Meghan Markle has ghosted her sometime best friend Jessica Mulroney after the latter was caught up in a dispute over white privilege. Mulroney now believes that being ditched by Markle may see her lose her career, according to a report in British newspaper the Sun.
However, Mulroney, who was accused of trying to “silence” a Black Canadian influencer and lost her job as a TV host as a result, could exact a vicious revenge on Markle, the apparently well-sourced report suggests. In a not-very-veiled threat, a source tells the Sun Mulroney “knows all her secrets and everything she’s been through. This is not someone she wants to make an enemy of at this time.”
There was speculation Tuesday that this was designed to be an oblique reference to Meghan’s upcoming court case against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Mail on Sunday, which Meghan accuses of invasion of privacy and breach of copyright after the paper ran excerpts of a letter Meghan had written to her father.
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Meghan has repeatedly claimed that she did not even know that five of her friends were giving a lengthy interview to People magazine, in which one of them said that Meghan had sent a letter to her estranged dad, Thomas.
The Mail’s defense hinges on their claim that Meghan knew about the interview and authorized her friends to tell People magazine about the letter.
The publisher of the Mail on Sunday, Associated Newspapers, is expected to argue that if indeed she allowed her friends to discuss the letter, she effectively gave up her privacy rights.
Mulroney is widely thought to be one of the five friends who spoke to People; although the five have been named in protected court documents, they have not been publicly named. They are, however, likely to be named and called as witnesses when the case comes to trial, which will likely be early next year.
The Sun quotes a source described as having “knowledge” of discussions between Mulroney’s agents and Hollywood power players as saying, “Jessica’s team have made it clear that she feels completely ditched by Meghan and fears she is going to cut her out of her life for good. She’s completely distraught and devastated because Meghan has done nothing to stand up for her publicly. Jessica is terrified she will never work again. Meghan has forsaken her most loyal friend just to look woke.”
On Monday, Meghan and Harry released a recording of a videoconference on racism in which Meghan spoke of how unconscious bias could manifest, saying, “It’s not just in the big moments, it’s in the quiet moments where racism and unconscious bias lies and thrives. It makes it confusing for a lot of people to understand the role that they play in that, both passively and actively.”
Her remarks were made in the context of a discussion about the British Commonwealth but could easily have applied to the extraordinary fight that blew up after Mulroney, who is married to former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s son, was accused of “textbook white privilege” by Black Canadian influencer and blogger Sasha Exeter.
Exeter specifically said she was not calling Mulroney a racist, but said Mulroney had used her “wealth and privilege” to threaten her livelihood in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The feud started, Exeter said, after she posted on her Instagram Stories about Black Lives Matter, and urged people with large followings to post about it, too.
Exeter said that Mulroney “took offense” at the call-to-action, believing it was aimed at her, even though Exeter didn’t name anyone in the post.
Things escalated over the course of a week, and Exeter says she was sent “a trail of offensive messages” from Mulroney, in which Mulroney tried to explain why she hadn’t posted about BLM.
The bad-tempered exchange ended with an alleged threat from Mulroney against Exeter in which she claimed she had spoken with the companies and sponsors that work with Exeter.
According to Exeter, Mulroney said, “I have also spoken to companies and people about the way you’ve treated me unfairly. You think your voice matters, well it only matters if you express it with kindness and without shaming people who are simply trying to learn. Good luck.”
Exeter called Mulroney’s behavior “a threat to [her] livelihood” and said, “I have felt like a complete fraud fighting for racial equality and using my voice openly here, while letting a white woman silence mine behind closed doors.”
Mulroney, who lives in Canada, swiftly lost her job as host of a bridal show, I Do, Redo, and her role as an occasional talking head on Good Morning America.
While Markle has not gone as far as publicly denouncing Mulroney, it seems unlikely, as The Sun’s source wishfully imagines, that she might allow herself to be photographed on a “shopping trip” with Mulroney (even if the border between Canada and America was open in a way that allowed for cross-border retail therapy).
The Sun says Mulroney “has told associates she feels a lack of support from Meghan means she has ditched her as a BFF and left her vulnerable.”
The two met in Toronto when Meghan was filming the legal drama Suits there. Mulroney quickly established herself as Markle’s key and trusted stylist, and was closely involved in preparations for Meghan’s wedding, at which her three children were pages. Jessica is said to have helped Meghan choose Givenchy as the designer of her wedding gown.
In February last year, she was a guest at Meghan’s glamorous baby shower in New York.
In the aftermath of the recent incident, Mulroney was further mocked for making an apology that highlighted her friendship with Meghan.
She wrote on Instagram, “I have lived a very public and personal experience with my closest friend where race was front and center.”
The Daily Beast contacted Markle’s spokesperson for comment but has received no reply; however sources close to Meghan said immediately after the race row exploded that Meghan’s relationship with Mulroney was a personal issue, and she would therefore be making no comment.
