Good Morning Britain’s Alex Beresford has spoken out on his confrontation with Piers Morgan, who stormed off the show’s set after being criticised for his treatment of Meghan Markle.
Within minutes of today’s episode (9 March), Beresford addressed Morgan’s dismissal of Markle’s claims that she contemplated suicide due to her treatment at the hands of the British press.
Beresford called out Morgan’s comments and his eagerness to “trash” Markle, which prompted Morgan to storm off the set. Beresford then called the walk-out “diabolical”.
On Twitter, Beresford wrote: “I wish I had the privilege to sit on the fence. In order for me to do that I would have to strip myself of my identity and that’s not something I can do. It’s not any of our places to pick apart claims of racism in order to make us feel more comfortable.”
Earlier today, Beresford’s actions were met with praise on Twitter.
“I think middle-aged egomaniac Piers Morgan has gotten too comfortable with zoom-interviews and can’t handle face to face criticism,” tweeted one viewer. “Round of applause for Alex Beresford.”
Read more: Piers Morgan should be sacked by ITV for his vile attacks on Meghan Markle
Another added: “Well done Alex Beresford, calmly & factually laid the home truths down, so much so he got up & f***ed off.”
“Thank god for Alex Beresford” and “Today’s king is Alex Beresford” were among other messages of support tweeted at the presenter. “Let’s all enjoy Alex Beresford making snowflake Piers Morgan cry,” added another.
“I used to work for ITV as their only presenter of colour on their flagship children’s show,” wrote comedian London Hughes. “I know firsthand what’s it like to face workplace microaggressions that you’re too scared to speak up about. What Alex did today, live on GMB was so commendable, that took major guts.”
Another viewer summed up the snafu: “Petition to replace Piers Morgan with Alex Beresford.”
On Twitter, Morgan appeared to regret his response to Beresford’s comments. Morgan said he agreed with a Twitter user who dubbed him a “snowflake”, before adding: “I was annoyed, went for a little cool-down and came back to finish the discussion.”
