Meghan Markle addressed the “brutalizing” bullying she has experienced in her podcast premiere.
The “Confessions of a Female Founder” host’s first guest, Whitney Wolfe Herd, brought up the topic while discussing the backlash she faced after launching Bumble.
“When I see the way you’ve been treated in the media, which is a magnitude I’ll never understand, my heart breaks for you,” the dating app CEO, 35, told Markle Tuesday. “It’s not fair.”
Markle, 43, replied, “Maybe because you understand it in whatever degree, you know how to show up for me.”
Herd clarified that she “can imagine” what Markle has gone through “but can’t,” calling it “a magnitude that no one can understand.”
She recalled her “jaw hit[ting] the floor” in an airport in Ireland when she saw Markle on “the cover of every single magazine and newspaper” there.
At the time, Herd thought, “What? I’m in Ireland, she’s back home in California with her kids doing school drop-off and she’s on every front page of every one of these things. What are they talking about?”
When she claimed there was “no content” and “nothing to say,” Markle agreed, “I know.”
However, the former actress challenged Herd on the idea that her bullying is a “different beast” because “it doesn’t feel different whether it’s at that scale or not.”
She told listeners, “No matter whatever scale you’re at, there’s gonna be a point where you’re gonna take a hit. And there’s gonna be a point where you have to decide whether you’re going to cower or conquer or rise above it.”
Herd praised her pal, saying, “There is so much to be said for your ability to exist even in the presence of that. That takes a very strong cookie.”
Markle, notably, became a household name in 2016 when she began dating Prince Harry, with the couple tying the knot two years later.
Between welcoming son Archie, 5, and daughter Lilibet, 3, in 2018 and 2021, the couple controversially quit their royal roles.
They now live in Montecito, Calif.
Elsewhere in the episode, Markle discussed her “scary” and “rare” battle with postpartum preeclampsia, as well as her work-life balance as a mom of two.
“My office is here [at home],” Markle said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
In addition to her podcast, the Duchess of Sussex recently launched her As Ever lifestyle brand and “With Love, Meghan” Netflix show.
The series has been renewed for a second season.
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