morgan asked, "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."
Morgan wasn't alone in sparking complaints, though, and it turns out that the interview with Winfrey also spurred plenty of controversy in the U.K. The 90-minute interview, during which Markle and her husband Prince Harry made a number of bombshell allegations, sparked almost 6,500 complaints to Ofcom and was the fourth most-complained about show of the year. Love Island, meanwhile, was responsible for both the second- and fifth-most complained episodes, with one episode of the reality TV program attracting 24,921 complaints. The third-most complained about show was Channel 5's Celebrities: What's Happened To Your Face?.
The complaints surrounding Morgan were sparked following his March comments, which follows Markle and Harry's Oprah interview. During the heated Good Morning Britain episode, Morgan stormed off the set. Following his controversial remarks, Morgan took to the broadcast to clarify his comments, stating that while he doesn't "believe what Meghan Markle is saying generally in this interview," his position on mental health is that "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." However, ITV later announced that Morgan "has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. The remarks also prompted Ofcom to launch an investigation, which resulted in the media regulator clearing ITV of any wrongdoing over his comments after taking "full account of freedom of expression."
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.