Unlike many celebs, Bethenny Frankel is not Team Meghan Markle.
Social media chatter about the pregnant Duchess of Sussex has intensified in recent weeks ahead of the broadcast of a highly anticipated tell-all CBS interview that Oprah Winfrey had conducted with her and Prince Harry a year after their royal exit. Last week, online debates about Meghan intensified after Buckingham Palace announced an HR investigation into claims that the duchess allegedly bullied royal staffers in the past. On Sunday, March 7, just hours before the Oprah interview is set to air, Bethenny slammed Meghan on Twitter.
After a fan tweeted to the Real Housewives of New York City alum, "Yeah cause the staff were so respectful of [Meghan]," she responded, "Cry me a river...the plight of being a game show host, fairly unknown actress, to suffering in a palace, w tiaras & 7 figure weddings for TWO WHOLE YEARS to being a household name w @Oprah on speed dial, fetching 7 m for interviews, hundreds of millions in media deals. Thinking face #MARRY."
CBS paid a licensing fee of between $7 million and $9 million to air the special, The Wall Street Journal reported. A spokeswoman for Meghan and Harry told the newspaper they are not being compensated for the interview and a rep for Oprah's Harpo Productions told E! News that no payment of any kind was made to the couple, or their foundation, for the interview or for any licensing fees.
Bethenny continued, "I [100 emoji] give Harry a break. This isn't the way to generate less press & cannot be filed under the guise of wanting privacy to prevent a repeat of previous events."
Harry's mother Princess Diana, a paparazzi favorite, died in a car crash in 1997 after being followed through Paris by photographers. In a 2019 ITV documentary, Harry said, "I will not be bullied into playing a game that killed my mum."
During the interview with Oprah, Meghan and Harry, who have been living with their 22-month-old son Archie Harrison in California since last March, are expected to detail the reasons behind their controversial move to leave their royal roles and the United Kingdom.
In an excerpt from the CBS special, released last week, Oprah asks the duchess why this was the right time to give her an interview. Meghan responds, "That we're on the other side of a lot of, a lot of life experience that's happened. And also that we have the ability to make our own choices in a way that I couldn't have said yes to you then. That wasn't my choice to make."
"So, as an adult who lived a really independent life to then go into this construct that is different than I think what people imagine it to be, it's really liberating to be able to have the right and the privilege in some ways to be able to say, 'Yes, I'm ready to talk.' To say it for yourself," Meghan continued. "To be able to just make a choice on your own and just be able to speak for yourself."
On Twitter, Bethenny appeared to compare her life and career to Meghan's, tweeting, "I chose reality tv, to work towards making $, to be scrutinized & criticized. I took the trappings & the beatings along with it. It's a rose w petals & thorns. People beg to enter the often toxic institution I signed up for. That WAS the life I chose. You can't play stupid & smart."
Bethenny's comments stand in stark contrast to the supportive posts that many other celebs have posted on social media lately about Meghan, a California-born former actress best known as one of the top stars of Suits and who previously had a role on the game show Deal or No Deal early in her career. In recent weeks, friends and colleagues—famous or not—have rallied behind her.
"It sickened me to read the endless racist, slanderous, clickbaiting vitriol spewed in her direction from all manner of media across the UK and the world," Meghan's former Suits co-star Patrick J. Adams tweeted on Friday, March, 5, "but I also knew that Meghan was stronger than people realized or understood and they would regret underestimating her."
Adams continued, "It's OBSCENE that the Royal Family, who's newest member is currently GROWING INSIDE OF HER, is promoting and amplifying accusations of 'bullying' against a woman who herself was basically forced to flea the UK in order protect her family and her own mental health."
"IMO, this newest chapter and it's timing is just another stunning example of the shamelessness of a institution that has outlived its relevance, is way overdrawn on credibility and apparently bankrupt of decency," he added. "Find someone else to admonish, berate and torment. My friend Meghan is way out of your league."
The Oprah With Meghan and Harry primetime special airs on CBS on Sunday, March 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.