Suits actor Wendell Pierce, who starred alongside Meghan Markle in the USA Network show, has taken to Twitter to dispel reports of him slamming his co-star following her shocking interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Calling the interview “insignificant” amidst the devastation of the pandemic, Pierce told LBC radio: “So the interview, for me the first thing that comes to my mind, was actually something that was very English written by the bard Shakespeare: ‘Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
During Sunday’s interview, Markle revealed alarming details of racism, struggles with suicidal thoughts during her pregnancy and institutional silencing during her brief time as a royal after marrying Prince Harry. The interview reportedly amassed over 17 million viewers during its US airing.
Pierce continued, “It is quite insensitive and offensive that we are all complicit in this sort of Palace…gossip.”
In a slew of tweets, the 57-year-old actor clarified that his words were “used as an attack” by the British press and that his dismissal of the interview was in regards to how “archaic” he regards the British monarchy.
“I was fortunate to tell Meghan personally I wish her all the best. Predicting this hellacious maelstrom,” he wrote. “I also told her she would always have a friend in me. Because I had no interest in the interview doesn’t change that.”
Responding to claims that he was callous towards Markle’s accounts of battling with her mental health, Pierce said that he is “in no way” insensitive to suicide.
“Unfortunately my family has suffered the pain of losing someone to suicide. I never was interviewed by the Daily Mail and their story manipulated my words in a radio interview. As I told Meghan, I support her and wish her all the best,” he wrote in a final statement to Twitter.