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TV station condemned for featuring racist Katie Hopkins in Megan Markle documentary

'Get in the bin!' producers told

Friday 06 September 2019 10:09 BST

Katie Hopkins outside the Old Bailey in July (Getty)

Australian TV producers have been widely condemned for including racist Katie Hopkins in a programme about “how Meghan Markle lost her sparkle”.

The newsmagazine programme 60 Minutes appears to feature the Islamophobic commentator in a sit-down interview as well as canvassing people outside Buckingham Palace.

A trailer for the programme, due to air on Sunday on Australia’s Channel 9, claimed it would reveal “scandal, abuse and bloody lies” within the royal family.

All of the four talking heads previewed in the trailer were white, as was the presenter.

Ms Hopkins has described migrants as “cockroaches” and “feral”, and called for a “final solution” to terrorism. She has called Britain’s capital “Khan’s Londonistan” and claimed that there is “institutionalised discrimination against whites” in the UK.

11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

Show all 11

1/1111 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On stigma around menstruation and female education

'Imagine a world where the female leaders we revere never achieved their full potential because they dropped out of school at the age of thirteen. In the western world this is challenging to fathom, but for millions of young women globally, this remains their harsh reality for a staggering reason. From sub-Saharan Africa to India, Iran, and several other countries, the stigma surrounding menstruation and lack of access to proper sanitation directly inhibit young women from pursuing an education.' (Time, 2017)

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11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On the #MeToo and Time's Up movements

'I hear a lot of people saying when speaking about girls’ empowerment, finding and knowing their worth, or women’s empowerment as well, you will often hear people say: "You’re helping women find their voices." And I fundamentally disagree with that, because women don’t need to find the voice – they have a voice, they need to be empowered to use it and people need to be encouraged to listen. And I think right now in the climate that we’re seeing with so many campaigns, with #MeToo and Time’s Up, there is no better time than to really continue to shine a light on women feeling empowered and people really helping to support them, men included in that.' (The Royal Foundation Forum, 2018)

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11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On gender stereotypes in cleaning adverts

'I don’t think it is right for kids to grow up thinking these things, that just mum does everything.' (At 11 years old on Nick News, 1993)

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11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On supporting women's voices

'Women make up more than half of the world’s population and potential, so it is neither just nor practical for their voices, for our voices, to go unheard at the highest levels of decision-making. The way that we change that, in my opinion, is to mobilize girls and women to see their value as leaders, and to support them in these efforts.' (UN Women Conference, 2015)

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11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On women's suffrage

'Women’s suffrage is about feminism, but feminism is about fairness. Suffrage is not simply about the right to vote, but also about what that represents: the basic and fundamental human right of being able to participate in the choices for your future and that of your community.' (At Government House in New Zealand for 125th anniversary of women achieving right to vote in country, 2018)

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11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On dressing like a feminist

'You don’t have to play dress up to be a feminist. You are a feminist exactly the way you are. You can be a woman who wants to look good and still stand up for the equality of women. There’s no uniform for feminism; you are a feminist exactly the way you are.' (Create and Cultivate, 2016)

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11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On knowing your value

'I think the biggest part of being a girl boss in the office, at home, or anywhere you go is just knowing your value.' (InStyle, 2015)

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11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On taking action to achieve equality

'It is said that girls with dreams become women with vision. May we empower each other to carry out such vision – because it isn't enough to simply talk about equality. One must believe it. And it isn't enough to simply believe in it. One must work at it. Let us work at it. Together. Starting now.' (UN Women Conference, 2015)

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11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On looking after yourself

'Be kind to yourself. Truly, if we treated ourselves as well as we treated our best friends we would be a million miles ahead of the game. There’s this great Georgia O’Keefe quote that resonates with me: “I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain, and I am quite free."'

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11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On breaking glass ceilings

'With fame comes opportunity, but it also includes responsibility – to advocate and share, to focus less on glass slippers and more on pushing through glass ceilings. And, if I'm lucky enough, to inspire.' (Elle, 2016)

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11 of Meghan Markle's best feminist quotes

On what it means to be a feminist

‘No matter what you look like, you should be taken seriously. I think it’s really great to be able to be a feminist, and be feminine. To embrace both.’ (Interview with Larry King, 2016)

She has promoted white genocide conspiracy theories and in 2017 tweeted about the Netflix series Dear White People, writing: “Dear black people. If your lives matter why do you stab and shoot each other so much.”

And in July this year she tweeted: “Call me what you wish. Islamophobe. Bigot. Racist. Vile. It matters not. What matters is the fight back for our Christian culture we desperately need to defend.”

Twitter users who responded to 60 Minutes’ post about the trailer were scathing about its apparent direction.

60 Minutes posted a preview of the programme on Twitter

“60 Minutes has reduced itself to a gossip column. Get in the bin!” wrote one, while another added: “Shame on you for airing this trash. Great Britain is fortunate to have this intelligent, compassionate, beautiful woman in the royal family. In her, Prince Harry has found happiness.”

Actress Jameela Jamil tweeted: “If you have to bring in Katie Hopkins, you’re scraping the absolute bottom of the barrel, So immediately we can dismiss this trash “entertainment” as *any* form of “journalism.” Are there any POC in this doc other than the woman being bullied?”

Another user said: “It’s really awesome how you guys are giving a known white nationalist a platform from which to baselessly bash a black princess.”

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