'Absolute rubbish' - Piers Morgan furiously denies that media treatment of Meghan Markle is racist
EVER since the announcement that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would be stepping down from their senior royal duties, the UK has been torn between empathetic understanding and vitriolic outrage.
And I'm not just talking about the reaction to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but to the British media too.
There are significant portions of society who feel as if a number of media outlets in the country have unfairly targeted Markle and over-scrutinised her behaviour of late, citing racism - fundamentally - as the reason.
Conversely though, there are many who believe the UK being labelled 'racist' is what's unfair, and that the Duchess of Sussex has brought the storm upon herself, and more importantly, that there's no evidence to the claims that racism has a part to play in how she's perceived and treated in the papers.
Piers Morgan, who's been very vocal on the issue, engaged in a couple of heated debates on Good Morning Britain on Monday, at times furiously denying that the media has a racist element, and demanding proof of such accusations.
Speaking with former Labour Party advisor Ayesah Hazarika, who argued that Markle had been "portrayed by certain sections of the media as some sort of witch", Morgan suggested that the media's treatment of Markle was comparable to that of the Duchess of Cambridge, and that those accusing the media of racism were being deliberately selective.
"What Twitter has done - because Twitter always gets these things completely wrong - Twitter has gone and found positive stories about Kate [Middleton] and negative stories about Meghan and gone: 'Look! Proof! It's racist.'," Morgan said.
"What they haven't done is gone back to all the incredibly negative stories about Kate too, and far worse stuff that appeared about Camilla [Duchess of Cornwall], Diana [Princess of Wales] and Fergie [Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York] who had it ten times worse than Meghan, and last time I checked they were identifying as 'white'.
"It [suggestions of racism] is absolute rubbish," he added.
The 54-year-old also spoke with journalist Afua Hirsch, who wrote a piece in the New York Times arguing that Meghan has experienced blatant racism.
Hirsch suggested that when speaking about Meghan's upbringing in Crenshaw, Los Angeles, mention of 'gangs' from sections of the British media was indication of underlying racism.
Morgan refuted the claim though, arguing that Crenshaw was "one of the most gang-infested areas in the world", and that it was a natural point of interest to the British press, and nothing to do with skin colour.
Hirsch then accused Morgan of perpetuating racist narratives, to which the presented sternly responded, "where have I been racist?"
"Name one example of me being racist. No, you can say it, but then you have to prove it," he added, before saying that such hollow accusations towards the media were being inaccurately fuelled by Harry and Meghan.
"They are driving the narrative that this is all driven by sexism and racism, which I think is completely grotesquely wrong," Morgan added.
See More: Duke And Duchess Of Sussex, Good Morning Britain, Meghan Markle, Piers Morgan, Prince Harry, Racism
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