Meghan Markle’s Suits co-star Wendell Pierce claims he was misinterpreted when he criticized the Sussexes for conducting their bombshell TV interview in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pierce took to Twitter on Tuesday night declaring that he told the Duchess that he would always be her friend, despite the fact he had no interest in her scandalous sit-down with Oprah Winfrey.
‘I just discovered my words are being used as an attack. Well done British Press. Clarity: The British monarchy is archaic in my American eyes. If slavery, colonialism and apartheid didn’t educate you that they are racist, you failed history,’ he wrote.
‘I was fortunate to tell Meghan personally I wish her all the best. Predicting this hellacious maelstrom I also told her she would always have a friend in me. Because I had no interest in the interview doesn’t change that.’
Earlier on Tuesday, the actor told radio station LBC that Meghan and Harry’s bombshell interview evoked Shakespeare’s famous phrase ‘full of sound and fury signifying nothing’.
He also claimed that the sit-down was a distraction amid the COVID-19 pandemic , stating: ‘Today 3,000 people are going to die in America from COVID. A couple of hundred people are going to die, even this hour, in the UK.’
Meghan Markle’s Suits co-star Wendell Pierce claims he was taken out of context when he criticized the Sussexes for conducting their bombshell TV interview in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic
The actor, who said he had not spoken to the Duchess since 2019, added: ‘It was quite insensitive and offensive that we are all complicit in this sort of palace… gossip in the midst of so much death. I think it is insignificant.’
Asked who he included in this criticism, he said ‘everyone’ including Oprah, US network CBS, ITV, Prince Harry and Meghan, and the Palace.
As of Tuesday evening, more than 525,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, while 125,000 Britons have succumbed to the disease.
Elsewhere during his LBC interview, Pierce stated that the monarchy should not get involved ‘in this sort of conversation’ and instead ‘focus on the throes of death that we’re in’.
The actor -who previously appeared in the Emmy-winning HBO drama The Wire – revealed he and Meghan had not talked much about race as they filmed Suits, despite the topic featuring in their roles.
He said: ‘We didn’t have long discussions about it, besides what was in the script and what was happening in our personal lives.’
Pierce also shared a third message on Twitter Tuesday night claiming his lack of interest in Meghan’s interview did not mean he was dismissive to her revelation that she felt suicidal during her time in the UK.
The actor stated that his family has lost a member to suicide and that he supports the Duchess and ‘wishes her the best’.
Wendell Pierce, 57, starred in Suits with Meghan Markle for four years; he played her character’s father
Wendell Pierce (pictured), who worked with Meghan for four years in his role as her character’s father, said the broadcast was ‘insignificant’ as Covid death tolls continued to rise
Pierce said the interview evoked Shakespeare’s phrase ‘full of sound and fury signifying nothing’
Pierce took to Twitter on Tuesday night declaring that he told the Duchess that he would always be her friend, despite the fact he had no interest in her scandalous sit-down with Oprah Winfrey
Several of Meghan’s other Suits co-stars, including Patrick J. Adams and Abigail Spencer, publicly defended the Duchess last week amid claims she ‘bullied’ staffers while living in the UK.
The show’s executive producer, Silver Tree, and its creator, Aaron Korsh, also took to Twitter to praise the actress.
However, none of those stars have followed up by posting supportive messages to Twitter in the wake of Meghan’s interview with Oprah.
The Queen broke her silence on the interview on Tuesday, saying in a statement that ‘while some recollections may vary’ the ‘whole family is saddened’ to hear of the couple’s ‘challenging few years’.
Her Majesty said an alleged racist comment made about what colour the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby Archie would be was ‘concerning’ and will be ‘addressed by the family privately’.
The monarch will reportedly speak to senior royals – including Charles, Camilla, William and Kate – behind closed doors over the couple’s allegations.
Her statement added that Harry and Meghan – using their names rather than titles – and their son ‘will always be much loved family members’.
It is understood the Queen waited until Tuesday to comment on the devastating interview with Oprah Winfrey so Britons had the chance to watch it first – but ‘the Firm’ is not expected to make any further comments.
Buckingham Palace released a statement on behalf of the Queen on Tuesday
Her Majesty said an alleged racist comment made about what colour the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby Archie would be was ‘concerning’ and will be ‘addressed by the family privately’. The monarch will reportedly speak to senior royals – including Charles, Camilla, William and Kate – behind closed doors over the couple’s allegations
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Meghan’s estranged father Thomas denied his daughter’s claims to Oprah that he had ‘betrayed’ her before branding his son-in-law Harry as ‘snotty’.
Mr Markle told Good Morning Britain that he’s apologised ‘100 times’ for doing a deal with a paparazzi photographer before the Royal Wedding in 2018 and urged the couple to see him with Archie now they only live ’70 miles away’ from his Mexico home.
He said: ‘We all make mistakes – but I’ve never played naked pool or dressed like Hitler like Harry did’.
And in a further attack on Harry, Mr Markle said that his daughter’s admission she was suicidal while living in the UK reflected badly on his son-on-law.
He said: ‘It really did upset me, like I said, it would have been easy for her to reach out to me, any of the rest of her family, who she claims she doesn’t know. But the other thing is that I would think that she could turn to her husband.’ When noted she did speak to Harry, Mr Markle said Meghan’s husband Harry had ‘obviously not supported her that well’.
Mr Markle than slammed his daughter’s decision to refuse to see or speak to him. Mr Markle said: ‘The biggest problem here is she’s pretty much ghosted all of her family’.
Thomas Markle has had his say on Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview to defend himself and the Royal Family, who he says aren’t racist, before laying into Harry claiming he had failed to properly support his daughter
Meghan Markle’s father appeared on Good Morning Britain after his daughter accused him of ‘betraying’ her in her bombshell Oprah interview
The 76-year-old also denied the Royal Family – or Britain – is racist, saying if it is true an unnamed royal asked about how ‘dark’ Archie’s skin would be, it was probably just a ‘dumb question’, before calling Meghan and Harry’s claims ‘bulls**t’.
Mr Markle, who has watched the entire two-hour CBS interview, said he was ‘upset’ when he saw his youngest daughter tell Oprah that royal life was so stressful she was suicidal and ‘couldn’t be left alone’ – but then said Meghan’s husband Harry had ‘obviously not supported her that well’.
During the interview with Oprah, Meghan said she could not fathom hurting her son Archie in the way her own father ‘betrayed’ her, admitting she ‘found it hard to reconcile’ with Thomas. She said: ‘I look at Archie, I think about this child, and I genuinely can’t imagine doing anything to intentionally cause pain to my child’.
Mr Markle said that while he did let her down, she had ‘let me down too’ by cutting him off after heart surgery almost three years ago. He said: ‘The bottom line is she didn’t lose me, she made a statement saying she lost me, she didn’t lose me, I would’ve always been there for her, I’m there for her now if she wants me’. He added: ‘We all make mistakes – but I’ve never played naked pool or dressed like Hitler like Harry did’.
Mr Markle was referencing Harry’s decision to wear a Nazi uniform to a party when he was 20 and seven years later in 2012 the prince was photographed wearing nothing but a necklace with a naked female playmate hiding behind him having just played a game of strip pool in his VIP Las Vegas hotel suite.
The fallout from Sunday night’s bombshell interview with Oprah (pictured) is continuing into its third day
British politicians blast Hillary Clinton after she claimed ‘cruelty’ Britain showed to Meghan was ‘outrageous’
Failed US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was blasted today after wading into the Harry and Meghan royal spat with a blast at the UK establishment and press.
The ex-senator and former First Lady claimed the ‘cruelty’ showed to the Duchess of Sussex was ‘outrageous’ and has slammed the Royals for failing to support a ‘young woman who was just trying to live her life’.
Ms Clinton, who lost the US presidential race to Donald Trump in 2016, made the comments during a live event with the Washington Post last night, the day after the Sussex’s explosive interview with Oprah was first broadcast.
‘I found it so heart-rending to watch,’ Clinton said, adding that she had met the pair before, as well as Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana.
Clinton then said it was ‘heartbreaking’ to watch the ‘incredibly accomplished’ Markle ‘not be fully embraced’ by both the ‘permanent bureaucracy that surrounds the Royal family’ and the UK press.
The former presidential hopeful said she too is no stranger to facing off with the British press, adding: ‘I’ve had my time in the box with the British tabloids, as anybody who is in the public eye has had, and their cruelty in going after Meghan was just outrageous.
‘The fact she did not get more support that the reaction was, you know, ‘let’s just paper it over and pretend it didn’t happen or it will go away, just keep your head down’—well, this young woman was not going to keep her head down.
‘You know, this is 2021 and she wanted to live her life, she wanted to be fully engaged and she had every right to hope for that,’ Clinton added.
But Tory MP Lee Anderson branded the US politician ‘unhelpful’ after she followed president Joe Biden in wading into the furore.
‘There are always two sides to every story. It is just sad that our most famous family are fighting it out in the media,’ the Ashfield MP told MailOnline.
‘Hillary Clinton is a fine one to talk about scandals if you want to dig back into their past. This is something that probably goes down a lot better in America than it does in our country.
‘I think our country has got a lot of affection even for Harry still, but the affection is mostly for our Queen and it is terrible what she is going through.’
The former Secretary of State made the comments during a live event with the Washington Post on Monday, a day after the couple’s interview with Oprah aired on CBS