Piers Morgan has said his departure from Good Morning Britain was caused by the “cancel culture that is permeating our country”.
The presenter said he “lost” his job because he “chose not to apologise” for his remarks about the Duchess of Sussex’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Morgan left his job on the ITV news programme on Tuesday following a row triggered by his refusal to believe claims made by Meghan in the interview, which included comments about her mental health and racism within the royal family.
“I thus became the latest ‘victim’ of the cancel culture that is permeating our country, every minute, of every hour, of every day,” he wrote on Instagram.
“Though of course, I consider myself to be neither a victim, nor actually cancelled.
“However, I do believe the defence of free speech and the right to express honestly held opinions is the most important issue of my career, and the most important issue in British society.”
He added: “It is a privilege to live in a democracy, and it is a privilege to be British.
“As I said when I left GMB, the right to free speech is a hill worth dying on.”
Earlier on Friday Morgan demanded an apology from American TV network CBS for what he says were “disgraceful slurs” against him.
He responded on Twitter to an apology made by Sharon Osbourne.
Sharing her apology on Twitter, Morgan said: “Sharon’s been shamed & bullied into apologising for defending me against colleagues accusing me of racism because I don’t believe Meghan Markle’s bullsh*t. This is where we’ve reached. I demand an apology from those @TheTalkCBS bullies for their disgraceful slurs against ME.”
Osbourne, 68, had defended him earlier this week, saying on US show The Talk: “I feel like I’m about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend who many people think is a racist so that makes me a racist.”
On Friday morning she issued a long apology, saying after “some reflection”, she was “truly sorry”.
She wrote: “I have always been embraced with so much love and support from the black community and I have deep respect and love for the black community.
“To anyone of colour that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused or let down by what I said, I am truly sorry.
“I panicked, felt blindsided, got defensive and allowed my fear and horror of being accused of being racist take over.
“There are very few things that hurt my heart more than racism so to feel associated with that spun me fast!
“I am not perfect, I am still learning like the rest of us and will continue to learn, listen and do better.”
Osbourne had previously tweeted her support for Morgan, saying: “I am with you. I stand by you. People forget that you’re paid for your opinion and that you’re just speaking your truth.”
Now she has said: “Please hear me when I say I do not condone racism, misogyny or bullying.
“I should have been more specific about that in my tweet. I will always support freedom of speech, but now I see how I unintentionally didn’t make that clear distinction.”
Morgan had praised Osbourne for her support for him, tweeting: “When stuff like this happens, true friends run towards you, fake friends run away. I love Sharon Osbourne because she always stays true to herself.
“She knew she would get abused by the woke brigade for tweeting this – but did it anyway because it’s what she believes.”
A statement from Buckingham Palace has previously said the royal family is taking the allegations of racism “very seriously” despite “some recollections” among royals varying.