Politico has come under fire for including Meghan Markle on an end-of-year list of “narcissists” alongside Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Kanye West and Sam Bankman-Fried.
The opinion article, headlined 2022 Is the Year We All Finally Got Tired of Narcissists, provoked a furious response on social media for comparing the Duchess of Sussex to a rogues’ gallery of alleged fraudsters, antisemites, and miscreants.
The piece broadly argued that certain celebrities’ egotistical overreach had finally turned the public off to their attention-seeking antics.
Politico cited the six-part Netflix documentary Harry and Meghan, in which the couple discuss their relationship and stepping away from their Royal duties, as one example.
The author did differentiate between Meghan and the more notorious entrants in the article such as convicted Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, noting that “the Sussexes’ addiction to the public eye is benign.”
However, Meghan’s inclusion in the article was branded “demented” by senior Reuters correspondent Chris Taylor.
Author and political analyst Kirsten Powers tweeted: “What the hell Politico.”
“There is literally no planet where Meghan Markle belongs with this group of people. A Black woman standing up for herself does not equal ‘narcissist’. The unhinged hatred directed at her really does kind of prove her point doesn’t it.”
Podcaster Paul E Martin wrote: “How in God’s name did Meghan Markle get put in this group? She’s not perfect, but a Black woman standing up for herself and family doesn’t qualify as being a ‘narcissist.’ Seriously, @politico.”
Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah tweeted that “white women are perfectly happy to be the footsoldiers of casual misogynoir + attacks against Black women.”
Twitter user Lisa Glass wrote that 2022 “is the year we all finally got tired of Politico”, prompting Politico’s editorial director Ryan Heath to push back at the criticism.
“If you want to write-off an entire publication because one of our 600 journalists included Meghan Markle on a list, you are indeed tired of free debate,” Mr Heath wrote.
“If, instead, you actually just disagree with her being included on the list, you can say that instead.”
The Independent has contacted Politico for comment.
