British broadcast journalist Piers Morgan refused to cave to the mob attacking him for questioning and criticizing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah, saying, “Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on.”
“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. If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on. Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions,” he wrote on Twitter.
Morgan paired his proclamation with a Winston Churchill quote graphic which states, “Some people’s idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like, but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.”
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. If you did, OK. Freedom of speech is a hill I’m happy to die on. Thanks for all the love, and hate. I’m off to spend more time with my opinions. pic.twitter.com/bv6zpz4Roe
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 10, 2021
Morgan’s refusal to cave to peer pressure on Twitter follows tens of thousands of complaints to the U.K.’s Office of Communications after he criticized the ex-royal pair’s interview with Oprah, suggesting that the Duchess of Sussex was lying about some of her experiences with the palace “institution.” Markle also filed a formal complaint with ITV, saying “she was not upset by Morgan’s attacks — but wanted to file the complaint out of concern for how his comments could affect viewers dealing with their own mental health struggles.” Morgan’s on-air comments are now under review for potential violations of the U.K. broadcasting code.
Shortly after he stormed off the “Good Morning Britain” set following reprimands from his cohost Alex Beresford about his comments denouncing the interview, ITV announced Morgan would be leaving the show.
“Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain,” ITV said in a short statement. “ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”
Federalist Publisher Ben Domenech weighed in on the most recent complaint lodged against Morgan by Markle on Wednesday morning, saying everyone should be able to offer their opinions about the situation without reprimand.
“If you are paid to be on TV to offer your opinions, that should not result in the kind of complaint that we saw, and absolutely everyone should be able to be free to question Meghan Markle or anyone else in terms of expressing disbelief,” Domenech said on Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.”
