Piers Morgan Officially Announces CNN Departure
Piers Morgan has finally announced his departure from CNN via twitter. Morgan, who boasts a following of 4.3 million on Twitter, took to Twitter on Tuesday morning boldly confirming to his followers and the world that he will no longer be employed at the major news network.
The British tabloid journalist and television anchor had replaced the legendary Larry King by filling his time slot with Piers Morgan Live. But he struggled to continue the momentum gained in his first two seasons of the show after ratings plummeted from 2 million to 200,000 viewers.
Morgan said today that he had turned down Jeff Zucker’s, current CNN president, offer of hosting 40 news special over two years. He also took the time out to thank the network and its staff for their support. The British journalist had his shares of highs and lows on the nightly program from bringing his first guest Oprah Winfrey to tears, to having the lowest ratings for a CNN’s primetime slot in 21 years.
BREAKING NEWS: I am no longer a @CNN employee.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 2, 2014
Piers had notably been an advocate for stricter gun laws and had interviewed notable pro-gun advocates such as Jesse Ventura and Alex Jones. Jones had famously set up a petition to deport Morgan after the heated debate between the pair with the petition earning more than 100,000 signatures but it was swiftly rejected by the White House. Notable celebrities such as Madonna, Kelsey Grammer, and Hugh Grant were banned from appearing on his talk show.
Many believed that his fiery and controversial persona went against the philosophy of CNN. By February 23, CNN announced that Piers Morgan Live (formerly known as Piers Morgan Tonight) would be canceled. The final episode aired March 28.
Piers is no stranger to controversy in England as well. In 2000 Morgan got into serious trouble when he was found to have bought shares in Viglen Technology shortly before the company was tipped by his financial columnists, the City Slickers. The columnists were forced to leave the Daily Mirror, but Morgan survived.
Morgan was officially questioned by Scotland Yard cops for his role in the phone-hacking scandal during his time at the Daily Mirror. He was editor of the Daily Mirror from 1995 until 2004 when he was sacked after the newspaper admitted that photographs it had published purportedly showing British soldiers abusing an Iraqi were fake.
Will you miss Piers Morgans fiery persona on CNN? Has he made the right move to sever ties with the major news network?
