Fox’s Jedediah Bila: Piers Morgan Can’t Play ‘Defender of Freedom of Speech’ After Storming Off Set Over Criticism

The way Fox News’ Jedediah Bila sees it, Piers Morgan can’t portray himself as a free speech champion when he quit his TV show after encountering criticism for his commentary on Meghan Markle.

Bila joined Howard Kurtz on Sunday for MediaBuzz to discuss the bombshell interview from Markle and Prince Harry, and Morgan’s departure from Good Morning Britain in the midst of that media blow-up. Morgan slammed the estranged royal couple for their shocking claims against Buckingham Palace, but after a British broadcasting regulator launched an inquiry into his comments after complaints from Markle, he left ITV and publicly depicted himself as a defender of free speech.

Bila said Morgan is clearly “loving” the commotion, but then questioned whether Morgan can really paint himself as a free speech defender. She pointed out that hours before Morgan quit his show, he angrily walked off his own set after his fellow presenter, Alex Beresford, raised objections to his commentary.

“What about that other host’s ability to have some freedom of speech and challenge him? He couldn’t handle it,” Bila said. She recalled that Morgan used to speak highly of Markle before he started unleashing “piece after piece filled with hate-filled stuff.”

“I mean, some of the name-calling was just very bad behavior, third grade stuff. And now he gets to say ‘I’m a defender of freedom of speech,” Bila said. “I do think he’s entitled to his opinion, I don’t think that he should have been pushed out at all, but bad behavior is bad behavior. And he doesn’t get to go out and say ‘I’m a big defender of freedom of speech’ when he couldn’t even listen to someone challenging him without sitting there and keeping his microphone on.”

Watch above, via Fox News.