Piers Morgan says he still doesn't believe Meghan Markle after leaving 'Good Morning Britain'
- Piers Morgan has stood by his comments about Meghan Markle after leaving "Good Morning Britain."
- Morgan tweeted Wednesday that he still didn't believe anything Markle said in the Oprah interview.
- "Good Morning Britain" addressed Morgan's departure on Wednesday.
Piers Morgan has doubled down on his criticism of Meghan Markle, saying a day after his dramatic exit from "Good Morning Britain" that he still doesn't believe anything she said during her interview with Oprah Winfrey.
It was announced Tuesday that Morgan would be leaving the morning show after he sparked widespread outrage for saying he "didn't believe a word" Markle said in response to a clip of her disclosing suicidal thoughts.
Ofcom - the independent British broadcasting regulator - is investigating Morgan's comments after receiving 41,000 complaints.
"On Monday, I said I didn't believe Meghan Markle in her Oprah interview," Morgan said in a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday. "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."
The statement was captioned with a picture of Winston Churchill and a quote attributed to the World War II leader, which said: "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."
Morgan stormed off the "Good Morning Britain" set during filming Tuesday after facing criticism from a colleague, the weather presenter Alex Beresford, who condemned him for continuing to attack Markle on Monday. ITV, the channel that produces the show, later announced that he had stepped down for good.
It was later reported that Morgan quit the show after clashing with senior ITV executives who asked him to apologize to Markle on the air.
Opening Wednesday's edition of the show, the host Susanna Reid addressed Morgan's departure, saying: "It is certainly going to be very different, but shows go, and so on we go."
"Now, Piers and I have disagreed on many things, and that dynamic was one of the things viewers loved about the program," she continued. "He is, without doubt, an outspoken, challenging, opinionated, disruptive broadcaster. He has many critics, and he has many fans. You will know that I disagreed with him about Meghan's interview. He himself clarified his comments about her mental health on the show yesterday."
She added: "But now Piers has decided to leave the program. Some of you may cheer, and others may boo."
It is not yet known who will be Morgan's permanent replacement, but Ranvir Singh, who cohosted the show on Wednesday, said: "We don't call him Marmite for nothing."