Piers Morgan’s toxic treatment of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is chillingly familiar for many women. We may not all be royalty with a public figure repeatedly vilifying us in front of millions, but we know the dynamic: to reject a man can be just about one of the most dangerous things a woman can do.
Morgan’s attitude towards Meghan was not always negative. A look back through the British TV presenter’s Twitter history surfaces many complimentary tweets about and to her, from when she still had an active account. According to Morgan, their friendship began in 2015, when she messaged him to say she was a “big fan” after he followed her on Twitter. They met up for a drink in 2016, when Meghan was visiting London, and Morgan says it was immediately after this that she met Prince Harry and, in his words, “ghosted” him, which he says hurt.
Morgan subsequently spent years growing increasingly hostile to Meghan in the media and on Twitter, culminating in him declaring on Good Morning Britain he didn’t believe a word she said in her interview with Oprah Winfrey – including the vulnerable admission of suicidal thoughts. When confronted about his comments the next day, he stormed off set. Meghan hasn’t responded publicly to his attacks, although she did lodge a formal complaint with ITV – along with more than 41,000 viewers.
The pattern in Morgan’s behaviour is one that plays out again and again in women’s lives. In 2019, actress Jameela Jamil tweeted about…
