Reporter Apologizes To Meghan Markle After Writing He 'Hated' Her 'On A Cellular Level'
Days after British broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson sparked internet ire for penning a hostile op-ed in which he stated he "hated” Meghan Markle “on a cellular level,” and fantasized about crowds throwing “lumps of excrement” at her, the writer is walking back some of his controversial comments.
Earlier this week, Clarkson took to social media with an apology for the “Archetypes” podcast host, admitting he’d gone too far while writing his since-removed essay for U.K. tabloid The Sun.
“Oh dear. I’ve rather put my foot in it,” Clarkson wrote in a message shared with his 7.9 million Twitter followers on Monday, December 19. “In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people,” he continued, adding that he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt.”
“I shall be more careful in the future," he added.
Clarkson’s comments come just days after the second installment of Netflix’s new docuseries, Harry & Meghan, hit the streaming giant, in which Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, revealed just how badly the British press harmed her daughter’s mental health.
“That really broke my heart because I knew that it was bad,” a visibly tearful Ragland recalled of the moment Meghan told her that “she had wanted to take her own life” due to endless press scrutiny. "That’s not an easy one for a mom to hear.”
The shift in her daughter’s well-being amid this press, she recalled, was evident.
“[She was] just constantly be picked at by these vultures just picking away at her spirit,” the famous social worker explained. “[So much so she was] actually think[ing] of not wanting to be here.”
Markle’s husband, Prince Harry, seemingly reiterated some of these sentiments, revealing he regrets the way he approached supporting his wife through her struggles with suicidal ideation.
“What took over my feelings was my royal role,” the royal explained. “I had been trained to worry more about what people are going to think if we don’t go to this event, we’re going to be late. Looking back now, I hate myself for that. What she needed from me was so much more than I was able to give.”