Piers Morgan

Name at birth: Piers Stefan O'Meara

Piers Morgan made a name for himself in the newspaper business in England before becoming a lightning rod pundit on TV in both the United Kingdom and the United States. Morgan's first big break came at the age of 23 at The Sun, where he went to work on the showbiz beat. Morgan became just as big a celebrity as the celebrities he was so cheeky with in interviews, and The Sun's owner, Rupert Murdoch, made Morgan the editor of his paper News of the World in 1994. Morgan was only 28 years old. He was hired away a year later by The Daily Mirror, where he served as editor until 2004; he was fired for publishing an expose´of British soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners of war, using photos that later turned out to be fake. Once out of the newspaper business, Piers Morgan became a television personality, appearing as a judge on the talent shows America's Got Talent (2006) and Britain's Got Talent (2007, with Simon Cowell). He launched interview shows in the U.K. and won the top spot on Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice (2008). Piers Morgan Tonight on CNN (2011-14) took the evening slot once held by Larry King. Then Morgan moved to be a co-host of Good Morning, Britain in 2015, where he continued to ruffle feathers until 2021, when he left the show after a harsh audience response to statements he made about the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle.