Meghan says she suffered ‘hateful’ and ‘cruel’ abuse while she was pregnant
The Duchess of Sussex has revealed she received “hateful” abuse on social media while she was pregnant with both of her children, saying it was “cruel”.
Appearing on a panel at the SXSW Conference in Texas to mark International Women’s Day, Meghan was asked how she dealt with “endless toxicity” online.
The duchess said “for my wellbeing” she “keeps distance” from social media now, but added that she suffered “the bulk of the bullying and abuse I was experiencing” while she was pregnant with both Archie and Lilibet.
With Prince Harry sitting in the front row of the conference, Meghan said: “You just think about that and you have to really wrap your head around why people would be so hateful.
“It’s not catty, it’s cruel. Why you would do that?
“And certainly when you’re pregnant or as mums we know it’s such a tender and sacred time.”
Pic: Reuters
Harry watched the keynote speech from the front row. Pic: Reuters
Meghan appeared alongside actress Brooke Shields (right). Pic: Reuters
She added: “You could succumb to it, or nearly succumb to how painful that is.
“Or maybe because I was pregnant that mammalian instinct just kicks in to do everything you can to protect your child and as a result protect yourself too.”
Prince Archie was born in May 2019, while Princess Lilibet was born in California in June 2021 after the Sussexes moved to the US.
Pic: Reuters
Described by the event’s organisers as a “visionary female leader”, Meghan appeared on a panel which included actress Brooke Shields, 58.
After explaining how at the age of 11 she campaigned to get a sexist advert changed, Meghan said: “Your voice is not small, it just needs to be heard.”
The 42-year-old added: “It’s funny to look back at it now as it was before social media where you had a reach that was so much greater – it was just an 11-year-old with a pen and paper – but goes to show if you know there is something wrong and you’re using your voice to advocate for what is right, that really lands and resonates with people.”
Recalling her starring role in the 1978 film Pretty Baby, Shields joked in response: “This is one of the ways we’re different – when I was 11 I was playing a prostitute.”
Read more:
Prince Edward wipes away tears after wife’s speech
Kate’s ‘bad uncle’ talks Harry and Meghan
Previously, Meghan has said she was the world’s most trolled person in 2019.
In a podcast to mark World Mental Health Day, she said the impact on her health was “so damaging”.
“I wasn’t even visible, I was on maternity leave with the baby – but what was able to be manufactured and churned out, it’s almost unsurvivable, it’s so big you can’t even think what that feels like,” she said.
Entertainment
Rageh Omaar says he was ‘determined to finish presenting programme’ after becoming unwell live on air
Entertainment
Om Fahad: Iraqi social media influencer shot dead by gunman on motorbike who posed as food delivery rider – report
A well-known Iraqi social media influencer has reportedly been shot dead in her car by a gunman on a motorbike.
Om Fahad, whose real name is Ghufran Sawadi, was killed outside her home in Baghdad’s Zayouna district on Friday, according to the AFP news agency, citing security officials.
It appears the unidentified attacker pretended to be delivering food to the victim, one security source said.
Om Fahad, who has nearly half a million TikTok followers, became famous for posting light-hearted videos where she dances to Iraqi music.
Six days ago, she shared footage of herself driving in a car and also posing in front of a mirror. They have each been watched hundreds of thousands of times.
The influencer was sentenced to six months in prison in February last year for sharing videos that a court ruled contained “indecent speech that undermines modesty and public morality”.
A campaign was launched in 2023 by the Iraqi government to clamp down on social media content which broke the country’s “morals and traditions”.
The interior ministry set up a committee to look for “offensive” clips on platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, with several influencers being arrested.
“This type of content is no less dangerous than organised crime,” the ministry declared in a promotional video which asked the public to help by reporting such content.
“It is one of the causes of the destruction of the Iraqi family and society.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Speaking last year, interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan argued the morality campaign has “nothing to do with freedom of expression”.
Read more:
Injuries after explosion at Iraq military base
UK soldiers ‘exposed’ to toxic chemical in Iraq must get answers
In 2018, gunmen in Baghdad shot dead Tara Fares, who was a model and influencer.
After years of war and sectarian conflict following the 2003 US invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq has returned to some semblance of normality despite sporadic violence, political instability and corruption.
But civil liberties, particularly among women and sexual minorities, are still constrained in a conservative and male-dominated society.
R Kelly’s challenge against a 20-year sentence for child sex convictions has been quashed by an appeals court.
The singer was correctly sentenced to 20 years in prison, a Chicago court ruled on Friday.
He was convicted in 2022 on three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex.
In his appeal, Kelly, 57, argued Illinois’ old statute of limitations – which required prosecution of child sex crime charges within 10 years – should have applied, rather than the current law permitting charges while an accuser is still alive.
The appeals court rejected this, labelling it an attempt by Kelly to elude the charges entirely after “employing a complex scheme to keep victims quiet”.
He also argued that charges involving one accuser should have been tried separately from the charges tied to three other accusers due to video evidence that became a focal point of the Chicago trial.
Prosecutors have said the video showed Kelly abusing a girl. The accuser, only identified as Jane, testified for the first time that she was 14 when the video was taken.
The three-judge panel from the appeals court noted jurors acquitted Kelly on seven of the 13 counts against him “even after viewing those abhorrent tapes”.
Read more on Sky News:
Newsreader ‘receiving medical care’ after on-screen behaviour worries fans
Actress Emma Stone says she ‘would like to be’ called by her real name
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
In a written statement, Kelly’s attorney Jennifer Bonjean said they plan to seek a US Supreme Court review of the decision and “pursue all of his appellate remedies until we free R Kelly”.
“We are disappointed in the ruling, but our fight is far from over,” she said.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Environment11 months agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports6 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Technology3 years ago
Game consoles were once banned in China. Now Chinese developers want a slice of the $49 billion pie
-
Politics2 years ago
Have the last few wobbly weeks seen a turning point for Johnson as PM?