Meghan Markle Slammed as 'Terrible Business Person' by Bethenny Frankel

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Meghan Markle got out of "a terrible situation" and "really is f**king it up" due to being a "terrible, terrible business person strategist," according to Bethenny Frankel.

Theformer The Real Housewives of New York City star said the Duchess of Sussex "is overplaying her hand" and "painting herself into a corner," in a viral Tiktok video viewed more than 512,000 times.

It comes after the Skinny Girl businesswoman apologized for disparaging remarks about Meghan after watching the Oprah Winfrey interview in March 2021.

Harry, Meghan and Bethenny Frankel
Above, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle attend an event promoting the Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023 on September 6, 2022. Bethenny Frankel (inset) accepts the Reality Royalty award at the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards,... Samir Hussein/WireImage and Rich Polk/Getty Images

Frankel said in her Tiktok video: "She is a terrible, terrible business person strategist—she's playing checkers, not chess. Because she is overplaying her hand and she is painting herself into a corner, becoming a woman without a country.

"She got out of something that was a terrible situation for her and she just, she really is f**king it up," Frankel said. "And I remember talking about this before the Oprah interview and getting death threats and losing major deals and having many A-list people text me saying that they agree with me secretly but then friends of hers text me 'please take down what you said.'"

She continued: "I mean it was, she's a polarizing person, don't get it twisted, but I made a personal choice to not be terrified and not talk because I'm scared of what happened last time."

Frankel, who once dated Meghan's ex-husband Trevor Engelson, posted a tweet dismissing tensions between the duchess and palace staff shortly before the Oprah interview aired.

At the time, she wrote: "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."

However, once the full tell-all was broadcast on March 7, 2021, she apologized, writing: "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."

Eighteen months later, Frankel appeared to feel the backlash against her was not justified.

In her Tiktok video, she said: "It was horrible getting beaten down and trolled for saying something that I read back and thought, 'is it really that bad what I said? And then you do the apology and then it's not the right apology for everyone. I mean, it was brutal. I'm not going to lie."

She added that "unfortunately she's not married to someone who can help her" and said: "Meghan and Harry are subscribing to the never let the truth get in the way of a good story marketing strategy and it isn't going that great."

Newsweek reached out to the Sussexes for comment.

About the writer

Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles III, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle—and hosts The Royal Report podcast. Jack joined Newsweek in 2020; he previously worked at The Sun, INS News and the Harrow Times. Jack has also appeared as a royal expert on CNN, MSNBC, Fox, ITV and commentated on King Charles III's coronation for Sky News. He reported on Prince Harry and Meghan's royal wedding from inside Windsor Castle. He graduated from the University of East Anglia. Languages: English. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page. You can get in touch with Jack by emailing j.royston@newsweek.com.


Jack Royston is Newsweek's Chief Royal Correspondent based in London, U.K. He reports on the British royal family—including King Charles ... Read more