The Duchess of Sussex receives an "unfathomable amount of sh*t" from the media, according to actor Jameela Jamil. The Good Place star, a friend of Meghan's, said the "demonisation" highlighted the "intense unkindness and bigotry and misogyny" of the press.
In a conversation on her Archetypes podcast, Meghan thanked her friend for fighting her corner. And Jamil revealed that the duchess "frequently" reaches out to women in their "most lonely and desperate moments" to offer support.
She-Hulk star Jamil said: "It’s an unfathomable amount of sh*t that you take, Meghan. I can’t believe it.
“I fought back on your behalf years before I’d ever met you because I was so outraged by it. I was so outraged with the twisting of this very normal, very kind, very civilised woman.
“That demonisation just shows how afraid they are of you and I’m sure – maybe you can’t keep this in or whatever – but the treatment of you, and I’m so sorry you’ve had to withstand it, it has re-highlighted for us the intense unkindness and bigotry and misogyny of our media. And I think and I hope and I feel faith that the tides are changing because so many of us are fighting back.”
Jamil thanked Meghan for the times she had offered support to her in her "hardest moments". And she spoke about the duchess having done so for other women as well.
"During some of my hardest moments where I’m being the most maligned and harmed by the media, and also by the public, you have been such a sobering voice of unwavering support to me," she said. “And people don’t know that you frequently reach out to women who are having a very, very hard time. Privately, you reach out to us.
“You don’t do it publicly. You don’t come to get any glory, but you privately reach out to us in our most lonely and desperate moments.
“We need more of that in the world. and so I just appreciate you and thank you for that because those are some hairy moments, and I needed that guidance. So thanks, thanks mate.”
The episode is entitled The Audacity of the Activist and features conversations with Jamil and Iranian-American actor Shohreh Aghdashloo, star of The Expanse.
Meghan said she had started to notice an “almost default eye roll” when people mention a woman fighting for a cause. She added: “Almost, ‘Oh, here she goes again’. Or maybe it was more of ‘Stand for something? Why can’t she just sit down and…’ You know the rest.”
