Piers Morgan is in the crosshairs of a U.K. media regulator for his criticism of Meghan Markle’s and husband Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.
An Ofcom spokesperson says its investigative proceedings began in conjunction with 41,000 complaints against Mr. Morgan, who resigned from ITV’s “Good Morning Britain” as backlash ensued.
“We have launched an investigation into Monday’s episode of ’Good Morning Britain’ under our harm and offense rules,” a regulator spokesperson told Variety.
Mr. Morgan drew hordes of online heckling on Monday and Tuesday for questioning the veracity of racial claims about the royal family during the interview.
The Duchess of Sussex and her husband claim that someone within the family wanted to know about their child’s skin tone during her pregnancy.
An accusation was also made that Ms. Markle was discouraged from seeking professional help while struggling with suicidal ideations.
“It’s not for me to question if she felt suicidal,” Mr. Morgan told his then-GMB co-hosts on Tuesday. “I am not in her mind and that is for her to say. My real concern was a disbelief, frankly, … 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.”
Mr. Morgan, on both the racial and mental health issues, framed the couple as irresponsible for not citing specific individuals before a global audience.
“The first part of that allegation [or racism toward their child], we don’t know any of the details … or how they said it,” he said. “And the second one is completely untrue. Meghan just got it wrong. Archie hasn’t been prevented from being a prince because of his skin color. And that’s been, now, believed by Americans on national television there — and that is damaging.”
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