Brandi Carlile: The Sussexes ‘felt like normal, decent, good-humored people’

Last week, Portia de Rossi surprised Ellen DeGeneres with a last-minute vow renewal. It was Portia’s wish on her 50th birthday, so Portia invited a couple dozen friends over and Brandi Carlile sang a capella when Ellen entered the house. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were there. When I covered it last week, the post devolved into something kind of gross – like, I think Ellen sucks and she sounds like a terrible boss and a terrible person. But she’s also really nice to her celebrity friends, which is why she has so many famous and powerful people in her corner. I’m just saying, all the heat some of you have for Meghan for being friendly with Ellen, you better have that exact same heat for Jennifer Aniston, Kristen Bell, Reese Witherspoon, Justin Timberlake, OPRAH, Tom Hanks and all of the other A-listers who are still very cozy with her.

Anyway, as I said, Brandi Carlile was at the party/vow renewal, and when Brandi was on the Grammys red carpet, she was asked about it. She spoke about how cool it was to meet Meghan and Harry:

Brandi Carlile said it was a treat to meet Meghan Markle and Prince Harry at Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi’s surprise vow renewal last week. At the 65th Grammy Awards on Sunday, the 41-year-old singer-songwriter opened up about her conversation with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the star-studded ceremony officiated by Kris Jenner last Tuesday.

“We talked to them for a long time — like British accents, talked about the angiograms,” Carlile told Entertainment Tonight of what it was like to meet Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41. The rocker attended the Grammys with her wife, Catherine Carlile, who is originally from the U.K.

“They just really felt like normal, decent, good-humored people. We just had a great chat,” the singer continued. “I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t seen the hubbub, I’ve seen the hubbub, but I haven’t paid very close attention to it.”

[From People]

For all of the scorn for Meghan and Harry, it turns out that they spent most of the party chatting with Brandi and her wife, from the sound of it. I wish Brandi would have spilled more tea, honestly – I’m still dying to know if Kris Jenner cornered Meghan and Harry. Y’all know the Kardashian-Jenners can’t wait to have some kind of royal connection. Someone interview Brandi again, damn it.

Okay, I watched the video and Brandi doesn’t say “angiograms”? I think she says “enneagrams,” which is some kind of personality test based on the idea that there are nine main personality “types.” Very weird!

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

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36 Responses to “Brandi Carlile: The Sussexes ‘felt like normal, decent, good-humored people’”

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  1. Yup, Me says:

    The Enneagram is awesome and now I want to know what Meghan and Harry are. I’d guess Harry is a 4 or 7 and Meghan is a 2 with a 1 wing.

    • Lucy says:

      Ooo, I can see her as a 1 or a 2. If Finding Freedom is accurate about how she’s always looking for things to improve, she’s a 1.

      I could see him as a 7, the most. It’s feeling avoidance, which from his book seems to be how he operated.

    • Selene says:

      oooohhh, I think Harry is a 3 wing 4 and Meghan is a 7, wing 6.

    • Elizabeth Phillips says:

      I’ve read she may be a 3w2, using ambition and strength to help other people.

  2. Eurydice says:

    Lol, enneagrams makes much more sense. I don’t think they’re quite old enough to be comparing angiograms.

  3. Moxylady says:

    Enneagrams are super in right now. The amount of times I’ve heard people list their letters etc and I’m always like – I don’t know what that is! And then they go – you took the test! What are you? (This is my circle of bffs) anyway it’s an ongoing joke because I can’t remember which one I am 😂
    We all use the app the pattern and look up each other on there and are all connected. It’s fun!

    • Allyn says:

      The last time I went in Five Below, I think the half the books they had on the center table were on enneagrams.

      Okay, okay. I exaggerate, but only slightly. It was only about 25%. 🙂

      The last time I took an enneagram test, which was probably a decade ago, I tested out to a 4. My Myers-Briggs, for reference, is INFP.

  4. Lucy says:

    Enneagram has been around 50+ years and is popular in spiritual/christian circles (although some evangelicals have started to call it devil influenced because it’s a self awareness tool). My church has had classes on it.

    Anyway, I’ve found it interesting because the idea is there’s nine types, which are just numbered, and each type has predictable motivations. And each type has predictable tendencies when they’re under stress, and tendencies when they feel secure. It’s the only personality matrix that’s taken how different circumstances bring out different traits, as far as I’ve seen.

    Anyway. Cute anecdote, and I’m jealous they got to hear Brandi sing live. I had no idea her wife was British.

    • Polo says:

      Yes I learned about it from a church friend but I’ve found it so helpful. I’ve had to do strength finders for leadership teams I’ve been involved with.
      I love that they do this because it does help you be aware of your strengths and weakness, those of your team and just how to better excel in life.
      I also love the connections they are making. Brandis wife is also English so I’m sure they had lots to talk about.

    • brighidg says:

      Yeah, I first learned about Enneagrams 30 years ago at my Catholic high school from our Religion teacher who gave us an Enneagram personality test.

  5. Mary Pester says:

    Makes a nice change to see some positive vibes for them. Maybe now people can see that Megan and Harry are NICE DECENT PEOPLE, not the two headed monsters that the British rags and the Royal rota portray them to be

  6. DouchesOfCambridge says:

    I disliked Ellen the last few years because of all the toxicity, but I read something the other day about how she had a terrible temperament because she possibly was going through menopause. So many friends stood by her after that episode, they cant all be wrong. If she really was a Bi£ch it would get called out I guess? And her show is cancelled anyway, so I’m gonna give her a pass. Menopause is going to happen to me too one day and my mom told me it was horrific the irritability when she was going through it and it went through a course of years… omg
    And the sussexes being decent? Is that a surprise???

    • Sierra says:

      Menopause doesn’t last 25 plus years and even if it did, that’s a pathetic excuse to treat other humans as crap.

      Ellen may be nice to famous people and people who can help advance her, but I believe the 100 plus people who worked with her and has nothing but bad things to say to her.

      Frankly, I hope Meghan & Harry are only using her to get some more connections and that they aren’t really friends. And yes, I do judge everyone who are close friends with Ellen.

      • VoominVava says:

        Who says they’re friends with Ellen? It was Portia’s birthday party, after all. Maybe she’s the one they’re friends with. I have had friends whose partners I haven’t liked, but I am still friends with them. 🙂

    • julia8524 says:

      It doesn’t say anything negative about Meghan and Harry attending a party.But Ellen shouldn’t get a pass for her toxic behavior

      • Phyllis says:

        Thank you!! It has been documented MANY times how terrible Ellen is both professionally and personally and with her access to any kind of healthcare or medical guidance, menopausal grumpiness is no excuse for her prolonged terrible treatment of those with far less power or status than her. And I can say from personal experience that for all the people who have spoken out against her, there must be so many more who won’t say anything because they fear being outcast and/or punished for speaking publicly about their interactions with her. So many people in LA are trying to make it big and Ellen is so powerful and connected, that the repercussions of going public would amount to career suicide.

      • Annalise/Typical Virgo says:

        I agree with you guys that it is VERY well documented that Ellen is a jerk to people below her pay grade. (As opposed to the not at ALL well documented accusations of bullying against MM. Anyone trying to conflate the two are idiots).
        I look at it like this, I feel VERY comfortable that H& M are honest, sincere, and caring people who are genuinely devoted to their causes. Therefore I am more than happy to give them the benefit of the doubt regarding Ellen. I think most of not all of us have at least one problematic friend. I know i do. I like to think that if Ellen was rude to say, a server, in front of H&M, they would NOT be impressed, and would say something.

    • ChillinginDC says:

      What Julia said. Ellen sucks to her non celeb friends. It is what it is. I never got why people policed who Meghan hung out. Too many wanted her to drop Jessica, and then this she was getting a “pass” on. Look, Harry wants to reconcile with his family, if they do that I won’t be screeching at them about it. They are not our dolls to move around and do what we want.

      Ellen still sucks.

      • Lux says:

        @chillingindc, Meghan does seem to have cooled it with Jessica Mulroney though. There have been so many little hints—Jess’s shady instagram posts, her lack of presence in the Netflix documentary, etc. We don’t know what goes on behind closed doors but that chapter of closeness is gone, at least publicly.

        With Ellen, it warrants some discussion because she HAS been outed as a huge bully. If Jessica used her white privilege to threaten a WOC’s livelihood, Ellen has been known to abuse her power on a much larger scale. I 100% agree that “Old Guard Hollywood” Jennifer Aniston and Co. deserve the same scrutiny. I would also question the James Cordon friendliness too since he is obviously a known brat.

        But truly, we all have that friend with whom we’re still friendly and keep in touch, despite their questionable views/behaviors/attitudes. My husband and I had a family friend who we later found out was very mean to his employees. Did it dampen our respect for him? Yes. Is it awkward that we know? Yes. Do we turn down his invites because of the revelation? No. Did we feel like we can bring up our newfound info with him? No, we’re not THAT close. I don’t love it, but I do get it.

    • Jaded says:

      Ellen also hired some really nasty producers who were accused of creating a toxic workplace, harassment (sexual and non-sexual), racism and generally being dicks. You are who you hire.

  7. Lurker25 says:

    It’s enneagrams for sure. It’s like fancier Myers Briggs (mostly cause buzzfeed quizzes reduced MBTI into silliness, it’s still a good tool) and popular in California. Goes with the mental health stuff, getting to know yourself/other people better… It fits

  8. Leah says:

    FYI- Brandi’s wife Catherine is British.

  9. MLT says:

    To be fair, I DO think less of all the celebrities listed for their continued association with someone proven to have been abusive and toxic in the workplace… 🤷🏻‍♀️

    • equality says:

      But conspicuously absent in commenting how awful it is for any of the others to hang with Ellen are all the posters from yesterday who made a big thing of H&M being there.

  10. Amee says:

    When I heard her say it I thought she was just saying “Emmy and Gram(my)ies” but now I’m interested in enneagrams. lol

  11. Brassy Rebel says:

    When I first read about this yesterday, I couldn’t figure out why they were talking about angiograms. Thanks for clearing that up. No one under 70 should need to talk about angiograms. 😆

    And Carol Burnett was there too. She would never be friends with anyone shady.

  12. ABB says:

    Ohhh I definitely think Meghan is a 1. Suuuuuuch 1 vibes. Harry seems 7–he could go wing 6 or 8 tbh. Willz is such an 8 gone bad. Kate… 3? 9 w 8?

    • brighidg says:

      My guess:

      Meghan is 1w9 maybe 1w2 but I think 1w9.

      Harry is 6w7.

      William is probably an 8w7 and Kate I could see as 3w2.

    • Elizabeth Phillips says:

      1s are perfectionists, but not as driven as 3s, if I understand correctly.

  13. Kateylee says:

    Ellen sucks and it’s well documented that she is an abusive a hole to those beneath her. I love Brandi but also side eye anyone that chummy with Ellen. Sorry but Meg and Harry fall in that category as well. I do think they are trying to get high profile connections and celebrity friends to find $$$ opportunities since the crown cut them off. With their lifestyle it’s not like they can pay the mortgage by getting a shift at a restaurant. The US attention span is short and in a few years most people may have forgotten about the podcast, book and Netflix and moved onto other people. I think they are smart enough to know they have to play this game to some degree to keep the Montecito mansion and private jets. Money trumps all in most circle, including theirs. They want this lifestyle and will hang with Ellen if that helps them keep it. The rich ain’t like us, maintaining that lifestyle takes sacrifices.

    • OnThisDay says:

      Kateylee, what you’ve written leads me to reflect on the nature of celebrity and what it takes to “make it.” The cost in terms of inconsistencies. The people who become your community out of necessity (you need to be plugged into the movers and shakers to succeed) and out of affinity (celebrities understand the celebrity experience in ways others do not). It shapes your ultimate interests and constrains. “Yes to workplaces that honor workers’ humanity and yes to this employer who doesn’t do that because she has and continues to support our success and she understands this life.” (And I know M has never made the workplace one if her causes but I’m using H description of how hard she tried to cultivate a safe and warm working environment in the UK as an indicator of her values.)
      And this is about more than the Sussexes. It applies to folks like Michelle Obama. And it’s about more than Ellen specifically. The nature of celebrity means compromises and transactional relationships and limitations to how far you’ll demand what you value.
      And that makes me think one last thing and then I’ll get off my high horse: M is most likely still friends with Jessica M, which is fine, but we’re not seeing it publicly. She wasn’t in the Netflix doc and hasn’t been featured as one of M’s friends coming to her defense lately. Assumimg the friendship is still there I wonder if the distance indicates that M and H don’t want the behavior associated with Jessica to be associated with their brand.
      And this is ultimately the heart of my critique. What does it mean to publicly associate yourself and thus your brand (cuz modern celebrity is all about you being a brand) with people associated with behaviors inconsistent with the one you publicly endorse?

    • Annalise/Typical Virgo says:

      In terms of prestige, I think Ellen is the one benefitting from the association. Not the other way around. And Harry had been making Hollywood friendships for years, I seriously doubt they “need” Ellen to make contacts. And $100 million can last a VERY long time……

      • OnThisDay says:

        Yes, they have networks, but they aren’t the power brokers of those networks like others Ellen, Michelle Obama and others.
        We talk about the circles H&M move in and not who moves in H&M’s circle. Not yet. They are building their networks so that they can wield that level of influence.
        And it took years for the rumors and accusations to catch up and for Ellen to face consequences. Compare that to the relatively small amount of time it took to smear Meghan with dubious accusations and how influential that campaign of harassment has been. That’s a power difference. Ellen is down but not out. She’s got behind the scenes pull.

  14. Sophie says:

    To add to the list: Michelle Obama is friends with Ellen.

    Honestly, Ellen was there for Harry and Meghan when things got very ugly. Doesn’t surprise me that they are still friends with her.