When it comes to Meghan Markle, we all possess bias. Those of us who like her and look upon her work as noble and important are always going to be a little deaf to those who argue that she is insincere or out for glory, and vice versa. While we should always strive to be malleable, and shift our opinions with new evidence, often we do not. Most of us will have the same opinion of Meghan that we had when we first heard that this beautiful American actress was stepping out with an English prince. I do feel that those who criticise her are often – not always – betraying an innate misogyny, classism or racism, but I accept that I’m not going to be able to change the majority of minds. What I cannot accept, though, is smearing with unmistakable falsity at its base.
Last week James Woods – the actor best known for roles in Casino, Once Upon A Time In America and Hercules – quote-tweeted a clip of Meghan at an event, posted by journalist and royal biographer Omid Scobie. The video showed her mingling at a reception, wearing a gorgeous green dress. James was livid.
‘I guess masks are just for peasants’, he opined.
The video, and indeed the tweet, were posted on October 16th, 2018. Two years ago. Did James wilfully seek out an old video with the intention of stirring up trouble? Or did it somehow accidentally end up on his feed two years after the fact, causing such anger that he could not spot the date stamp through the red mist of his rage? Either way, it caused a tidal wave of anger.
‘Looks like a super spreader to me’, commented one social media user. ‘She’d look better with a mask on – preferably a full face one’, wrote another. ‘Not seeing any masks!?’ another horrified tweeted added. Some of the comments are honestly too mean to repeat and at least one incites violence.
I've seen the impact such lies can have on long-held beliefs. I've caught up with friends and, when Meghan comes up (she does, a lot, thanks to my line of work) it becomes clear that some harbour ill will against her because of things they've read on Twitter. One friend said that they didn't hate her, but the fact that she's been married and divorced twice before did not look reflect well on her ('she wasn't married twice before', I pointed out. 'She definitely was!' they replied. 'I saw it on Twitter!'). There are countless other conspiracy theories doing the rounds, all without base, which I wouldn't repeat here even if I was legally allowed to. But they come up again and again because, at some point, one person has told a lie.
It is impossible to see the worst offenders in this most recent case – those who applied to James specifically, rather than those who stuck to Omid’s mentions – because James eventually (hours later) deleted the tweet. But the damage was done. James has 2.6 million followers. It would not be an exaggeration to say that at least a few thousand people are now under the impression – thanks to the ‘proof’ of a video – that Meghan went to an indoor event during a global pandemic and chose to risk the health of herself, those in attendance, and her family sitting at home. There was no follow-up tweet explaining the error, or drawing attention to the deletion. If you took the video at face value, then you are now walking around with an unchecked, inaccurate belief.
As much as I dislike it, and as much as I think it unreasonable, I can’t tell someone that my opinion on Meghan is right and their opinion is wrong. Wherever I think their negativity is coming from, we are free to hold our own beliefs. But when these opinions are formed because of incidents like this, a line is crossed. There is enough Meghan hatred going around this world. No one needs to add bonafide lies to the mix.
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