Piers Morgan to Be Called to Testify in Hacking Scandal

Piers Morgan, originally known to most in the U.S. as the British, acid tongued judge on America's Got Talent, and more recently as replacement for Larry King on CNN, is, according to The Hollywood Reporter, to be called to testify about what he knew about phone hacking involving celebrities while he was editor of News of the World, a British Tabloid.

Morgan, who was promoted to editor of NotW by newspaper megapublisher Rupert Murdoch after serving as a lowly editor for a gossip column, now hosts his own shown on CNN, Piers Morgan Tonight, has insisted he has no knowledge of phone hacking and did not engage in the practice while serving as managing editor of NotW. Some in the tabloid community have expressed doubt, and Morgan seems to have implicated himself back in a 2007 interview where he apparently referenced phone hacking before it was all made public, leading to the demise of the long standing tabloid.

Lord Justice Leveson, the British judge running the inquiry into the phone hacking scandal that has been making headlines since the spring, has announced that he will summon Morgan to court to testify, and Morgan himself has confirmed to his bosses at CNN that he will be called to testify soon. Leveson, in response to questions posed by journalists said that Morgan "needs to explain himself" regarding the comments he made in the 2007 interview.

What this may all mean for Morgan's career is still anyone's guess. Morgan has already announced that he will no longer serve as a judge for AGT, citing the heavy toll appearing on two television shows has taken on his personal life. CNN has also kept mum regarding his standing with the network, though clearly if it's revealed that he either knew about the phone hacking going on while with NotW, or worse, condoned the practice, his relationship with the network would be cut short. And that's not even mentioning what would happen with Morgan personally. Several former employees of the paper have already been arrested for their participation in the horrendous practice which came to light only when the parents of a young girl killed in Briton appeared to be still alive as old messages on her phone were deleted to make room for new ones.

The world will have to wait to hear what he has to say about the words he's alleged to have spoken in the recorded interview, but there is little doubt as the scandal progresses, Piers Morgan's reputation, never the sparking to begin with, has taken a rather serious hit.