The chief executive of ITV has said the broadcaster “vigorously” defended Piers Morgan during an Ofcom investigation into comments he made about the Duchess of Sussex.
His remarks on Good Morning Britain about Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey sparked more than 50,000 complaints, the most in the watchdog’s history, but the programme was cleared earlier this month.
Morgan left the show in March after saying he did not believe claims made by Meghan during the interview.
Speaking at the Royal Television Society Cambridge Convention, Dame Carolyn McCall said: “I will just say that we vigorously defended both the programme and Piers to Ofcom, and the reason we didn’t get pulled up by them is because of the programme making.”
Dame Carolyn also said there is “no way we wouldn’t be absolutely not just endorsing but championing freedom of speech and freedom of expression”.
Following Ofcom’s ruling, Morgan questioned whether he could return to his job on Good Morning Britain.
When asked whether there was any prospect of Morgan returning to ITV, Dame Carolyn told the conference he had resigned from his role.
