Volunteers Reportedly Forced to ‘Take a Break’ so Prince Harry and Meghan Could Be Filmed at Wildfire Evacuation Site
January has been a rough month for Meghan Markle. Her new cooking and gardening show set to debut on Netflix was pushed back due to the devastating wildfires in California, and she’s been dealing with bad press following a blistering cover story published in Vanity Fair that includes several damning allegations about how she mistreats her staff.
Just before Meghan’s lifestyle show was set to debut, she and Prince Harry were photographed touring some of the areas in LA County destroyed by the fires. The pair then went to a facility being used as an evacuation center in Pasadena. But their visit didn’t come without controversy as some called it a “photo op” with the city’s mayor Victor M. Gordo and a way for the Sussexes to generate good publicity for themselves.
Sources close to the pair have denied that it was a PR stunt but now, there’s word from someone who volunteered that everyone was told to stop what they were doing and clear out for Meghan and Harry when they showed up.
Prince Harry and Meghan were ‘offended’ after being dubbed ‘disaster tourists’
Actor Justine Bateman was one of the first people to criticize the duke and duchess publicly and question why they were at the disaster sites to begin with, especially since some who own properties there weren’t allowed back in the area yet themselves.
The Family Ties alum slammed the Sussexes saying they are “no better than ambulance chasers.” She also dubbed them “disaster tourists,” a name that several media members adopted for them and began to use as well.
A source close to Meghan and Harry then responded telling Page Six: “It’s offensive to Meghan and Harry that anybody would think this is merely a photo opportunity. Meghan was born and raised in Los Angeles so this is, and always will be, home to her.” They added Meghan is “not just a tourist” and has “invested significant time and resources. They have donated money and essential items” and “they have also dedicated countless hours to volunteering, long before the media even caught wind of their involvement.”
But someone who was volunteering at that same center where the prince and Suits star went has a different story.
Claim that volunteers were told to ‘take a break’ when Meghan and Harry arrived
Accusations about the 17 minutes Harry and Meghan spent volunteering being staged went into overdrive when producer and co-host of the Never Not Funny podcast Matt Belknap shared a story his daughter, Zoe who had volunteered at the center, told him.
According to Belknap, “Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had showed up to that place and there’s like hundreds of people there volunteering. They cleared it all out. Everybody [was told] ‘take 15.’ These people are coming in to pretend that they’re helping and get a photo op.”
Host Jimmy Pardo jumped in and opined that if the prince and his wife really wanted to help and volunteer they would not have asked anyone to leave and would have done what another celebrity did.
He explained: “We saw Nick Cannon that day. He joined in with everybody else. That’s what you do. That’s helping.”
