Though the second season of Meghan Markle’s lifestyle series doesn’t debut until later this month, one of the Duchess of Sussex’s upcoming guest stars is already drawing a heated reaction.
On Tuesday, Netflix unveiled the Season 2 trailer for “With Love, Meghan,” which hits the streaming platform Aug. 26. In it, Markle can be seen with a number of celebrity pals, including chef David Chang and “Queer Eye” fashion expert Tan France.
Among those also set to appear on the series is Chrissy Teigen. The model and TV personality, who is married to musician John Legend, can be spotted in the trailer joining Markle for what looks like a crafting session.
“Oh my gosh, I could do this every day,” she proclaims.
By Thursday, Teigen’s appearance in the “With Love, Meghan” trailer had been met with a fair amount of backlash online, with some calling Markle’s decision to include the “Cravings” author in her lineup of guests “despicable” and “a grotesque miscalculation.”
“Netflix should cancel the episode with Chrissy Teigen as she is the ultimate cyber bully,” one person wrote in the comments on Netflix’s official YouTube page. “Netflix is now promoting a cyber bully.”
Wrote Jezebel: “The purported anti-bullying advocate opened the doors of her rich friend’s Montecito mansion to one of the internet’s most prolific bullies.”
Watch the trailer for Season 2 of “With Love, Meghan” below.
Much of the criticism stems from Teigen’s previous online exchanges with fellow model and TV personality Courtney Stodden. In 2021, Stodden ― who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns ― gave a lengthy interview to The Daily Beast in which they called out Teigen for routinely harassing them on X, then known as Twitter, while they were still a teenager.
“She wouldn’t just publicly tweet about wanting me to take ‘a dirt nap’ but would privately DM me and tell me to kill myself,” Stodden, who was 26 at the time of the interview, told the outlet. “Things like, ‘I can’t wait for you to die.’”
Shortly after Stodden’s interview was published, Teigen issued a lengthy apology.
“I’m mortified and sad at who I used to be. I was an insecure, attention-seeking troll,” she wrote. “I am ashamed and completely embarrassed at my behavior but that is nothing compared to how I made Courtney feel.”
Markle has not yet responded publicly to the criticism. HuffPost has reached out to a representative for Teigen seeking comment, but did not immediately hear back.
The trailer for “With Love, Meghan” was released just days after Netflix announced it had extended its partnership with Markle and her husband, Prince Harry. As some outlets pointed out, however, the new contract wasn’t nearly as extensive as the overall deal the Duke and Duchess of Sussex initially struck with the streaming platform in 2020.
When the first season of “With Love, Meghan” premiered earlier this year, reviews were mixed to negative, with some comparing it unfavorably to “Pamela’s Cooking With Love,” a cooking show hosted by actor Pamela Anderson.
A particularly stinging review by New York Magazine’s Vulture blog suggested the main problem with the series was Markle herself.
“She comes off, in short, like a member of the British royal family: afraid of showing vulnerability, obsessed with appearances, and seeking affirmation from a public she cannot be part of,” the outlet noted. “Nothing could be weirder or more depressing.”
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