Kelsey Grammer Walks Out On 'Piers Morgan Tonight'

by uInterviewSeptember 21, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

Kelsey Grammer, 57, walked out of a Piers Morgan Tonight taping on Wednesday after the show’s intro displayed a picture of Grammer’s ex-wife, Camille Donatacci, 44. The sudden departure left host Piers Morgan, 47, seemingly puzzled and annoyed, sending him straight to the time-honored forum of Twitter to vent. "I like Kelsey Grammer personally, but this was a shockingly unprofessional thing to do," Morgan tweeted. "I wasn't even going to mention his ex-wife!"

Morgan, who is no stranger to riling up guests and even watching them storm off his stage, let loose a few more tweets that poked fun at Grammer’s odd departure. "BREAKING NEWS: All my guests have turned up tonight and are showing every sign of appearing on air. Tune in now… #CNN," Morgan wrote.

Morgan insisted he did not intend to ask Grammer about his relationship with Donatacci, but Grammer claims he still felt wronged. “Piers needs to take responsibility for what he did to Kelsey,” Grammer’s rep told EW. “It’s called accountability.”

Another source spoke about the alleged miscommunication. “Before the interview was scheduled, it was made clear that Kelsey would answer all and any questions including those about his ex wife,” the source told the Huffington Post. “His only request was not to show any images of her. Just before the show went live, Kelsey saw a test of the opening and it included an image of Camille. Publicists asked producers that it be removed and were assured it would be before the show went live. At 9:00 p.m., we were all sitting in the greenroom and saw no changes had been made. That’s when Kelsey and his team left.”

Grammer’s reaction can perhaps be explained by his tumultuous 10-year marriage with Donatacci, which ended in an ugly divorce wrought with settlement disputes and child custody battles. Some of the details were revealed during Donatacci’s two-year stint on Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Grammer is currently married to Kayte Walsh, 32, who gave birth to the couple's first child in July.

Grammer's no-show on Piers Morgan Tonight may have irritated some of his devoted fans, but they can always catch the acclaimed actor in his Golden Globe-winning role of Tom Kane on the Starz political drama, Boss. —Hal Sundt