Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (born
Piers Stefan O'Meara; 30 March 1965), known professionally as
Piers Morgan, is a British journalist and television presenter. He is editorial director of
First NewsFirst News is a weekly newspaper aimed at 7-14 year olds. It is in tabloid format, and aims to present current events in a child-friendly format, alongside news on entertainment, sport and computer games...
, a national newspaper for children.
Morgan branched into television mainly as a presenter, but has become best known as a judge or contestant in
reality televisionReality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
programmes. In the UK, he was a judge on
Britain's Got TalentBritain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...
. Morgan is best known in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as a judge on the show
America's Got TalentAmerica's Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of...
, and as the winner of
The Celebrity ApprenticeThe Celebrity Apprentice is the seventh installment of the United States version of the reality television series, The Apprentice. This season features celebrity candidates vying for the title of Donald Trump's, "Best Business Brain," as a way to revitalize the series, with the winner donating...
. On 17 January 2011, he began hosting
Piers Morgan TonightPiers Morgan Tonight is a talk show on CNN, hosted by Piers Morgan. The show premiered on January 17, 2011 and filled the former Larry King Live timeslot. The theme music is written by Anthony James, composer and CEO of British company Music Candy, and his writing partner Yiorgos Bellapaisiotis,...
for
CNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
in the timeslot previously occupied by
Larry King LiveLarry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
before the retirement of host
Larry KingLawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
.
Morgan has authored eight books, including three volumes of memoirs.
Early life
Piers Morgan was born on 30 March 1965, in
GuildfordGuildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
,
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, to Eamon Vincent O'Meara, a dentist, of
DorkingDorking is a historic market town at the foot of the North Downs approximately south of London, in Surrey, England.- History and development :...
,
SurreySurrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
and Gabrielle Georgina Sybille (née Oliver). His father died when he was one year old; his mother subsequently remarried. He has three older siblings. Morgan was raised Catholic. Named Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan by his stepfather, Morgan attended an
independent schoolAn independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
from the ages of seven to thirteen, and then
Chailey SchoolChailey Secondary School is a relatively small comprehensive secondary school located in the village of South Chailey, Chailey, just outside Lewes in East Sussex, UK. Chailey School was awarded Language College Status in July 2002. In the year 2007, the school was also awarded Humanities College....
, a
comprehensiveA comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
secondary schoolSecondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in
ChaileyChailey is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located ten miles north of Lewes, on the A272 road from Winchester to Canterbury...
, near
LewesLewes is the county town of East Sussex, England and historically of all of Sussex. It is a civil parish and is the centre of the Lewes local government district. The settlement has a history as a bridging point and as a market town, and today as a communications hub and tourist-oriented town...
,
East SussexEast Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, followed by
Lewes Priory SchoolLewes Priory School is a British co-educational school for 11 to 16 year-olds located on Mountfield Road in the East Sussex town of Lewes. It is a specialist school as an Arts College, Language College, and Science College.-History:...
for VI form. Morgan studied
JournalismJournalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
at
Harlow CollegeHarlow College is a Further Education college in Harlow, Essex. It was preceded by its homonym, a boys' boarding school situated in Old Harlow, which closed in 1965 ....
. After a brief career at Lloyds of London, he joined the Surrey and South London Newspaper Group in 1985, where he worked as a reporter on the South London News, and the
Streatham and Tooting News. Morgan was recruited (he says
headhuntedA recruiter is someone engaging in recruitment, or the solicitation of individuals to fill jobs or positions within a corporation, nonprofit organization, sports team, the military, etc. Recruiters may work within an organization's human resources department or on an outsourced basis...
by editor
Kelvin MacKenzieKelvin Calder MacKenzie is an English media executive and former newspaper editor. He is best known for being editor of The Sun newspaper between 1981 and 1994, an era in which the paper was established as Britain's best selling newspaper.- Biography :MacKenzie was educated at Alleyn's School...
) to join
The SunThe Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
newspaper, specifically to work on the
Bizarre column.
In newspapers
Morgan's first major position in national media was as
de facto editor of
The Sun'sThe Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
show business
columnA columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
, 'Bizarre', under the editorship of
Kelvin MacKenzieKelvin Calder MacKenzie is an English media executive and former newspaper editor. He is best known for being editor of The Sun newspaper between 1981 and 1994, an era in which the paper was established as Britain's best selling newspaper.- Biography :MacKenzie was educated at Alleyn's School...
. In 1994, aged 28, he was appointed editor of
News of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
by
Rupert MurdochKeith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
, becoming the youngest national newspaper editor in more than half a century. He quickly gained notoriety for his invasive, thrusting style and lack of concern for celebrities' right to privacy, claiming that they could not manipulate the media to further their own ends without accepting the consequences of a two way deal. Morgan's autobiography
The Insider states that he left the
News of the World of his own choice and somewhat against owner Rupert Murdoch's wishes when he was offered the job of Editor at the
Daily Mirror.
As editor of the
Mirror, in 1996 Morgan was widely criticised and forced to apologise for the headline "Achtung! Surrender" a day before
EnglandThe England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
met
GermanyThe Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
in a semi-final of the Euro '96 football championships.
In 2000, he was the subject of an investigation after Suzy Jagger wrote a story in
The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
revealing that he had bought
£The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
20,000 worth of shares in the computer company
ViglenViglen Ltd provides IT products and services, including storage systems, servers, workstations and data/voice communications equipment and services.- History :...
soon before the
Mirror 's 'City Slickers' column tipped Viglen as a good buy. Morgan was found by the
Press Complaints CommissionThe Press Complaints Commission is a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines, consisting of representatives of the major publishers. The PCC is funded by the annual levy it charges newspapers and magazines...
to have breached the Code of Conduct on financial journalism, but kept his job. The 'City Slickers' columnists,
Anil BhoyrulAnil Bhoyrul is a former Daily Mirror business journalist who was investigated over the so-called 'City Slickers' share tipping scandal along with the paper's then editor, Piers Morgan....
and
James HipwellJames Hipwell is a former Daily Mirror business journalist who was investigated over the so-called 'City Slickers' share tipping scandal along with the paper's then editor, Piers Morgan...
, were both found to have committed further breaches of the Code, and were sacked before the inquiry. In 2004, further enquiry by the Department of Trade and Industry cleared Morgan from any charges. On 7 December 2005 Bhoyrul and Hipwell were convicted of conspiracy to breach the Financial Services Act. During the trial it emerged that Morgan had bought £67,000 worth of Viglen shares, emptying his bank account and investing under his wife's name too.
In 2002, the
Mirror attempted to move mid-market, claiming to eschew the more trivial stories of show-business and gossip. Morgan rehired
John PilgerJohn Richard Pilger is an Australian journalist and documentary maker, based in London. He has twice won Britain's Journalist of the Year Award, and his documentaries have received academy awards in Britain and the US....
, who had been sacked during
Robert MaxwellIan Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...
's ownership of the Mirror titles. Despite such changes, Morgan was unable to halt the paper's decline in circulation, a decline shared by its direct tabloid rivals
The SunThe Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
and the
Daily Star.
Morgan was fired from the
Mirror on 14 May 2004 after authorising the newspaper's publication of photographs allegedly showing
IraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i prisoners being abused by
British ArmyThe British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
soldiers from the
Queen's Lancashire RegimentThe Queen's Lancashire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the King's Division...
. Within days the photographs were shown to be crude fakes. Under the headline "SORRY.. WE WERE HOAXED", the
Mirror responded that it had fallen victim to a "calculated and malicious hoax" and apologised for the publication of the photographs.
In May 2005, in partnership with
Matthew FreudMatthew Freud is head of Freud Communications, an international public relations firm in the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
, he gained ownership of
Press GazettePress Gazette, formerly known as UK Press Gazette , is a British media trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. It was first published in 1965, and currently has a circulation of about 2,500, although it had enjoyed higher circulations earlier in its history...
, a media trade publication together with its '
cash cowIn business, a cash cow is a product or a business unit that generates unusually high profit margins: so high that it is responsible for a large amount of a company's operating profit...
' the British Press Awards, in a deal worth £1 million. This ownership was cited as one of the reasons many major newspapers boycotted the 2006 awards.
Press Gazette entered administrative receivership toward the end of 2006, before being sold to a trade buyer.
On 4 May 2006, Morgan launched
First NewsFirst News is a weekly newspaper aimed at 7-14 year olds. It is in tabloid format, and aims to present current events in a child-friendly format, alongside news on entertainment, sport and computer games...
, a weekly paper aimed at seven to fourteen-year-olds. Upon its launch Morgan claimed that the paper was to be "Britain's first national newspaper for children", although this claim was without foundation: other newspapers aimed at young audiences have included The Boy's Newspaper (1880–1882),
The Children's NewspaperThe Children's Newspaper was a long-running newspaper published by the Amalgamated Press aimed at pre-teenage children founded by Arthur Mee in 1919...
(1919–1965), and
Early Times (launched in the late 1980s). Morgan was editorial director at
First News, responsible for bringing in celebrity involvement. He referred to the role as "editorial overlord and frontman".
In 2007, Morgan was filmed falling off a
SegwayThe Segway PT is a two-wheeled, self-balancing transportation machine invented by Dean Kamen. It is produced by Segway Inc. of New Hampshire, USA. The name "Segway" is a homophone of "segue" while "PT" denotes personal transporter....
, breaking three ribs.
Simon CowellSimon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
and others made much of Morgan's previous comment in 2003, in the
Daily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, after U.S. President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
fell off a Segway, that "You'd have to be an idiot to fall off, wouldn't you, Mr. President?"
In television
Morgan's career has diversified in recent years into television presentation and proprietorship. In 2003, he presented a three-part television documentary series for the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
titled
The Importance of Being Famous, about fame and the manner in which celebrities are covered by modern media.
He has co-hosted his own current affairs interview show on
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
with
Amanda PlatellAmanda Jane Platell is a British-based Australian journalist, and from 1999 to 2001 was the press secretary to William Hague, the then leader of the British Conservative Party.-Early life:...
,
Morgan and Platell. Morgan and Platell were put together because of their opposing political angles. Platell would interrogate guests from the right-wing, Morgan from the left-wing. The show was dropped after three series allegedly because of poor viewing figures, though the chairman of Channel 4, Luke Johnson, was reported not to like the programme.
Throughout 2006, Morgan appeared as a judge on the American television show
America's Got TalentAmerica's Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of...
alongside
Brandy NorwoodBrandy Rayana Norwood , known professionally as Brandy, is an American singer-songwriter, producer, actress, and dancer. In 2009, she introduced her rap alter-ego Bran'Nu....
and
David HasselhoffDavid Michael Hasselhoff is an American actor, singer, producer and businessman. He is best known for his lead roles as Michael Knight in the popular 1980s US series Knight Rider and as L.A. County Lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in the series Baywatch...
on
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. Morgan was chosen by
Simon CowellSimon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
as a replacement for himself because of the conditions of his
American IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
contract. Morgan appeared as a celebrity contestant on
Comic Relief Does The ApprenticeComic Relief Does The Apprentice is a special celebrity version of British reality television series The Apprentice, produced to raise money for Comic Relief. The first edition aired in March 2007, and the second in March 2009. Five male celebrities and five female celebrities took part in the show...
in 2007, to raise money for Comic Relief. During filming, he and
Alastair CampbellAlastair John Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, having first started working for Blair in 1994...
reduced fellow contestant
Trinny WoodallTrinny Woodall is an English fashion advisor and designer, television presenter and author. She was raised in a wealthy family and was privately educated...
to tears when they tried to sabotage her team's event, and were involved in a brawl with her. Upon his team losing, Morgan was selected by
Sir Alan SugarAlan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar is a British entrepreneur, media personality and political advisor. From humble origins in the East End of London, Sugar now has an estimated fortune of £770m , and was ranked 89th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011...
as the contestant to be fired.
Also in 2007, he appeared as a judge for the second season of
America's Got Talent and also appeared as a judge on the British version of the show,
Britain's Got TalentBritain's Got Talent is a British television talent show competition which started in June 2007 and originated from the Got Talent series. The show is produced by FremantleMedia's TalkbackThames and Simon Cowell's production company SYCOtv. The show is broadcast on ITV in Britain and TV3 in Ireland...
on
ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
, alongside
Amanda HoldenAmanda Louise Holden is an English actress and presenter. Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It, Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart, and the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award...
and
Simon CowellSimon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
. He also presented
You Can't Fire Me, I'm Famous on
BBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
. In January 2008, Morgan fronted a three-part documentary about
SandbanksSandbanks is a small peninsula or spit crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour on the English Channel coast at Poole in Dorset, England. It is well-known for the highly regarded Sandbanks Beach and property value; Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world...
for ITV1 entitled
Piers Morgan on Sandbanks.
Morgan was the winner of the U.S. celebrity version of
The ApprenticeThe Celebrity Apprentice is the seventh installment of the United States version of the reality television series, The Apprentice. This season features celebrity candidates vying for the title of Donald Trump's, "Best Business Brain," as a way to revitalize the series, with the winner donating...
, in 2008. The most memorable feature of the programme was the rowdy disagreements he had with fellow contestant
Omarosa Manigault-StallworthOmaroseonee Manigault-Stallworth , usually known simply as Omarosa, is a two-time participant on Donald Trump's television reality show The Apprentice.-Early life:Manigault-Stallworth was born in Youngstown, Ohio...
. This was resolved in Morgan's favour on 6 March, after her team was defeated by Morgan's in the biggest margin of victory in
Apprentice history. Morgan ended up the overall winner, being named Celebrity Apprentice on 27 March, ahead of fellow finalist, American country music star,
Trace AdkinsTracy Darrell "Trace" Adkins is an American country music artist. He made his debut in 1996 with the album Dreamin' Out Loud, released on Capitol Records Nashville. Since then, Adkins has released seven more studio albums and two Greatest Hits compilations...
(whom he surprised by kissing him on the cheek just moments after an on-air spat with Stallworth) and having raised substantially more cash than all the other contestants combined.
In May 2008, Morgan signed a two year "
golden handcuffsGolden handcuffs are a system of financial incentives designed to keep an employee from leaving the company. These can include employee stock options that will not vest for several years but are more often contractual obligations to give back lucrative bonuses or other compensation if the employee...
" deal with ITV reportedly worth £2 million per year. As part of the deal, Morgan would continue as a judge on
Britain's Got Talent for at least two more series and front a new chat show. He will also make some interview specials, plus three more documentaries from various countries. Morgan's golden handcuffs deal is the first signing by ITV's new director of television,
Peter FinchamPeter Fincham is a British television producer and executive, currently the Director of Television for the ITV network. He was also formerly the Controller of BBC One, the primary television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, until his resignation on 5 October 2007, following...
.
On 8 September 2008, a new series started,
The Dark Side of Fame with Piers MorganThe Dark Side of Fame with Piers Morgan is a BBC television series presented by Piers Morgan exploring the downside of fame. The show follows an interview format in which each episode is devoted to one particular celebrity figure who has seen the "dark side of fame". Morgan, a former tabloid...
, produced by
BBC ScotlandBBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
.
Morgan returned to ITV1 in February 2009, with the series,
Piers Morgan On...Piers Morgan On... is a British television travelogue programme presented by journalist Piers Morgan, broadcast locally on ITV1. So far he has visited Dubai, Monte Carlo, Hollywood, Las Vegas, Marbella and Shanghai.-Series 1:-Series 2:...
, which saw him visit Dubai, Monte Carlo and Hollywood. The series positioned Morgan as a modern day
Alan WhickerAlan Donald Whicker, CBE is a British journalist and broadcaster. His career has spanned over 50 years.-Background:Whicker was born to British parents in Cairo, Egypt...
and received strong viewing figures for the channel. The programme returned for a second series in 2010 when Morgan visited
Las VegasThe Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
,
MarbellaMarbella is a town in Andalusia, Spain. It is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, in the province of Málaga, beneath the La Concha mountain. In 2000 the city had 98,823 inhabitants, in 2004, 116,234, in 2010 approximately 135,000....
, and
ShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. In the Shanghai episode, broadcast on 29 June 2010, Morgan consumed
foie grasFoie gras ; French for "fat liver") is a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. This fattening is typically achieved through gavage corn, according to French law, though outside of France it is occasionally produced using natural feeding...
in a restaurant and visited a Tesco store selling live terrapins. Since both foie gras production and live reptile sales are considered cruel, Morgan came under criticism on social networking sites, including
TwitterTwitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. Ironically, any complaints on Twitter about China's animal cruelty record will not be visible in the communist country, since Twitter itself is banned there, as Morgan pointed out in the same programme.
In 2009 Morgan's show,
Piers Morgan's Life StoriesPiers Morgan's Life Stories, also known as Life Stories, is a British television chat show presented by journalist Piers Morgan. Filmed in front of a studio audience, each programme is devoted to one special celebrity guest. The interviews are intimate, in-depth and emotionally-charged as Piers...
, began on
ITV1ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
with
Sharon OsbourneSharon Rachel Osbourne is an English television host, author, music manager, businesswoman and promoter as well as the wife of heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne....
as the subject of the first episode. Other guests on the programme have included Cheryl Tweedy and the then
Prime MinisterThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Gordon BrownJames Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
.
On 8 September 2010,
CNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
announced Morgan would replace
Larry KingLawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
in the network's evening line-up, with his show
Piers Morgan TonightPiers Morgan Tonight is a talk show on CNN, hosted by Piers Morgan. The show premiered on January 17, 2011 and filled the former Larry King Live timeslot. The theme music is written by Anthony James, composer and CEO of British company Music Candy, and his writing partner Yiorgos Bellapaisiotis,...
, beginning 17 January 2011.
Personal life
Morgan married Marion Shalloe in July 1991 in
HampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. They have three sons: Spencer William (born in 1993), Stanley Christopher (born in 1997) and Albert Douglas (Bertie) (born in 2000). Morgan and Shalloe divorced in 2008. He was linked romantically to
The GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
columnist
Marina HydeMarina Hyde is an English columnist who writes articles on topics such as current affairs, politics, celebrity and sport for The Guardian newspaper...
, and his current wife is
The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
s columnist and features writer,
Celia WaldenCelia Morgan is a French-born British journalist, novelist and critic. She is the daughter of former Conservative Party Member of Parliament George Walden....
, who is the daughter of the former Conservative MP
George WaldenGeorge Gordon Harvey Walden is a British journalist and a former Conservative Party Member of Parliament who served as the Minister for Higher Education from 1985-87....
. Morgan and Walden married in June 2010. On November 25, 2011, the Mail Online reported that Celia Walden gave birth to a baby girl at
Cedars-Sinai HospitalOriginally established as Kaspare Cohn Hospital in 1902, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary 958-bed hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre located in Los Angeles, California, US. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over...
in Beverly Hills. It is her first child, while Morgan has become father for the fourth time. The couple have named their daughter Elise.
Morgan is a lifelong fan of
cricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
. Corresponding with
Sir Donald "Don" BradmanSir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
as a child, and being a promising early youthful fast bowler, he has played for his local side in Newick since 1978. Every year since 2000 he has organised a game between a Morgan family team and the Newick side, which includes a famous "ringer" - 2008's ringer was England batsman
Kevin PietersenKevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...
, which Morgan described as "the best day of my life."
Morgan is also a fan of
Arsenal F.C.Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
.
Ian Hislop
Morgan appeared as a guest on the satirical news quiz
Have I Got News for YouHave I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
in an episode transmitted on 24 May 1996. In it, show regular
Ian HislopIan David Hislop is a British journalist, satirist, comedian, writer, broadcaster and editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye...
and Morgan failed to keep their mutual contempt off-screen. Hislop accused Morgan of having him (Hislop) followed and having his house watched. The conflict escalated and at one point the host,
Angus DeaytonGordon Angus Deayton is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster. He is best known for his role as Victor Meldrew's long-suffering neighbour Patrick Trench in the comedy series One Foot in the Grave...
, asked if they wished to go outside and have a fight. Later on, guest panelist
Clive AndersonClive Anderson is a British former barrister, best known for being a comedy writer as well as a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom...
confronted Morgan commenting "the last time I was rude to you, you sent photographers to my doorstep the next day", to which Piers Morgan retorted "[Y]ou won't see them this time." Hislop commented "[H]e is charming isn't he", and Morgan replied, "Don't try the popularity line with me, Hislop", before appealing to the audience: "Does anyone actually like him?". The audience responded loudly in favour of Hislop.
In 2007, Hislop chose Morgan as one of his pet hates on
Room 101Room 101 is a BBC comedy television series based on the radio series of the same name, in which celebrities were invited to discuss their pet hates and persuade the host to consign them to a fate worse than death in Room 101, named after the torture room in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, which is...
. In doing so, Hislop spoke of the history of animosity between himself and Morgan and revealed that after their exchange on Have I Got News For You
(which was shown as a clip), Morgan's reporters were tasked with trying to get gossip on Hislop's private life (including phoning acquaintances of Hislop), and photographers were sent in case Hislop did anything untoward or embarrassing while in their presence. Neither the reporters nor the photographers succeeded. Hislop also revealed that Morgan had attempted to quell the feud in an article in The Mail On SundayThe Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, currently published in a tabloid format. First published in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it became Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper following the closing of The News of the World in July 2011...
, saying, "The war is over. I'm officially calling an end to hostilities, at least from my end. I'm sure it won't stop him carrying on his 'Piers Moron' stuff." Hislop, who had been engaged in work on a First World War documentary at the time, responded by asking "[I]s that an armistice or an unconditional surrender?" Although the show's host Paul MertonPaul Merton is a British comedian, writer, actor and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, his humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and sometimes dark comedy...
agreed to put Morgan into Room 101
, he was comically rejected as being "too toxic", even for Room 101
.
Jeremy Clarkson
In October 2003, journalist and television personality Jeremy ClarksonJeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
reportedly emptied a glass of water over Morgan during the last flight of ConcordeAérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
. In March 2004, at the British Press AwardsThe British Press Awards is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. Established in the 1970s, honours are voted on by a panel of journalists and newspaper executives...
, Clarkson punched Morgan three times in a clash over The Mirrors coverage of his private life, and accusations that Clarkson did not write for his column in
The SunThe Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...
himself. Morgan reported on a rapprochement with Clarkson in the epilogue of his book,
Don't You Know Who I Am?.
Madonna
In December 2010, Morgan announced to the
Daily ExpressThe Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
that he will not be scheduling
MadonnaMadonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
to appear on
Piers Morgan Tonight. Morgan reportedly told the British newspaper that, while he wanted to get U.S. President Barack Obama and Mel Gibson on his show, he wasn’t bothered about Madonna. Morgan said, "She is so boring. She is too vegan for TV. We have
Lady GagaStefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
now so Madonna is banned from my show.” In response, Madonna's publicist quipped, "Madonna doesn't know who Piers Morgan is but she's a big fan of Lady Gaga."
Alan Sugar
In December 2010 Morgan had an ongoing Twitter argument with
Alan SugarAlan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar is a British entrepreneur, media personality and political advisor. From humble origins in the East End of London, Sugar now has an estimated fortune of £770m , and was ranked 89th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011...
, which resulted in a competition to see who could attract more followers by Christmas Day.
Criticism
Morgan has attracted criticism particularly for his TV work, with claims he is "smarmy," "arrogant,"
"self-satisfied," and "too full of himself." His show on CNN,
Piers Morgan Tonight, has been described by
Hank StueverHank Stuever is an American journalist who writes about popular culture for the Style section of the Washington Post. In 2009, he became one of the paper's TV critics. He is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, in 1993 and 1996...
as "droning," "unnecessary," and "rubbish."
Phone hacking allegations
In July 2011 it was alleged by political blogger
Paul StainesPaul Staines is an English-born Irish right-wing political blogger. Writer of the pseudonymous "Guido Fawkes' blog of parliamentary plots, rumours & conspiracy", which had as of February 2009, 118,000 visitors per month, his political blog has been described as "one of Britain's leading political...
that Piers published a story while knowing it to have been obtained by
phone hackingPhone hacking is a term used to describe the practice of intercepting telephone calls or voicemail messages, often by accessing the voicemail messages of a mobile phone without the consent of the phone's owner...
while editor of the
Daily Mirror in 2002. Morgan is also alleged to have close ties with the Rupert Murdoch family and defended them in the media against suggestions that they were more involved in the News International phone hacking scandal than they claimed. Morgan described in a 2006 article he wrote for the
Daily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
how he had heard tapes of messages that
Paul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
had left for his wife, Heather Mills on her mobile phone. Morgan wrote that "Stories soon emerged that the marriage was in trouble - at one stage I was played a tape of a message Paul had left for Heather on her mobile phone. It was heartbreaking. The couple had clearly had a tiff, Heather had fled to India, and Paul was pleading with her to come back. He sounded lonely, miserable and desperate, and even sang "We Can Work It Out" into the answerphone." He came under criticism for his "boasting" about phone hacking from
ConservativeThe Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MPA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Louise Mensch, who has since apologised for these accusations. During Morgan's tenure as editor, The Daily Mirror was advised by a Mr Steven Nott that voicemail interception was possible by means of a standard PIN code. Despite staff initially expressing enthusiasm for the story it did not appear in the paper, although it did subsequently feature in a South Wales Argus article and on BBC Radio 5 Live in October 1999. On 18 July 2011 Mr Nott was visited by officers of
Operation WeetingOperation Weeting is a British police investigation that commenced on 26 January 2011, under the Specialist Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police Service into allegations of phone hacking in the News of the World phone hacking affair...
. The Daily Mirror's publishers
Trinity MirrorTrinity Mirror plc is a large British newspaper and magazine publisher. It is Britain's biggest newspaper group, publishing 240 regional papers as well as the national Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People, and the Scottish Sunday Mail and Daily Record. Its headquarters are at Canary Wharf in...
declined to comment when approached by
The IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
for its article of 6 August 2011.
External links