Skip to main content

Something people didn’t think much of when it first happened is making headlines now because Brooke Shields just got candid about exactly what went down.

During a recent appearance on a podcast, the Blue Lagoon actress talked about when she joined a SXSW panel in 2024 and had an awkward moment with Meghan Markle.

Here’s what Shields said about that and why Prince Harry’s wife has no plans to let bygones be bygones.

Shields says she ‘wasn’t a fan of Meghan’s demeanor’ and interrupted her

Shields and Meghan both spoke at the “Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen” panel in March 2024.

While chatting with India Hicks, who is the daughter of Prince Philip’s cousin and King Charles‘ goddaughter, Shields admitted that she “wasn’t a fan” of how the Suits alum got so serious when she was asked a question about her childhood.

Shields recalled, “Katie (Couric) asks the first question to Meghan and [she] talks about how at a young age, she was already advocating for women, etc, etc. [Meghan] starts telling a story about how when she was 11. And she keeps saying, well, ‘When I was 11, I saw this commercial and they were talking about washing dishes and only soap for washing dishes was for women.’

“And she said, ‘I didn’t think only women wash dishes. It wasn’t fair. So I wrote to the company. And when I was 11, I wrote my first letter, and when I was 11 …’ and she kept saying she was 11! She wrote to the company, they changed the text, they changed the commercial.”

Shields decided to interrupt Meghan and said, “So I go, ‘Excuse me, I’m so sorry. I’ve got to interrupt you there for one minute.’ I was trying not to be rude, but I wanted to be funny because it was so serious. I just want to give everybody here a context as to how we’re different. I said, ‘Well, when I was 11, I was playing a prostitute.’ The place went insane. And then luckily, it was more relaxed after that.”

Sheilds was referring to her role in the 1978 film Pretty Baby.

Meghan was humiliated and now she won’t forgive or forget

Related

Meghan Markle’s Death Stare When She Forgot She Was on Camera at an Event With Her Mother and Prince Harry Goes Viral

Shields added that she hoped Meghan didn’t think she was being rude, but she wanted to inject some humor and have some fun for the audience so they would want to sit there for 45 minutes. But according to Substack, when the model cut the duchess off with her “playing a prostitute” remark, Meghan didn’t see the humor, as it’s been well documented how much she hates being interrupted.

“She was visibly rattled,” a source close to the former working royal told the outlet. “It wasn’t a joke to her — that anecdote is sacred.”

Insiders explained that she viewed what Shields did as a “calculated dig” and a “blatant attempt to steal attention” and “diminish” the Duchess of Sussex’s “girl-power” story.

“This was a hit job, plain and simple,” one insider fumed. “And Meghan doesn’t forget — or forgive — being laughed at.”

Best in News