In the last decade, Hugh Grant became something of a respected media critic and politically active celebrity. He was very involved in the Leveson Inquiry in the UK, which was the name given to the huge scandal involving the British press hacking into the phones of celebrities, royals and victims of crimes. Grant has become something of an expert on matters involving the media and journalism, but he hasn’t said much of anything about how the British media treated the Duchess of Sussex. Hugh is currently out promoting Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, and he was asked about Sussexit. Turns out, Hugh has some good thoughts.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have a supporter in Hugh Grant. Appearing on SiriusXM’s “Radio Andy” on Monday — the same day as the historic Megxit summit — Grant was asked his thoughts about Harry and Meghan’s recent decision to step away from their senior royal duties.
“I’m rather on Harry’s side, I have to say,” the British actor responded to host Andy Cohen. “The tabloid press effectively murdered his mother [Princess Diana], now they’re tearing his wife to pieces.”
Grant, who has his own rocky relationship with the press, added on Monday, “I think, as a man, it’s [Harry’s] job to protect his family so I’m with him.”
Hugh goes on to say that his own relationship with the British press is poor, and that most of the British outlets are not reputable whatsoever. Fair enough. Not that I think Hugh Grant is representative of what all British men, or posh British men think, but I do think Harry will continue to get credit among MEN because of what he’s done to protect his family.
Also: Stormzy also spoke about Meghan and Harry. Stormzy “got in trouble” a few weeks ago because he said, flat-out, that Britain is a racist country. It feels like Harry and Meghan are getting a lot of support from all different demographics. So… why does the British media’s coverage not reflect that?
Stormzy talking about Meghan and the British media. We have no choice but to stan pic.twitter.com/YFsRdOFLLq
— . (@meghanysl) January 14, 2020
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Welcome to the new, mature Hugh Grant!
I think those two sets of children ironically really made him grow the eff up. He seems much happier these days.
I’ve always had a soft spot for him.
He does seem happier.
My guess is he’s sympathetic to their situation because he’s been through it himself, and knows first hand how insane and hurtful it all can be.
I really enjoy THIS Hugh.
Love it!
I got so angry the other day when even a BBC journalist was acting all sore about H+M’s Royal Rota statement, i was just staggered that this journalist didn’t even acknowledge what a lot of lies and crap the tabloid rags have written about them. I
I really hoped the Levenson inquiry would bring about some sort of change but the trash press still have too much power
It’s about the Benjamin’s. Meg click-bait is super lucrative. Piers Morgan revived his career on her back. Admitting wrong doing removes plausible deniability which stops them making money from Meghan lies.
I think a lot of journalists protect their own, because their livelihoods are sometimes at stake. They don’t always see the corruption in each other, and trust that because they have good intentions and seek journalistic integrity, that is true of the lot of them — which we know not to be true. When faced with threats (from political enemies a la Trump, terrorists, etc), journalists lean on each other for support, not realizing that by doing so, they are sometimes offering their ethos to non-reputable and frankly, insidious, folks.
Hugh speaks the truth! So often the “friend” or “insider” is entirely fabricated; it’s a construct that allows the tabloids to make stuff up. Plausible deniability. And they do, they make up detailed stories that have nothing to do with reality. I like this site for gossip but I’m continually perplexed at how Daily Mail articles are either considered Truth or Proof of a Leak here, when in fact there’s usually no leak at all, just the drips and drops from the writer’s imagination.
Even Wikipedia refuses to have the Daily Mail used as a source.
I will say that with his blended family Hugh seems to have taken responsibility as a father. While I’m wary of controlling men or extreme gender expectations, I know there is a healthy way, healthy men, with an impetus, to protect their family.
p.s. I love watching the body language of others when it’s mostly radio versus a TV interview. MM looks a little frustrated that there’s a brief focus away from him. CH a little bored.
Re: Stormzy.
Seriously, where was the lie?
And his follow up in that clip, again, where was the lie?
I’m just quite ashamed to be British right now, tbh. This country is so racist. The tabloid press and their readers can gaslight people all they want, but it doesn’t change anything, and this government, with Boris Johnson as our racist in chief, is just leading by example. It makes me sick with shame.
As an American, I certainly know the feeling of being ashamed of my country.
Argh. It sucks, doesn’t it?
Agree with this statement totally! It is a sad state of affairs right now.
As a german I feel your pain.
Yup.
American here too. I feel ashamed of us, and I feel sad (and surprised) for Britain- I thought they were “better” than us when it comes to racism.
One can only hope that all of this light being shone under rocks and moldy logs will help things in the long run :/
Me too, l feel ashamed of my country.
Speaking of the British Express, I just saw an article in the Express about how Camilla was treated badly but that SHE never complained.
Eyeroll.
I mean, neither Meghan nor Harry cheated on spouses to be together so I really don’t see how the comparison tracks. And Meghan is also being compared to Yoko Ono, who yes, was very much subjected to vicious racism by the British press but Yoko was also a mistress. Meghan didn’t do anything to warrant bad press treatment beyond merely existing.
She removed Piers Morgan from her social circle. That is her cardinal sin.
Clearly, that means she’s the devil…with good judgement lol.
I can imagine that Hugh Grant is going to start getting hate mail from the mob.
Honestly, Harry gets credit from me too — not as a woman, but as a child of a dysfunctional, abusive family. I don’t believe that this is Meghan’s doing at all, but I think she supports his choice and watching how she’s maintained her own boundaries with her toxic family probably helped show him it was possible.
I really recognize a lot of what Harry’s been going through lately. I put up with A LOT from my family my whole life, and my husband put up with a lot for me even though we would get up and leave EVERY time my abuser started in on him. But the toxic person got ONE chance after I had a kid, and the first time he disrespected my husband in front of our child, we never went back. Harry probably kept hoping it would get better when they got married and everyone realized how real their love was and how great Meghan was. Then he probably hoped it would get better once they had a kid. And when it didn’t, he said “Not around my kid.” It’s the defining boundary moment for a lot of us.
Yes, I think, “Not around my kid” is often a defining moment for children who grew up in a toxic environment. In my case, it was my niece – when I saw my mother treat my niece in the way I’d been treated I was finally able to draw the line in the sand and stand up to her in a way I never had for myself.
I’m so glad that you did that! It was also probably a defining moment for your niece, if she was old enough to remember, that someone would be willing to stand up for her. I’m so glad you had the strength to do that, and I hope you’re able to do it for yourself now too. <3
I’m not much of a Hugh Grant fan since Bridget Jones and 4 weddings, but he is so right on this. There is a podcast called KeepIt (so funny). They mostly cover Hollywood stuff but this weeks episode brought up the Sussex thing, and they have a really good take on it. From a perspective on why they did it, the way they want to work, and the utter uselessness of the stories in the British press. Its about 2/3 through the podcast, after interview with creator of You. Not for people with delicate sensibilities but really good insight.
He’s actually tweeted in support of them in the past too, especially after the filed their lawsuit
I like him so much better these days. Yay Hugh for sticking up for Harry and Meghan
This actually earns him a few gazillion points in my book.