Chrissy Teigen’s surprise appearance on With Love, Meghan sparked conversation, but it could also be exactly what Meghan needs to boost her relevance and visibility.
Forget the stray insect crawling on the cookies in Meghan Markle’s recent Instagram clip—it’s the controversial guest on the new season of her Netflix lifestyle show that’s causing a stir.
Enter Chrissy Teigen: former model, cookbook author, TV personality, and infamous cyberbully, who has returned from cancellation to appear in season two of With Love, Meghan, released yesterday.
“Oh my gosh, I could do this every day,” Chrissy Teigen exclaimed as she joined Meghan for a crafting session at the spacious rented mansion in California.
“Little things like this make me so happy.”
It sounds simple, innocent, and sweet—but given their complicated past, is anyone really convinced?
For those unaware, the controversy centers around old social media messages from Teigen—the 39-year-old wife of singer John Legend—that surfaced a few years ago.
Chrissy Teigen’s past included telling then-16-year-old US model Courtney Stodden—known for marrying 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison—to kill herself, mocking actress Lindsay Lohan’s struggles with self-harm, and calling reality star Farrah Abraham a “whore.”
Unsurprisingly, these revelations clashed with Teigen’s carefully crafted feminist and family-friendly image, leading to cancelled shows and lost brand deals.
For Meghan Markle, who has famously called herself “the most bullied person in the world” and launched an anti-cyberbullying campaign with Prince Harry, this connection feels strange—and to her harshest critics, it looks like a mean girl alliance.
As the woman known as “Duchess Difficult,” Meghan has also faced bullying accusations herself.
Jason Knauf, the former communications secretary for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, accused Meghan of bullying junior staff during her short and turbulent time at the palace—claims she has consistently denied.
What is clear, however, is that Meghan has a reputation for being ruthless in dealing with even minor mistakes made by those close to her, seemingly prioritizing protecting her brand over past loyalties.
Just ask Jessica Mulroney, Meghan’s former close friend who was publicly cut off after an online feud and cancellation five years ago. Watching Meghan and Chrissy Teigen now chatting over cupcakes must sting for Mulroney.
Mulroney, a well-connected stylist Meghan met in Toronto during Suits, was once very close to the Duchess. She was the first person Meghan called after Harry’s proposal, her children were involved in the Sussex wedding, and she even joined them on their 2018 royal tour in Sydney.
But their friendship unraveled quickly following Mulroney’s 2020 conflict with Black fashion blogger Sasha Exeter. Mulroney criticized Exeter’s Black Lives Matter campaign efforts, leading to a heated exchange and a veiled threat to Exeter’s career an act widely condemned as “white privilege.” This controversy led to Mulroney’s TV show being canceled and an apparent end to her friendship with Meghan.
While Mulroney’s downfall was serious, some question if it was worse than Teigen’s online bullying. This raises questions about Meghan’s reactions: does she weigh victims differently? Does she tolerate some offenses more than others based on the profile or relevance of the cause?
Or maybe there’s a simpler reason behind these choices. After all, just last month, reports suggested the Sussexes’ $100 million Netflix deal from 2020 might be at risk of being canceled entirely.
The lucrative Netflix deal that was meant to support the couple’s post-royal lifestyle in California has recently appeared uncertain, with many of their projects criticized for “poor content” and declining viewership.
This month, Netflix offered a lifeline by agreeing to a scaled-back “multi-year, first-look” deal, which means the streaming service is no longer obligated to accept all Sussexes’ projects and will only pay for those it decides to approve.
Meghan’s star power isn’t what it used to be, and she’s much more vulnerable now.
Once surrounded by a high-profile A-list circle, her roster of famous friends now feels noticeably thinner.
Forget big names like Oprah and Beyoncé — the latest season of With Love features mostly guests who are only familiar to their close circles or dedicated fans, at best.
In fact, Chrissy Teigen stands out as the biggest celebrity to appear.
In these challenging times, Markle appears less concerned with optics and more focused on the straightforward advantages of hype and publicity—a surprise guest stirring conversation might be exactly what she needs to boost her relevance and visibility.
For a Duchess facing difficulties, Oscar Wilde’s famous saying rings especially true: “There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
