Jennifer Garner wrote this letter to stand up for Meghan Markle after she was called “unmaternal”
Jennifer Garner just expressed her gratitude to Meghan Markle for taking part in Garner’s Save with Stories initiative, which features celebrities reading their favorite children’s books to raise money for meals and school supplies for vulnerable children. But Garner’s Instagram note also seems to be subtly calling out writer Emily Giffin, who recently accused Markle of being “unmaternal” and “phony” in the video, according to The Washington Post.
Garner began her letter to Meghan and Harry, which she posted on Instagram on May 7th, by thanking the royal couple “for sharing your gorgeous son with the world and allowing us to join you in celebrating his first birthday.”
She continued, “We are humbled and grateful that you chose @savewithstories to mark this special day and in so doing—have raised the visibility of @savethechildren’s work in the U.S. and U.K. and have helped feed and educate children in desperate need of both.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_229yVjMpa
In the video, Markle reads Duck! Rabbit! to baby Archie, who sits on her lap, with Prince Harry commenting from behind the camera.
We think it doesn’t get much more wholesome than that, but apparently, Something Borrowed writer Emily Giffin doesn’t share our sentiment. After Markle’s video was posted on Save with Stories’ Instagram, Giffin shared several Instagram Stories straight-up cyberbullying the duchess. The Stories were deleted, but captured images show the writer accusing Markle for “turning the video into the ‘Megan show,’” as the Washington Post reports. In a text exchange with a friend, Giffin also said, “It was so uncomfortable. She’s such a phony.”
Man oh man does “Something Borrowed” author Emily Giffin hate Meghan Markle pic.twitter.com/bjnoDNTY9p
— Kaitlin Menza (@heykmenz) May 6, 2020
Giffin later issued an apology after receiving criticism for her frankly mean-spirited comments.
“To be clear, I absolutely loved that a biracial, American woman was marrying into the Royal Family,” Giffin wrote. Then she said that her “feelings about BOTH Harry and Meghan changed” since the couple stepped down from their roles as senior royals. “[I] find fault with the way BOTH she and Harry handled things, and those feelings bled over in later posts, including the ones today,” she said.
Garner never explicitly refers to the Giffin controversy in her own Instagram post.
That said, Garner’s letter does explicitly draw attention to the way Markle “lovingly” interacts with her son in the video.
“More than anything—watching you lovingly talk through the pictures while your clever Archie turns the pages—lifts all of us up and reminds us that what may seem like a duck just might turn out to be a rabbit. Thank you for this joyful and meaningful shift in perspective,” Garner wrote.
Whatever Garner’s intention in writing this Instagram post, we’re grateful that her positivity is counteracting Giffin’s intense negativity. More of that, please!