Meghan Markle rep blasts The Sun over 'PR stunt' apology, says tabloid hasn't tried reaching out
Meghan Markle's team is royally unsatisfied with The Sun's apology for media personality Jeremy Clarkson's recent hateful column about her.
On Friday, Dec. 16 (notably the day after Netflix released the second half of docuseries Harry and Meghan), the outlet published a post where Clarkson said he hated the Duchess of Sussex "on a cellular level." The following Monday, The Sun took down the column after receiving intense backlash, and later issued an apology saying they were "sincerely sorry." But on Saturday, a spokesperson for Markle released a statement obtained by PEOPLE slamming The Sun's apology as just a "PR stunt."
"The fact that the Sun has not contacted The Duchess of Sussex to apologize shows their intent," the statement reads. "This is nothing more than a PR stunt. While the public absolutely deserves the publication's regrets for their dangerous comments, we wouldn't be in this situation if The Sun did not continue to profit off of and exploit hate, violence and misogyny. A true apology would be a shift in their coverage and ethical standards for all. Unfortunately, we're not holding our breath."
Samir Hussein/WireImage Meghan Markle
The Sun's statement reads: "Columnists' opinions are their own, but as a publisher, we realize that with free expression comes responsibility. We at The Sun regret the publication of this article and we are sincerely sorry."
In his column, Clarkson referenced a scene in Game of Thrones while detailing how deep his intense dislike for Markle goes. "At night, I'm unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, 'Shame!' and throw lumps of excrement at her," he wrote. The day the column was taken down, Clarkson acknowledged on Twitter that he knew that reference upset a lot of people, but notably did not actually apologize for it.
"Oh dear. I've rather put my foot in it," he tweeted. "In a column I wrote about Meghan, I made a clumsy reference to a scene in Game of Thrones and this has gone down badly with a great many people. I'm horrified to have caused so much hurt and I shall be more careful in future."
The traumatic scene in the hit HBO series' season 5 finale saw Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) punished by being paraded naked through King's Landing to a hostile mud-slinging crowd as Septa Unella (Hannah Waddingham) waved a bell repeatedly shouting "shame!" to bring attention to the prisoner. The act was based on an actual medieval practice. Author George R.R. Martin previously told EW that he based Cersei's humiliation on Jane Shore, the mistress of King Edward IV, who was punished with a similar walk of shame after the king's death.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
