As I’m writing this, it’s been less than 24 hours since the Sussexes’ spokesperson made the statement about the “near catastrophic” paparazzi chase in New York on Tuesday night. In that time, there’s been a grotesque effort to “fact check” the Sussexes’ statement. First it was “oh, it wasn’t two hours.” It was. Then it was “they arranged the whole thing.” They did not. Currently, media outlets are cherry-picking quotes from the taxi driver – who was only driving the Sussexes for about ten minutes after they retreated into a police precinct – to “prove” that the Sussexes were not really being “chased.”
In an interview on Wednesday, taxi driver Sukhcharn Singh said he picked the couple up in New York on Tuesday night and drove them for a brief period, during which it appeared they were pursued by other vehicles. Singh said he picked up Harry, Meghan, an older Black woman and one security guard in his yellow cab at about 11 p.m. outside the New York City Police Department’s 19th precinct on East 67th Street. In Singh’s account, the guard waved him down and asked: “Do you want a fare?”
Singh, who goes by “Sunny,” said he drove the group the block and a half west to Park Avenue before heading south. The driver said they were pursued by two vehicles: a black Honda Accord and an older gray Honda CR-V.
“They kept following us and were coming next to the car,” Singh said. “They took pictures as we stopped and were filming us.”
Singh, 37, who moved to the U.S. from India as a child, said he got the impression from the group that they had been already pursued by paparazzi before entering his car. After a few minutes, Singh said, the security guard grew concerned about the photographers and asked him to return to the police station. The guard thought they were too exposed and didn’t want their location shared more widely, Singh said.
He turned and headed north up Madison Avenue, driving them back to the pickup point. Singh estimated that the entire journey lasted 10 minutes.
“I don’t think I would call it a chase,” Singh said of his period driving the couple. “I never felt like I was in danger. It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but it’s New York — it’s safe.”
Again, this was ten minutes of a two-hour ordeal. They had already been chased and pursued, which is why the Sussexes retreated to a police station in the first place. Singh also gave an interview to Piers Morgan, and Singh basically confirmed that paparazzi surrounded his taxi and that he’d never seen anything like that in New York, where plenty of famous people live.
Bizarrely, People Magazine also ran quotes from “a photographer on the scene” who said that it is “sensational” to describe the pursuit as “near catastrophic… Nobody got a ticket or arrested…I don’t see how it was near catastrophic other than crazy hyperbole.” A second source told People, “At any point, they could have gone to a police station or pulled into a garage.” They… did go to a police station. Twice. Paparazzi were driving on the sidewalks to get to them. And why would you quote the paparazzi who were the ones creating the situation?
A witness who saw Prince Harry and his wife Meghan leave a charity event Tuesday recounted the pursuit by paparazzi.
Both the witness and NYC Mayor Eric Adams said the incident stirred memories of the car crash that killed Harry's mother, Princess Diana.https://t.co/CJTMsraSdy pic.twitter.com/lEPGCkdV67
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 17, 2023
Exclusive: Member of Prince Harry and Meghan's security detail tells @MaxFosterCNN there were about a dozen vehicles pursuing the couple after last night's event in NYC.
"The public were in jeopardy at several points. It could have been fatal." pic.twitter.com/BqF3V0ZvWC
— CNN International PR (@cnnipr) May 17, 2023
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
-
- New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- New York, NY – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: BeautifulSignatureIG / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- New York, NY – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: BeautifulSignatureIG / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-
- New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Huh. People has an anonymous random photographer source downplaying and countering the sussex statement. Yeah, WMA needs to make some phone calls cuz that’s pretty grotesque. They’re using anonymous paparazzi as actual witnesses to denigrate the Sussexes and make them out to be liars. Honestly, this bad faith playing around is gonna get slapped down at some point.
The photographer is not a reliable witness and only out to absolve himself from any wrongdoing. I’d respect him if he had just said the offer from the British press was too good to pass up.
Of course a photographer is going to downplay it. Why would they admit to any wrong doing.
So many of the people trying to poke holes in this story ignore the word “near.” Near means it nearly happened. So no arrests, no injuries etc. doesn’t contradict the Sussexes’ version of events.
I saw a clip on IG from a Sky TV (?) news segment and the reporter said that he spoke to a member of their security detail who used to work for the Secret Service who said that it was the worst thing he’s ever experienced. And to reiterate what @emily commented — just because no one DIED or was INJURED, say, like the elderly woman who was hit by Sophie’s police motorcade who is still in a coma, doesn’t mean that it wasn’t traumatic.
I saw a clip of H&M in the cab surrounded by paps and the audio alone was terrifying — just a constant non-stop barrage of clicks and camera flashes. There’s no way they were getting viable/sell-able photos of them that way; that’s why I think it was an intimidation move — Harry wrote in Spare and has said in old interviews that just the sound of cameras firing triggers him. It really did just look/sound like they were using the cameras as “weapons.” Just a constant barrage of noise and flashes.
I saw another brief interview clip on IG from a podcast with someone who was in a security role (not the Sussex’s, but someone who worked for the location they were visiting) — he said something along the lines of “I was trying to keep the paps back and I asked one of them why they were taking so many pictures and the pap replied ‘…because this might be the last picture of Prince Harry alive and this way, I’ve got it.'”
I mean … I got the chills listening to that. Just a complete lack of humanity. Talking about Harry as if he’s not even real or another human being. It’s really sick.
Despite all this push back and tabloids trying to downplay, I’m 100% sure H&M have receipts. There will no doubt be video or other irrefutable evidence coming. They never open their mouths without the proof to back up their words.
Max Foster of CNN spoke with the security who was former SS, I think his name was Mark Sanchez and he said it was one of the worst thighs he’s seen. I don’t think SS agents tend to overreact so that seems like pretty important information to confirm how serious this was.
…and they are just counting physical injuries. There were ample injuries, starting with people in the car being pursued, and continuing on through who knows how many people who saw their lives flash before their eyes as someone barreled down the street. Mental injuries are injuries.
At this point, all the negative press about H&M has created a kind of mass hysteria, where people refuse to believe what’s right in front of their faces.
This mass hysteria is not going away. Meghan and Harry hate clicks is a billion dollar industry. This is a couple that’s gotten even more popular than the entire royal family put together. Now we have CNN, BBC, Fox news all fighting for a piece of the action .
Totally, I mean how crazy would it be if people believed something despite all evidence pointing the exact opposite way? Wouldn’t that be crazy?
Agreed, and the craziest part, to me, is that anyone would believe Harry and Meghan made it up, in this day and age, in NEW YORK CITY, of all places. As if a gigantic portion of the city’s streets don’t have cameras, whether they are traffic, Ring doorbells, security cameras, etc…
A really enterprising person could probably find a huge part of the chase, if they had access to the millions of cameras in NYC.
I don’t believe Harry and Meghan would fake anything, but I for sure don’t think they are dumb enough to make up an easily verified chase in the country’s biggest city.
I’m trying to do my part at not fueling the hysteria, by focusing my internet/news search only on her speech. (T&C has the full speech and transcript btw.) The pap aggression may have been fueled by Meghanless bore-a-nation, plus Brit media trying to put fear into dude (Harry) suing them. This kinda reminds me of Meghan’s security detail, Steve Davies, hired by NBC in Toronto when media outlets were trying to fact-check Netflix docuseries, and he said he’d never seen anything like it – before that interview, everybody was calling her a liar, etc. Saw that idiot Ken Wharfe said they should have just posed for pictures – as if they hadn’t already just done that at the event? Ah well, Harry’s probly collecting evidence.
And Tyler Perry made a similar comment in the documentary – that the celebrities living in the hills around his LA house had never seen anything like what H&M were subject to once the BM found out they were staying at his house. So that’s at least three times now we’ve heard the same thing, from reputable people, about the extreme level of harassment directed towards the Sussexes – the experienced security person Steve Davies hired for Meghan during Suits, Tyler Perry, and now the former secret service agent Chris Sanchez who was part of the security detail Tuesday night.
I’m not sure what the ultimate solution(s) will be but at this point the evidence is clear and it’s impossible to pretend this is normal or in any way acceptable, for anyone.
I can’t understand this argument these idiots are making that Harry and Meghan should have stopped and posed for photographs. They did pose for photographs at the award ceremony. Perhaps these idiots would have had the same advice for Diana and Dodi to stop for the paps in Paris as well? Of course, then the paps would have allowed them to get back into their car and they would have calmly proceeded on their way, and no tragedy would have ensued. Right.
And because Harry and Megan posed so willingly for the photographers at the awards, you know there had to be a sinister and more ulterior motive to this chase incident, and this wasn’t paparazzi just looking for more photos in blacked out vehicles and obscured plates.
I don’t get the attempts to deny this story. Wouldn’t it better serve the British press to just report the facts and then start a campaign calling for Harry and Meghan to come back to the UK where it’s safer? That’s what they want after all.
Discrediting what happened on Tuesday night after the awards ceremony means you can then discredit what was said about the Windsors in the Oprah interview, in the Netflix doco and in Spare.
Photographers near the scene? Meaning the perpetrators? Sure, a criminal being his own eyewitness is *so* trustworthy.
@shauna, yes! That’s like asking the man with the mask and the gun if he saw anyone trying to break into a house!, just how low can these morons go
My kid has a book about a hat being stolen. The bear who owns the hat asks a rabbit (who’s wearing a hat) if he saw anyone with his hat on. The rabbit denies it and moves on. Precisely the same.
Why does the paparazzo want anonymity? Did he do something wrong?
Did the reporter ask him why the paparazzi were chasing H&M’s blacked out SUV at night? Is there any”news” organisation that would buy photos of a blacked out SUV being driven around after 10pm? If there’s not much money to be made from such photos, why were the paparazzi pursuing H&M’s car late at night?
Why did the paparazzi pursue H&M when lucrative full frontal shots were already taken of the couple on their way in and out of the awards venue? Did the reporter from People ask his anonymous paparazzo this question?
Why are “news” organisations doing clean up for Backgrid?
Complete opposite of what I heard on Australian breakfast television this morning. Doing exactly what you said cherry picking quotes.
Drama around them will make people get sick of them.
@Slim- they’ve had continuous drama around them since their relationship first became public. And the public isn’t getting sick of them ANYTIME soon. Although it always makes me chuckle when I see pages and pages of comments by people claiming up and down how irrelevant Harry & Meghan are 😂
H and M didn’t want to bring the paps to the place they were staying. If staying with friends, were those friends ready to have people hounding them all night and probably for days? If the children were at the house where they were staying it also makes sense they would just try to wear out the paps so they could keep the photographers away from their children.
regardless if there was a high speed chase or car accidents or near misses, it sounds like an awful ordeal. not being able to go home after an event just sounds horrible. everyone can speculate whether it is dramatized or not, but the truth will come out when CCTV footage and Harry’s videos are released. what is clear is their security failed them and there should have been better planning with the NYPD. I think it was premature for NYPD to release a statement downplaying the events, and the Mayor also.
Yeah they’ll have to make a better plan for the next time they leave a big event. I don’t think they expected this considering they have been to NY a few times and have been fine.
They’ve also stayed at a private residence before and been fine.
They’ll learn from this for sure and move accordingly the next time because the paps do not care about them.
No security expert, but next time I’d check into a hotel for a few hours then escape out the back. Such a pain. I can only imagine the fear they went through and I’m so sorry it marred such a great evening for them.
Let this horrific event become a catalyst to control the jackals with cameras.
That part of H&M’s official statement isn’t what media outlets and their talking heads are focusing on. Instead, they are drilling down on semantics (in order to minimise the couple’s experience) and ignoring the dangerous stalkerrazzi practices that were used to take their photos whilst endangering the public. H&M’s statement was a plea to the media to stop incentivising this type of reckless stalkerrazzi behaviour and yet the media is busily trying to find ways to defend the stalkerrazzi. I guess that means the stalkerrazzi has the green to keep doing what they’ve been doing until there’s a fatal “accident”.
“It’s New York; it’s safe”? Seriously? He might have said they were safer in that location near a precinct and been somewhat credible.
“I don’t think I would call it a chase,” Singh said of his period driving the couple. “I never felt like I was in danger. It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but it’s New York — it’s safe.”
Mansplained: -I- never felt like -I- was in danger. Ergo: it’s safe. Jfc!
I guess it’s good that for the 10 or so minutes the taxi driver was their chauffeur, he didn’t negate the experience of paparazzi following them.
I saw on Twitter he knew about the names Harry calls people who look like him and wanted revenge.
I said yesterday that this would happen and the people that want to hate H&M will fully believe it.
I’m not sure what the solution is honestly other than for Harry and Meghan to keep living their lives. The attention on them will never stop whether they speak or are quiet.
Meghan could save penguins and people will still claim she’s attention seeking or some PR mastermind.
What’s happening to them is beyond what anyone else has experienced.
The craziness only seems to be escalating..
I’ve been thinking on this. I wonder, if because they are so rarely seen, especially Meghan and the kids, that the price on their head skyrocketed. Especially after Meghan not showing up at to coronation. The UK press was utterly desperate to get shots THEY can profit off of.
I wonder, if Meghan got back on Instagram and posted regularly, the value of a photograph of her would drop significantly and the paps wouldn’t be so rabid. Be more public but in a way THEY control.
@snuffles
Blake lively took pics of her bump and posted on IG after the paps were stalking her and her kids.
Rihanna posted Raz after unwanted pics of his.
I do think it would help neutralize some of the insanity if Meghan was seen more often and maybe (I hate even saying it) if they posted pics of the kids.
But since the interest in them especially from the UK is so big for how long would the frenzy subside? Probably just a hot second.
Also them not posting pics of their kids for sure has to do with safety.
Not sure what the answer is…but I hope they the frenzy to become billionaires.
Honestly, with how the BM have riled up certain groups of folks, I don’t think HM can do much to negate the fervour.
While I agree that releasing photos themselves would “lower” the price from the paps’ perspective, this is only taking them into account, and not the loonies and stalkers wishing them harm.
I don’t know about the UK paps but I think it would neutralize the US paps because the price on their heads would go down and not make it worth the headache of getting sued.
It wasn’t about pictures. They had pictures of H&M at the event. It might have been about seeing where they were to attempt pix of the children, but wouldn’t that be easier in California? Giving in to provide more pix on Instagram if it isn’t what H&M want is giving in to extortion more or less.
@equality unfortunately that’s what happened with Blake, Rihanna and so many other celebs. It’s awful but it’s part of the game.
I keep thinking people will get tired of all of this constant Sussex news and to be fair some have but most haven’t. The Sussex profile has only gotten larger as different factions have joined in on royal coverage..well mainly Harry and Meghan coverage.
The next few months will be interesting with Harry’s court case and as WME works with Meghan, Harry and Archewell.
Harry’s judicial review, the end of the Mirror case and the ruling on the other cases are all coming up.
Phew!! Praying for a verdict in Harry’s favor for all of this and that he’s fully vindicated and compensated as we head into fall!!
It’s not about the pictures. H&M don’t live under rocks, we see them relatively often – between polo matches last summer, shopping, restaurants, etc. When they were in NYC last December there were pictures of them at a restaurant and so on. And its not about the US paps. I feel like in the US, we see a pic of a celebrity out and about and kind of shrug and move on. Yes maybe people note the outfit or the restaurant or something, but there’s not 3 days’ worth of articles on the restaurant, the shoes the celeb was wearing, how they arrived, who was watching the kids, how long did they stay, etc. And when we do get more detailed stories about celeb outings, its usually with the celeb’s authorization (cough JLo).
I think this was about trying to find where they stayed (so the british press could harass that person) and also just about trying to punish H&M.
When we see them more they’re accused of stealing the spotlight from the salty royals, when we dont see them its “they’re hiding.”
What happened on Tuesday night was not about US paps trying to get a picture.
The only thing that would slow down the aggressive harassment they are now getting is if Harry dropped or settled his lawsuits against the tabloids, specifically Murdoch. He won’t, and I will forever admire & respect him for his bravery & determination to do the right thing, but it’s the truth.
This was a blatant and carefully planned intimidation tactic imo, including targeting his personal fears/ptsd & trying to identify where they were staying in NY to deprive them of yet another safe place.
It had F-all to do with getting a few extra pics of the couple, imo, and everything to do with the potential liability of 100+ £/$ million that Harry winning any of his cases would entail. Where ever he does win then 1000’s of other, past/ongoing/future BM hacking/blagging etc, cases would be eligible for payouts.
The financial losses of him winning his cases would be great for the papers involved but even bigger than that is the potential for subsequent criminal charges to be brought against numerous individuals. Some of the main players could be looking at criminal prosecutions, loss of reputations/livelihoods & maybe even jail time.
The stakes for the BM & key people involved in the lawbreaking are simply huge and they are becoming increasingly desperate for him to stfu.
I genuinely fear for him along with anyone and anything he holds dear.
If Meghan saved the seals there would be countless articles about how she hates sea lions.
Meghan’s complete disregard for the Save The Pigeons and Squirrels Coalition is downright appalling. Sources close to her have also confirmed she has shown no interest in the plight of the Fireant community. When asked if Meghan had reached out to the Scorpions Sting Because It Is Their Nature Society, their representative, who wishes to remain unnamed, confirmed Meghan had not contacted them.
So, there you have, folks. Meghan hates critters of all kinds. /s
I saw that people story and it made absolutely no sense to include ” photographers” near the scene. Are we going to start interviewing purse snatchers to see if the victims ” really needed those purses?”. I don’t think I’ve been so disgusted with the media since the summer of 2016. They KNOW this is BS and because they’d rather close ranks around their crappy counterparts, they minimize danger to actual people.
As far as I’m concerned, People magazine has picked a side, and they are no longer trying to straddle the line of being supportive of Harry and Meghan and the BRF.
There are zero stories on Harry and Meghan on people.com’s homepage today. Nothing about the award Meghan won TWO DAYS AGO, or the car chase, but they are still peddling the bullshit about Cannot and Willnot’s modern coronation plans and Cam’s first sighting post-Chubbly. They are solidly on the monarchy’s side, apparently, and I’m done.
They *just* put up an article with Misan Harriman defending the Sussexes.
Of course they are trying to downplay this because if they don’t people will really know what was happening. This was a coordinated effort to harm/kill them. No amount of trying to downplay it will make it anything less than it was an attempt to kill them.
It’s important to note that Harry and Meghan’s statement only came out after the British press published photos of them in the taxi. Hence the reason why the DM and Express hastily deleted the photos and their articles about it. The British press, the photographers and Backgrid are all bleating so that they don’t get sued. I hope Harry and Meghan will take legal action against them. They won’t be able to sue them for taking pictures but maybe for emotional distress and endangering their lives.
Oh, a multi-millionaire dollar lawsuit is forthcoming, BET.
I feel like people are deliberately missing what “near catastrophic” means. It means it wasn’t catastrophic. It means no one died, no one was injured. But it also means that it was close to that, and there was a real danger of that happening. The fact that no one died or was injured does not make the Sussexes description of the incident as “near catastrophic” untrue.
And I am so disgusted by all the outlets asking the paparazzi who were CHASING THEM if they were behaving safely or not. I bet the photographers who followed Diana all thought their behavior was 100% fine as well.
Finally – the taxi driver is clearly looking for his 15 minutes of fame, but its “funny” when you listen to him and realize he’s actually just corroborating H&M’s story. He picked them up around, drove them around for about 10 minutes with paparazzi following them, and dropped them back off at the police station because it wasn’t deemed safe.
Lol I got that vibe from him too. Can’t be mad, he’s getting paid, and still being honest, and that’s more than some of the BM’s other sources can say.
This. What a sh*t show.
So, the pieces fall into place, proving the Sussexes right. Meanwhile, the “primacy” argument is winning. Hopefully the recency argument (the final word from the Sussexes, which will be shown in the videos) will prevail.
They got chased again AFTER leaving the police station? Why didn’t the police do something before they left? What’s wrong with them?
What exactly do you think they could have done in that moment? In that moment, they didn’t witness any illegal activity. Just some paps hovering from a distance. There was legally nothing they could do IN THAT MOMENT. Later, when they get the CCTV footage and videos from Harry and their security team showing actual evidence of them breaking laws, THEN they can round them up.
They could have held them there while H&M left and done something like check the percentage of tint on their car windows.
I would hope that if I come to the police and explain that I am in danger, and pointed to the perpetrators, that I could count on some help. They could at least call the paps inside for a word or to, or go to their cars for a talk, just enough that I can move away.
This all ended well so no problem, but what if it didn’t? The fact is they came for help and were not helped.
It’s likely they had an unmarked car following. It doesn’t sound like the paps did anything egregious for those 10 minutes.
Yes, it seems once they sought refuge in the police station and switched to the cab, the pursuers toned it down somewhat in that brief time.
Yes, but they gave them hell before that. The police should have prevented the paps to follow them from the station again. They haven’t. To me that’s police failure.
No one’s saying that they weren’t put through hell before that. And putting them in a cab certainly didn’t resolve the issue since the paps continued following them and they had to return to the station fairly quickly, which didn’t give the pursuers a chance to resume a lengthy chase. It really seems that the police were unprepared for this level of aggression and should have probably put them in a police squad car at that point. I’m sure they’re going to be reviewing all of their procedures and preparedness, especially since I believe Meghan has an award at the end of the month in the city again. The whole thing is such a terrible mess.
The cabbie was on CNN last night claiming it was SIX cars surrounding the Sussexes and Doria up against the car taking pictures. He told the Washington Post earlier in the say it wasn’t scary. He’s liking his 15 minutes. NYPD needs to rein in these famewhores and get them under oath.
We are at a point where these people will not believe what Harry has and continues to say about his families safety until something happens.
Even then they’ll blame the Sussexes for it just like they did Diana!
This is a really depressing realization. It’s crazy watching what’s happening to them after watching how Diana’s situation played out.
I’m concerned that if something doesn’t change…don’t even want to say it.
But I do wonder if after Harrys court cases will things calm down? Hard to tell considering how much more engagement Harry and Meghan stories get. There might just be too much money involved now for them to stop.
Why was it downplayed so suddenly by the media. That bothered me
Yes Tessa! WHy has this incident been so down played in the day/s since it happened??
Today, i checked headlines for NYT and washington post and both appeared to have an article today that downplays the entire incident.. including for ex) writing that ” DDs Sussex _said_ it was near catastrophic…
…uhhh haven’t those newspapers actually talked to the police yet? what are the police saying now they have had 48 or so hours to collate eye witness/ policemen,s statements and seen videos yet? No one in authority seen city/street property CCtv seen yet??
The objective is to get tragic pictures of H&M
Lol they quote the paps for the same reason they are trying to downplay what happened. They want to create doubt about the danger they created. Only 2 UK tabloids had pics of them in the cab. After the Sussex statement saying they were collected illegally the photos were taken down.
The UK press are endangering the Sussexes and then reporting that nothing is happening, its a perfect example of gaslighting. The US media is not involved so they are just reporting the facts. The UK media is lying and spreading misinformation to cover their tracks. Fortunately the Mayor of NY has said there will be an investigation. So the UK press can lie all they want now but once the investigation is complete and there is a report of the results the USA media will be all over it. I’m sure part of the story will be how hard the UK media worked to deny this happened despite multiple witness like the NYPD, Harry and Meghan their security team, CCTV, and phone camera footage stating it did.
How do you know they weren’t? They weren’t travelling fast in the taxi so if they had to exit to escape seat belts would slow them down? If people are driving right up on you and photographing you through a window, it is easy to pull a gun instead of a camera and a seat belt would be no use.
Sorry, wrong place to post, I replied above.
Stop the tabloid scum in their tracks from here forward.
H&M go stealth. Zoom only or Press releases only for their work.
Give the paps no opportunity, no photos, starve them for content.
Take the kids and go aboard, quietly. Just for a time. Keep your heads down, be safer.
I bet this cab driver was paid for every word he said too. He seems to be lapping up his 15 minutes of fame.
I keep seeing online comments that all Harry, Meghan and Doria needed to do was stop and let the paparazzi take some pictures. Which – it wouldn’t actually make the paparazzi’s actions OK even if H&M&D *hadn’t* posed for pictures, but they did. All of them did. At the event they’d just attended. So the only point of chasing them was to frighten or hurt them. I think it’s very likely that the paparazzi wanted pictures of them in the car freaking out, or even wanted to cause an accident and then get candid photos of them injured (remember those photos people took of Diana at the accident scene?). Most likely, IMHO, they wanted to make Harry angry and get pix of him yelling at them so the tabloids could write stories about how he’s an unbalanced rage monster.
Whatever the reason, it’s extremely not OK to frighten people – and take the risk of seriously hurting them or bystanders – just so you can make some money. I hope the NYPD catches them and they face actual repercussions.
I commented elsewhere that would these same people have recommended Diana and Dodi doing the same thing in Paris? That’s exactly what these pursuers wanted, if that was the objective of the chase, to capture their expressions in an extremely fraught situation. But the last thing I would be doing is stopping my car at night in an aggressive and dangerous situation surrounded by a posse of shouting men in large vehicles, not knowing what could happen to me.
I think people forget Meghan’s new deal with WME.
Would they lie about or exaggerate the incident, thereby embarrassing WME?
I don’t think so.
Don’t think WME is going to allow misinformation to spread.
If anyone in contact with Prince Harry reads Celebitchy, PLEASE ask him to publish that last 400 pages.
I hope there’s a way to turn this round to their advantage somehow. Use as evidence in court, get the paps to confess, make a stronger case against the British media, sue them to oblivion,.. I don’t know. Maybe get more powerful, influential people to speak up in support… All this gaslighting is sickening.
Meghan and Harry deserve so much better than this!!!
What they want is access.. exclusives to pictures of their kids and their schedule. Something along those lines. But even then will they change their coverage of the Sussexes? Depends..considering Meghan alone brings the most clicks then maybe they will.. They want Harry and Meghan to play the game other royals do. But Harry is determined not to do that.
So far it’s made Harry and Meghan more popular. I actually think brand Sussex is bigger than the royals now.
I think so. This is all over the news, even in Spain. One Spanish tabloid saying that Harry and Meghan were in a terrible accident. If things are misrepresented in the US and UK, imagine in other countries in other languages where they publish whatever the hell they want.
Point is, Harry and Meghan are the most famous, the most sought after couple right now. The interest in them is just phenomenal and this gives them power.
I really hope Meghan is okay.
And Doria, what that poor lady must be going through.
Why do they ask the paps as witnesses? Of course they wouldn’t admit anything. They’re the criminals. Criminals gaslight their victims.
I wonder if there are any American paps willing to take photos of the behaviour of the British paps and sell them out.