British TV presenter Piers Morgan blasted Meghan Markle again on Wednesday following his exit from Good Morning Britain, when he stormed off the show after he was challenged about his reaction to her interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Morgan suggested that Markle was a liar on Twitter and during a media interview on Wednesday, and defended the accusation as “freedom of speech” and “opinion.”
“I think the damage she’s done to the British monarchy and to the Queen at a time when Prince Philip is lying in hospital is enormous and frankly contemptible,” Morgan told a gathering of reporters on Wednesday. He also said he was freely expressing his opinion about her.
“If I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge that she came out with in that interview, so be it,” he said.
He made similar comments in a tweet following his departure from Good Morning Britain.
Morgan has been seething about Markle since she and Prince Harry sat down with Winfrey for a wide-ranging bombshell interview about their departure from the Royal Family, which aired Sunday on CBS. The couple revealed in the interview that someone in the Royal Family had asked about the potential colour of their son Archie’s skin before he was born. Markle also said that the media scrutiny she faced had driven her to have suicidal thoughts.
Morgan, who used to be friends with Markle before they had a falling out, blasted her on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Monday. “I don’t believe a word she says,” Morgan said. “I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report.”
He stormed off the set on Tuesday after weather broadcaster Alex Beresford called him out for repeatedly attacking Markle.
“I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle, you’ve made it so clear a number of times on this program, and I understand you’ve got a personal relationship with Meghan Markle or had one and she cut you off,” Beresford said Tuesday. “Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I don’t think she has but yet you continue to trash her.”
Morgan threw up his hands and stormed off at those remarks. “OK, I’m done with this. Sorry, no, can’t do this,” he said.
ITV announced later in the day that Morgan had left the show.
Morgan told Sky News on Wednesday that his split with ITV was “amicable.”
“I had a good chat with ITV and we agreed to disagree,” he said.
The British pundit re-emerged Wednesday on Twitter to rip Markle once again.
“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,” Morgan tweeted. “If you do, 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.”
Morgan also attached a photo quote attributed to former British prime minister Winston Churchill. “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,” the quote read.
Morgan, who said what he liked and became outraged when someone said something back, did not apologize for his comments about Markle on Wednesday.
Ofcom, the U.K.’s media watchdog agency, has reportedly launched an investigation into Morgan’s on-air comments after receiving more than 41,000 complaints.
Markle also lodged a formal complaint with ITV about Morgan’s comments, The Telegraph and The Guardian report.