Piers Morgan thanks Meghan Markle for his TV show during award acceptance speech

Piers Morgan name-checked Meghan Markle during his acceptance speech at the Sports Journalism Awards.

Morgan received the Scoop of the Year award at the ceremony on Monday evening (6 March), for his interview with Cristiano Ronaldo.

While acknowledging those who’d contributed to him getting the accolade, the broadcaster decided to mention Meghan as a person responsible for his success.

“I’d also like to thank Meghan Markle, without whom there wouldn’t be a TalkTV Piers Morgan Uncensored,” he told the crowd.

According to journalists at the event, this remark was met with groans and other audible expressions of discomfort.

The Independent has reached out to representatives for the Duchess of Sussex for comment.

Morgan has been a long-time critic of Meghan Markle and left his anchor position at Good Morning Britain after he, the programme and ITV were heavily criticised for his comments on her interview with Oprah Winfrey.

During Harry and Meghan’s sit-down conversation with Winfrey in 2021, Meghan opened up about having suicidal thoughts while serving as an active member of the Royal Family.

In response, Morgan declared that he “didn’t believe a word” of the Duchess’s comments about her mental health struggles.

Following widespread calls for him to be fired from his position, it was announced days later that Morgan would be leaving Good Morning Britain after he refused to apologise for his remarks.

He returned to television in 2022 with the news and comment show Piers Morgan Uncensored on TalkTV. His first interview guest was the former US president, Donald Trump, with whom he’s had several online disagreements.

Since then, Morgan has interviewed further controversial figures, including Andrew Tate and Kanye West.

Elsewhere on the channel, Jeremy Kyle interviewed convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell from prison in January.