Emily Giffin, author of Something Borrowed , Something Blue , Love The One You’re With , and All We Ever Wanted , is in hot water after publicly dragging Meghan Markle , calling her “phony” and “unmaternal” after she shared a video reading to her son, Archie.
Since Meghan’s fans retaliated to the unwarranted shade, Emily has come forward to explain the intent behind her criticisms.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have officially left their duties of the Royal Family.
It came as a not so shocking turn of events to the world, considering we were all seeing how badly Meghan was being treated by the tabloids.
So their leaving definitely made sense.
Now that the couple and their son have moved to North America, they have already been looking a little more casual (and a little more happy).
Meghan Markle has even participated in a project with Disney+ for a documentary about elephants!
But just because they left the royals, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t criticized constantly.
Unfortunately, that’s what happens when you’re a celebrity.
And in Meghan’s case, that’s unfortunately what happens when you are a woman of color. Society can be very cruel that way.
You might recall from earlier this week, an adorable, heartwarming video of Meghan Markle reading to her son, Archie, on his first birthday.
The majority of people seemed to enjoy the clip and thought the moment shared between Meghan and Archie was sweet and genuine.
Unfortunately, it is no secret that since joining the royal family and marrying Prince Harry, Meghan has become the target of a despicable amount of online abuse from trolls as well as media publications.
For instance, after her first public sighting with Archie , Meghan was criticized for weeks for the way she was “awkwardly” cradling her newborn son.
For quite some time after that, people seemed to be convinced that she lacked maternal instinct.
Which is obviously an absurd snap judgment to make after seeing one photo.
Anyone who has ever held a baby knows that it isn’t always easy! I can only imagine that it’s far more difficult if you’re also trying to shield the baby from paparazzi.
Evidently, even though a year has passed, there are still some people who are convinced Meghan doesn’t have the chops to be a good mother.
Author Emily Giffin chimed in with some very harsh criticism after watching the video of Meghan reading to Archie on his birthday.
She took to her Instagram story, spewing hatred toward Meghan — calling her “phony,” “unmaternal,” telling her to “go away” and misspelling her name (possibly on purpose?).
“Happy birthday, Archie. Go away, Megan,” she wrote in her story .
She then screenshot a comment that she left on the video and shared it to her story as well, just in case anybody missed it. Which is VERY ironic, considering what her comment was.
“Holy ‘me first.’ This is the Megan show. Why didn’t she film and let Harry read? And why didn’t she take the moment at the end to say ‘he said daddy!,’” she wrote .
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“Because that would make it about Harry for a split second, God forbid,” she went on.
“Also, you want privacy for your child so you put out a video (by your authorized biographer) of him …. wearing no pants?! Ooookay ….,” she concluded .
She still wasn’t done, however. Next, she shared screenshots of text messages between her and (presumably) a friend of hers, both bashing Meghan.
“Archie is ADORABLE,” Emily’s friend texted . “But that video screamed look at me! Look at me! I need attention as the doting mother. She’s a joke.”
The friend went on to say that she thought Meghan seemed annoyed that Archie wasn’t fully “cooperating” during the video.
“She seemed so unmaternal” Emily chimed in . “It was so uncomfortable. She’s such a phony.”
Emily seems to have forgotten that Meghan has an entire army of fans who would absolutely not stand for this, and they came for her.
Many fans expressed disappointment in Emily’s behavior because they were so fond of her books. But, upon finding out how much time she takes out of her day to hate on Meghan, they’ve decided to boycott her.
After receiving what I can only imagine was an overwhelming amount of backlash, Emily released a statement to *HuffPost*, explaining her side of the story, and assuring everyone that her dislike for Meghan has nothing to do with her race.
“I enjoy following celebrities and analyzing them with my readers. I post dozens of IG stories a day in a very honest, unfiltered way, as if I’m confiding directly with close friends,” she wrote .
“Further, I’m very interested in the British monarchy. I always have been. See the link in my bio for an essay I wrote in the days before Meghan and Harry wed.”
“To be clear, I absolutely loved that a biracial, American woman was marrying into the Royal Family,” she continued .
“It seemed a wonderful, happy thing for everyone. I celebrated their wedding by hosting a gathering here at my home and posting many, many photos.”
“Further, I was appalled by any signs of racism against her. Over recent months my feelings about BOTH Harry and Meghan changed.”
She went on to say that everything she had to say had nothing to do with the color of Meghan’s skin. Regardless of the matter, it doesn’t make it OKAY that she said it!!!!
“But I can say from the bottom of my heart that my criticism of Meghan has never had anything to do with race.”
“Further, I understood why she wanted to leave the monarchy and carve out her own path.”
“I do, however, find fault with the way BOTH she and Harry handled things, and those feelings bled over in later posts, including the ones today.”
She went on to say:
“I can see how some of my posts may have felt mean-spirited, and could be construed as having racial undertones. It was not my intent, but I understand that intent and impact are two very different things,” she wrote .
“And I am truly sorry for that negative impact,” she concluded.
Let this be a lesson to anyone who has ever been tempted to bully someone online: It’s not a good look, and if you do it to Meghan Markle, her fans will not hesitate to drag you for it!