Celebrity News July 20, 2011
Piers Morgan on UK Hacking Scandal: 'Smearing My Good Name!'
CNN host Piers Morgan has been dragged into the escalating phone-hacking scandal at the UK tabloid News of the World.
During the Parliament hearings, Tory MP Louise Mensch claimed Morgan had admitted in his book, "The Insider," that he used phone hacking to get stories when he was the editor of The Mirror, a competing tabloid, in 1996.
Morgan talked with "Extra's" Terri Seymour about the claims, denying ever using that practice at The Mirror.
"Absolutely not, absolutely not," Morgan told Seymour. "What she's trying to do is smear my good name. It certainly never happened at The Mirror when I was there, to my knowledge."
Morgan, who was also Editor of News of the World in 1994, added, "I left in '95, five years before it started there. It's not acceptable, hacking is not acceptable."
Celebrities reacted to "Extra" about the scandal. Backstage at "America's Got Talent" Tuesday, Sharon Osbourne thought Murdoch should retire. "Go home to Australia, love. Go and start a farm or something, write a book."
At the "Crazy, Stupid Love" premiere, "Today" anchor Natalie Morales said, "This is the beginning and I'm curious to see how it affects the tabloids here, because they are up to dirty tricks as well."
New reports are coming out that even 9/11 victims had their phones hacked by the tabloid, about which Murdoch denied knowing anything.
The media baron has maintained he put his trust in the wrong people.
