Piers Morgan has compared himself to Nelson Mandela ahead of his new talk show Uncensored, which is set to air when the channel TalkTV launches on April 25th.
Making the Nelson Mandela reference, Piers said: “I feel like Nelson Mandela when he came out of prison. It’s like the long walk to free speech freedom.”
Piers, 57, decided to leave Good Morning Britain last year after controversially saying he didn’t believe the Duchess of Sussex’s claims in the Oprah Winfrey interview.
Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom received over 50,000 complaints, regarding Pier’s comments. Despite this, it was later concluded that he did not break the rules.
Speaking about his exit, Piers said: “I used to think I was uncensored, and then of course when I left Good Morning Britain, it turned out that I actually was being censored in the sense that I was told I had to apologise for disbelieving Princess Pinocchio or I would have to leave the building.
“So I took the leave-the-building option, which I thought was a sad moment for me and for the show. I thought it was the wrong call by ITV.
“It was all a bit dramatic, but of course what it really did was focus everyone’s minds too, ‘what is free speech?’”
He added: “I thought the whole thing was a farce, and I’m delighted that actually as a result of the farce, we’ve ended up with a whole network which is now dedicated to preventing that kind of farce from recurring.
“You shouldn’t be shamed or vilified or cancelled for having an opinion unless you genuinely are spewing hateful, bigoted stuff. We know where this line is. You can have a vigorous debate with somebody, vehemently disagree, and be severely critical. You can call me all sorts of things. That’s fine.
“But the moment you try and get me fired, as Meghan Markle did on Good Morning Britain, where she personally writes to the boss of ITV and demands my head on a plate, that is cancel culture right there.
“And the idea that ITV rolled over to it is ridiculous. But that’s why I’m here, and I feel in a way grateful to them because I think this is a very exciting new platform and opportunity.”
Piers said his new show will ‘uncancel those who have been cancelled’.
