Meghan Markle’s fans will say she’s being her usually, incredibly generous self by recording an Instagram video that highlights her efforts to procure some Billie Eilish merchandise for an Altadena teenager whose house burned down in one of the devastating Los Angeles wildfires last month.
But it’s hard to escape the self-promotional feel of the video, as the divisive Duchess of Sussex faces ongoing scrutiny about her public image and as her Netflix cooking and lifestyle show is set to premiere in a few weeks. The former TV actor is dealing with ongoing allegations that she bullies subordinates, as detailed in a damning Vanity Fair cover story in January. And, related to the Los Angeles fires, she and Prince Harry were criticized for being “disaster tourists” when they were photographed on Jan. 10, getting a special mayoral tour of a burned-out Altadena neighborhood, as if they were essential VIPs in the region’s disaster response, and as first responders were still fighting an out-of-control Eaton fire.
In her video, shot selfie style, the Los Angeles-born Meghan appeared keen to hit back at that “disaster tourist” label by excitedly explaining how she came to the assistance of a young fire victim she met on that tour. Presumably filming from her multimillion-dollar Montecito mansion, a “make-up-free” Meghan directly referenced that tour when she said, “About two or three weeks ago, when my husband and I were in Altadena, we went to a community where all the homes were left in ashes.”
Meghan explained that she met a mother and daughter who had just returned to their property for the first time to find little left of their home.
“This mom had found a couple things, and as I was talking to her, I turned and looked, and I saw this young woman, and I said, ‘Oh my gosh, how old are you?’” Meghan continued. “She’s 15. She lives there.”
Meghan then described how the daughter had at least hoped to find a special memento: “All that all that she’d been looking for in her home was the T-shirt from the Billie Eilish concert that she had just gone to, that she left in the washing machine or the dryer.”
“And of course, they now see their home and the washing machine and the dryer are ash,” Meghan continued. “They’re not there anymore. And so I said, I don’t know Billie Eilish, but I’m gonna figure out how to get you this shirt.”
With that, Meghan said she became determined to get a “voice note” to the singer, and dropped some famous names — Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine and his wife, model Behati Prinsloo — as helping in getting her voice note to Eilish.
Meghan’s video actually opens with her excitedly opening a package that contains the concert T-shirt and other merchandise. She dramatically proclaims, “Oh my God!” As she looks over the merchandise, she almost tearfully and breathlessly exclaims, “You guys, I don’t even know what all this stuff means,” then holds up what appears to be a Billie Eilish album that’s been signed by the singer.
With that, Meghan closes her video with a “huge thank you to Billie Elish” and to everyone else showing up “in big and small ways” to help people who’ve lost their homes in the Eaton and Pacific Palisades fires.
Meghan turned off the comments on her post, no doubt knowing that she would, as usual, attract a torrent of online criticism, even amid rapturous praise from fans. But as the Daily Beast reported, “the vituperative commentary” exploded on on other platforms, with critics accusing her of insincerity and ill-advised self-promotion.
“Turning a tragedy into her moment?” said one self-described Southern California resident on X. “Awkward pauses, cringe name-drops, and the ultimate display of performative philanthropy.”
At the end of a glowing People magazine story about Meghan’s Billie Eilish gift, a fierce debate broke out among people commenting. But even as several people agreed that “small acts of kindness” can matter, and that the girl will probably appreciate Meghan’s gift, they also agreed that it’s fair to ask questions about the underlying purpose of her video.
“No one is saying Meghan being there wasn’t thoughtful — it’s just about understanding how much of this is personal kindness and how much is curated PR,” one person said. “Those two things can exist at the same time, and that’s why people are asking questions.”
Certainly, Meghan needs to change the narrative around her public image, as she prepares for the premiere of her cooking and life-style show, “With Love, Meghan,” which is set to premiere on Netflix on March 4. A trailer for the show dropped on Jan. 2, the day after Meghan made a much-ballyhooed return to Instagram, with both media events showing her desire for what one industry expert called a “metaphorical clean slate” in 2025 — following a challenging few years for her public image.
The originally scheduled Jan. 15 debut for “With Love, Meghan” was delayed due to the outbreak of the Los Angeles wildfires, which killed a combined 27 people and destroyed more than 18,000 homes, buildings and other structures. Meghan vowed to focus “on the needs of those impacted by the wildfires in my home state of California.” But critics said Meghan and Netflix had no choice but to delay the release of a show about the duchess enjoying the pleasures of a well-appointed kitchen and her luxury California lifestyle, after thousands of Angelenos had lost their homes.
According to The Office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan and Harry have vowed to “uplift and support those most in need,” though they haven’t offered too many specific. Meghan received some positive publicity for delivering a bag full of clothing donations to Altadena Girls, with the teenage founder of the organization telling Marie Claire: “Meghan is so incredibly kind.”
Meanwhile, Hollywood industry experts have said that Meghan’s lifestyle show needs to be a success. There have been reports that Netflix is getting ready to part ways with her and Harry, after the streaming service signed a reported $100 million production deal with them in 2020.
Over nearly five years, that deal resulted in just one hit show, their 2022 documentary-series, “Harry and Meghan, which chronicled their departure from their unhappy lives as members of the British royal family. Critics say people tuned in to watch the show because the Sussexes dished dirt about the British monarchy and about Harry’s relatives.
Hollywood industry experts, such as Matthew Belloni and Lesley Goldberg at Puck, subsequently labeled Netflix’s deal with Harry and Meghan as one of the “worst” of Hollywood’s Peak TV era — describing it as a glaring example of excess and hubris on everybody’s part. Belloni and Goldberg predicted that Netflix would be done with the couple after 2025.
But as the streaming service unveiled its 2025 programming at a star-studded event last week, Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria insisted that the company remains “excited” at the prospect of future projects with the Sussexes, the Daily Mail reported.