Piers Morgan’s Meghan Markle Rant Draws Highest Number Of Complaints In UK Television History
Piers Morgan’s comments about Meghan Markle on Good Morning Britain last week have officially become the most complained about moment in British television history, according to the UK media regulator.
Ofcom revealed on Wednesday that 57,121 complaints have been made about the show, in which Morgan questioned if Markle was being genuine in saying her time with the royal family had left her feeling suicidal. She made the comments in a tell-all CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey last week.
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The complaints are up from 41,000 last week, and puts Good Morning Britain above an episode of Celebrity Big Brother in Ofcom’s hall of shame. Some 44,500 complained about a Big Brother episode in 2007, when Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty was targeted by Jade Goody and Danielle Lloyd.
Ofcom announced last week that it is investigating Good Morning Britain to establish whether Morgan broke the UK broadcasting code. Morgan himself resigned last Tuesday after he refused to apologize for his remarks. He was typically non-plussed about the Ofcom complaints, tweeting:
Only 57,000? I’ve had more people than that come up & congratulate me in the street for what I said. The vast majority of Britons are right behind me. https://t.co/bVYbU1RcHA
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) March 17, 2021
Ofcom also revealed that ITV’s broadcast of the CBS special, Oprah with Meghan and Harry, drew 4,398 complaints last Monday. That made it the second most complained about show of the week.
Ofcom was founded in 2002, so it’s possible that there were shows pre-dating the regulator that notched up more than 57,121 complaints, though the internet has made it easier for people to register their concerns.
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