Piers Morgan isn’t bothered by the commotion following his public criticism of Meghan Markle, sources confirm to Page Six.
The bombastic Brit revealed he was forced to leave his job on “Good Morning Britain” because he wouldn’t apologize to Markle for disbelieving her claims about her mental health, but a source who knows him tells Page Six he isn’t concerned and “thrives on the uproar.”
Morgan, 55, stormed off the set of the British talk show earlier this week following an on-air clash with colleague Alex Beresford over Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey. UK broadcaster ITV later confirmed that he would not be returning to his hosting gig.
Days later, the controversial journalist posted a lengthy note on Instagram in which he revealed he “lost my job” because he “chose not to apologise” to the 39-year-old former actress.
A senior source at ITV corroborates Morgan’s claims, saying, “Piers was asked to apologize for disbelieving Meghan or he would no longer be able to present ‘GMB’ — and he refused. If he’d said sorry, he’d still be there.”
Markle herself allegedly complained to ITV CEO Dame Carolyn McCall after Morgan dubbed her “Princess Pinocchio” and said he didn’t believe her account of feeling suicidal while pregnant with her son, Archie, as she thought the comments could affect people dealing with their own mental health issues.
After the initial blow-up over his comments, Morgan then said on air, “It’s not for me to question if she felt suicidal, I am not in her mind and that is for her to say. My real concern was a disbelief, frankly — and I’m prepared to be proven wrong on this, and if I’m wrong, it is a scandal — that she went to a senior member of the royal household and told them she was suicidal, and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family. If that is true, a) that person should be fired, and b) the royal family have serious questions that need to be answered.”
However, the clarification was not felt to be contrite enough and he was asked to apologize again on air Wednesday but refused.
But Morgan is ultimately happy that he managed — on his final day on “GMB” — to beat rival “BBC Breakfast” for the first time.
“I had one goal when I joined @GMB- beat @BBCBreakfast in the ratings. On my last day, we did it. That was down to the hard work & dedication of the whole team. They don’t all agree with me, some don’t even like me, but we were a team..and we won. Thanks guys. I’ll miss you,” Morgan tweeted.