Oprah Winfrey just rewatched her now-viral 2021 interview with Meghan Markle. And fans still have some pretty strong thoughts.
The media mogul recently looked back at her career, talking to Vanity Fair about her most memorable moments—including ‘the’ interview.
Back in 2021, when Oprah’s CBS special originally aired, Markle and Prince Harry opened up about their decision to step away from their royal duties and move to California. The couple spoke out about their battle with the British tabloids and Harry’s family.
But allegations against the royals and inconsistencies in some of Meghan and Harry’s accounts led to a backlash against the couple and Oprah, making the interview one of the most legendary in recent history.
Harry told Oprah, “I need to do this for my family. This is not a surprise to anybody. It’s really sad that it’s got to this point, but I’ve got to do something for my own mental health, for my wife’s, and for Archie’s as well, because I could see where this was headed.”
Meghan shared, “I’ve always valued independence. I’ve always been outspoken, especially about women’s rights. I mean, that’s the sad irony of the last four years is I’ve advocated for so long for women to use their voice. And then I was silent”
And that’s when Oprah asked the question that would lead to a legendary soundbite, “Were you silent or were you silenced?” And Markle replied, “The latter.”
As Oprah reminisced about the interview, she revealed, “They didn’t know, obviously, anything that I was going to ask them. But I had said to them ahead of time, ‘I’m going to cover everything.’ This interview took three and a half hours…I was just carefully trying to go through everything that had come up in the past.”
She continued, “I wanted to be clear, because was she silenced? Were people telling her not to talk? Were people? That’s why I said that. I said it for clarification because I didn’t want later to hear, ‘Well, no, it wasn’t that. It really was that I was silenced. They wouldn’t let me talk.’ So it was all for clarification.”
When Vanity Fair posted a snippet of this clip on the magazine’s Instagram page, fans were quick to give their opinions. One pointed out, “Recollections may vary!” while others added, “This was not an interview. This was a story line”, “Too bad Oprah didn’t clarify the other tidbits (lies) in that interview,” and “Oprah could have used some fact checking.”
It looks like Winfrey’s rewatching of the controversial 2021 interview sparked its own 2026 controversy.
The comments kept coming: “Wow she looks like she is embarrassed about this interview and is backing out”, “Can’t admit that was probably one of her worst interviews ever…nothing was clarified but only looking for more sensation,” and “When Oprah did that interview with Markle. That was the day I totally lost respect!”
Of course, the critics didn’t just jump on Oprah. They also had plenty to say about Markle, adding, “And why is Meghan so silent about all the women’s issues? Selling jam. Selling $300 candles,” and, “The only female rights Meghan advocated for were her own.” Now that’s harsh!
This story was originally published by Parade on Jul 24, 2026, where it first appeared in the Celebs section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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