Piers Morgan: Outrage on social media as presenter gets new global TV show

‘The true crime here is how this clown falls upwards,’ said one critic

The announcement that Piers Morgan has been employed in new roles at News Corp and Fox News Media has provoked outrage on social media.

Rupert Murdoch’s News UK is set to launch a new current affairs TV channel in Britain, TalkTV, with Morgan signing on in a new global deal.

The channel will launch in early 2022 and offer a mix of “hourly news bulletins, sports and entertainment shows as well as current affairs, debate, opinion and documentaries”, the group said in a statement.

Morgan will also publish two weekly columns online for the New York Post and The Sun.

Many social media users are dismayed that Morgan has been hired just months after he left ITV earlier this year following outrage about comments he made about Meghan Markle.

Morgan attracted widespread criticism in March for saying he “didn’t believe a word” the duchess said about struggling with suicidal thoughts and disputed her account of allegedly experiencing racism during her time as a senior royal.

His on-air outburst prompted a record number of 57,121 Ofcom complaints – the highest number in the TV regulator’s history – and led to his exit from Good Morning Britain.

“The true crime here is how this clown falls upwards, reaching new lows and still getting cushy jobs,” tweeted one person in reaction to Morgan’s new roles. “Piers Morgan should be left to Twitter, screaming into the void. Why do people keep giving this division-seeker a platform?”

Another wrote: “I feel he will go the same way as @afneil on GB news , he will start with a fan fare and then go out with a whimper. Plus Murdoch has enough control of our press and broadcasting do we need any more ?”

The response online was not entirely negative. “Congratulations to you @piersmorgan,”posted GB News presenter Becca Hutson.

Sky News’s Kay Burley, meanwhile, wrote: “So this is what @piersmorgan is planning next. Good for him.”

Tweeting about the news himself, Morgan said: “I’ve gone home. Great to be rejoining Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation after 28 years. The place I started my media career, with the boss who gave me my first big break. We’re going to have a lot of fun….”