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Meghan Markle’s former Suits co-star Wendell Pierce slams Oprah Winfrey interview as ‘insensitive’ during pandemic

Wendell Pierce on red carpet with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Oprah interview and in Suits
Wendell Pierce says Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview was ‘insensitive’ (Picture: AP/Getty/Rex)

Meghan Markle’s former Suits co-star Wendell Pierce has criticised hers and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey, branding it ‘insensitive’ amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex sat down for an explosive interview with the US talk show host last weekend to detail why they quit as senior members of the Royal family. 

During the two-hour long chat, Meghan claimed a Royal expressed ‘concerns’ over ‘how dark’ her son Archie’s skin tone would be, while also revealing she considered suicide at the height of racist abuse. 

However, Wendell – who played Meghan’s on-screen dad in Suits – believes it was completely the wrong timing to come forward with the bombshell revelations. 

Speaking on LBC on Tuesday, the actor said: ‘Today 3,000 people are going to die in America from Covid… a couple of hundred people are going to die, even this hour, in the UK.’ 

The 57-year-old then quoted Shakespeare and said the interview was ‘full of sound and fury signifying nothing’. 

He added: ‘It was quite insensitive and offensive that we are all complicit in this sort of palace… gossip in the midst of so much death. I think it is insignificant.’ 

Wendell Pierce and Meghan Markle as Robert and Rachel Zane in Suits
Wendell played Meghan’s on-screen father in Suits (Picture: Getty Images)

Wendell then clarified that he was criticising ‘everyone’ including Meghan and Harry, Oprah and the TV networks which aired the interview. 

The Wire actor believes the Queen and rest of the Royal family shouldn’t get involved ‘in this sort of conversation’ and instead ‘focus on the throes of death that we’re in’. 

Recalling his time working with Meghan and whether race ever formed a part of their conversation off-screen, Wendell said: ‘We didn’t have long discussions about it, besides what was in the script and what was happening in our personal lives.’ 

Wendell played Robert Zane, father of Meghan’s character Rachel Zane, in 36 episodes of the hit legal drama.

His reaction to the interview couldn’t be more of a contrast to his fellow Suits alum Patrick J Adams, who launched an impassioned statement of support for Meghan and branded the Royal family as ‘obscene’. 

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