Piers Morgan apologized to tennis star Novak Djokovic during a Tuesday episode of his show for previously celebrating the athleteās deportation from Australia for not receiving the COVID vaccine.
In March 2022, Morgan accused Djokovic of being a āCovid rule cheatā and an āimmigration form liarā after he had been deported from Australia and barred from participating in the Australian Open for being unvaccinated against COVID-19. During the interview on āPiers Morgan Uncensored,ā Morgan told Djokovic that he was ācensoriousā against him and others who did not get fully vaccinated against the virus at the time.
āIām gonna to start by making an apology, and itās for this, is I was very censorious about you over the COVID scandal that you got caught up in. And in a nutshell, you got thrown out of Australiaover what seemed to be on the face of it from what the media were being told and what was beingreported was you trying to bend the rules of getting into playing the Australian Open withouthaving taken the COVID vaccine,ā Morgan said. āAnd I was, I was actually quite censorious about a lot of peopleat the time and Iāve since apologized to some people for being too tough on them becauseonce it became clear that if you had the vaccine it made no difference to whether you could thentransmit the virus, clearly, at that point for me, it becomes a personal choice.āĀ
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The Serbian-born tennis star arrived in Melbourne on Jan. 4, 2022, with a medical exemption from the vaccination, which immediately sparked outrage among Australians who questioned the validity of the exemption. Border officials then canceled his visa and detained him in an immigration facility over his vaccination status and accusations about false information on his immigration form. Though Djokovic challenged his detention in court, he lost his appeals and was deported on Jan. 16, 2022, just days before the Australian Open.
The athlete had been accused of lying on his immigration arrival form after it stated that he had not traveled in the 14 days before arrival. Djokovic later acknowledged that there had been an accidental error on the form and that it was not deliberate.
Morgan also told Djokovic that he was too quick to criticize him without having all of the facts. Weeks before the Australian Open, Djokovic had tested positive for the virus and a federal judge found that immigration officials in Australia mishandled his case.
āBut I was too censorious and when more information emerged about your situation, the fact youād had COVID several weeks before you went to Australia, the fact that you hadnātactually done anything wrong on the form-filling, the fact that in the end it became a politicaldecision to throw you out based on likely public anger if they didnāt take action,ā Morgan continued. āWhen I look back on that and reflect on that, I would like to say Iām sorry for theintemperate language I used against you because I didnāt know you, I took what I was readingand hearing at face value, it turned out to be more complicated and yeah, Iām sorry forover-egging the rhetorical souffle.ā
Djokovic accepted Morganās apology and stated that they had all been through ādifficult times.ā
āI appreciate that very much, your honesty, thank you so much,it was difficult times and state of emergency globally, I understand weāve been through Hell globally, all of us on this planet and the only thing I would add not to really dig deeperinto this whole situation on the Covid and vaccination is that I was never a proponentof anti-vax or pro-vax, I was always freedom of choice,ā Djokovic said.Ā
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