A full rundown on Piers Morgan and Meghan Markle's explosive feud - from friendship turning sour to him storming off live TV
From their first meeting in a pub to an explosive TV moment.... the friendship is no more!Believe it or not, Meghan Markle and Piers Morgan were once friends before their bond shattered in recent years.
When she began dating and eventually married Prince Harry, Piers accused the duchess of ‘ghosting’ him and they lost contact.
Meghan and Harry’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey was the catalyst of Piers’ exit from ITV news show Good Morning Britain. He stormed off set live on air following a debate over Meghan.
So, following Piers’ viral switch off, following a very heated interview on his namesake show with controversial social media creator, Harrison Sullivan (known as HSTikkyTokky), let’s take a look at his seemingly one-sided fallout with the Duchess of Sussex.
When were Piers Morgan and Meghan Markle friends?
Piers and Meghan’s relationship goes back to 2016. The pair first met at a bar in Kensington in 2016 when Meghan was starring in the legal drama Suits.
Speaking on Instagram in May 2018, a day before Meghan’s wedding to Harry, Piers wrote: “Two years ago, I took Meghan Markle to my local pub for a drink (she had dirty martinis, I had Harvey’s best bitter) and then put her in a cab to her first date with Harry.”
She ghosted me, Ryan. Meghan Markle ghosted me.
Before their meeting, Piers said Meghan had reached out to him on Twitter after he followed her. She told him she was a “big fan”. He said contact between them continued and he thought they had a “good friendship building”.
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During an interview, Piers said that he and Meghan “got on brilliantly” during the pub meeting. However, it wasn’t long before things turned sour.
Piers accused Meghan of ‘ghosting’ him
Speaking to Ryan Tubrid on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show in 2018, Piers said: “The next night [Harry and Meghan] had a solo dinner together, and that was the last I ever heard from Meghan Markle.
“She ghosted me, Ryan. Meghan Markle ghosted me. I really liked her. I just think she’s a slight social climber.”
That was just the start of Piers’ digs and swipes at Meghan and Harry. Many people online accused Piers of being ‘obsessed’ with the royal couple after a series of damning comments.
He would often call Meghan “Princess Pinocchio”.
Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview sparked backlash from Piers
In early 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan announced they were stepping down from their senior royal roles. It’s something which garnered much criticism online.
Then in March 2021, the couple sat down for a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. In the interview, they made a series of allegations about the monarchy.
One allegation was that there were ‘conversations and concerns’ within the family about “how dark” their son Archie’s skin color would be before he was born.
As a co-host on Good Morning Britain at the time, Piers didn’t hold back with his opinions against the couple and firmly supported the royal family.
It resulted in him clashing with some of his colleagues on the show, and walking off set before departing ITV.
Piers Morgan’s viral interview with HSTikkTokky
The star has recently found himself in another viral feud. Piers Morgan walked out of a Piers Morgan Uncensored interview with influencer Harrison Sullivan earlier this month, causing frenzy online.
Piers had attempted to grill the controversial “manosphere” influencer, who recently featured in the Netflix documentary Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere.
“You know what, I’m not doing this, sorry guys. It’s pointless,” Morgan exclaimed just 15 minutes into the interview with Harrison Sullivan.
His walk out came after Sullivan spewed insults about Piers Morgan’s wife and brought up false allegations about the presenter’s links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Morgan fumed int he interview: “Here’s what I think about you. I watched the documentary. I think you’re a [bleep] idiot. I think you’re a sexist, misogynistic, homophobic twerp who got exposed in a global way by Netflix, by Louis Theroux, for what you are. You’re a little halfwit.”
Of course, Piers has had his fair share of controversial moments, including his digs at Meghan Markle.
Thousands of complaints made to Ofcom over Piers’ comments about Duchess of Sussex
Piers’ comments about Meghan ended up sparking a record 58,000 complaints to TV watchdog Ofcom. Even Meghan herself made a complaint, Ofcom confirmed at the time.
Eventually, Ofcom cleared Piers of the complaints saying that restricting his views would be a “chilling restriction” on free expression. However, the watchdog criticised his “apparent disregard” for the subject of mental health and suicide.
On March 10, 2021, Piers’ exit from GMB was announced after he refused to apologise for his comments about Meghan.
At the time, he said on Instagram: “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, that’s 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.”
ITV said: “Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add.”
Piers’ Good Morning Britain exit
Since his GMB exit in 2021, Piers has continued to speak out against Meghan and Harry. He has continued to slate the couple on his new TalkTV show Piers Morgan Uncensored.
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