Jump to content

Piers Morgan

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Piers Morgan
Morgan in 2023
Born
Piers Stefan O'Meara

(1965-03-30) 30 March 1965 (age 59)
Reigate, Surrey, England
Education
Occupations
  • Broadcaster
  • journalist
  • writer
  • media personality
Years active1985–present
Employers
Spouses
Marion Shalloe
​
​
(m. 1991; div. 2008)​
​
​
(m. 2010)​
Children4
RelativesRebecca Loos (second cousin)

Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (/pɪərz/; né O'Meara, born 30 March 1965[1]) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid The Sun. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of the News of the World by Rupert Murdoch, which made him the youngest editor of a British national newspaper in more than half a century.[2] From 1995, Morgan edited the Daily Mirror, but was fired in 2004.[3] He was the editorial director of First News from 2006 to 2007. In 2014, Morgan became the first editor-at-large of the MailOnline website's US operation.

As a television presenter, Morgan hosted the ITV talk show Piers Morgan's Life Stories (2009–2020), the CNN talk show Piers Morgan Live (2011–2014), and co-presented the ITV Breakfast programme Good Morning Britain (2015–2021) alongside Susanna Reid. He has been a judge on the television talent shows America's Got Talent (2006–2011) and Britain's Got Talent (2007–2010).[4][5][6] In 2008, Morgan won The Celebrity Apprentice US, appearing with future US president Donald Trump.[7][8] He was a presenter for TalkTV (now known as Talk), hosting the program Piers Morgan Uncensored from 2022 to 2024, before leaving the network and moving the show to YouTube.[9]

Morgan was the editor of the Daily Mirror during the period in which the paper was implicated in the phone hacking scandal. In 2011, Morgan denied having ever hacked a phone and stated that he had not, "to [his] knowledge published any story obtained from the hacking of a phone". The following year, he was criticised in the findings of the Leveson Inquiry by chair Brian Leveson, who stated that comments made in Morgan's testimony about phone hacking were "utterly unpersuasive" and "that he was aware that it was taking place in the press as a whole and that he was sufficiently unembarrassed by what was criminal behaviour that he was prepared to joke about it".[10] The judge in a 2023 court case against Mirror Group Newspapers found truthful evidence that Morgan knew about private phone hacking from a reporter, shared a method of phone hacking with a media professional while being questioned about a reporting scoop, and that Morgan played another's private phone message in the newsroom he had received from another tabloid editor.[11][12]

Morgan's outspoken views and controversial comments on Good Morning Britain have led Ofcom to adjudicate on multiple occasions.[16] In March 2021, Morgan left the programme with immediate effect, following his criticism of the Oprah with Meghan and Harry interview.[17][18] Ofcom received over 57,000 complaints from viewers,[19] including a complaint from Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, herself;[20] Morgan was subsequently cleared of wrongdoing by Ofcom.[21]

Early life and education

Morgan was born as Piers Stefan O'Meara[22] in Reigate, Surrey on 30 March 1965, the son of Vincent Eamonn O'Meara, an Irish dentist from County Galway,[23] Claims in Interview his father is from Galway [24][25][26] and Gabrielle Georgina Sybille (née Oliver),[27] an English woman who raised Morgan as a Catholic.[27][28] A few months after his birth, the family moved to Newick, East Sussex.[25] His father died when Morgan was 11 months old; his mother later married Glynne Pughe-Morgan,[29][30] a Welsh pub landlord who later worked in the meat distribution business, and he took his stepfather's surname.[2] He was educated at the independent Cumnor House prep school between the ages of seven and 13, then Chailey School, a comprehensive secondary school in Chailey, followed by Priory School, Lewes, for sixth form.[31] After nine months at Lloyd's of London, Morgan studied journalism at Harlow College,[2] joining the Surrey and South London Newspaper Group in 1985.[32]

Press career

At the Murdoch titles (1988–1995)

Morgan began to work as a freelance at The Sun in 1988, at this point dropping his double-barrelled name. He told Hunter Davies in December 1994 that he was personally recruited by Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie to work on the newspaper's show business column "Bizarre", his first high-profile post.[2] Although he was not a fan of pop music, he was considered skilled at self-publicity and became the column's main writer. "I became the Friend of the Stars, a rampant egomaniac, pictured all the time with famous people – Madonna, Stallone, Bowie, Paul McCartney, hundreds of them. It was shameless, as they didn't know me from Adam", he told Davies.[2]

In January 1994, he became editor of the News of the World after being appointed to the job by Rupert Murdoch. Initially an acting editor, he was confirmed in the summer, becoming at 29 the youngest national newspaper editor in more than half a century.[2] In this period, the newspaper led with a series of scoops for which Morgan credited a highly efficient newsdesk and publicist Max Clifford.[33]

Morgan left this post in 1995 shortly after publishing photographs of Catherine Victoria Lockwood, then wife of Charles, Earl Spencer, leaving an addictive disorders clinic in Surrey.[34] This action ran against the editors' code of conduct,[35] a misdemeanour for which the Press Complaints Commission upheld a complaint against Morgan.[35] Murdoch was reported as having said that "the boy went too far"[36] and publicly distanced himself from the story.[37] Fearful of a privacy law action if he had not criticised one of his employees, Murdoch is said to have apologised to Morgan in private.[38][39]

The incident was reported to have contributed to Morgan's decision to leave for the Daily Mirror editorship.[40] Morgan's autobiography The Insider states that he left the News of the World for the Mirror of his own choice. It asserts he was an admirer of former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher for most of her period of office, making the appointment surprising as the Mirror is a Labour-supporting title.[31]

Daily Mirror editor

As editor of the Daily Mirror, Morgan apologised on television for the headline (rendered in upper case) "Achtung Surrender! For You Fritz Ze Euro Championship Is Over" on 25 June 1996, a day before England met Germany in a semi-final of the Euro '96 football championships.[33][41][42][43] The headline was accompanied by an open letter from Morgan parodying Neville Chamberlain's declaration of war on Germany in 1939. "It was intended as a joke, but anyone who was offended by it must have taken it seriously, and to those people I say sorry," he said.[43] Germany won the match and went on to win the championship final at Wembley Stadium, London.[44]

Under Morgan's leadership, the Daily Mirror spent £16 million on a rebranding project, including the dropping of "Daily" from the masthead in February 1997,[45] which was later reversed. Roy Greenslade wrote in August 1999 that Morgan's editorship "has made a huge difference: his enormous enthusiasm, determination and focus is a major plus".[46]

Morgan was the subject of an investigation in 2000 after Suzy Jagger wrote an article for The Daily Telegraph revealing that he had bought £20,000 worth of shares in the computer company Viglen soon before the Mirror's "City Slickers" column tipped Viglen as a good buy.[47] Morgan was found by the Press Complaints Commission to have breached the Code of Conduct on financial journalism, but kept his job. The "City Slickers" columnists, Anil Bhoyrul and James Hipwell, were both found to have committed further breaches of the Code and were sacked before the inquiry concluded.[48] Further enquiry by the Department of Trade and Industry in 2004 cleared Morgan of any charges.[49] On 7 December 2005, Bhoyrul and Hipwell were convicted of conspiracy to breach the Financial Services Act. During the trial it emerged that Morgan had bought £67,000 worth of Viglen shares, emptying his bank account and investing under his (first) wife's name as well.[50]

The Mirror attempted to move mid-market in 2002, eschewing the more trivial stories of show-business and gossip, and appointed Christopher Hitchens as a columnist, but sales declined.[31][51] In October 2003, journalist and television personality Jeremy Clarkson emptied a glass of water over Morgan during the last flight of Concorde in response to some photographs published in the Mirror.[52] In March 2004, at the British Press Awards, Clarkson punched Morgan three times during another argument.[52] In Campbell v MGN Ltd,[53] the Law Lords in May 2004 found in favour of model Naomi Campbell on privacy grounds after the Mirror had published a photograph of her entering a Narcotics Anonymous clinic. Morgan was critical of the judgement saying it was "a good day for lying, drug-abusing prima donnas who want to have their cake with the media and the right to then shamelessly guzzle with their Cristal champagne."[54][55]

In the wake of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, Morgan was sacked as editor of the Daily Mirror "with immediate effect" on 14 May 2004, after refusing to apologise to Sly Bailey, then head of Trinity Mirror, for authorising the newspaper's publication of fake photographs.[56] The photos were alleged to show Iraqi prisoners being abused by British Army soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment.[57] Within days the photographs were shown to be crude fakes. According to official British sources, the photographs were apparently taken in North-West England. Under the headline "SORRY..WE WERE HOAXED", the Mirror responded that it had fallen victim to a "calculated and malicious hoax" and apologised for the publication of the photographs.[58][59] However, Morgan refused to admit that the photographs were faked, and stated that the abuse shown in the photographs is similar to the sort of abuse that was happening in the British Army in Iraq at the time.[60]

Phone hacking allegations

During Morgan's tenure as editor, the Daily Mirror was advised by Steven Nott that voicemail interception was possible by means of a standard PIN code. Despite staff initially expressing enthusiasm for the story it did not appear in the paper, although it did subsequently feature in a South Wales Argus article and on BBC Radio 5 Live in October 1999. On 18 July 2011, Nott was visited by officers of Operation Weeting.[61]

He came under criticism for his "boasting" about phone hacking from Conservative MP Louise Mensch, who has since apologised for these accusations.[62]

In July 2011, in a sequence of articles, political blogger Paul Staines alleged that while editor of the Daily Mirror in 2002 Morgan published a story concerning the affair of Sven-Göran Eriksson and Ulrika Jonsson while knowing it to have been obtained by phone hacking.[63]

On 20 December 2011, Morgan appeared as a witness by satellite link from the United States at the Leveson Inquiry.[64] While he said he had no reason to believe that phone hacking had occurred at the Mirror while he was in charge there, he admitted to hearing a recording of an answerphone message left by Paul McCartney for Heather Mills, but refused to "discuss where that tape was played or who made [it] – it would compromise a source."[64] Appearing as a witness at the same Inquiry on 9 February 2012, Mills was asked under oath if she had ever made a recording of McCartney's phone call or had played it to Morgan; she replied: "Never".[65][66] She said that she had never authorised Morgan, or anybody, to access or listen to her voicemails.[65] Mills told the inquiry that Morgan, "a man that has written nothing but awful things about me for years", would have relished telling the inquiry if she had played a personal voicemail message to him.[66]

On 23 May 2012, Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman was a witness at the Leveson Inquiry. He recalled a lunch with the Mirror editor in September 2002 at which Morgan outlined the means of hacking [or accessing] a mobile phone voicemail, using the SIM card network's default security code.[67]

On 28 November 2012, the Channel 4 documentary Taking on the Tabloids, fronted by actor and phone hacking victim Hugh Grant, showed footage from a 2003 interview with Morgan by the singer and phone hacking victim Charlotte Church, during which he explained to her how to avoid answerphone messages being listened to by journalists. He said: "You can access ... voicemails by typing in a number. Now, are you really telling me that journalists aren't going to do that?"[68][69]

On 29 November 2012, the official findings of the Leveson Inquiry were released, in which Lord Justice Leveson said that Morgan's testimony under oath on phone hacking was "utterly unpersuasive". He stated: "[The] evidence does not establish that [Morgan] authorised the hacking of voicemails or that journalists employed by TMG [Trinity Mirror Group] were indulging in this practice ... What it does, however, clearly prove is that he was aware that it was taking place in the press as a whole and that he was sufficiently unembarrassed by what was criminal behaviour that he was prepared to joke about it."[10][70]

On 6 December 2013, Morgan was interviewed, under caution, by police officers from Operation Weeting investigating phone hacking allegations at Mirror Group Newspapers during his tenure as editor.[71]

On 24 September 2014, the Trinity Mirror publishing group admitted for the first time that some of its journalists had been involved in phone hacking and agreed to pay compensation to four people who sued for the alleged hacking of voicemails.[72][73] Six other phone-hacking claims had already been settled. The BBC reported that it had seen legal papers showing that although the alleged hacking could have taken place as early as 1998, the bulk of the alleged wrongdoing took place in the early 2000s when Morgan was the Daily Mirror editor.[74] The admissions by Trinity Mirror came whilst the Metropolitan Police were investigating into the phone hacking allegations. Morgan has always denied any involvement in the practice.[74]

In June 2023, during his case against Morgan's former employer, Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), Prince Harry accused Morgan of attacking himself and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, to dissuade him from his legal action and of hacking his phone and that of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales.[75][76][77] On 15 December 2023, Harry was awarded £140,600 by the High Court in damages against MGN, after 15 out of 33 sample articles about him in his claim were ruled as being the product of phone hacking or other unlawful information gathering.[78][79][80] In the ruling, Mr Justice Fancourt said Morgan and other editors knew about the phone hacking at their publications and were involved in it.[81][82][83] In a statement made in response to the ruling, Morgan denied that he was involved in any phone hacking and reviled Harry.[84][85] His statement was met with widespread criticism including from the former chair of the Independent Press Standards Organisation Sir Alan Moses.[86][87][88]

As a result of the judge's ruling, the pressure group Hacked Off called for the police to open an investigation into possible perjury committed by senior staff members at The Mirror, during the Leveson Inquiry.[89][64]

Post-Mirror press activities

In partnership with Matthew Freud, he gained ownership in May 2005 of Press Gazette, a media trade publication together with its "cash cow", the British Press Awards, in a deal worth £1 million.[90][91] This ownership was cited as one of the reasons many major newspapers boycotted the 2006 awards.[92] Press Gazette entered administrative receivership toward the end of 2006,[93] before being sold to a trade buyer.

First News was launched by Morgan on 4 May 2006. A weekly paper aimed at seven to 14-year-olds, he said at its launch that the paper was to be "Britain's first national newspaper for children".[94][95] Morgan was editorial director at First News, responsible for bringing in celebrity involvement. He referred to the role as "editorial overlord and frontman".[96]

In 2007, Morgan was filmed falling off a Segway, breaking three ribs. Simon Cowell outspokenly mocked Morgan's previous comment in 2003, in a Mirror headline after former U.S. President George W. Bush fell off a Segway: "You'd have to be an idiot to fall off wouldn't you, Mr President".[97][98][99]

In 2012, following the revelation of Jimmy Savile's sexual abuse against children, Morgan said he had "never met" Savile in his lifetime, contradicting a 2009 piece he wrote in The Mail on Sunday's Night & Day magazine saying that "As I left, Jimmy Savile came up to me. 'Your TV shows are BRILLIANT!, he exclaimed. ... I've always loved Jimmy Savile."[100]

In September 2014, Morgan became the first editor-at-large of the MailOnline website's US operation and wrote several columns a week.[101]

Television career

Morgan in 2012

Morgan's career expanded into television presenting before he left the Daily Mirror. He presented a three-part television documentary series for the BBC titled The Importance of Being Famous (2003), about fame and the manner in which celebrities are covered by modern media. At the annual Pride of Britain Awards broadcast on ITV, Morgan chaired a panel of prominent people who had chosen the recipients of the awards from 1999 to 2006.[102] He co-hosted a current affairs interview show on Channel 4 with Amanda Platell, Morgan and Platell. Morgan and Platell were put together because of their opposing political viewpoints; Platell interrogated guests from the right wing, Morgan from the left wing.[103] The show was dropped after three series reputedly because of poor viewing figures, although the chairman of Channel 4 Luke Johnson was reported not to like the programme.[104]

Throughout 2006, Morgan appeared as a judge on the television show America's Got Talent alongside Brandy Norwood and David Hasselhoff on NBC. Morgan was chosen by Simon Cowell as a replacement for himself because of the conditions of his American Idol contract. Morgan appeared as a celebrity contestant on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice in 2007 to raise money for the BBC charity telethon Comic Relief. After his team lost, Morgan was selected by Sir Alan Sugar as the contestant to be fired.[105] In 2007, Morgan appeared as a judge for the second season of America's Got Talent and also appeared as a judge on Britain's Got Talent on ITV with Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell. He also presented You Can't Fire Me, I'm Famous on BBC One. He fronted a three-part documentary about Sandbanks for ITV entitled Piers Morgan on Sandbanks in January 2008.[106] In 2008, Morgan signed a two-year "golden handcuffs" deal with ITV in May, reportedly worth £2 million per year. As part of the deal, he would continue as a judge on Britain's Got Talent for at least two more series and front a new chat show. He also made some interview specials, plus three more documentaries from various countries. Morgan's golden handcuffs deal was the first signing by ITV's new director of television, Peter Fincham.[107]

In February 2009, he began a three-part series, Piers Morgan On..., which saw him visit Dubai, Monte Carlo and Hollywood.[108] The programme returned for a second series in 2010 when Morgan visited Las Vegas in one episode.[109] In 2009, Morgan also began hosting Piers Morgan's Life Stories on ITV, with Sharon Osbourne as the subject of the first episode.[110] Other guests on the programme included Cheryl[111] and the then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[112] On 17 January 2011, Morgan replaced Larry King in CNN's evening line-up with his show, Piers Morgan Live.[113][114] After poor ratings, the show was cancelled[115] in February 2014 and ended its run in March 2014.[116] Commenting on the viewing figures, Morgan said that he was "a British guy debating American cultural issues, including guns, which has been very polarizing, and there is no doubt that there are many in the audience who are tired of me banging on about it."[117]

From 13 to 17 April 2015, Morgan guest-hosted five episodes of Good Morning Britain on ITV and became a permanent co-host in November 2015, appearing alongside Susanna Reid and Charlotte Hawkins.[118] He often clashed with Reid, who said of her colleague: "You can't help but go into battle with him every morning".[119] Morgan left the series in March 2021 following a controversy over his remarks about Oprah with Meghan and Harry, which included a heated on-air argument with Alex Beresford.[120]

From 2016 to 2017, Morgan interviewed female murderers on the TV series Killer Women with Piers Morgan.[121] He also presented Serial Killer with Piers Morgan, as part of the 2017 Crime & Punishment season on ITV. In October 2018, Morgan appeared as a cameo on Hollyoaks.[122]

Donald Trump

Morgan was the winner of the U.S. celebrity version of The Apprentice in 2008. He was eventually the overall winner, being named Celebrity Apprentice by host Donald Trump on 27 March, ahead of fellow finalist, American country music star Trace Adkins,[123][124] and having raised substantially more cash than all the other contestants combined.[125] Morgan was called "ruthless, arrogant, evil and obnoxious" by Trump in the final.[126] Morgan stated he personally would not vote for Trump in the 2016 United States presidential election (though as a permanent resident of the United States, not a citizen, he is not qualified to vote).[127] He predicted Trump's election as President of the United States and described himself as a close friend.[128] Morgan interviewed Trump on Good Morning Britain in March 2016.[129] Morgan appeared on ITV's Loose Women panel show in late January 2017, and was challenged to repudiate Trump.[130] He stated that he disagreed with him on many issues relating to gun control, climate change, abortion, and the "Muslim travel ban". On the latter he stated that Donald Trump had "singled out seven countries that are undeniably war-torn, and he said we need to be very careful who we let into America from these countries", adding that he found "the principle of what [Trump] is doing understandable", but that he disagreed with "the way [Trump] has gone about it".[131][130]

Nearly a fortnight later, on the American talk show Real Time with Bill Maher, Morgan said "There is no Muslim ban", as "85% of the world's Muslims are allowed in the country". Another participant in the discussion, Australian comedian Jim Jefferies, immediately swore at Morgan and criticised his defence of Trump.[132] After the novelist J. K. Rowling tweeted "Yes, watching Piers Morgan being told to fuck off on live TV is *exactly* as satisfying as I'd always imagined", the two began an exchange of words on the social media site.[133][134] Morgan criticised Trump after Trump had retweeted Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of the small far-right fascist party Britain First, in late November 2017. He tweeted to Trump: "What the hell are you doing retweeting a bunch of unverified videos by Britain First, a bunch of disgustingly racist far-right extremists? Please STOP this madness & undo your retweets".[135]

In January 2018, Morgan presented President Trump – The Piers Morgan Interview for ITV,[136][137] which many thought of as "sycophantic" and a "love-in" for Trump.[138] Of respondents to a Radio Times Twitter poll, 88% viewed Morgan as being not "tough enough" on Trump.[138] Morgan interviewed Trump again in July 2018 during his official visit to the UK, this time on Air Force One during an internal flight, in a TV special entitled Piers, The President and Air Force One.[139] In December 2018, Morgan wrote a letter to Trump formally applying to become White House Chief of Staff.[140] During Trump's state visit to the United Kingdom in June 2019, Morgan once again interviewed Trump, this time at the Churchill War Rooms.[141]

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Morgan wrote a highly critical article of Trump's handling of the crisis in his column for MailOnline. Morgan particularly took issue with Trump's suggestion of looking into "ingesting" disinfectant as a possible solution, describing it as "batshit crazy". In response to the criticism, Trump unfollowed Morgan on Twitter.[142][143][144] In the aftermath of the January 6 United States Capitol attack, Morgan stated that Trump was "mentally unfit" to remain as president. He claimed that the pandemic and Trump's election loss that followed had "sent him nuts". In response to whether he regretted his support of Trump, Morgan said "No question. I never thought he was capable of this."[145]

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Morgan was briefly a friend of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex before she became the Duchess of Sussex, but said she cut him off early in her relationship with Prince Harry. He has been a regular critic of the couple since then, alleging they are hypocrites and claiming the Duchess is a social climber.[146]

When the couple stepped away from conducting official royal duties early in 2020, Morgan described them as being "the two most spoiled brats in history".[147] Ten days later, he said: "Only surprised it took her so long to get Harry to ditch his family, the monarchy, the military and his country. What a piece of work."[148] In a segment of Good Morning Britain on 13 January,[149] Morgan interviewed Afua Hirsch, who accused parts of the British media of behaving in a racist manner towards the Duchess, an interpretation that Morgan said was "completely and grotesquely wrong". InfluencHers, a group of 100 African Caribbean women, advocated an advertisers' boycott of Good Morning Britain. The campaigners described the programme as "sanctioning bullying and blatant unapologetic disrespect of women" in allowing Morgan's treatment of Hirsch.[150]

When challenged by Decca Aitkenhead of The Sunday Times in May 2020 over "his vendetta" against the Duchess, with Aitkenhead suggesting he had gone too far, Morgan said: "I think that's a perfectly fair criticism. It's probably not wise, if you're a columnist, to make things too personal. Have I taken things a bit too far? Probably. Do I think that will govern and temper how I talk about them going forward? Absolutely."[151]

On Good Morning Britain on 8 and 9 March 2021, Morgan said he doubted the accuracy of the account given by the Duchess of Sussex, in the interview Oprah with Meghan and Harry with Oprah Winfrey, in which she spoke of her mental health issues, which included suicidal thoughts, and she and Harry alleged racist comments from the extended family. A tense on-air argument with his co-host Alex Beresford on 9 March led him to walk off the set of the show. Beresford was highly critical of Morgan's attitude towards the Duchess, saying "She's entitled to cut you off if she wants to. Has she said anything about you after she cut you off? I don't think she has, But yet you continue to trash her".[152] Later in the day, Morgan quit the programme.[17][18][153] The UK's mental health charity Mind expressed "disappointment" in Morgan's comments and said individuals with experience of mental health issues should be "treated with dignity, respect and empathy."[154] ITV plc's chief executive, Carolyn McCall, defended the veracity of the Duchess's comments, adding "importantly everyone should."[155]

ITV News reported the Duchess had complained directly to ITV's CEO about Morgan's comments about mental health, although the broadcaster was not officially commenting on these reports.[156] Ofcom received a complaint from her.[157]

Morgan issued a statement on Twitter, saying, "On Monday, I said I didn't believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview. I've had time to reflect on this opinion, and I still don't. Freedom of speech is a hill I'm happy to die on."[120] Broadcaster Andrew Neil described his departure as "a pity" for ITV because he had brought "energy, dynamism and controversy" to its morning broadcast schedule, adding "it had always lagged way behind the BBC breakfast time show and people tuned in because of him." Neil expressed interest in Morgan joining GB News instead.[158] However, Neil later said that talks were affected by a disagreement: "he's [Morgan] got his own idea of what he is worth and we [GB News] have a slightly different idea of what he's worth".[159] In Morgan's last week, Good Morning Britain surpassed the ratings of BBC Breakfast for the first time, and ITV lost almost £200m in market value following his departure.[160]

Actor and comedian Steve Coogan, a prominent supporter of press regulation, described Morgan as "symptomatic of the problem" with the British tabloid media and accused him of "bullying behaviour" regarding his attitude to the Duchess.[161]

On 29 November 2023, Morgan used his Piers Morgan Uncensored show to reveal the names of two members of the British Royal Family who had allegedly had conversations about the skin colour of Meghan's baby, mentioned during an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. Both Prince Harry and Meghan had refused to elaborate on who had made these claims. Journalist Omid Scobie named the royals in the Dutch version of his book Endgame, despite other versions not containing the names, and the book was pulled from sale.[162] After Morgan had named the royals, a source for the family said they were "considering all options."[163] Morgan defended his comments the following night, saying it was "entirely lawful" to name the Royals.[164]

Ofcom complaints

Morgan's comments during his tenure at Good Morning Britain resulted in thousands of complaints to the British media watchdog Ofcom.

In 2015, Morgan was criticised by Ofcom for laughing as a guest repeatedly used the word 'fucking' live on air. Although Ofcom did not take action as his co-presenter Susanna Reid quickly apologised, the watchdog expressed concern at his behaviour.[13]

In 2016, Ofcom received 70 complaints in relation to comments made by Morgan during an interview with the Christian magistrate Richard Page about gay marriage, comments that viewers felt "implied Christians were homophobic".[14] Ofcom confirmed on 13 April 2016 that Morgan would not be investigated for his comments.[165]

On 21 January 2020, Morgan was accused of racism and received 1,095 Ofcom complaints[166] for his comments relating to a Chinese dairy advert in which he said "He's using ching chong ching milk". Morgan also spoke over the advert, saying "ching chang cho jo". He was accused online of using language that is used to antagonise Chinese people and of mocking the Chinese language.[167]

After receiving 41,015 complaints, Ofcom launched an investigation on 9 March 2021 into the remarks Morgan made about the Duchess of Sussex's mental health on Good Morning Britain.[168][169][170] The regulator confirmed on 12 March that the Duchess of Sussex had complained as well.[157] On 17 March, it was reported that complaints against Morgan had reached 57,000, breaking Ofcom's record. Morgan remained defiant, stating "Only 57,000? I've had more people than that come up and congratulate me in the street for what I said. The vast majority of Britons are right behind me."[19] Ofcom cleared ITV of any wrongdoing in September 2021 and added that restricting Morgan's views would be a "chilling restriction" on freedom of speech but criticised his "apparent disregard" for the subject of suicide. Morgan described the ruling as "a resounding victory for free speech and a resounding defeat for Princess Pinocchios."[171]

Feuds and banned television guests

A feud between Morgan and A. A. Gill began when Morgan described Gill's partner Nicola Formby as a sex kitten on whom the mists of time had taken their toll[172] and said she had shown him "porn shots" of herself. Gill said Morgan had made this up and called him a "pretty objectionable self-publicist".[173]

In May 2011, Morgan banned actor Hugh Grant from his shows on CNN and ITV after Grant spoke out against the need for the tabloid press. On Twitter he responded: "Hugh Grant is now banned, in perpetuity, from @PiersTonight and Life Stories and anything else I ever do. Tedious little man."[174]

On 28 March 2012, MTV referred to the bad relations between Morgan and Madonna, reporting that "Morgan has apparently felt slighted over the years by Madonna...he claims he was lied to by the singer's publicist."[citation needed]

In September 2012, it was reported that Morgan had also banned actor Kelsey Grammer. Morgan himself said, "Kelsey Grammer saw a photo of his ex-wife Camille in the open of our show and legged it."[175] TVGuide reported, "All plans were still a go for the segment until Grammer actually got in the hot seat and saw the footage the producers had planned to peg to the segment, including a picture of his ex-wife".[176] On 26 September 2012, Fox 11 Los Angeles reported that "many say [it] was an ambush by Piers".[citation needed] The Huffington Post reported that "before the interview was scheduled, it was made clear that Grammer would answer all questions, including those about [his ex-wife]. His sole request was not to show any images of her."[177]

On 4 February 2014, transgender advocate Janet Mock appeared as a guest on Piers Morgan Live to discuss her memoir, Redefining Realness. After the interview aired, Mock sent a series of tweets criticising Morgan for describing Mock as being "formerly a man". Morgan responded that he had "never been treated in such a disgraceful manner" by a guest. On 5 February, Mock appeared as a guest again to debate the dispute.[citation needed]

Morgan has repeatedly clashed with actor John Cleese. In 2015, Cleese stated that he "truly detested" Morgan and had avoided him in a restaurant. He also said he thought Morgan was "in jail", erroneously stating that Morgan had "admitted" to authorising phone-hacking. Morgan responded that the "revulsion" between them was "mutual". When Cleese's tweet about detesting Morgan became his most popular to date, Cleese said "clearly I must insult the slimy, attention-seeking little prole more often". Morgan joked that he was glad to have been able to make Cleese "popular again".[178] In 2017, Cleese told Radio Times: "I always thought he was an awful creep [...] I just didn't want to have an encounter with him and since then he's been after me and I've been after him."[179]

Morgan strongly objected to the Women's March on Washington on 21 January 2017, the day after Trump's inauguration, describing protesters as "rabid feminists" and the multiple protests as being "vacuous".[180] The actor Ewan McGregor disagreed with Morgan's statements on the Women's March and pulled out of appearing on Good Morning Britain the following Tuesday after discovering Morgan would be interviewing him, along with Reid.[181] Morgan accused McGregor of being a "paedophile-loving hypocrite" for his past support of Roman Polanski.[182]

Piers Morgan Uncensored

On 16 September 2021, News UK announced its new channel TalkTV would launch in 2022, with Morgan being the first name signed up.[183] Morgan presented Piers Morgan Uncensored weeknights from 25 April 2022, the first and second episodes contained a new interview with Donald Trump.[9] Within a week of the first broadcast, estimated audiences had declined by 80 percent, from 316,800 to 61,700 average viewers of Morgan's show.[184] On 7 March 2023, he won the Scoop of the Year award at the British Sports Journalism Awards for his interview with Cristiano Ronaldo in November 2022.[185] In June 2023, he won the TRIC award for the Interview of The Year award for the same broadcast.[186] In February 2024, Morgan announced that Piers Morgan Uncensored would no longer be broadcast on TalkTV and would instead be shown exclusively on YouTube.[187]

Personal life

Morgan married Marion Shalloe, a hospital ward sister,[2] in 1991. The couple had three sons, and separated in 2004 before divorcing in 2008.[188][189] In June 2010, he married his second wife, journalist Celia Walden, daughter of the former Conservative MP George Walden in Swinbrook, Oxfordshire.[190] They have a daughter.[191] He lives in Kensington, London and has two other properties in Newick, East Sussex and Hollywood, Los Angeles.[192]

Morgan is a supporter of Premier League football club Arsenal.[193] He was an outspoken critic of former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger and called for his sacking on many occasions. Speaking in defence of Wenger in 2015, former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson labelled Morgan an "incredibly pompous individual".[194] When Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey met Morgan on 26 April 2015, Ramsey refused to shake his hand due to the criticism he received from Morgan during the 2012–13 season. Morgan has responded by calling Ramsey 'whatshisname'.[195]

Morgan identified as a supporter of the Conservative Party in a 1994 interview, saying he was "still basically a Tory", but expressed admiration for the recently elected centre-left Labour Party leader Tony Blair, saying "he's not radical, speaks well and makes sense".[2] Morgan voted for the Animal Welfare Party in the 2015 general election due to his low opinion of all the main party leaders.[196] He voted against Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum but voted for the Kensington Conservative candidate in the 2019 general election because of Boris Johnson's commitment to honour the result of the referendum.[197] Morgan has also previously voted for the Labour Party.[197] In November 2024, Morgan identified as a centrist, adding "woke liberals are too loony-left for me".[198]

On 24 July 2021, Morgan said he had developed COVID-19 after the Euro 2020 final, despite being fully vaccinated. He added that a strong fever, violent coughing, chills and sneezing fits left him exhausted and fearing what might come next.[199]

Morgan is of Irish Catholic descent.[200] He has often spoken of his Catholic faith[201] and believes in an afterlife, but does not "go to Confession, probably because it would take [him] too long".[202]

In the 2024 BBC miniseries Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story, Morgan was played by Robert Glenister.[203][204]

Filmography

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1996 Have I Got News for You Himself 2 episodes
1999–2019 Question Time Guest Panelist 21 episodes
2003 The Importance of Being Famous Presenter Three-part documentary
Trust Me – I'm a Politician Documentary
2003–2004 Tabloid Tales 2 series
2003–2005 The Wright Stuff Guest Presenter 8 episodes
2004–2005 Morgan and Platell Co-presenter With Amanda Platell
2005 Death of Celebrity Presenter Documentary
2006–2007 You Can't Fire Me, I'm Famous Chat show
2006, 2007, 2020 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Celebrity Contestant 3 episodes
2006–2009 Hell's Kitchen Himself 7 episodes
2006–2011, 2015 America's Got Talent Judge Main judge on Season 1–6

Guest judge on Season 10

2007–2010 Britain's Got Talent Series 1–4
2007 Comic Relief Does The Apprentice Celebrity Contestant
The Dame Edna Treatment Himself Guest; 1 episode
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Alongside David Hasselhoff & Sharon Osbourne
Royal Variety Performance 2007 Guest Announcer Alongside Simon Cowell & Amanda Holden
2008–2015 The Celebrity Apprentice Himself 21 episodes
2008 Piers Morgan on Sandbanks Presenter Three-part documentary
The Dark Side of Fame with Piers Morgan 1 series
Al Murray's Happy Hour Himself Guest; 1 episode
2008–2016 Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway 5 episodes
2009–2010 Piers Morgan On... Presenter 2 series
2009–2021 Piers Morgan's Life Stories
2010 When Piers Met Lord Sugar Documentary
2011–2014 Piers Morgan Live Talk show
2012 The Apprentice: You're Fired! Himself Special guest; 1 episode
The Talent Show Story 5 episodes
2013 2 Broke Girls 1 episode
2015 Being Kevin Pietersen Documentary
2015–2019 This Week Guest Presenter 8 episodes
2015–2021 Good Morning Britain Co-presenter Monday–Wednesday with Susanna Reid
2016 Celebrity Juice Himself Guest; 3 episodes
Second Chance Cameo appearance; 1 episode
Alan Carr: Chatty Man Guest; 1 episode
21st National Television Awards Presenter
2016–2017 Killer Women with Piers Morgan 7 episodes
2017–2023 Real Time with Bill Maher Himself Guest; 4 episodes
2017–2018 Confessions of a Serial Killer with Piers Morgan Presenter 4 episodes
2018 President Trump – The Piers Morgan Interview Television special
Hollyoaks Himself Cameo appearance; 1 episode
Piers, the President and Air Force One Presenter Documentary
2018–2022 Tucker Carlson Tonight Guest Panelist 10 episodes
2019 Psychopath with Piers Morgan Presenter Documentary
Cristiano Ronaldo Meets Piers Morgan Television special
Soccer Aid Himself Assistant Manager to World XI squad
The Celebrity Chase Contestant; Good Morning Britain Special
2021 60 Minutes 1 episode
2022 Fox & Friends Fox Nation Host 6 episodes
Gutfeld! Guest Panelist 2 episodes
The Five Guest Host 7 episodes
2022–present Piers Morgan Uncensored Presenter Originally on TalkTV in UK; shown on Sky News Australia and Fox Nation in America. Now on YouTube.

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2012 Flight Himself Cameo appearance
The Campaign
2013 World War Z
One Chance
2015 Entourage
2016 Criminal
2020 The Accidental President

Bibliography

  • Morgan, Piers; John Sachs (1991). Secret Lives. Blake. ISBN 0-905846-95-8.
  • Morgan, Piers; John Sachs (1991). Private Lives of the Stars. Angus and Robertson. ISBN 0-207-16941-1.
  • Morgan, Piers (1992). To Dream a Dream: Amazing Life of Phillip Schofield. Blake. ISBN 1-85782-006-1.
  • Morgan, Piers (1993). "Take That": Our Story. Boxtree. ISBN 1-85283-839-6.
  • Morgan, Piers (1994). "Take That": On the Road. Boxtree. ISBN 1-85283-396-3.
  • Morgan, Piers (2004). Va Va Voom!: A Year with Arsenal 2003–04. Methuen. ISBN 0-413-77451-1.
  • Morgan, Piers (2005). The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade. Ebury Press. ISBN 0-09-190849-3.
  • Morgan, Piers (2007). Don't You Know Who I Am?. Ebury Press.
  • Morgan, Piers (2009). God Bless America: Misadventures of a Big Mouth Brit. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-191393-9.
  • Morgan, Piers (2013). Shooting Straight: Guns, Gays, God, and George Clooney. Gallery Books. ISBN 978-1-4767-4505-3.
  • Morgan, Piers (2020). Wake Up: Why the World Has Gone Nuts. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0008392598.

References

  1. ^ "Piers Morgan | Biography, TV Shows, & Facts | Britannica". 8 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Davies, Hunter (13 December 1994). "From City boy to World leader". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  3. ^ Luckhurst, Tim (23 January 2005). "So does Sly regret sacking Piers from the Daily Mirror?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  4. ^ Nudd, Tim. "Piers Morgan Leaving America's Got Talent". People. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  5. ^ "CNN cancels Piers Morgan Live | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Piers Morgan is Larry King's CNN replacement - TODAYshow.com". MSNBC. 8 September 2010. Archived from the original on 11 September 2010.
  7. ^ Johnson, Caitlin (28 March 2008). "Relative unknown wins 'Celebrity Apprentice'". Today. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Piers Morgan has been replaced on Good Morning Britain". PinkNews. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  9. ^ a b Morris, Seren (29 April 2022). "TalkTV: How to watch Piers Morgan's new Uncensored show". Evening Standard. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  10. ^ a b Sweney, Mark (30 November 2012). "Piers Morgan claims over phone hacking branded 'utterly unpersuasive'". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  11. ^ Casciani, Dominic (15 December 2023). "Piers Morgan and hacking: What the Prince Harry case heard". BBC News. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  12. ^ Topping, Alexandra (15 December 2023). "Which Mirror bosses knew about phone hacking, according to Prince Harry ruling?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  13. ^ a b Sweney, Mark (15 June 2015). "Piers Morgan criticised for laughing as Good Morning Britain guest swore on air". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  14. ^ a b "Ofcom clears Piers Morgan over Christianity questions on Good Morning Britain". The Independent. Ireland. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Piers Morgan escapes censure over Christian homophobe remark". The Guardian. 11 April 2016. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  16. ^ [13][14][15]
  17. ^ a b "Piers Morgan leaves ITV's Good Morning Britain after row over Meghan remarks". BBC News. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  18. ^ a b Ravindran, Manori (9 March 2021). "Piers Morgan Quits 'Good Morning Britain' Following Meghan Markle Comments". Variety. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  19. ^ a b "Piers Morgan's Meghan comments break Ofcom complaints record". BBC News. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  20. ^ Foster, Max (10 March 2021). "Meghan formally complained to ITV about Piers Morgan's comments". CTV News. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  21. ^ Weaver, Matthew (1 September 2021). "Ofcom clears Piers Morgan over Meghan comments". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Piers Morgan | Biography, TV Shows, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 21 October 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  23. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67cmKQoaExU
  24. ^ https://www.entertainmentdaily.com/tv/piers-morgan-family-tragedy-presenter-lost-his-father-when-he-was-tiny/
  25. ^ a b Piers Morgan reference to his father's background, Offalyindependent.ie (cached), 21 January 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  26. ^ "Notices Under The Trustee Act, 1925". The London Gazette. 13 September 1966. p. 67. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
  27. ^ a b Wilding, Hugh (2008). "Wildings & Thurleys, Cantophers & McConnells". Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  28. ^ by Alex Green, PA Senior Entertainment Reporter (21 April 2022). "Piers Morgan's quiet life in Newick away from the cameras". sussexlive. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  29. ^ Morgan, Piers The Hot Seat: Love, War, and Cable News, Gallery Books, 2014, p. 5
  30. ^ Greenslade, Roy Press Gang: How Newspapers Make Profits from Propaganda, London: Pan Macmillan, 2004, p. 602
  31. ^ a b c Naughton, Philippe; Costello, Miles (6 April 2008). "The rhino in riot gear has a way of coaxing out secrets: PROFILE: Piers Morgan". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 16 July 2018. (subscription required)
  32. ^ Ortiz, Jen. "Scandalous! 11 Years in the Life of Piers Morgan". Business Insider. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  33. ^ a b Maguire, Kevin (25 February 2002). "Profile – Piers Morgan". New Statesman. London. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  34. ^ Williams, Rhys (12 May 1995). "Murdoch lashes editor shock". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  35. ^ a b "Profile: Piers Morgan", BBC News, 14 May 2004
  36. ^ "Piers Morgan versus a spaghetti-slathered Emily Ratajkowski, and many more: a guide to his celebrity feuds". The Telegraph. 20 December 2017. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  37. ^ "Earl Spencer loses privacy battle to Europe", BBC News, 16 January 1998
  38. ^ Tom Watson and Martin Hickman Dial M for Murdoch: News Corporation and the Corruption of Britain, London: Penguin, 2012, p. 30
  39. ^ Benjamin Wallace "Piers Morgan Isn't Sleeping Well", New York (magazine), 9 October 2011
  40. ^ Summerskill, Ben (1 September 2002). "Has Piers now got news for Ian?". The Observer. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  41. ^ Byrne, Ciar (15 May 2004). "Piers Morgan: The man with no moral compass who found his destiny in a steadfast opposition to war". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  42. ^ Wilkes, George; Wing, Dominic (1998). "The British Press and European Integration: 1948 to 1996". In Baker, David; Seawright, David (eds.). Britain for and Against Europe: British Politics and the Question of European Integration. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 202. ISBN 9780198280781.
  43. ^ a b Thomsen, Ian (26 June 1996). "Oh, Sorry: Tabloids Lose the Soccer War". The New York Times. International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
  44. ^ "Remembering Germany's UEFA Euro 1996 success". Bundesliga.com. DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga GmbH. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  45. ^ Greenslade, Roy (2004) [2003]. Press Gang: How Newspapers Make Profits From Propaganda. London: Pan. p. 657.
  46. ^ Greenslade, Roy (16 August 1999). "Chasing the Sun's tail". The Guardian.
  47. ^ Jagger, Suzy. "Mirror editor saw his shares soar after paper tipped company". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 November 2002. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  48. ^ Moyes, Jojo (10 May 2000). "Columnist rewrites his 'Mirror' tips story over share tips". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  49. ^ "Morgan cleared after shares probe". BBC News. 10 June 2004.
  50. ^ Tryhorn, Chris (23 November 2005). "Mirror editor 'bought £67,000 of shares before they were tipped'". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  51. ^ Barber, Lynn (20 November 2005). "I should have been fired years ago, to be honest". The Observer. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  52. ^ a b "Clarkson and Morgan in tabloid tussle". The Guardian. 17 March 2004. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  53. ^ Russell, Amanda; Smillie, Margaret (22 August 2005). "Freedom of Expression -v- The Multiple Publication Rule". The Journal of Information, Law and Technology (2005/1). Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  54. ^ Gibson, Owen (6 May 2004). "Campbell wins privacy case against Mirror". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  55. ^ "Naomi Campbell wins privacy case". BBC News. 6 May 2004. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  56. ^ Tryhorn, Chris; O'Carroll, Lisa (14 May 2004). "Morgan sacked from Daily Mirror". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  57. ^ "Daily Mirror statement in full". CNN. 13 May 2004. Archived from the original on 25 November 2004.
  58. ^ "Editor sacked over 'hoax' photos". BBC News. 14 May 2004. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  59. ^ "Fake abuse photos: Editor quits". CNN. 15 May 2004. Archived from the original on 6 June 2004.
  60. ^ Byers, Dylan (18 January 2013). "Piers Morgan on phone-hacking, Iraq photos". Politico. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
  61. ^ Blake, Matt (6 August 2011). "This scandal is all my fault, says salesman". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  62. ^ "MP Mensch apologises to Piers Morgan for hacking slur". BBC News. 29 July 2011.
  63. ^ Young, Toby (29 July 2011). "The net closes around Piers Morgan". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2015.
  64. ^ a b c "Piers Morgan tells Leveson: Daily Mirror did not hack phones", BBC News, 20 December 2011
  65. ^ a b "Leveson Inquiry: Heather Mills vows she did not play Paul McCartney messages to Piers Morgan". The Daily Telegraph. 9 February 2012. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.
  66. ^ a b Holden, Michael (9 February 2012). "Beatle's ex-wife says Piers Morgan heard hacked call". Reuters.
  67. ^ Dan Sabbagh and Lisa O'Carroll "Piers Morgan told me how to hack a phone, says Jeremy Paxman", The Guardian, 23 May 2012.
  68. ^ Matilda Battersby (28 November 2012). "Video from 2003 shows Piers Morgan talking about phone hacking". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  69. ^ "Video: New clip surfaces showing Piers Morgan talking to Charlotte Church about phone hacking". TNT. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  70. ^ "Key moments from the Leveson Inquiry". ITV News. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  71. ^ Martin Evans "Piers Morgan questioned by police over phone-hacking", The Daily Telegraph,.co.uk, 14 February 2014
  72. ^ Gallivan, Rory and Zekaria, Simon (September 2014) "Trinity Mirror Admits Liability Over Phone Hacking", The Wall Street Journal, 24 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014
  73. ^ Sweney, Mark (September 2014). "Trinity Mirror faces up to the financial fallout as phone-hacking claims mount", The Guardian, 28 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  74. ^ a b BBC News online "Phone-hacking: Trinity Mirror admits liability", BBC News online, 24 September 2014 (Retrieved 29 September 2014)
  75. ^ Singh, Anita (6 June 2023). "Prince Harry: 'Piers Morgan subjected Meghan and I to horrific personal attacks'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  76. ^ Waterson, Jim (6 June 2023). "What are Harry's most important allegations against the British media?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  77. ^ Barry, Rebecca (6 June 2023). "A view from court as Prince Harry takes aim at 'vile behaviour' of tabloid press". ITV News. Archived from the original on 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  78. ^ Ward, Victoria (15 December 2023). "Prince Harry was victim of phone hacking by Mirror newspapers, judge rules". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  79. ^ Coughlan, Sean (15 December 2023). "Harry wins 15 claims in phone-hacking case against Mirror publisher". BBC News. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  80. ^ Siddique, Haroon (15 December 2023). "Prince Harry v Mirror Group: key findings of the phone-hacking case". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  81. ^ Topping, Alexandra (15 December 2023). "Piers Morgan denies knowing of phone hacking after judge rules he did". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  82. ^ Tobin, Sam; Holden, Michael (15 December 2023). "Piers Morgan knew about phone-hacking at Daily Mirror, London judge finds". Reuters. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  83. ^ Pilgrim, Pilgrim (15 December 2023). "Judge accepts evidence that Piers Morgan knew about phone hacking at The Mirror". The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  84. ^ Sherwin, Adam (15 December 2023). "Piers Morgan's job is safe despite phone hacking ruling, News UK sources say". inews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
  85. ^ "Piers Morgan: 'Prince Harry wouldn't know truth if it slapped him around his California-tanned face'". ITV News. 15 December 2023. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  86. ^ Devlin, Kate (16 December 2023). "Top judge says anyone who lied to phone hacking inquiry should be prosecuted". The Independent. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  87. ^ Gregory, James (16 December 2023). "Steve Coogan: Prince Harry's hacking case is 'start of something'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  88. ^ "Top judge says anyone who lied to phone hacking inquiry should be prosecuted". The Independent. 16 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  89. ^ Sparkes, Nathan (15 December 2023). "BREAKING: Prince Harry successful in phone hacking claims against Mirror - Hacked Off". Hacked Off. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  90. ^ Kiss, Jemima (13 June 2005). "Piers Morgan clinches Press Gazette deal". Journalism.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009.
  91. ^ Day, Julia (28 May 2005). "Piers Morgan turns proprietor with purchase of Press Gazette". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  92. ^ Greenslade, Roy (24 January 2006). "Big titles boycott Morgans organ press awards". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  93. ^ Greenslade, Roy (6 November 2006). "Press Gazette now in administration". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
  94. ^ "Britain's first national newspaper for children to launch Friday", Associated Press, 4 May 2006
  95. ^ Other newspapers aimed at young audiences have included The Boy's Newspaper (1880–1882), The Children's Newspaper (1919–1965), and Early Times (launched in the late 1980s)
  96. ^ Burrell, Ian (1 May 2006). "Piers Morgan launches children's newspaper". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 April 2008. Retrieved 5 May 2006.
  97. ^ "10 years of the Segway... and the celebrities who come a cropper on them". Daily Mirror. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  98. ^ Hilton, Beth (23 August 2007). "Morgan had broken ribs in 'Talent' final". Digital Spy.
  99. ^ Cooke, Charles C. W. (21 May 2012). "Piers Morgan, Feather Duster: CNN must be having second thoughts". National Review.
  100. ^ "Piers Morgan: did he meet Jimmy Savile or didn't he?". London Evening Standard. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  101. ^ Deans, Jason (30 September 2014). "Piers Morgan joins Mail Online as US editor-at-large". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
  102. ^ The Pride of Britain Awards. "Judges". Trinity Mirror Group. Archived from the original on 17 February 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  103. ^ "Amanda Platell notes Piers Morgan's two left feet". New Statesman. 8 November 2004.
  104. ^ "Morgan and Platell to return on Channel 4", The Guardian, 12 May 2005
  105. ^ PA Entertainment (16 March 2007). "'Red Nose apprentice' Morgan fired". TV News. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  106. ^ "Sandbanks: Piers Morgan meets Dorset's mega-rich". ITV. 10 January 2008. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  107. ^ Conlan, Tara (29 May 2008). "Piers Morgan: Britain's Got Talent judge signs two-year deal with ITV". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  108. ^ Preston, John (30 January 2009). "Review: Piers Morgan in... Dubai (ITV) and Jamie Saves Our Bacon (Channel 4)". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  109. ^ Sutcliffe, Tom (4 January 2010). "The Weekend's Television: Wallander, Sun, BBC1; Piers Morgan on Las Vegas, Sat, ITV; Elvis in Vegas, Sun, BBC2". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  110. ^ Khan, Urmee (16 February 2009). "Sharon Osbourne: 'I quit X Factor because of Danni Minogue'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009.
  111. ^ "Cheryl Cole to Piers Morgan: show me some love". The Guardian. 13 October 2010.
  112. ^ Chater, David; Clay, Joe (6 March 2010). "Piers Morgan's Life Stories; Live FA Cup Football; A Kick in the Head: The Lure of Las Vegas; Casualty". The Times. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011.
  113. ^ "Piers Morgan signs on as Larry King replacement". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 9 September 2010. Archived from the original on 15 September 2010. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
  114. ^ Deans, Jason (8 September 2010). "Piers Morgan takes over in Larry King chatshow slot". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2010.
  115. ^ Charles Riley "CNN to end 'Piers Morgan Live'", CNN, 24 February 2014
  116. ^ Hayden, Erik (23 February 2014). "Piers Morgan Says CNN Show Has Been Canceled". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  117. ^ Carr, David (24 February 2014). "Piers Morgan and CNN Plan End to His Prime-Time Show". The New York Times.
  118. ^ "Piers Morgan handed permanent role on Good Morning Britain". The Guardian. 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  119. ^ "Susanna Reid in 'constant battle' with Piers Morgan". BBC News. 19 June 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  120. ^ a b "Piers Morgan stands by Meghan criticism after Good Morning Britain exit". BBC News. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  121. ^ Killer Women with Piers Morgan, Piers Morgan, Amanda Lewis, Sheila Davalloo, retrieved 12 December 2017{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  122. ^ "Hollyoaks storm week to feature Piers Morgan and Carol Kirkwood cameos". Radio Times. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  123. ^ Johnson, Caitlin (28 March 2008). "Relative unknown wins Celebrity Apprentice". Today. NBC.
  124. ^ "Piers Morgan Beats Trace Adkins on Celebrity Apprentice Finale". Associated Press/Fox News. 28 March 2008.
  125. ^ Rocchio, Christopher (28 March 2008). "Piers Morgan defeats Trace Adkins, wins The Celebrity Apprentice". Reality TV World
  126. ^ Morgan, Piers (7 August 2015) [December 2008]. "Donald Trump on sex, money and politics". GQ. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  127. ^ "Piers Morgan gives qualified endorsement of Donald Trump". The Drum. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  128. ^ Morgan, Piers (10 December 2016). "It's weird when your friend becomes leader of the free world". The Spectator.
  129. ^ Demianyk, Graeme (23 March 2016). "Donald Trump Tells Piers Morgan That Muslims Are 'Absolutely Not' Reporting Terrorists". HuffPost. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  130. ^ a b "Piers Morgan defends friendship with Donald Trump". The Guardian. London. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  131. ^ Piers Morgan Defends His Friendship With Donald Trump. Loose Women. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  132. ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (11 February 2017). "Piers Morgan slammed by Jim Jefferies after defending Donald Trump on talk show Real Time with Bill Maher". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  133. ^ Horton, Helena (11 February 2017). "'This is why I've never read Harry Potter': JK Rowling and Piers Morgan in Twitter row". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  134. ^ Thorpe, Vanessa (11 February 2017). "Fantastic beefs and where to find them: JK Rowling at war with Piers Morgan". The Observer. London. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  135. ^ Welsh, Daniel (29 November 2017). "Piers Morgan Condemns Donald Trump Over Britain First Retweets". HuffPost. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  136. ^ Farand, Chloe (28 January 2018). "Donald Trump tells Piers Morgan: 'I wouldn't say I'm a feminist'". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  137. ^ "Trump: 'I would have taken a tougher stand in getting out'". BBC News. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  138. ^ a b Jones, Paul (29 January 2018). "88% of viewers say Piers Morgan was too soft on Donald Trump in 'sycophantic' ITV 'love-in' interview". Radio Times. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  139. ^ "Donald Trump tells ITV the Queen is 'an incredible woman' – and US and UK will make 'a great trade deal'". ITV News. 15 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  140. ^ "Celebrity Apprentice Winner Piers Morgan Asks to Be Trump's Chief of Staff". Fortune. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  141. ^ "ITV to broadcast Piers Morgan's Donald Trump interview in prime-time slot". Radio Times. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  142. ^ "Piers Morgan: Trump 'is failing the American people' – CNN Video". 20 April 2020 – via edition.cnn.com.
  143. ^ Scullard, Vickie (27 April 2020). "Piers Morgan slams President Trump for unfollowing him on Twitter". Manchester Evening News.
  144. ^ "HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media". consent.yahoo.com.[permanent dead link‍]
  145. ^ "Piers Morgan says Donald Trump is 'mentally unfit' to be president in wake of Capitol riots: 'I never thought he was capable of this'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  146. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (12 October 2020). "Piers Morgan: 'Do I genuinely feel a pathological hatred of vegan sausage rolls? No'". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  147. ^ Weaver, Matthew (9 January 2020). "'Rogue royals'? Pundits furious over Harry and Meghan's step back". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  148. ^ Tucker, Grant; Grew, Tony (19 January 2020). "Social media go into meltdown after royal bombshell". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 9 March 2021. (subscription required)
  149. ^ Wright, Andrew (31 August 2020). "How 'Good Morning Britain' Became the New 'Jeremy Kyle Show'". Vice. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  150. ^ Somerville, Ewan (17 January 2020). "Campaigners blast Piers Morgan's 'bullying' as they urge GMB boycott amid racism debate". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  151. ^ Aitkenhead, Decca (9 May 2020). "Interview: Piers Morgan on coronavirus and turning against Trump". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 9 March 2021. (subscription required)
  152. ^ Chilton, Louise (9 March 2021). "Piers Morgan storms off Good Morning Britain after Alex Beresford condemns him for 'trashing' Meghan Markle". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  153. ^ Darcy, Oliver (9 March 2021). "Piers Morgan leaving 'Good Morning Britain' after storming off set over his attacks on Meghan". CNN. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  154. ^ "Piers Morgan criticised by mental health charity over Meghan comments". BBC News. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  155. ^ Woods, Ben; Foy, Simon (9 March 2021). "ITV boss slaps down Piers Morgan in Meghan interview row". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  156. ^ "Piers Morgan quit Good Morning Britain after Meghan complaint". ITV News. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  157. ^ a b "Duchess of Sussex has complained to Ofcom over Piers Morgan comments". BBC News. 12 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  158. ^ "Andrew Neil would be 'delighted' to talk to Piers Morgan about GB News role". The Irish News. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  159. ^ Butter, Susannah (8 June 2021). "Andrew Neil: GB News, my war on woke and the problem with Piers Morgan". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  160. ^ Sweney, Mark (10 March 2021). "ITV loses £200m in market value as Piers Morgan quits Good Morning Britain". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  161. ^ Mishra, Stuti (11 March 2021). "Steve Coogan calls Piers Morgan 'symptomatic' of everything that's wrong with UK media". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  162. ^ Robinson, James (29 November 2023). "Endgame pulled from Dutch bookshops after royal who 'questioned' Archie's skin colour 'named'". Sky News. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  163. ^ Ward, Victoria; Furness, Hannah (30 November 2023). "Palace considers legal action after Piers Morgan names 'royal racists'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
  164. ^ Piers Morgan Uncensored [@PiersUncensored] (30 November 2023). "Piers Morgan defends his decision to name the alleged 'royal racists' live on air. "It was entirely lawful what I did." "I took a view it was ridiculous that British people couldn't be aware of this information." @piersmorgan #PMU" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 November 2023 – via Twitter.
  165. ^ Sweney, Mark (11 April 2016). "Piers Morgan escapes censure over Christian homophobe remark". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  166. ^ "Royally milking it: race row after queen's grandson stars in Chinese ad". South China Morning Post. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  167. ^ "Piers Morgan labelled 'racist' over impression". Morning Bulletin. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  168. ^ Sweney, Mark (9 March 2021). "Ofcom investigates Morgan over comments he made about Duchess of Sussex's mental health". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  169. ^ Madani, Doha (9 March 2021). "Piers Morgan to leave 'Good Morning Britain' after 41,000 complaints over Meghan remarks". NBC News. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  170. ^ "Piers Morgan leaves Good Morning Britain in row over Meghan Markle mental health comments". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  171. ^ "Ofcom clears Piers Morgan over Meghan comments on Good Morning Britain". BBC News. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  172. ^ Herbert, Emily, Piers Morgan – The Biography (Kings Road Publishing, 2012), p. 117
  173. ^ Costello, John, "Morgan hits pay dirt after years of digging for trash", Irish Independent, 22 June 2010, accessed 6 March 2021
  174. ^ "Piers Morgan bans 'tedious little man' Hugh Grant from CNN show". Press Gazette. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  175. ^ "Kelsey Grammer Walks Out on Piers Morgan", ABC News, 20 September 2012; retrieved 30 September 2012
  176. ^ "Kelsey Grammer storms off set" by Emily Gagne, TVGuide.ca, 20 September 2012; retrieved 30 September 2012 Archived 28 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  177. ^ "Kelsey Grammer, Piers Morgan: Actor Barred...", HuffPost, 27 September 2012; retrieved 30 September 2012
  178. ^ Khomani, Nadia (5 June 2015). "John Cleese in Twitter row with Piers Morgan". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  179. ^ Sherwin, Adam (2 May 2017). "John Cleese reignites Twitter feud with 'awful creep' Piers Morgan". iNews. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  180. ^ Oppenheim, Maya (24 January 2017). "Piers Morgan just accused Ewan McGregor of being 'paedophile-loving hypocrite'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  181. ^ "Ewan McGregor and Piers Morgan row over Good Morning Britain appearance". BBC News. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  182. ^ Aitkenhead, Decca (28 January 2018). "Piers Morgan: 'I'm just putting opinions out there. It's my job'". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  183. ^ Robertson, Chris (16 September 2021). "Piers Morgan joining new channel talkTV where he will present 'global show'". Sky News. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  184. ^ Woods, Ben (3 May 2022). "TalkTV ratings sink as viewers tune out Piers Morgan". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  185. ^ Chung, Finley (7 March 2023). "Piers Morgan wins Scoop of the Year at SJA's". News UK. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  186. ^ Clark, Meredith (28 June 2023). "Piers Morgan 'thanks' Meghan Markle after winning Interview of the Year award: 'I wouldn't be standing here'". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  187. ^ "Piers Morgan to move TalkTV show Uncensored to YouTube". BBC News. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  188. ^ Burrell, Ian (13 February 2010). "Piers Morgan: Hack of the day". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  189. ^ "Rare photo of Piers Morgan and his 3 handsome sons revealed on Loose Women". HELLO!. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  190. ^ "Piers Morgan marries Celia Walden". The Daily Telegraph. 25 June 2010. Archived from the original on 28 June 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  191. ^ "First Glimpse Of Piers Morgan's Daughter Elise". Celebrity Baby Scoop. 27 November 2012. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  192. ^ Reporter, Alex Green, PA Senior Entertainment; Fox, Thomas (21 April 2022). "Piers Morgan's quiet life in Newick away from the cameras". sussexlive. Retrieved 13 May 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  193. ^ "'Wenger fails again' – Piers Morgan scathing of Arsenal boss after David Ospina howler". Irish Independent. 14 October 2015.
  194. ^ Menezes, Jack de (26 February 2015). "Piers Morgan 'hurt' after Arsenal legend Bob Wilson questions his support for the Gunners and labels him a 'pompous individual'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  195. ^ Rice, Simon (28 April 2015). "Aaron Ramsey 'well within his rights' to refuse handshake with Arsenal fan Piers Morgan, says Ian Wright". The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  196. ^ "Piers Morgan declares his political allegiance ahead of the vote and it's... unexpected". The Independent. 7 May 2015. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  197. ^ a b "Piers Morgan reveals how he voted in this year's General Election". LBC. 25 December 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  198. ^ "Tweet from 8 November 2024". X. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  199. ^ Sharman, Laura (24 July 2021). "Piers Morgan reveals he developed COVID after Euro 2020 final". Evening Standard. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  200. ^ Morgan, Piers [@piersmorgan] (26 August 2021). "As an Irish Catholic, I find the people offended by this deeply offensive" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  201. ^ Lonergan, Aidan. "Piers Morgan outraged by Met Gala's Catholic theme as he claims 'my religion is being mocked at a fashion show'". The Irish Post.
  202. ^ Mance, Henry (15 March 2017). "Piers Morgan on Trump, Twitter and the power of prayer". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  203. ^ Baker, Emily (14 August 2024). "Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story review: We should be ashamed of how we treated her". i. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  204. ^ Seale, Jack (14 August 2024). "Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story review – TV as nonsensical as the crime it's based on". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
Media offices
Preceded by Main presenter of Good Morning Britain
2015–2021 		Succeeded by
TBD
Preceded by Editor of the News of the World
1994–1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Editor of the Daily Mirror
1995–2004 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piers_Morgan&oldid=1260826054"