“I was trying not to be rude” - Brooke Shields recalls interrupting awkward Meghan Markle interview at 2024 SXSW panel

Brooke Shields, 60, spoke about interrupting Meghan Markle, 43, while Markle was speaking at the March 2024 SXSW panel titled Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen.

She recalled the interview, moderated by journalist Katie Couric, and the Duchess of Sussex's awkward appearance on the latest episode of the An Unexpected Journey podcast during a conversation with India Hicks, the Independent confirmed.

"Katie asks the first question to Meghan and she talks about how at a young age, she was already advocating for women."

Remembering how Meghan Markle "kept saying she was 11," Page Six cited, Brooke Shields added,

"I go, 'Excuse me, I’m so sorry, I’ve got to interrupt you there for one minute.' I was trying not to be rude, but I wanted to be funny because it was so serious."

Here's what Brooke Shields commented on Meghan Markle's awkward interview at the SXSW panel

While chatting with India Hicks, Brooke recounted the moment when the Suits alum began sharing her story from the time "when she was 11." Shields noted on the podcast,

"She keeps saying, 'Well, when I was 11, I saw this commercial and they were talking about how washing dishes was for women.' And she said, 'I didn’t think only women wash dishes. It wasn’t fair, so I wrote to the company.'"

Emphasizing how Meghan continued her story, reiterating that she was only 11 years old, the A Castle for Christmas actress added,

"She wrote to the company, they changed the text, they changed the commercial. It was just too precious, and I was like, 'They’re not going to want to sit here for 45 minutes and listen to anybody be precious or serious.'"

Noticing the tone of the conversation at the SXSW panel last year, Brooke Shields decided to lighten the mood and interrupted Meghan Markle's speech. Looking back on interjecting Markle in that earnest moment, she later continued,

"I go, 'Excuse me, I’m so sorry, I’ve got to interrupt you there for one minute.' I was trying not to be rude, but I wanted to be funny because it was so serious."

She then reflected on her own experience at age 11 during the conversation. She humorously spoke about shooting for Pretty Baby and said on the panel,

"I just want to give everybody here a context as to how we’re different. When I was 11, I was playing a prostitute."

Admitting that the audience felt "more relaxed," Brooke revealed their reaction to her statement, sharing,

"The place went insane."

Her intention was not to be rude but to engage the listeners by adding some wit to the serious discussion.

According to Page Six, Meghan Markle opened up about writing to protest a controversial Ivory dishwashing detergent advertisement. She stood against Procter & Gamble using an unexpected tone of language for their commercial.

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Meghan narrated her taking a stance at a younger age during the 2019 International Women’s Day panel at SXSW, too. Sharing the formative experience from her childhood, she added that the original slogan, "Women all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans," was later changed.

Her efforts advocating for change were successful, as Procter & Gamble later altered their sexist slogan to "People all over America are fighting greasy pots and pans."

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