Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shares Meghan Markle's struggle with fame: 'Sudden prominence is a very dehumanizing experience'

Megan Johnson
Updated
Alexadria Ocasio-Cortez is standing up in support of Meghan Markle after the Duchess of Sussex revealed the stress that comes from incessant media criticism. (Photo: Ole Jensen/Getty Images)
Alexadria Ocasio-Cortez is standing up in support of Meghan Markle after the Duchess of Sussex revealed the stress that comes from incessant media criticism. (Photo: Ole Jensen/Getty Images)

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is defending Meghan Markle after the Duchess of Sussex opened up about the hardships of fame in a new television interview.

On Friday, the New York congresswoman tweeted a clip from the upcoming documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey in which Markle admits to journalist Tom Bradby that fame has taken a toll. Quoting the duchess, Ocasio-Cortez wrote, “Thank you for asking, bc not many people have asked if I’m ok.”

Ocasio-Cortez related to the experience of becoming famous in a short period of time, writing, “Sudden prominence is a very dehumanizing experience. There’s a part of your life that you lose, & it later dawns on you that you’ll never get it back. The people who treat you like a human make all the difference.”

Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet received overwhelming praise on social media, racking up 19,600 retweets and 169,800 likes by Saturday morning.

Harry & Meghan: An African Journey airs Sunday on the U.K. network ITV and Wednesday on ABC. It follows the actress-turned-duchess as she tours South Africa with Prince Harry and their son, Archie, 5 months.

“I would say, look, any woman, especially when they are pregnant, you’re really vulnerable, and so that was made really challenging, and then when you have a newborn, you know…and especially as a woman, it’s really, it’s a lot,” Markle shared in the clip. “So you add this on top of just trying to be a new mom or trying to be a newlywed....”

She also expressed appreciation for Bradby checking on her well-being. “Thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK,” says Markle. “But it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”

When Bradby asked if she’s “Not really OK, as in, it’s really been a struggle?” Markle replied, “Yes.”

Fans were so moved by Markle’s vulnerability that the hashtag #WeLoveYouMeghan began to circulate, rising to one of the top trending topics on Twitter. Monica Lewinsky even retweeted AOC’s comments, adding in “@AOC is 1000% right.” And Mia Farrow shared the hashtag.

Earlier this month, Markle and Prince Harry took legal action against a British newspaper after it published a private letter the duchess wrote to her estranged father, Thomas Markle. In a statement, Harry shared how his “deepest fear” was that his wife would experience the same fate his late mother Princess Diana, who was hounded by the press before her 1997 death in a car crash.

“I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces,” he said.

In the same ITV documentary, Harry referred to his mother’s death as a “wound that festers.”

Related: AOC and Ilhan Omar to Endorse Bernie Sanders’s 2020 Bid

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