Grace Bumbry, a pioneering mezzo-soprano who became the first Black singer to perform at Germany's Bayreuth Festival during a career of more than three decades on the world’s top stages, has died

TalkTV host Piers Morgan, who has become known for his continued criticism of Meghan Markle, has now taken to Twitter to say it’s “time to stop” the “relentless persecution” of former This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield following news of his affair with a younger male colleague. Schofield left the popular ITV daytime show in May, before going on to issue a second statement via the Daily Mail in which he revealed he had a “consensual on-off relationship” with the individual which was “unwise, but not illegal”. “I am painfully conscious that I have lied to my employers at ITV, to my colleagues and friends, to my agents, to the media and therefore the public and most importantly of all to my family. I am so very, very sorry, as I am for having been unfaithful to my wife,” he said. Then, in his first broadcast interview following this statement with the BBC’s media editor Amol Rajan, he said he understood “how Caroline Flack felt”, referring to the late ITV presenter who died by suicide in February 2020 following intense tabloid coverage of her life. Schofield said: “Last week, if my daughters hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t be here. They guarded me and wouldn’t let me out of their sight. “It’s like a weird numbness. I know that’s a selfish point of view, but you come to a point where you just think, ‘how much are you supposed to take? Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter “If you don’t think that is going to have the most catastrophic effect on someone’s mind… Do you want me to die?” Sharing his thoughts on the ongoing scandal, Morgan tweeted on Friday: “Unless Phillip Schofield’s ex-lover contradicts his version of events to The Sun and BBC, then it’s time to stop this relentless persecution of a guy who’s lost everything and looks right on the edge to me. “He doesn’t seem to have committed any crime, and he’s not a govt minister.” However, Twitter users were quick to accuse the broadcaster of “hypocrisy”, as some argued he’s engaged in the “relentless persecution” of Meghan: In fact, in March 2021, after the duchess revealed to Oprah Winfrey that she was having suicidal thoughts following the backlash over her stepping back from royal duties with her husband Harry, Morgan said on ITV’s Good Morning Britain that “I don’t believe a word she says”. “I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report,” he added. The remarks received widespread condemnation at the time, to the extent the mental health charity Mind said it was “disappointed and concerned” by the comments and more than 41,000 complaints were made to the broadcasting regulator Ofcom. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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