Meghan Markle’s best friend Jessica Mulroney has been dropped from a number of TV gigs, after she got into a “white privilege” row with influencer Sasha Exeter.
The lifestyle blogger claimed Jessica threatened her livelihood, after she “took offense” when Sasha asked her to use her platform to speak out about racism.
After Sasha spoke out about her clash with Jessica in a shocking video on Instagram, CTV announced that Jessica’s reality show ‘I Do, Redo’ has been removed from all it’s channels “effective immediately”.
In a statement, they said: “Bell Media and CTV encourages our entire team including on-air talent to practice respect, inclusivity and allyship as we pledge to work better and more openly to listen to and amplify black voices, and not minimize them.”
“Because recent conduct by one of our shows hosts, Jessica Mulroney, conflicts with our commitment to diversity and equality, CTV has removed ‘I DO REDO’ from all Bell Media channels and platforms effective immediately.”
The series, which was also released internationally on Netflix, followed Jessica as she helped couples move on from their disastrous weddings by giving them the nuptials they’ve “always dreamed of”.
Cityline, a daytime TV show in Canada, have also also confirmed that Jessica will no longer appear on the show as a guest expert.
On top of that, Canadian department store Hudson’s Bay have announced that “in light of recent events” they would no longer employ Jessica as their fashion and bridal specialist.
In Sasha’s Instagram video, she explained that her row with Jessica kicked off when she encouraged her followers to “use their voice for good and help combat the race war and what’s happening to the Black community.”
Sasha said, “Unfortunately though, one very prominent Canadian figure, who used to be an acquaintance of mine, named Jessica Mulroney, took offense to a very generic call to action that I shared to my IG Stories.”
“And what happened next was a series of very problematic behavior and antics that ultimately resulted in her sending me a threat in writing last Wednesday, June 3.”
“Listen, I’m by no means calling Jess a racist, but what I will say is this: she is very well aware of her wealth, her perceived power and privilege because of the color of her skin,” she continued.
Sasha also said she didn’t “get” why Jessica wouldn’t want to use her platform to spread the word about Black Lives Matter, when her best friend Meghan Markle is “arguably one of the most famous Black women in the world.”
After exchanging a number of private messages, Sasha said she was left “paralyzed with fear” after Jessica allegedly sent her a message that read: “I have also spoken to companies and people about the way you have treated me unfairly. You think your voice matters. Well, it only matters if you express it with kindness and without shaming people who are simply trying to learn. Good luck.”
“For her to threaten me—a single mom, a single Black mom—during a racial pandemic blows my mind,” Sasha said.
“How can you be about the Black people and be a supporter and be about female empowerment on the outside, when you’re attempting to silence a Black woman during this movement behind closed doors? It just seems very contradictory to me.”
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Jessica then commented on Sasha’s post, and wrote: “You are right when you say this sh** needs to stop. As leaders, we need to join hands and call out wrongs.”
“I know we have different experiences. And that is something that, even in the course of a heated argument, I need to acknowledge and understand. I am unequivocally sorry for not doing that with you, and for any hurt I caused.”
Referring to her pal Meghan Markle, Jessica said she had a “very public” experience with “her closest friend” where race was “front and centre”.
She wrote: “It was deeply educational. I learned a lot from it. I promise to continue to learn and listen on how I can use my privilege to elevate and support black voices.”
But hours after she posted the apology, Sasha claimed Jessica threatened her with a libel lawsuit in private.
Sharing a video on her Instagram Story, she said: “Here is what happens when you call out somebody with privilege. They publicly make an apology or statement and privately, behind closed doors, they send you a threat of filing a lawsuit against you.”
“I’m not sure what is going on, because I thought I was very clear yesterday in my video yesterday that I’m not going to be silenced and I’m not going to shut up. I am going to move forward and do what I need to do, to protect myself at this point. But I’m feeling confident in doing so, knowing I have the truth. The unequivocal truth.”
“I don’t know what’s worth here, her using her perceived power to try to threaten my livelihood or using her resources to try to shut me up, but whatever the case is, it needs to stop.”
Jessica has since announced that she’s taking a break from social media, after her disagreement with Sasha got “out of hand.”
In a statement posted on her Instagram feed, she said: “I want to say from my heart that every word of my apologies to Sasha over the course of the last two weeks privately, and again both publicly and privately today is true.”
“I did not intend in any way to jeopardize her livelihood. We had a disagreement and it got out of hand. For that I am sorry.”
