Duchess Meghan is growing a new life, a next chapter.
But as she prepares to rebrand herself as a next-gen Martha Stewart, backlash towards her is ripe as ever amid her fresh start. Meghan McCain and Bethenny Frankel are criticizing the aspiring lifestyle guru as Mindy Kaling defended misconceptions surrounding her friend in a recent interview.
Five years after she stepped back from the British monarchy behind with husband Prince Harry, dubbed by the tabloids as “Megxit,” she is launching a Netflix show “With Love, Meghan” and companion lifestyle brand As Ever. But backlash soon followed.
Critics — from conservative talker McCain to Skinnygirl brand maven Frankel — are speaking out against Duchess Meghan’s foray into the lifestyle space.
Duchess Meghan launches ‘As Ever’ brand, shares rare photo of Princess Lilibet
Bethenny Frankel criticizes Duchess Meghan’s As Ever relaunch: ‘It’s hard’
As Ever, previously known as American Riviera Orchard and which she relaunched in an Instagram video earlier this week, marks a comeback after years of controversy and criticism aimed at the retired “Suits” actress.
In the 2010s, pre-Prince Harry, the duchess was curator of successful lifestyle blog The Tig, which she shuttered in 2017 and had boasted 3 million Instagram followers.
“Last year, I had thought, ‘You know what? American Riviera. That sounds like such a great name, it’s my neighborhood, it’s a nickname for Santa Barbara,'” Meghan said. “But it limited me to things that were just manufactured and grown in this area. Then Netflix came on not just as my partner in the show, but as my partner in my business, which was huge.” Her lifestyle show “With Love, Meghan” premieres March 4.
“With Love, Meghan” will feature Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, as the star of a Netflix lifestyle series. The show, premiering March 4, and companion lifestyle brand hasn’t come without controversy.
But not everyone is a fan of Meghan’s growth.
In a video posted to TikTok on Thursday, Frankel framed the duchess’ difficulty to launch As Ever as an “identity issue,” saying the duchess reoriented her brand as “more natural” and “unfiltered” with “fresh out of bed content” after she was originally criticized as unrelatable for the originally “pristine” presentation of American Riviera Orchard.
“It’s hard for people to be authentic when they’re not really sure on their own who they are or what it is, and you can never let the market decide what you do or what you sell or what you produce,” Frankel, who rose to fame on the “Real Housewives of New York City,” told her 2.6 million followers on the platform.
Meghan McCain slams Duchess Meghan: ‘I don’t know what she’s doing’
A different Meghan — McCain, that is — slammed the duchess’ attempt at cultivating a career, on an episode of her “Citizen McCain” podcast Wednesday, saying, “I don’t want to eat her jam,” in reference to jars of strawberry jam that the Duchess of Sussex sent to close friends amid her original American Riviera Brand rollout.
“I don’t know what she’s doing. This is like her ninth rebrand. I actually had to review her show and her podcast, and it was horrible. It was so boring,” McCain said, adding that she “cannot stand” Duchess Meghan and loves her sister-in-law, Princess Kate.The duchess previously announced her American Riviera Orchard brand last year but went silent after Princess Kate’s cancer diagnosis. The rollout of the Netflix show “With Love” was postponed after the Los Angeles wildfires.
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Mindy Kaling, who will appear on ‘With Love’ defends friend Duchess Meghan
“The Office” actress and Hollywood mega producer Mindy Kaling, who is set to appear on her upcoming Netflix show “With Love,” is defending Meghan.
“I think a misconception about Meghan is that she’s in any way fussy or has expectations of fanciness,” Kaling told Time magazine in an interview published Wednesday.
The teaser is peppered with Meghan-esque quips: “We’re not in the pursuit of perfection, we’re in the pursuit of joy,” the duchess proclaims. “I’m going to share some little tips and tricks,” she says in another snippet. And the show also features a surprise cameo by Kaling, who helps plan a kid party with the duchess, according to Time.
Duchess Meghan with friend Mindy Kaling in “With Love, Meghan.” Kaling praised her friend amid criticism from other celebrities in a recent interview.
“I was on maternity leave with my daughter in March and April, and Meghan texted me that she was doing a show where she was going to cook for her friends. Would I want to come to Montecito and have her cook for me? I wanted to get taken care of in that moment of my life. That was a fun maternity leave field trip,” she added.
“And I left with a basket of fresh produce and homemade jam and hot sauce because she knew I loved hot sauce. She’s a very generous woman who knew I needed a break,” Kaling continued, telling Time that “Meghan just knows how to” entertain guests.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Meghan Markle defended by Mindy Kaling amid lifestyle brand launch