ITV boss Dame Carolyn McCall has stood by Meghan Markle while addressing the calls for Piers Morgan to be sacked from Good Morning Britain following his controversial comments earlier this week.
The GMB host drew criticism after saying he didn’t believe the former senior royal’s comments on having suicidal thoughts in an interview with Oprah Winfrey this week.
Dame Carolyn’s comments came as Piers stormed off the GMB set on Tuesday morning amid a heated row with presenter Alex Beresford, after lobbing intense criticism at Meghan, which viewers branded ‘dangerous’.
During their interview with Oprah, Prince Harry and Meghan discussed their move to America and why they chose to leave the Royal family.
Meghan also revealed that she considered taking her own life as the abuse she was subjected to after joining the Royal family began to take its toll.
Reacting to the interview on GMB on Monday, the journalist said he was ‘sickened’ by what he had watched.
Questioning Meghan, Piers said: ‘Who did you go to? What did they say to you? I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word she said, Meghan Markle. I wouldn’t believe it if she read me weather report. The fact that she’s fired up this onslaught against our Royal family I think is contemptible.’
Now the ITV CEO has addressed Piers’s recent comments during Tuesday morning’s ITV earnings conference, in which she revealed they were ‘dealing’ with the calls for Piers to step down.
Asked if the host would lose his job over the comments, or if he had the support of the network, Dame Carolyn said: ‘We are dealing with that as we speak’ and ‘I’m not making any comments on this’.
Dame Carolyn insisted the network was ‘totally committed to’ mental health, and that ‘everyone’ has to listen and believe those who are facing challenges, standing by Meghan.
She said, according to the PA news agency: ‘I completely believe what she (Meghan) said, that the most important thing with mental health that ITV does and is totally committed to, is that we support, we get people to speak up, we listen, we say everyone has to listen and everyone has to believe because that’s how you get people to speak up. So we are very committed to that.’
Dame Carolyn added that ITV managing director of media and entertainment Kevin Lygo had been in discussion with Piers in recent days regarding his coverage of the Harry and Meghan interview.
On the note of Piers storming off set this morning just past 6.30am, Dame Carolyn said she hadn’t seen it, but said of today’s programme: ‘It was a very balanced show this morning’ and that when it came to Piers’s reactions, there is ‘nothing manufactured there’.
She added: ‘ITV has many voices and we try and represent many voices every day. It’s not about one opinion.’
Viewers responded to Piers’s comments, with many dubbing them both ‘dangerous’ and ‘vile’, as well as stating that were making complaints to watchdog Ofcom, while Mind – a charity that supports those struggling with their mental health and runs a campaign with ITV – said in a statement it had been left ‘disappointed’ by Piers’s reaction.
The statement read: ‘We were disappointed and concerned to see Piers Morgan’s comments on not believing Meghan’s experiences about suicidal thoughts today.
‘We are in conversations with ITV about this at the moment. If you or anyone you know is feeling impacted by the discussions that have taken place today, please reach out for support using the signposts in the thread below.
‘It’s vital that when people reach out for support or share their experiences of ill mental health that they are treated with dignity, respect and empathy.’
In today’s programme, Piers clarified his position on mental illness and suicide after he was widely criticised, saying: ‘If somebody is feeling that way, they should get the treatment and help they need every time. If they belong to an institution like the royal family, and they go and seek that help, they should absolutely be given it.
‘It’s not for me to question whether she felt suicidal. I wasn’t in her mind and that’s for her to say.
‘My real concern was a disbelief, frankly, and I’m prepared to be proven wrong on this, and if I’m wrong, it’s a scandal, that she went to a senior member of the royal household, told them she was suicidal, and was told she could not have any help because it would be a bad look for the family.
‘If that is true, A) that person, if they’re still there, should be fired, and B) the royal family have serious questions to be answered about how they handled it.’
Metro.co.uk contacted ITV for comment.
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Harry and Meghan's Oprah interview: Key moments
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have spoken to Oprah Winfrey in a bombshell interview about their decision to step back as senior working members of the Royal Family.
Here are the key points from the interview, which UK viewers can watch at 9pm on ITV on Monday, March 8.
- Meghan says it was Kate who made her cry over flower girls, not other way round
- Meghan says Harry was told there were ‘concerns how dark’ Archie would be
- Harry and Meghan reveal the gender of their baby due in summer
- Meghan sobs as she says pressures of royal life drove her to the verge of suicide
- Prince Charles stopped taking Harry’s calls after he quit Royal Family
- Harry says Meghan saved him from being ‘trapped’ like Prince Charles and Prince William are
- Princess Diana would be ‘sad and angry about how this has panned out'
- Meghan and Harry share adorable new video of son Archie at the beach
- Harry confirms terrible rift with William and says their relationship is now just ‘space’
- Queen ‘ghosted Harry during Megxit talks and got aide to say she was too busy’