- In the wake of Jessica Mulroney's recent white privilege scandal, Meghan Markle has taken a step back from their longtime friendship.
- A source close to the situation says that Mulroney is worried the friendship is over for good because Meghan skipped calling to check in for her daughter, Ivy's, birthday.
- The source says it would be surprising if the friendship were truly over, but that Meghan needs to distance herself from the situation.
Jessica Mulroney and Meghan Markle have been friends for years. Mulroney was heavily involved in planning Meghan's royal wedding to Prince Harry in 2018 and her kids were among the flower girls and page boys in the wedding party. More recently, when Harry and Meghan were staying in Vancouver Island ahead of their royal exit, Mulroney was rumored to have stayed with her friend to help with the Sussexes' son, Archie.
But now, the women's friendship appears to be strained following Mulroney's public feud with Sasha Exeter, a Black influencer who revealed that Mulroney had reacted badly to a call she posted on social media encouraging her fellow influencers to use their platforms to support the Black Lives Matter movement. In a video posted on Instagram, Exeter revealed that Mulroney had threatened to discourage her contacts in the industry from working with Exeter.
Mulroney publicly apologized for the incident, which she characterized as a "disagreement," and at one point while defending herself, seemed to allude to her friendship with Meghan, who has been the target of racism, particularly since joining the royal family.
Several reports since the incident have suggested that Meghan plans to distance herself from Mulroney, at least for the time being. A source close to the situation told The Sun that Mulroney is now worried that the friendship is really over.
"They had barely spoken and Jess agreed her husband Ben could confiscate her phone because she needed a break away from technology," the source said. "She was then really concerned when she didn't hear anything from Meghan on [her daughter] Ivy's birthday and is worried the friendship is now over for good, she's been very upset about this whole situation."
Still, the insider doubts that the friendship is over forever, in spite of Mulroney's fears.
"Meghan obviously can't be seen in public with her, she needs to cool it for now, but it will be surprising if she doesn't get back in touch because Jess knows a lot," the source says.
The source also expressed fears that Mulroney will make the situation worse in the long run by trying to return to public life too soon—a worry that seems to be backed up by recent reports that the stylist has hired a crisis PR team.
"She's going to try and prove herself, I understand, but that is absolutely the wrong thing to do. It's not the moment for that, with everything going on in the world, nobody cares about your social media, she's a little bit addicted to it," the source said. "She's constantly on her phone, she'd reply to all of the negative comments on her Instagram, she would engage with people and then she'd delete her responses, we saw this over and over again. She needs to lay low and just be a mom for a while, hope people start to forget about this."
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