Can we all stop talking about Piers Morgan and start talking about Alex Beresford?
On Tuesday’s issue of ‘Good Morning Britain’, someone gave a sincere and courageous opinion on the controversy surrounding the recent ‘Oprah With Harry and Meghan’ interview and it was certainly not Morgan.
Yes, Morgan persevered the diva and chased the set – and later the ITV show he had hosted together for six years without stopping – after being criticized on air for his protracted and hateful attacks on former Meghan Markle. . Yes, the face of a man who regularly describes his targets with words like ‘disgusting’, ‘contemptuous’ and ‘shameless’ running towards cover in the face of criticism in the gentle way was hilarious.
And of course he, like so many masters in vitriol, now covers himself in the mantle of freedom of speech. Problem in the UK, which has no 1st Amendment protection as it has no 1st Amendment, and even in the US where ‘freedom of speech’ does not protect you from dismissal because you make offensive statements – or as in the case of Morgan was given the choice to apologize or to stop. (Morgan, who stands by his outspoken opinion that he does not believe anything Meghan said during the interview, including that she felt suicidal, chose the latter.)
Indeed, we could talk all day about Morgan, his extraordinary ability to fail upwards and what it stands for in 2021 – but let’s not, frankly, he’s boring.
Alex Beresford, on the other hand, is the opposite of boring. He is the man who came out of nowhere to say what many think, the deterrent ‘Good Morning Britain’ who decided he could not remain silent while a woman was repeatedly broken down.
Even if it means facing a senior colleague’s anger in the air, if expressed?
When Morgan was prepared to greet Britain on Tuesday with an outburst over what he saw as the treacherous nature of the Sussex’s recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, and Meghan’s one-sided attempt to destroy the British monarchy through racial rape and false claims of mental health issues , Beresford decided enough is enough.
“I understand you do not like Meghan Markle,” Beresford said. ‘You’ve made it so clear several times about this program. and I understand that you have a personal relationship with Meghan Markle and that she cut you off. She is entitled to cut you off if she wishes. Has she said anything about you since she cut you off? I do not think she has it, but still you continue to throw her in the trash. ‘
At that point, Morgan vacated his seat and walked away, mumbling “I’m done with this” and “You can come to me, but not on my own show.”
“It’s just demonic behavior,” said Beresford, who, like the Duchess, is a mixed race. ‘I’m sorry, but Piers sprays regularly and we all have to sit there and listen – 06:30 to seven o’clock yesterday was incredibly difficult to watch, incredibly difficult to watch. It is – you know, he has the ability to come in and speak from a position where he does not fully understand. ‘
The incident was so shocking that many viewers believed it was staged.
However, this is not the first time the two men have clashed. Two years ago, when Beresford was trying to join the general conversation one morning, Morgan shut him down by saying, ‘You know what, buddy, you’re doing the weather. Your job is the weather. This time it was Beresford who walked off the set. “Look at him, the little drama queen,” Morgan said as Beresford made his retirement.
Beresford is also not the first person to acknowledge or understand Morgan’s ability as a white man to continue the subtle racism that many, according to Meghan, are facing as Britain’s first royal. British television presenter Trisha Goddard, who is Black, pushed back on Monday against Morgan’s charge that Meghan played the race card. “I’m sorry, Piers, you can not shout what is and is not racism against black people,” she said. “You can call out all the other things … but leave the racism stuff to us.”
But Beresford’s response directly questioned the underlying cause of the co – host’s ongoing criticism of the Duchess – the fact that she ‘ghosted’ Morgan, just as he put it, just after meeting Harry.
This incident is only known because Morgan was so open about it and told of the DM friendship he and then Markle struck years ago, which culminated in a few drinks gatherings when Meghan was in London. As Morgan tells it, they had a great time and then she left on her way to the party where she would meet Prince Harry for the first time. After that, according to his report, Morgan heard nothing more from her, which he took – as he said on several occasions after her rocky relationship with her father made news – as proof that she was a social climber of the worst kind. wash.
Instead of, I do not know, a woman who has decided or been told that it might not be a great idea to continue DMing with a well-known British journalist, as she’s an initial secret and then extremely necessary published romantic relationship with a prince.
Many other members of the press and the Twittersphere have called on Morgan over the years for his relentless and very personal criticism of Meghan, and some have speculated that it was rooted. But for Beresford to highlight the rift on camera was remarkably brave. Many people, including millions of “Good Morning Britain” viewers, are fans of Morgan and agree with his assessment of the Duchess, while Beresford, as Morgan so kindly remarked two years ago, is the weather presenter.
As a colored man, it is understandable that he, like Goddard, would find it difficult to remain silent if Morgan accused the duke and duchess of calling out ‘racism’ where there was no existence. As Beresford subsequently said in a tweet: “In order to do that, I have to deprive myself of my identity.” He is a native of Bristol and has been with ‘Good Morning Britain’ since the beginning in 2014 and has spoken out about the program before. In 2019, he interrupted the argument of the chairman of the police federation that Britain needed more prisons to stop a rash of knife stabs. “However, prisons do not work,” Beresford argued. “I grew up in some of these communities that you’re talking about … if we do not change the environment, we will not change anything.”
On Tuesday, Beresford re-emerged as an important voice of alliance as well as representation, with his simple and powerful assertion that Meghan has every right to repel Morgan.
This is what women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ community and other groups mean when they ask that we all speak and be able to express ourselves in real time about the subtle forces of disorder in the workplace and society. For years, Morgan seems to have used his interpretation of his experience with Meghan to inform all of his subsequent comments about her.
This is something many people knew, but only Beresford had the courage to say: Even if she intentionally or accidentally hurt your feelings, Piers, it does not give you the right to break her down on various media platforms on a daily basis.
A woman has the right to reject a man, in whatever form, for whatever reason, without fear of being targeted or maligned in return.
Journalism is the fact that Morgan would go on to discuss a figure with whom he had a personal relationship and according to his own account against whom he had a personal grievance; it certainly gives his critique the appearance of vendetta.
Meghan has a lot of public critics, but Morgan is particularly ruthless and malicious. His dismissal of her report on suicidal thoughts – “I would not believe her if she read the weather report” – drew more than 40,000 complaints from British regulator Ofcom and forced Morgan to publicly admit that suicide is a serious matter . and he has at no stage a way of knowing the state of mind of the Duchess.
(For the record, if you were forced by your employer to publicly declare that you know suicide is serious, something went terribly wrong.)
Ofcom announced on Tuesday that it is investigating the complaints, which include one of the Duchess herself. Meghan’s investigation and complaint undoubtedly had more to do with the fact that Morgan set an ultimatum for ‘excuse or leave’ than Beresford’s challenge on the air.
But his challenge is what we need to keep talking about.