"Lies and rumors"

Jameela Jamil Calls Out "Xenophobia" Behind False Meghan Markle Headlines

Jameela Jamil has addressed reports inaccurately connecting her name to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The actress and activist spoke out on Twitter after British tabloids suggested that she had been "quarantining" with the couple and formed a close friendship with Meghan. Jamil further criticized press treatment of the Duchess, calling this instance another example of "Britain's already sturdy xenophobia."

Jameela Jamil has set the record straight on her reported connections to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

On Sept. 3, Jamil took to Twitter to refute reports that she'd been "quarantining" with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Santa Barbara, California. While she confirmed that she was vacationing in the city and has met Meghan on one occasion, Jamil said there's no truth in headlines that she's become "best friends" with the Duchess. She also positioned the reports in a broader agenda of racist harassment against Meghan.

Jameela Jamil rejects press on close ties to Meghan Markle

Jamil took particular aim at a Daily Express article on a reported Santa Barbara meet-up between herself and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. The headline suggested that she and Meghan had become "best friends" and it called Jamil a "luvvie."

"LOL. Went to a hotel in SB for a romantic getaway with my boyfriend... and have seen 8 days of articles with increasingly ridiculous stories, none of which are consistent, none of which make sense... (all to now create the lie that she controls me and coordinates my every move)," Jamil said of the article on Twitter.

"I've met this woman once. Ever," she added, mockingly including the hashtag #BestFriends. "These articles are a strategy to now blame her for MY every word and move. And to attempt to discredit my calling them out as if it isn't a *FACT* that they bully and harass her for clicks, to feed Britain's already sturdy xenophobia."

The Good Place star then further criticized UK press treatment of Duchess Meghan, highlighting a particularly troubling past opinion piece. "As the conversation around racism in UK media is heating up," Jamil began, "they are scrambling to justify years of racially motivated abuse/harassment by turning the public against her based on lies and rumors. Remember how they printed she would 'thicken the Royal blue blood with EXOTIC DNA?'"

Prince Harry & Meghan Markle have moved to Santa Barbara

Jamil is far from the first star to clarify — or entirely reject — reported connections to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Just in recent months, Dr. Jane Goodall and Liza Minnelli are among the notable names to express surprise at headlines connecting them to the couple.

Harry and Meghan are now living in Santa Barbara, California, and are continuing on their post-royal path, having signed a production deal with Netflix on Sept. 2.