Piers Morgan has thanked Meghan Markle after his Good Morning Britain rant topped Ofcom’s complaints list for 2021.
The outspoken broadcaster’s comments about Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sparked 54,595 complaints to the watchdog, making it the most-complained about moment of the year.
Responding to the news, Piers tweeted: ‘Delighted to have perpetrated the most complained about moment on UK TV for 2021…. especially because every single one of the absurd complaints was rejected. Thanks Princess Pinocchio!’
Earlier this year, he quit GMB following a huge number of complaints about the remarks he made concerning the interview, when she discussed her mental health and previously suffering from suicidal thoughts.
After Meghan made a formal complaint to Ofcom, Piers was later cleared by the watchdog, after it concluded that he did not breach the broadcasting code.
Ofcom’s director for Standards and Audience Protection Adam Baxter has defended the organisation over its ruling in September, when the presenter was cleared as they concluded that he did not breach the broadcasting code.
Reflecting on the case as he wrote about 2021 as a whole, he said: ‘The judgments we make each day are often finely balanced – such as our highest profile case this year: Piers Morgan’s comments on Good Morning Britain in the wake of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.
‘But, given the importance of the right to freedom of expression, we only step in or take action against a broadcaster when we consider it necessary.
‘This year we concluded 33 investigations and recorded 20 breaches of our rules. Many of these cases were about hate speech or harmful, scientifically unfounded Coronavirus misinformation.’