‘Page not found': Brooke Shields podcast interview slamming ‘precious' Meghan Markle mysteriously vanishes

Sky News AU

11-06-2025

Brooke Shields' recent podcast interview in which she vented about Meghan Markle's 'precious' behavior has been deleted by podcast host India Hicks, it can be revealed.
Shields went viral last week after revealing her candid thoughts about the ex-working royal during an episode of Hicks' podcast 'An Unexpected Journey' that was published via Substack.
In the now-deleted episode, Shields recalled the time she cut off one of Markle's favourite anecdotes while appearing on stage with the Duchess.
The Duchess of Sussex and the Blue Lagoon star were both tapped to sit on a panel marking International Woman's Day at the prestigious South by Southwest Festival last year.
During the notorious appearance, Markle referenced the time she wrote a letter to Procter and Gamble as a child asking them to gender-neutralise a dishwashing soap commercial.
The story has been repeated multiple times, including during Meghan Markle's Vanity Fair cover story she negotiated after she began dating Prince Harry.
'Meghan said, 'I didn't think only women wash dishes,'' Shields recalled.
'It wasn't fair. So I wrote to the company. And when I was 11, I wrote my first letter and when I was 11...' and she kept saying she was 11!"
The entertainment industry veteran sensed that Markle's oft-repeated story about writing letters to a detergent company was hardly riveting for the audience.
"It was just too precious," Shields explained to as to why she decided to chime in.
"And I was like, they're not going to want to sit here for 45 minutes and listen to anybody be precious or serious.'
The Endless Love star explained that she did not intend to be 'rude' to the ex-working royal but wanted to lighten the mood after Markle's earnest story.
"Excuse me, I'm so sorry. I've got to interrupt you there for one minute,' she said.
"I was trying not to be rude, but I wanted to be funny because it was so serious.
"I just want to give everybody here a context as to how we're different," she told the crowd.'
The actress then pointed out to Markle how when she was the same age she was playing a prostitute - referring to her controversial role in the 1978 film, Pretty Baby - which drew immediate laughter from the audience.
"The place went insane. And then luckily, it was more relaxed after that," Shields said.
As of Wednesday, all traces of the podcast have disappeared from Hicks' Substack page, with the previous link now returning a 'page not found' message.
The Sussexes employ an extensive team of in-house media advisors who regularly reach out to news outlets and mastheads to respond to publicity about the Duke and Duchess.
Among the team, Harry and Meghan employ both Los Angeles and London-based communications executives to handle their media relations in North America and Europe, respectively.
The Sussexes recently hired a chief communications officer and a separate director of communications to help manage their public images.
Last month, Forbes reported that the Sussexes have beefed up their media team even further and added external firm Method Communications to the line up.
SkyNews.com.au is not suggesting that Markle or her team pressured Hicks or Shields to remove the podcast episode, only that the episode has been removed from Hicks' Substack.