Bethenny Frankel—the entrepreneur and Real Housewives of New York alum known for always speaking her mind—has responded to the Harry & Meghan Netflix docuseries.
Frankel has a lot of thoughts, and not many of them are complimentary towards the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The former reality star posted a three minute-long TikTok explaining her point of view, and the reactions to her take have been very divided so far.
"I found it a little bit boring. It didn’t hold my attention," she said.
"It seemed like they really wanted to be humanized. For us to know that they're real human beings. We believe that you're really in love and we believe that you’re human beings."
The main aspect of the doc Frankel had a problem with was one that many other commentators have leveled at the Sussexes: Essentially, "if you don't like the attention, why are you participating in these media projects?" (A Sussex spokesperson has argued that privacy isn't the reason the royal couple left their roles in the U.K.)
"It felt like this entire documentary was about how famous we are. 'We're so famous.' It's relentless," Frankel continued.
"If you're being trolled by the media, the Royal Family gave you the advice to say nothing because that’s the advice that most very famous people are given.
"If you add gasoline to a fire, the fire blows up even bigger. It feels like they—and Meghan in particular—just keep wanting to tell us more."
Frankel's interpretation is that Meghan wanted fame.
"Harry even said, 'All the girls that I dated didn't want this.' Well Meghan wanted this," she said. "She wanted to be friends with Amal and George, and Victoria Beckham and David, and Priyanka and Nick, and Oprah, and Tyler Perry, and all these people that were invited to her wedding."
The Real Housewives star explained, "I don't really understand the goal, because if it's to take down the monarchy—which is your in-laws, which it seems like is a major goal—don't take the names of this monarchy for your children, and don't mark the titles, don't dine out on the titles, really extricate yourself.
"It feels like a smash and grab job for money. It feels like, 'Grab the bag because we’re leaving this thing and we gotta take everything we can.'"
@bethennyfrankel ♬ original sound - Bethenny Frankel
While commenters on Frankel's TikTok largely agreed with her, people on Twitter were not OK with her criticism of the Sussexes, and questioned why she pays such attention to them if she doesn't like them.
"The person obsessed with fame and keeps reminding us how famous she is, is Bethenny," one person wrote. "No one will remember who she is years from now but the world will always remember Meghan Markle and that is what bothers her. Jealousy is a heck of disease."
"To Bethenny - why do you have a problem with Black women expressing their experiences dealing with racism in different spaces? What’s your problem with #Meghan Markle? Leave her alone," said someone else.
"The fact that these women don’t like Meghan Markle but still read every article, watch every show, and listen to every podcast she does??? Sweetheart this is FAN BEHAVIOUR. You’re one of Markle’s Sparkles," tweeted another user.
This isn't the first time Frankel has received some amount of backlash for criticizing the Sussexes.
Notably, after their Oprah interview aired, she tweeted, "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. #MARRY"
After many people called her out for insensitivity, Frankel tweeted, "I watched M & H sit down. Emotional distress & racism must feel suffocating & powerless. I’m a polarizing, unfiltered(often to a fault)flawed person w a voice. When I heard of the interview,during a pandemic, it felt like a surprising choice. I’m sorry if it hurt or offended you."
I watched M & H sit down. Emotional distress & racism must feel suffocating & powerless. I’m a polarizing, unfiltered(often to a fault)flawed person w a voice. When I heard of the interview,during a pandemic, it felt like a surprising choice. I’m sorry if it hurt or offended you.March 8, 2021
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