Piers Morgan has quit Good Morning Britain, a hosting gig he's held since 2015, Variety reported.
The sudden announcement comes after Morgan ignited public backlash—and set off an investigation by the U.K.'s independent media regulator Ofcom—with his critical comments regarding Duchess Meghan Markle's recent claims about life in the royal family.
It's been a rocky road for Morgan ever since Oprah Winfrey's interview with Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle aired on Sunday night.
During that interview, Markle claimed to have endured racism at the hands of multiple members of the royal family, and to have entertained suicidal thoughts—which she claimed were brushed off by the family for the sake of appearances.
Right on cue, throughout the Monday and Tuesday following the airing of Harry and Meghan's interview—which netted just over 17 million television viewers—the round tables of talk/chat shows were chalk full of analysis, commentary and raging debate on both sides of the pond.
As co-host of Good Morning Britain, Morgan spent Monday and Tuesday casting doubt on Markle's claims and defending the monarchy, arguing Markle had made "the most incendiary charge I've ever seen in my career" and shaming the couple for "spray gunning [Harry's] family on global television"
Morgan held firm to his total disbelief of Markle even in the face of heated opposition from Black activist Dr.Shola Mos-Shogbamimu and rebuttals from Good Morning Britain co-host Susanna Reid.
But the real kicker was when on Tuesday another Good Morning Britain co-presenter, Alex Beresford, commented it was "incredibly hard to watch" Morgan trash Markle for an entire day. Beresford's critique pushed Morgan to storm off set in a huff, a moment that appeared to be the culmination of a dicey couple days.
And yet, Morgan's dramatics evidently continued.
Good Morning Britain releasing the following statement on Tuesday evening:
"Following discussions with ITV, Piers Morgan has decided now is the time to leave Good Morning Britain. ITV has accepted this decision and has nothing further to add."
As Variety went on to report, that announcement came less than an hour after U.K. media regulator Ofcom launched an investigation into whether Monday morning's episode of Good Morning Britain breached the regulator's "harm and offence rules."
Accroding to Ofcom, that Monday morning episode, which contained the bulk of Morgan's gaslighting attempts against Markle, prompted over 41,000 people to submit letters of complaint.
People on Twitter, clearly enraged by Morgan's comments about Markle, didn't even try to hold back their excitement.
Morgan himself offered his reflections on the sudden shakeup in a tweet on Wednesday morning.
Morgan's tweet only sparked continued outrage.
Many pointed out a White man of privilege refusing to accept the existence of racism isn't exactly uncommon.
It's very unlikely this is the last we'll see of Piers Morgan. The question is, where exactly will he land next?
Jane Rosenberg
Jane Rosenberg
@arianagrande/Instagram
@arianagrande/Instagram