Novak Djokovic gets $20M-worth Piers Morgan's support in controversial Tony Jones fiasco at Australian Open

Famous journalist Piers Morgan recently offered his support to Novak Djokovic amid the Serb's row with the Australian Open's official broadcaster, Nine Network, over remarks made by host Tony Jones. Following his third-round win at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne last week, the 24-time Major winner chose to forego his on-court interview after he learned about the comments Jones made about him and his fans earlier in the day.

On Monday (January 20), Morgan, who has a net worth of $20 million (Source: Celebrity Net Worth), threw his support behind Novak Djokovic, who asked for an apology from Nine Network's Jones over the matter. In a post on X, the Brit said:

"Djokovic is right. That Channel 9 guy was an absolute t**l."

Ahead of the seventh seed's third-round outing on Thursday (January 18), the Aussie host Jones had poked fun at the Serb while presenting in front of a crowd of his fans from Nine Network's studio.

"Novak, he's overrated! Novak's a has-been! Novak, kick him out! Boy, I'm glad they can't hear me," Tony Jones said on-air for Channel 9.

The 10-time Australian Open champion was clearly unhappy with the above remarks as he took to X (formerly Twitter) to demand an apology from Nine Network's Jones, claiming that they were "insulting and offensive".

"A couple of days ago, a famous sports journalist, who works for official broadcaster Channel 9 in Australia, made a mockery of Serbian fans and also made insulting and offensive comments towards me and since then he chose not to issue any public apology," Novak Djokovic said in the video. "It was a very awkward situation for me to face on the court today and it's unfortunate."

The seventh seed will take on World No. 3 and his archrival Carlos Alcaraz for a place in the semifinals of the 2025 Australian Open on Tuesday (January 21).

---

Tony Jones offers apology to Novak Djokovic: "I considered it to be banter"

The 10-time champion celebrates after reaching QFs at Australian Open 2025 (Source: Getty)

Following the fall-out from Novak Djokovic's video on X (formerly Twitter), Tony Jones made an appearance on Nine Network's Australian Open pre-show to issue an apology to the 24-time Major winner over his previous comments.

"Well, one of disappointment that it's come to this I've got to say, because the comments were made, if I can give you just a bit of the timeline here, the comments were made on the news on the Friday night, which I considered to be banter, I considered it to be humor, which is consistent with most things I do," Tony Jones said.

"I was made aware on the Saturday morning from Tennis Australia via the Djokovic camp was not happy at all with those comments," he added. "Now, as such, I immediately contacted the Djokovic camp and issued an apology to them."

Djokovic will be eager to win his eighth career outing against his Spanish opponent in his next match and win a record-breaking 25th Major title in Melbourne later this week.