Piers Morgan’s second chance

Piers Morgan has succeeded in spite of himself, said Camilla Long in the London Times. Before the British TV host, 45, was recently picked as Larry King’s replacement on CNN, his roller coaster career included an early, controversy-plagued stint as a tabloid journalist in London. “Whenever I get a big job, half the media react with utter horror,” says Morgan. “Everyone assumes it’s going to go [belly] up.” At the tender age of 28, Morgan’s nose for celebrity news got him the job of editor of the racy News of the World in London, and from there he quickly moved to the London Daily Mirror. There he got himself punched in the face by BBC host Jeremy Clarkson for running photos of Clarkson with a woman who was not his wife. He got fired from the Mirror when the newspaper ran photos of British soldiers abusing prisoners in Iraq; they turned out to be fakes.

Morgan transformed himself into a TV personality, and crossed the pond for America’s Got Talent. He hopes his new gig replacing the legendary King will turn his career around for good, but concedes that his days of ruffling feathers probably aren’t behind him. “I’ve made lots of comments in my life about things that I don’t know anything about, and will probably continue to do so.”

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