Getty Stassi Schroeder and Meghan Markle.
“Vanderpump Rules” alum Stassi Schroeder revealed she relates to Meghan Markle during a December 2022 appearance on her former co-star Katie Maloney’s podcast, “You’re Gonna Love Me.”
While recording the podcast episode, Schroeder and Maloney discussed Markle’s Netflix documentary series, “Harry & Meghan.” The “Next Level Basic” author explained she believes she received similar scrutiny to Markle on a “really small scale” following her exit as a Bravo star in 2020. According to Page Six, Schroeder and her castmate, Kristen Doute, did not have their contracts renewed following season 8 because of the backlash they received “for calling the police on Faith Stowers, the only Black cast member to appear on ‘Vanderpump Rules.’”
“When [Markle] was talking about that, about the paparazzi photos and how Harry had to text her and be like ‘Hey can you not talk to the paparazzi and not smile because now they are writing stories saying that you love the attention and that’s why you are doing this.’ I’m like oh my god, this brings me back to like two years ago, 2020, almost three years ago, when there was paparazzi out,” stated the mother of one.
Schroeder claimed that she would receive criticism depending on how she looked in the paparazzi pictures after her firing.
“If there was a photo taken of me and I was smiling, people were like ‘She has no shame, she doesn’t care, she’s not sorry for anything.’ But if there was a photo of me where I looked sad, people would be like ‘Look at her playing the victim, are we supposed to feel sorry for her?’ That it’s like you can’t win either way so what do you do? [My husband] Beau [Clark] and I would have these conversations, we’d be like ‘Do we smile? Do we frown?’” said the former Bravo star.
Schroeder clarified she believes Markle has had to deal with much more criticism from the media.
“Like no one saw the photos of me so who really f***** cares, but like photos of Meghan Markle? Everyone saw them,” stated the “Vanderpump Rules” alum.
Stassi Schroeder Shared She Believes Reality Stars Are Similar to Members of the Royal Family
In the “You’re Gonna Love Me” podcast episode, Schroeder shared that she believed reality television personalities are similar to members of the royal family as they are sometimes unable to clear up information. She explained there were times she could not publicly discuss aspects of her personal life due to her “Vanderpump Rules” contract.
“The season’s wrapped, you’re not allowed to talk about anything that is gone on and then all these narratives start being spun out on social media or anywhere it’s getting picked up,” stated the 34-year-old. “And you’re like that’s not what really happened but you are contracted so you can’t tell your truth but if you do tell your truth, sometimes you just look like a f**** crazy liar… so you’re like I’m like forced to be quiet and be silent and not comment and it sucks.”
Stassi Schroeder Revealed She Once Thought Meghan Markle Seemed ‘Kind of Phony’
Schroeder shared her thoughts about Markle during a December 2022 episode of her podcast, “Straight Up with Stassi.” She explained that while she has been a long-time fan of the “Suits” actress, she once viewed her as “kind of phony.” The former Bravo star shared that her opinion of Markle changed after she watched “Harry & Meghan.”
“After watching this documentary, I think that maybe she is just that, I think that she is just perfect like that,” stated the “Vanderpump Rules” alum. “I think that she probably like is a really like healthy person that like never gets like too f**** up when they drink, always remembers to do a face mask before bed, probably wears like silk pajamas, never like wakes up in the middle of the night and is like ‘ugh, I need a Xanax.’”
READ NEXT: ‘Real Housewives’ Star Says She Has ‘No Clue’ if She Will Be Back for Another Season