Let's talk about Brooke Shields's recent remarks on Meghan Markle.
For context, the two appeared on a keynote SXSW panel in 2024 to discuss "women’s representation in entertainment and media," titled "Breaking Barriers, Shaping Narratives: How Women Lead On and Off the Screen." It stems from a report that Meghan's Archewell Foundation supported that year about representations of motherhood.
Then, earlier this month, Brooke went on India Hicks's (aka King Charles's goddaughter) podcast and spoke about her recollection of the panel the year before. Brooke said, "Katie [Couric] asks the first question to Meghan and talks about how at a young age, she was already advocating for women."
Brooke then said that Meghan told the story of how she wrote letters to P&G over a sexist dish soap commercial, prompting the company to change. "She kept saying she was 11," Brooke said. “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."
Brooke then told the crowd that when she was 11, she was playing a "prostitute." In her recollection, "The place went insane, and then luckily it was more relaxed after that."
She continued, "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."
Here's the thing. Footage from the panel is still available. The panel, which was partially presented by the Archewell Foundation, begins with other questions about the importance of representation in the media. After answering a question on the broad theme, Meghan was then asked by fellow panel member Katie to "tell the story about when you wrote that letter to P&G" at a young age.
View this video on YouTube
Meghan then speaks for under a minute in response: "At 11, I just found that infuriating and wrote lots of letters and put pen to paper and they ended up changing the commercial... Your voice is not small, it just needs to be heard."
When she is done, Brooke then says, "This is one of the ways that we're different. When I was 11, I was playing a prostitute. I wish I'd known you when I was 11. I would have been writing very different letters, but very important, I hope." The following question, directed toward sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen, is about the declining proportion of women playing leads in film.
