Put up or shut up, Piers Morgan tells Meghan Markle as he’s cleared over TV attack

UK broadcast watchdog says ruling against Piers Morgan’s remarks about Meghan would be a ‘chilling restriction’ on free speech.

Piers Morgan attacks Meghan Markle on Good Morning Britain.

Outspoken British broadcaster Piers Morgan has told Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex to “put up or shut up” after being cleared over his comments about Meghan Markle’s mental health.

After a six-month investigation into his attack on Meghan Markle on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, the UK’s media watchdog concluded his criticism hadn’t broken broadcasting rules.

Ofcom ruled that despite Morgan’s remarks potentially being “harmful and offensive” to viewers, restricting his views would be a “chilling restriction” on free speech.

Morgan welcomed the decision and continued his attack on “Princess Pinocchio”.

He told reporters: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex should reflect on this, and they should work out whether it is fair of them to spray gun the British royal family with lurid allegations without producing a shred of evidence.

“Five months later there is no evidence for any of their allegations. I’m not saying they didn’t happen, I’m just saying ‘put up or shut up’.”

Earlier, he described the decision as a “resounding victory for freedom of speech,” and asked ITV: “Do I get my job back?”

🤣🤣 https://t.co/UtEgBvgZlS

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 1, 2021

The company told UK media there were no plans for Morgan to return but The Times reports the path has been cleared for his comeback. “I’d put money on it,” an insider told the newspaper.

Morgan tweeted in response: “Maybe I should just storm back in.”

😎 pic.twitter.com/AFvfJb5Gie

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 1, 2021

ITV received a record nearly 58,000 complaints over Morgan’s attack on the Duchess after he questioned Meghan’s claims to Oprah Winfrey that she felt suicidal after marrying the Duke of Sussex and joining the royal family. The duchess was among those who lodged a complaint.

The day after Meghan’s appearance on Oprah, Morgan said he did not “believe a word she said”, that he “wouldn’t believe it if she read me a weather report”, and “the fact that she’s fired up this onslaught against our Royal Family I think is contemptible”.

He walked off the show after clashing with weather presenter Alex Beresford. After being told by ITV to apologise or resign, he quit the program.

Piers Morgan walks off Good Morning Britain after Alex Beresford criticised his attack on Meghan Markle.

After leaving the show, Morgan claimed that Meghan had complained to ITV boss Caroline McCall the night before he was forced out of his job, “demanding my head on a plate’’.

Mr Morgan wrote in a British newspaper column: “Apparently, she (Megan) 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 program?’’

In its 97-page decision, Ofcom said that ruling against Morgan’s remarks could amount to an “unwarranted and chilling restriction on freedom of expression”. It added that his comments were robustly challenged by his co-hosts Susanna Reid and Chris Ship; Reid rebuked Morgan for being “unsympathetic”.

A spokesman for ITV said: “We welcome the Ofcom ruling that Good Morning Britain did not breach the broadcast standards relating to harm and offence. The ruling sets out clearly that it was the balance and context the program 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 program’s editorial decisions and the opposing views, which were forcefully expressed by other presenters and guests, that the program did not breach Ofcom’s rules.”

The watchdog also dismissed complaints that Morgan belittled the duchess’s account of her experiences of racism, ruling that the Good Morning Britain discussion provided sufficient counter-arguments and was “justified by its context”.

However, the regulator said it had concerns over his comments about suicide and mental health.

“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,” it said.