British media regulator Ofcom has rejected the record 58,000 complaints filed against Piers Morgan’s callous criticism of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, per the BBC. The Duchess herself filed complaints with the regulator and ITV, who has cleared Morgan for his comments following the couple’s interview with Oprah Winfrey in March. Ofcom said censoring his views would be a “chilling restriction†on free speech, but noted his “apparent disregard†for the seriousness of suicide, legitimizing his consistent use of platform to level racist and misogynistic harassment toward Meghan Markle (he does all that and more in his Daily Mail column alone). Ofcom also reported that co-hosts Susanna Reid and Chris Ship “provided adequate protection to viewers from potentially harmful and highly offensive statements about mental health and suicide.†Surely babysitting Piers Morgan is not in their job descriptions. The ruling added: “While we acknowledged that Mr. Morgan’s questions about the nature of racism had the potential to be highly offensive to some viewers, the conversations about race and racism in this programme provided open debate on the issues raised by the interview.â€
In her interview with Winfrey, Markle revealed she received no help from Buckingham Palace, even as her mental health suffered so bad she “didn’t want to be alive anymore.†The royal couple also said an unnamed member of the family was concerned with the color of their unborn child’s skin. The next morning, Morgan said he did not “believe a word she said,†accusing her of firing “up this onslaught against our royal family.†When co-presenter Alex Beresford pushed back, Morgan walked off set. Because open debate. His exit from the show was announced that evening. Morgan, who is openly bitter about Markle ending their brief friendship, later defended his comments as his “right to be allowed to have an opinion†and continues to refer to her as “Princess Pinocchio.†Still, he was recently nominated for the National Television Award for best TV presenter. Between this and the Love Island results … Britain, are you good?