When it comes to Meghan Markle, her Cuts co-star Simon Rex is loyal to the royal.
Back in 2020, Simon claimed that he was once offered $70,000 from a British tabloid to lie and say he had "hooked up" with the Duchess of Sussex prior to her relationship with now-husband Prince Harry. While appearing on the Hollywood Raw podcast, the former MTV VJ said he had turned down the offer because he "didn't feel right lying and f--king up the royal f--king family."
Now, in an interview with The Guardian published on March 11, Simon—who won a 2022 Independent Spirit Award for his performance in Red Rocket—spoke more about the incident, revealing that Meghan wrote him a thank-you note after hearing about the offer. "She said: 'It's nice to know there are still good people,'" he shared, with the outlet noting that the letter is now framed at his home in Joshua Tree, Calif.
The 47-year-old actor also said that he was "broke as f--k" when the offer came, but was adamant about not spreading false rumors. "I really needed the money," Simon added. "But I'll be on food stamps before I do that."
Meghan and Simon previously shared the screen on a 2005 episode of Cuts. During his appearance on Hollywood Raw, Simon said that they had gone out to lunch around that time, calling the platonic get-together the "extent" of their off-screen relationship. "Nothing happened. We never even kissed," he recalled. "We hung out once in a very non-datey way."
And Simon isn't the only star to have publicly defended Meghan from mistreatment in the tabloids. When the Duchess of Sussex was accused of bullying royal staffers in a Times article last March, several of her former colleagues spoke out to stand up for 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," her Suits co-star Patrick J. Adams tweeted at the time, "but I also knew that Meghan was stronger than people realized or understood and they would regret underestimating her."
Likewise, Suits writer Jon Cowan had nothing but praise for Meghan. "It's also possible the Duchess of Sussex is a good person thrust into an unimaginable world," he wrote on Twitter. "Having spent 3 years working with her in her pre-Duchess days, I saw a warm, kind, caring person."
For her part, Meghan has denied the bullying allegations and claimed in her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey last year the Palace has had a hand in spreading lies about her and Harry throughout their relationship.
"I don't know how they could expect that after all of this time we would still just be silent when there is an active role that the Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us," she said. "And if that comes with risk of losing things, I mean, there's a lot that's been lost already."
E! News has reached out to Meghan's rep for comment.