*Piers Morgan stormed off the set of “Good Morning Britain” last month after co-host Alex Beresford called him out about his unhealthy obsession with Meghan Markle.
Weeks after the headline-making moment, the mixed-raced weatherman is speaking out about the racism he has been subjected to on social media.
“I understand that you don’t like Meghan Markle. You’ve made it so clear a number of times on this program, and I understand that you had a personal relationship with Meghan Markle and she cut you off,” said Beresford to Morgan during their heated on-air debate. “Has she said anything about you after she cut you off? She’s entitled to cut you off if she wants to. And yet you continue to trash her.”
As Morgan stormed off the set, Beresford said “Do you know what? That’s pathetic,” adding. “This is absolutely diabolical behavior.”
READ MORE: Meet Alex Beresford, the Weatherman Who Put Piers Morgan on Blast
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“The point about covert racism is you know it exists because you have experienced it – but it is much harder to prove”@alexberesfordTV discusses growing up mixed-race, online abuse and the Sussexes’ interview https://t.co/eCLpmoA0OA
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) April 1, 2021
Morgan later tweeted that he was “annoyed” so he “went for a little cool-down,” adding, “I just prefer not to sit there listening to colleagues call me diabolical.”
The network then announced that Morgan would be leaving his post at the morning news show.
“Since then I have been subjected to relentless racism myself on social media,” Beresford, 40, wrote in a new essay for The Telegraph published Wednesday. “I haven’t announced it … but I have been forced to step away from Twitter and Facebook myself, because it was getting too much. I am a strong person, but I am not made of steel.”
Beresford was born in Bristol, England, to a white mother from Britain and a Black father from Guyana. In his essay, he explains why Markle’s bombshell Oprah interview “resonated” with him.
“Growing up mixed race was at times a lonely journey, but it’s also beautiful discovering yourself and finding out where you stand,” he wrote. “Of course, all of us regardless of colour are trying to find our place in this world and it’s great having two very different points of origin, but there are times when you feel like you’re being pulled in both directions.”
“Thankfully I feel very well balanced,” he added. “Some have, at times, questioned why they never hear me defending the white British side of my heritage, and that’s simply because it’s never been attacked, but I’d stand just as strong.”
Beresford compared Markle’s impact to that of former President Barack Obama.
“When I was a child the thought of a ‘mixed race’ princess in the British Royal Family was as far-fetched as that of a black president of the United States,” he wrote. “Both Meghan Markle and Barack Obama will go down in history for breaking barriers in elite institutions, but you only need to visit the comments section beneath online articles on either of them to see we’ve not necessarily progressed as far as you’d hope.”
“Last month’s Harry and Meghan interview resonated with me on so many levels, from a similar experience around the concern of a baby’s shade of colour to the devastation of laying to rest someone very close to my heart just three months ago, who had those same suicidal thoughts,” he continued. “Whilst appearing to be a Royal problem, it felt so personal to me.”
Beresford concluded his essay by encouraging people to continue having “uncomfortable” conversations around race and racism.
“Social media has clearly had an impact on our ability to engage in open discourse and listen to opposing views,” he wrote. “In order to move the conversation on we will have to have those difficult conversations. Part of that process might just have to be agreeing to disagree.”
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