Country music icon Dolly Parton has reportedly turned down Meghan Markle’s request to appear on her Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan. The event was initially revealed on a recent episode of The Nerve with Maureen Callahan podcast, and it has generated a lot of internet debate. Celebrity commentator Kinsey Schofield said:
“Her team was livid.”
During the podcast, celebrity analyst Kinsey Schofield disclosed that Parton’s team was “livid” when they got that invitation from Markle’s camp.
Schofield asserted:
“Because no, they don’t want to risk Dolly’s reputation Q score [and] her popularity by associating with Meghan Markle.”
Schofield continued:
“They knew that this ask was just to give Meghan Markle credibility in this lifestyle space, a space that Dolly does have a lot of credibility in.”
According to reports, Meghan Markle’s staff viewed Parton, who is incredibly popular across all demographics as a country music icon and lifestyle entrepreneur, as a means of enhancing the credibility of the Duchess’ new venture.
Schofield reaffirmed her assertions, saying that Parton’s staff saw Markle’s invitation as an opportunistic move. She pointed out that Dolly is in a unique position in the entertainment business, as she is well-liked by the general public and successful in a variety of fields, including baking and beauty.
“Dolly is not only incredibly popular and loved by the general public, but she also is somebody who can float around within these different places.”
According to Schofield:
“Her team really feels like Meghan was trying to take advantage of her popularity.”
Adding a more critical perspective, celebrity commentator Maureen Callahan stated that it would have been a “spontaneous combustion of good versus evil” to put someone as “authentic” as Dolly Parton with “a fake royal” in “a fake kitchen.”
Not the First Rejection Meghan Markle Has Faced
Schofield and Callahan claim that Parton is not the first celebrity to turn down Markle’s invitation. Taylor Swift and Beyonće had previously declined Meghan Markle’s pleas to join her Archetypes podcast.
Despite all the hate and criticism she has been receiving, With Love, Meghan debuted on Netflix and has already been renewed for a second season, despite the purported rejections. The show includes interviews with Markle’s famous pals, such as Mindy Kaling from The Mindy Project and Abigail Spencer from Suits, as well as lifestyle material.
However, opinions on the series have been divided. While some high-profile figures like Cody Rigsby, a Peloton instructor, critiqued the show’s quality, online critics accused Markle of being “thirsty” for publicity in an interview with Ok Magazine. Rigsby stated:
“In all honesty, I started to watch it, but it was so bad that I couldn’t even watch through it. They’re running out of royal money. They’ve got to figure out a way to pay those bills and the security they need.”
Meghan Markle has received support from her inner circle despite the criticism. Earlier this year, she was supported by her close friend and Suits co-star Abigail Spencer. Spencer stated that Meghan Markle was:
“The most glorious human being on the planet, and so we just have to get behind her and support her.”
She promised that viewers will “learn a lot” from the Duchess’s show, which provides a “very lovely insight into who she actually is as a person.”
“What I love about it is, you know, Meghan is one of my best friends, and I feel like the whole world is going to see, like, an authentic, very cool, very lovely insight into who she actually is as a person. You’re also going to learn a lot! I’ve learned a lot from her myself.”
In addition to With Love, Meghan, she has been involved in a number of business ventures. She introduced her lifestyle company, As Ever and her new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, in April. The Duchess acknowledged feeling “incredibly lonely” while pursuing her business career in a recent podcast episode.
Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.
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Edited by Ranjana Sarkar