Piers Morgan’s Departure From CNN Left Many Wondering Why His Show Was Canceled

For a while, it seemed like Piers Morgan was going to replicate the success that Simon Cowell had found in America. The two sarcastic, biting Brits seemed to have similar personalities, and they both got their start in America as judges on talent competitions. Eventually, Piers wound up hosting an interview-style show on CNN, and was called in to replace Larry King. Just three years after his show began, though, it had been canceled. 

While he may be known for saying occasionally outlandish things today, at the time, Piers was once known primarily as a respected journalist, and his show on CNN was meant to be his big American arrival. The reasons the show ultimately didn’t work were plentiful, but perhaps the root cause of his cancellation was the show’s persistent low ratings. Those low ratings came in spite of his ability to pull in high-profile guests. 

At the time, Piers’s low ratings were attributed to a couple of different things. One of the biggest was his status as an outsider, and his willingness to lean in to his very British nature. This meant that, for some, he occasionally seemed to act as though he were above American culture, which is often a tough attitude to sell to the American people. 

Whereas most TV journalists try to have some air of impartiality, Piers was willing to take strong stands on his show, and that was especially true around the issue of gun violence. Apparently, Piers became much more strident in his opposition to guns following the Aurora, Colo. shooting in 2012, and some believe that his strict position on guns only contributed to the feeling that he was an outsider who didn’t totally understand America. 

In addition to his opposition to guns, some reporting suggested that his preferences for personality-driven interviews and his air of self-promotion also made him a poor fit for the network. What’s more, he was often described as “abrasive,” and while that can sometimes be a positive quality in a journalist, it was rarely meant that way when it came to him. 

Although he no longer has a show on CNN, Piers still offers occasional commentary on the way things are going in America. In an interview on CNN’s show Reliable Sources, the 55-year-old had plenty of criticism for President Trump, and said that he watched the president’s daily briefings on the novel coronavirus pandemic with “mounting horror.”

“He's turning these briefings into a self-aggrandizing, self-justifying, overly defensive, politically partisan, almost like a rally to him — almost like what's more important is winning the election in November," he said. He then directly addressed the president, who he considers to be a friend. 

“You will win the election in November if you get this right. If you stop making it about yourself and make it about the American people and show that you care about them over yourself, you will win,” he said. “And, conversely, you will lose the election in November if you continue to make it about yourself, you continue playing silly politics, continue targeting Democrat governors because that suits you for your electoral purposes."