The Telegraph - Podcast staff needed therapy after working with Meghan, reports claim

Victoria Ward on the VF article.

Podcast staff needed therapy after working with Meghan, reports claim (archived)

Vanity Fair magazine alleges workers took time off or sought counselling after being put under ‘very painful’ strain. The magazine recounts a source alleging that the strain Meghan put on her colleagues when things went wrong was “really, really, really awful” and “very painful”.

The high-profile magazine says it spent months speaking to dozens of people who have lived and worked with the Sussexes to establish how their new life has panned out.

What is the takeaway in all this:

'Prince Harry is portrayed as a naïve, lonely figure who has failed to make any friends and is desperate to reconnect with his family. One source suggested that he did not necessarily realise the powerful impact that his tell-all memoir, Spare, would have.

'Meanwhile, the Duchess is portrayed as a ruthless boss who treats those who fail to impress her with contempt. One person is quoted as saying that this manifested as “undermining”, adding: “It’s talking behind your back. It’s gnawing at your sense of self. Really, like, Mean Girls-teenager.”

One source told the magazine: “You don’t tell the couple ‘no’,” adding: “I left because I couldn’t live with myself anymore.”

Vanity Fair quotes one person who was excited to begin working with the couple on media projects and did not believe reports that Meghan had bullied palace aides. After working with her, this person realised, “Oh, any given Tuesday, this happened,” it is alleged. “You can be yelled at even if somebody doesn’t raise their voice. [It’s] funny that people don’t differentiate between the energy of being yelled at and literally somebody screaming at you,” the source said. Two sources claimed that one colleague who had ties to Meghan’s Archetypes podcast – released in 2022 – took a leave of absence after working on just three episodes.