Piers Morgan isn’t exactly known for his ability to get along with others, but the amount of celebrity feuds he’s involved in might surprise even his staunchest supporters.
From his iconic beef with Duchess of Sussex and former Suits star Meghan Markle to a rather more surprising bunch of feuds with Hollywood stars like Hugh Grant and Ewan McGregor, he really has done it all.
And with the launch of his brand spanking new TalkTV show today (April 25), it’s likely there’ll be plenty more where that came from.
To celebrate Piers’ next career move in the television industry, Daily Star is taking a look back at his most iconic rows of the lot – from branding John Cleese a “sad old bore” to slamming Madonna’s outfits as “cringe”.
Madonna
The Sun columnist’s row with Madonna became so furious because of a bread roll.
Yes, you read that right. The pair of them were attending the 40th birthday party of celebrity chef Marco Pierre White back in 2001, with Madonna attending with her former husband Guy Ritchie.
But, according to Piers, she soon took offence to a comic routine by the late comedian Bernard Manning – which led Piers to lob a bread roll at her.
He told OK! Magazine of the incident: “Madonna is pretty awful. She never forgave me for throwing a bread roll at her at Marco Pierre White’s birthday.
“She was just being really obnoxious, not just to me, but generally.
(Image: Getty Images for MTV/ViacomCBS)
“There was only 40 of us at this dinner party and she got annoyed because Bernard Manning started being offensive and that wound her up.
“She was with Guy Ritchie at the time and he’d been laughing his head off… I just picked up a bread roll and chucked it at her!”
But it didn’t stop there, as he accused the Hung Up songstress of refusing to “age gracefully”, and slammed her VMA dominatrix-inspired outfit as “cringe”.
He also claimed she is “so mean with money her purse has to be opened with chainsaws”.
He went on to ban her from his CNN show, citing her as “an irritant in my life for 20 years” – though Madonna herself has never taken the bait when it comes to Piers.
Meghan Markle
By now, everyone is aware of Piers’ scorn for so-called ‘Princess Pinocchio’ Meghan Markle, after the explosive row about her Oprah Winfrey interview led to him quitting GMB for good.
But allegedly the pair “got on brilliantly” when they first met, with Meghan allegedly messaging Piers to tell him she was a fan.
Piers told The Sun that they met at Wimbledon to watch Serena Williams, telling the publication: “We had two hours in the pub, she had a couple of dirty martinis and pints – we got on brilliantly.
“Then I put her in a cab, and it turns out it was the cab that took her to a party where she met Prince Harry.
“The next night they had a solo dinner and that was the last I ever heard from Meghan Markle. I never heard from her again – Meghan Markle ghosted me.”
Upset at being “ditched” by Meghan, their ongoing feud has seen the presenter accused of misogyny, racism and bullying – though Meghan has never spoken out about him.
Though she didn’t hesitate to complain to Ofcom personally when it came to his attacks on GMB – which was later cleared by the broadcasting watchdog.
Hugh Grant
Things got incredibly bitter between Love Actually star Hugh Grant and the former GMB star in 2011, when Piers banned the actor from his programmes on CNN and ITV when Grant slammed the tabloids.
Piers furiously tweeted at the time: “Hugh Grant is now banned, in perpetuity, from @PiersTonight and Life Stories and anything else I ever do. Tedious little man.”
It didn’t end there, as Piers also wasn’t happy with Hugh and fellow actor Steve Coogan being vocal about the 2019 general election, writing: “Who gives a flying f*** what Coogan and Grant have to say about this election? Honestly, the stupefying pomposity of these clowns trying to thwart democracy is beyond parody.”
And after Liberal Democrat supporter Hugh claimed the country is “finished” after the Conservative win, Piers fumed: “Hugh Grant is so disgusting.
“How dare he say Britain is ‘finished’?
“The only thing that’s ‘finished’ is this stuck-up arrogant twerp’s credibility as any kind of political expert.”
Kelsey Grammer
(Image: Getty Images)
Frasier star Kelsey Grammer made headlines when he walked out of an interview with Piers for his show Piers Morgan Tonight.
Piers was left baffled at the time, telling his audience: “He appears to have left the building… We’re not quite sure what’s going on. He was here.
“He has exited stage left, so we’ve got half an hour left. He may or may not come back, I guess we’ll see.”
It turned out to be a photograph of Kelsey’s ex-wife and Playboy model Camille Grammer that set him off – after a highly public divorce and bitter custody battle.
Sources told ABC News at the time that the real reason was because Piers didn’t replace the picture with one of his current wife Kayte Walsh, as he had requested, with one saying: “Kelsey was upset… he felt that leaving Camille’s photo up there was an insult to his new wife Kayte.”
Piers tweeted of the incident: “So, Kelsey Grammer saw a photo of his ex-wife Camille in the open to our show and legged it. Extraordinary. Never had this happen before.
“This was a shockingly unprofessional thing to do. I wasn’t even going to mention his ex-wife!”
John Cleese
Monty Python star John Cleese hasn’t escaped Piers’ wrath, either – as the pair have been involved in various bitter rows.
Speaking about Piers’ election to TalkTV, Fawlty Towers actor Cleese branded Piers talentless in what kicked off a war of words, tweeting: “I see Murdoch is hiring Piers Morgan as a front man. He’ll probably get about £20 million, and everyone will gasp!
“But think how much more he would be getting if he had any discernible talent!”
Piers immediately clapped back: “Awwww, Merry Christmas to you too, Cleesey! love how much this has annoyed you… you bitter sad old bore.”
That, of course, wasn’t their only row – as John was left put out in 2015 when Piers suggested he didn’t recognise him in a restaurant.
Cleese wrote: “Piers Morgan writes that I didn’t recognise him in a restaurant in New York. I did. I just didn’t want to speak to someone I truly detest.”
Piers then hit back: “I said you DID recognise me & the revulsion was mutual.”
Dan Walker
One of Piers’ best documented feuds comes in the form of his breakfast TV rivalry with his BBC counterpart Dan Walker.
Piers even smashed up a BBC Breakfast mug in a furious diatribe at the rival programme, after GMB producer Neil Thompson visited Dan and his co-stars, taking selfies together on the famous red sofa.
Neil brought the mug back as a gift to the crew – but it didn’t sit well with Piers, who quickly whipped out a hammer and broke the china into pieces.
He snapped: “It’s not at all the right time, Neil, to put a BBC Breakfast mug in front of me.
(Image: Getty)
“Apparently health and safety are upset – do one.”
Dan couldn’t help taking a pop at Piers, either, as he giggled about him storming off the ITV set on more than one occasion.
Dan cheekily tweeted Piers at the time: “Sorry to hear the news about your departure from GMB @piersmorgan.
“If you’d like to come on the UK’s number 1 breakfast show to talk about it… we could make some space for you in the morning.”
Speaking of their feud – which, more often than not, has remained good natured – Dan hit out: “In the noise that circulates around him, I don’t care what he says about me, only when he pokes fun at Breakfast, or has a pop at Carol Kirkwood or at our viewers.”
Ewan McGregor
(Image: Getty Images for Disney)
After Piers slammed the Women’s March – taking aim at what he dubbed “the more repellent side of feminism” and “nasty women” – Ewan McGregor swiftly pulled out of a GMB appearance knowing Morgan was the host.
He tweeted of the 2017 incident – while Trump was US President – “Was going on Good Morning Britain, didn’t realise @piersmorgan was host. Won’t go on with him after his comments about #WomensMarch.”
But Piers soon slammed him as “just an actor”, firing back: “Sorry to hear that @mcgregor_ewan – you should be big enough to allow people different political opinions. You’re just an actor after all.”
He also cruelly branded him a “narrow-minded, stupendously self-aggrandising, anti-democratic little twerp.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
