This week, I covered a lovely piece in Marie Claire, about the Altadena Girls charity which was set up in the wake of the Southern California wildfires. The MC piece had interviews with the teenager who started the charity and her stepfather, and they both spoke about how much it meant to them to have the Duchess of Sussex’s support, not to mention the Archewell team helping them out behind-the-scenes. I wrote, in that post: “The criticism of Meghan for volunteering in her hometown during a huge natural disaster was always unhinged, and it never had any basis in reality. It was actually a test case of the virulence of Deranger hate – they exposed themselves as unreasonable people who lost their sh-t over absolutely anything involving Meghan.”
I maintain that the “negative reactions” to Meghan’s volunteerism and do-gooding have completely exposed the Derangers for being completely and utterly unreasonable. Well, they just keep exposing themselves. Now they’re mad because Meghan made an Instagram video thanking Billie Eilish for sending merchandise to a teenage wildfire victim. The Daily Mail’s headline: “Should Meghan Markle learn how to do a good deed without broadcasting it on social media? Fans point out neither Adam Levine nor Billie Eilish have shared how they ALSO helped the same 15-year-old wildfire victim.” We haven’t seen this kind of panicked Daily Mail headline since the Sussexes popped up in Jamaica unexpectedly last year.
Meghan Markle has drawn criticism for posting a ‘nauseatingly contrived’ and ‘actressy’ social media post which seemed to congratulate herself for helping a 15-year-old LA wildfire victim. The Duchess of Sussex, 43, uploaded a video to Instagram on Tuesday which detailed how she helped the girl after she met her when visiting the burnt-down area of Altadena a few weeks ago. Appearing candidly in jeans and minimal make-up, she described how the only thing the young music fan had been looking for in her destroyed home was a T-shirt from the singer Billie Eilish – but it had been turned to ‘ash’.
Meghan ended her short video with a big smile and the comment she was going to email the young fan’s mum to tell her the good news. But some commentators have questioned the motive of Meghan sharing her minor good deed on social media in the backdrop of such tragic effects.
A check of the Instagram pages of Billie Eilish, 23, Adam Levine, 45, and Behati Prinsloo, 36, revealed that none of those stars felt the need to share their efforts to help the young girl. However, Meghan’s decision to share her efforts with her 1.6million followers led to a slew of news articles around the world about her philanthropy.
Author and editor Alexander Larman wrote in The Spectator: ‘The disaster has attracted a small but vocal number of people who ostensibly have offered their time and resources to provide much-needed assistance – but in reality seem more interested in creating #content to share on their social media. Meghan Markle, predictably enough, belongs to that category.’
The writer later added: ‘Yet there is something so nauseatingly contrived, so fake – so actressy – about the little smiles to camera, the faux-excitement, the casual name-dropping of famous friends and, finally, the idea that some signed trinkets can in some way compensate for a truly epochal disaster. It screams of consumerism and fakery: both things, by now, that the Duchess has intimately associated herself with.’
Nile Gardiner, a former aide to Margaret Thatcher and foreign policy analyst, chimed in on Twitter/X: ‘Somehow Meghan Markle manages to turn the tragic LA wildfire disaster into a story about herself.’
Just so we’re clear, when Harry and Meghan volunteered at an evacuation center and were only seen on camera in one local-news report, they were called “disaster tourists” and people had meltdowns because how dare H&M volunteer. Then Meghan volunteered with Altadena Girls and the CHARITY posted videos of Meghan, and she was once again criticized for… something something, making it all about Meghan. And now she’s being denigrated and insulted for making a simple thank-you video to Billie Eilish. If you listen to her story, you understand why she made the video – she clearly doesn’t have Billie’s contact info! She had to go through various third-parties to get a voice memo to Billie! The bit about “why did Meghan post this but Adam Levine didn’t??” Get a f–king life, OMG. They’re just totally crashing out over this, which shows that they’re hellbent on crashing out over every single thing she does and says.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instagram.
-
- ** RIGHTS: ONLY UNITED STATES, CANADA ** Auckland, NEW ZEALAND – The Duke of Sussex and Duchess of Sussex attend a dedication of a 20-hectare site to The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy. After unveiling the plaque they participated in a welly wanging contest with some local school children. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 29 OCTOBER 2018 BYLINE MUST READ: Vantagenews / 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 City, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Governor Hochul, Mayor DiBlasio and his wife Chirlane McCray visit 1 World Trade in New York. Pictured: Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 23 SEPTEMBER 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / 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 make a visit to the 1 World Trade in New York. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 23 SEPTEMBER 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / 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 – The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, looks stylish in a red velvet suit as she arrives at a Harlem elementary school during her official visit to NYC with Prince Harry. Pictured: Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 24 SEPTEMBER 2021 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*
As opposed to the Left Behinds, who consistently roll up completely empty-handed to places like food banks and charities supporting refugees and demand not only public adoration, but ACTUAL TAXPAYERS’ MONEY for doing so?
🎯💯
Don’t you worry, Kate and William will be rolling out their video soon 🤣🤣🤣 last week Charles took a helicopter 🚁 to a food bank with blue carpet rolled out 🤣🤣🤣
Dont forget the times where they show up a month or two late because they don’t want to interrupt their holiday ( as in the case of meeting the families of the TS dance class stabbing).
That is such a weird narrative. Why would Adam or Billie make a video? Meghan made the video to thank everyone who helped her to get the merch to the fan. Meghan herself is helping a lot of people through their foundation. You don’t see her doing video about all of them. DM is gonna DM at the end of the day and H&M will continue helping people. They are mad because Meghan is destroying the image they created for her. No one in their right mind would watch that video and assume the worst about a woman they don’t know.
Also, obviously this was important for the girl, otherwise they wouldn’t share this with Meghan. I am sure it meant a lot for the family and that’s what matters.
I am sure in a few months, we are gonna see Kate trying to copy this and DM is gonna praise her to the heavens.
As Meghan made a big thing of acknowledging Billy, Adam and his wife there was no need for them to post anything. This nonsense is even more bizarre than usual.
And to demean the teenager who had lost everything for cherishing a tee-shirt from her favorite singer, a tee-shirt she probably paid a lot of money for by the way. This just shows that the BM has no understanding of kids, or people in general (unless they’re bowing). Little things like that mean a lot, it’s not just some “trinket” to the young girl, or “consumerism” to her, it represents a normal impulse she made at a time in her life when she never imagined a devastating tragedy would befall her whole family and neighborhood.
‘No one in their right mind would watch that video and assume the worst about a woman they don’t know.’
Exactly. And ‘derangers’ is the perfect word for these people. They are deranged. They notably didn’t bother to try to track down the teenager to ask her about this lovely gesture. Come to think of it, best they don’t. Leave her alone, she’s having enough to deal with.
For me this is the whole purpose in having an Instagram account, it allows you to share what you choose. Plus the way Meghan is choosing to use hers is to uplift and share what she is up to. Hard to fake hatred for doing a good deed for a child and family who have lost so much. In addition, this allows Meghan to control her narrative and the gutter trolls and journalist learn about events the same time as her supporters. This is another way she has chosen to loosen the leash those gutter rats have on her image.
Wait…Nile Gardiner, the same one quoted in the article about Harry’s immigration records, the one who works in the Heritage Foundation and is leading the lawsuit to get Harry deported? That same Nile Gardiner? Nice journalism there, The Spectator, not listing his obvious self-interest in this kind of quote against Meghan…
💯
Let’s bookmark this for when Kate does something similar so we can see what the reaction of the British press and derangers will be.
@Amy Bee, the POW went unmasked, with a camera crew, to a cancer ward, while patients were receiving treatment, and she was praised for it (something about a masterclass..). 🙈
I’ve refused to engage in SS pages who pose this. I don’t read anything other than half the blurb.
So I only want to say this :
I’m an old person. The entire reason people BELIEVE the RF has worth is because they’re (meant) to promote causes.. They are literally MEANT to be pr. (obvs shit but)
Meghan always draws attention to her good causes. Cue usual hypocrisy meltdown. Does anyone care?
I loved the video and the gesture.. I can’t imagine loosing everything and how getting something special back must feel. Meghan reached out to bring something special back to this child that they lost and that deserves praise but the video was thanking everyone behind getting it accomplished including the artist. Leave it to the BM to pervert every single thing Meghan does it’s truly disgusting.
According to the left behinds, you would be a shallow consumer-focused and fake person for feeling special for getting “signed trinkets” back (apparently you’d be meant to hate Meghan for not doing more to compensate for the disaster you went through).
I mean, the way they twist the narrative about Meghan is sick but expected by now. The fact that they also insult the 15-year-old (who mourned her concert t-shirt and was likely THRILLED at the gesture) told me just how disgusting the haters are.
@tigermcqueen keep in mind the left behinds gift pictures of themselves to other heads of state.
This also insults Billie Eilish.
Meghan’s excited thank you to Billie is contrived but KKKaty’s dragging her babies and her probably drunk husband into her “remission” video ISN’T contrived?
Okay Nazi Mail. Go back to tickling Dumpty’s taint.
I’m wondering why all these commentators haven’t yet felt the need to ask why Meghan must breathe.
Seriously.
Unhinged and obsessed doesn’t even begin to describe the Fail, the other gutter rags, the 🗑 media and all the Derangers who have nothing better to do all day than to urgently await the slightest movement being spotted in Montecito.
Do these people realize that if you criticize literally everything someone does, any legitimate criticism you have goes into the void? Plenty of people famous and non famous alike post on social media when they are able to make something happen for someone or someone acknowledges them. Are they also complaining about the young lady in Altadena mentioning Meghan in her interview with MC? Are they talking about how other charities have received help and those people aren’t giving interviews? No? Because it’s a completely unhinged and unreasonable response, right? But if it’s Meghan it’s wrong. Say something and you’re wrong, don’t publicize it and it’s what are you doing with the money your foundation earns, it must be something improper. I’m glad they are ignoring it.
They want to bully her into silence and retreat.
They are upset that she continues to be her instead of hiding because she is afraid of their usual response.
Every time Meghan posts or says something she is winning this fight.
Wishing you all the best Meghan. I hope that you know that they are in the minority. It’s the reason that they only have certain people they can talk to.
They are freaking out because this is their worst nightmare. Meghan’s posts are all getting way more views than anything the Windsors do. Each time she is able to be her authentic self it destroys the image they have tried to force her into. Meghan and Harry are going to dominate the next week with Invictus and then there will be her show and I do think she will do some promo for it. What can the Windsors do? Kate’s antics seem to be getting more desperate….pap photos and then the Blair witch picture. But no one cares. William is off at soccer games and doing random events and no one cares. Sophie and Edward have been sent on a trip and no one cares.
Bingo!
@Tina, 💯💯💯
You know why they really crashing out? The duchess is, what? 42? And there’s not a line on her face. She has the dewy skin of someone half her age. Buttons looks good, but she **looks her age** … More to the point, we saw Meghan’s true personality, the one that’s geeked out life and being nice and helping people. Authentic and unfiltered. The royal family and the media tried to crush that woman, yet here she is, charming folks by being herself. Apparently it causes these people intense psychic pain that they haven’t destroyed her, that she’s well, mentally healthy, and still luminously lovely. Oh well. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ sucks to be a hater…
The Spectator is a Murdoch publication. There are no rules to what you can post on your own insta account. She is chipping away at the caricature they have made of her, they are losing control of the narrative and that infuriates them
Are we not gonna talk about the fact that the Duchess doesn’t have a smidgeon of make up in this video and she still looks absolutely, freaking amazing.
I am in awe and would kill to know her skincare routine.
“Should meghan Markle learn how to do a good deed without broadcasting it on social media?”
I dont know, should William learn how to take a phone call without entering it as a work event on the court circular?
That aside…..I thought this video was actually highlighting Adam Levine and Billie Eilish. Billie’s team could have sent one t-shirt, or ignored the request altogether. They didn’t. They sent several items, including a mysterious lunchbox (like M, I am also too old, lol) and a signed album. My opinion of Billie is higher now (I didn’t dislike her before by any means though.) My opinion of Adam for helping in this situation is higher. In disasters, people often think that survivors should be happy bc someone is giving them their used clothes or because they have a shelter to stay in – and yes, those things are important. But losing things like a beloved concert t-shirt can be sort of the breaking point emotionally, and I think its wonderful that Meghan, Adam, and Billie helped this one girl in this way. I’m sure Billie and Adam are doing more, but this one thing was special to this girl.
Kate did a whole video saying she’s cancer free and did not bother to thank anyone in it. Kate has also never done something charitable without having a camera record her doing it. Complaining about an instagram video thanking others for helping this girl just shows how they totally give the royals in the UK a pass.
Wow. I keep seeing sweet headlines about this story. Had no idea people were losing it. Dang, Meghan gets shamed for any little thing. This was a cute video and a cute story. This reaction is unhinged and people are showing themselves.
Hopefully, the Altadena Girls charity received a flood of new donations as a result of Meghan sharing her story and thanking those that helped make it happen.
I’m surprised they didn’t mention she was wearing her “suspiciously” missing engagement ring. I suppose there will be a follow up article musing on Wills feelings about the audacity of her wearing it.
I admire her ability to get on with what’s important to her knowing she’s going to get crapped on for it.
The rota rats incited so much hate towards the Sussexes that they left and are never coming back. The Sussexes work for a living and are earning their own way. They are not parasites, like Willy and Keener, sucking money and resources from struggling tax payers because of an accident of birth. Keener can pose as a scarecrow, photoshopped beyond recognition and in weird Victorian cosplay and never receive a word of deserved backlash because she is a trad wife white women in a media system controlled by wingnuts. The Wails/rota are bigly mad that without photoshop and professional lighting, Meghan is stunning. Keener’s extreme diet/exercise with the emphasis on being super skinny and not healthy, smoking and other bad habits make her look much older and less attractive than Meghan. She and Willy are aging out of using their children as their excuse for failing to launch. The heir is a dud. Harry is living his best life as a wealthy private citizen with a beautiful family. His kids are being raised completely out of the limelight. Willy’s jealously and rage drip through every hit piece written by the rota. His continued obsession with his younger brother is creepy and stories need to be written about it. How long until Keener wears something with her kids names embroidered on it as Meghan obsessed cospay?
I researched this online and there are too many celebs to name who came up as posting on SM or being interviewed about donations and things they are doing to aid fire victims. Perhaps this tool should join in with helping instead of picking only ONE person for posting about her activity. And, not even all the things she has done, just one thing that she is thanking others for helping with.
These folks are so dumb. They don’t realize that in the midst of an “overwhelming” tragedy its “little things” like this that mean the most to people. Finding a lost pet, finding some small momento that survives a fire. Or maybe they do know this but because its evil Meghan, it’s wrong, wrong, wrong! So tiresome and unnecessary to throw a tantrum every time Meghan breathes.
We all know that if Kate had done the same thing it would be marvellous according to the media.
There’s no point in angsting over this. The young woman who got the Billie Eilish merch is happy. The Altadena Girls charity is happy. The people Meghan helped during the fire were happy. The BM pretend to be unhappy, but they’re happy to have new content to criticize. The Derangers are happy to have another day of bashing Meghan.
The only ones who are unhappy are the RF – and yes, please, more of that.
Maybe there is doubling down by derangers because keen got criticized about the Blair witch photo
Because they know deep down that Kate posted that photo to praise herself. Nothing Kate does is selfless. It is always self promotion.
We should also discuss how bizarre it was for Kate to do that photoshoot for her 40th birthday. Even William didn’t do anything like that. Meghan didn’t do anything so egocentric but set up an initiative to help others for her 40th birthday.
Meghan is not allowed to thank someone who who helped her to help a victim, but if she hadn’t thanked them for helping she would have been criticised. It is the media that are telling the world about Meghan’s act of kindness, BTW I had never heard of these people until the media publicized them.
Caught on X that Meghan has limited her comments on her IG page. That’s, I think, is why the haters are crashing out: they can’t spill their poison on her IG. That includes the rota rats. The Left Behinds advertise their “good deeds” on the Court Circular and through their press pets; the Windsors are mad Meghan still outshines them despite the smear campaign.
They’re acting like slave overseers. Which is on trend for 2025.
Also, why do the Daily Mail think repeating criticism of racists, racist publications and racist right wing think tanks, is a gotcha against Meghan?
It only exposes the Daily Mail for keeping the same energy they had in the second world war.
I mean, Adam Levine is not facing a hit peace against his character by huge magazines every few months. Of course she is trying somehow to find a way to keep a good image or relationship with her fans. Who wouldn’t? They all do it when they need it.
I really loved Meghan’s joy and excitement about making a young girl happy after she lost everything in the fires. That was what it was all about. Meghan wanted to put a smile on that girl’s face. Lots would have just ignored that girl’s pain. Shrugged it off as nothing really important. Meghan saw her heart, wanted to respond, didn’t know Billie Ellish, reached out and her wish was granted. I understand Meghan’s thrill and joy and happiness at pulling off this beautiful gift to a devastated young girl. I loved that Meghan shared this, showing and thanking everyone for coming together to bring joy to a young girl. Way to go, Meghan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, @Suzanne Hurley, if anyone had done for my child what Meghan did, after such a traumatising, horrendous ordeal, i would be profoundly grateful. Show up and do good always. Evil must not win.
It’s a thank you message, damn. The haters need to calm down! Is Adam supposed to post a video of himself forwarding a voice memo to someone’s team? Billy recording while she packs up a box of merch she’s donating?? Don’t people get tired of being so hateful??? (don’t answer that)
I haven’t seen any criticism beside from derangers as mentioned in this article.
British media and their lunatics derangers are looking extremely crazy in their little cult. Not Meghan’s fault if she’s relevant .
Meghan looked beautiful, natural, happy, and excited in that video. It was such a lovely story and anyone with a heart recognized the joy generated by the kindness and generosity of all involved. Anyone with a heart obviously leaves out Nile Gardiner, who seems like such a beacon of hope and light, right? Twisted hatred and ridiculous accusations only expose him as an out of control deranger, or as spell correct wanted to say, deranged.
I hope Meghan posts a lot during Invictus. Most people think it’s a cute post but of course the usual suspects are overreacting and looking crazy. They’re probably so frustrated she turned off comments. It’s her page, of course it’s about her, whatever interests her, and her perspective.
She doesn’t even live in the UK, why are they so obsessed with her?? And why does Kate try to copy her & then get praised for that? It’s like, see, Kate can be like Meghan too. But I thought they didn’t like Meghan? Why copy someone you don’t like? Why applaud Kate doing the same thing as Meghan but when Meghan did it she was torn to shreds. It has to be race, or the fact that Meghan is better at everything.
Meghan is a bringer of joy. And these people hate joy.
I’d love to see Kate Middleton do a similar video, wearing plain clothes and no makeup!
Only in the UK can an act of kindness be turned into something horrible, The DE has run a number of stories about it, so called experts wanting their five minutes of hatred in print. So you don’t agree, feel uncomfortable, then live with it, there is no need to get onto the DE and express your displeasure.
Even better, don’t watch the video. You don’t like Meghan, don’t go to her instagram. Because you know what, Meghan’s instagram with have her on it. 😘
Maybe William can do a video informing his tenants of his plan to move them to other housing free of charge while he remediates the mold issue in their current homes.
Let them seethe
“They’re just totally crashing out over this, which shows that they’re hellbent on crashing out over every single thing she does and says.” The royal family and Brit media strategy on how to handle Meghan’s fame and their jealousy of it in a nutshell.
I’m honestly not surprised by the angle though. As soon as I saw Meghan’s cute video gushing over Billie Eilish’s generosity and merch, I knew the headline would be in the vein of Meghan makes the LA wildfires all about herself and goes look at me I did a good deed. I hate that that thought even popped into my head but they are constantly using the same playbook, that Meghan makes everything about herself.
I know Meghan meant her video to be a ray of light in such dark times and wanted to showcase not just her generosity but also Billie Eilish and Adam Levine’s. It’s very cute, she doesn’t name the girl and protects her privacy or show any pictures of her. She’s just sharing a cute story like so many thousands of influencers do, only she knows famous Hollywood people lol. I loved it but I hate that I was able to predict what the naysayers would do.
In her lucid days, the late Queen would have loved to see this kind of representation of the family. She clearly liked the cookbook initiative. Did she allow the rest of the shenanigans? Yes, but she was up in age.
Meghan was bringing a ray of sunshine to a young teenage girl who is so down in the dumps because her family has lost everything-this young girl’s favorite possession was her Billie Elish shirt-by getting it for her Meghan put a smile on her face for little while anyway-to the shitty tabloids -DO SOMETHING TO HELP THAN CRITICIZE OTHERS-this is Meghan’s home state and area where she grew up and know about-Be quiet tabloids-you look and sound so stupid.