The host of the reality TV Real Housewives franchise has said Meghan Markle failed to tackle him over her critical claim his show spreads negative stereotypes about women.
On her now-axed Archetypes Spotify podcast, the Duchess of Sussex questioned whether the show, which Andy Cohen produces, creates 'caricatures of women.'
However, she failed to put her criticisms to Mr Cohen directly, even though he was interviewed in the same episode in November last year.
Writing in his new book The Daddy Diaries, Mr Cohen highlighted this, saying: '...in that narration, she talks about what a tough conversation this was for her, mentioning that she has conflicting feelings about the Housewives,' Newsweek reported.
He added: 'I think it was interesting that she said it in the narration but didn't discuss it with me head-on. Wouldn't that have made for a more dynamic conversation?'
The host of the reality TV Real Housewives franchise has hit out at Meghan Markle (above) over her critical claim his show spreads negative stereotypes about women
Mr Cohen featured on Archetypes in November last year in what turned out to be the show's final episode.
It emerged last week that the production will not be renewed for a second season despite Meghan and her husband Prince Harry signing a £15million deal for the project in 2020.
Mr Cohen said the month after appearing on Meghan's show that she was 'gleeful' at getting to mention during their conversation that he had forgotten ever meeting her before she became a royal.
In an episode of his SiriusXM show Andy Cohen Live, the TV producer joked that the Duchess threw the slip-up 'in his face'.
Speaking of Real Housewives, Meghan said in the episode named 'Mani-festing A Cultural Shift': 'I'm conflicted about this.
'Not about [Cohen's] success, his rightfully deserved success, but on what his success specifically with this franchise has been based off of.
'Because as we grapple this season with what archetypes are and how limiting they are, on the flip side of that is...are we exploring giving women the space and allowance to be exactly who they are as complicated layered challenging, funny, silly, etc.?
On her now-axed Archetypes Spotify podcast, the Duchess of Sussex questioned whether the show, which Andy Cohen (above) produces, creates 'caricatures of women.' However, she failed to put her criticisms to Mr Cohen directly, even though he was interviewed in the same episode in November last year
'Or in a franchise like Housewives, are we fueling the fire of archetypes by creating caricatures of women?'
The Duchess then played a clip of an argument about cheating from The Real Houswives of New Jersey before saying: 'Oh my gosh. Oh man, this is a tough one for me.
'This is a tough one because as you heard Andy describes this as a feminist show and I want to hear him out on that because this drama it tends to feed off the kinds of women that they often feature on the show, or at least one facet of their personalities.
'And yes, some might call them stereotypes and I think for this reason people have really—like I'm explaining—mixed feelings about the show and the role that the show might play in perpetuating the sorts of labels we've been discussing on Archetypes.
'So, I thought it was important to really hear Andy out on this and to get to know him a little better too.'
Mr Cohen said in his book that he had agreed to the interview on the expectation that he would have to defend Real Housewives.
He wrote: 'I'm going into this expecting to have to defend my beloved troop of Housewives, something I've grown accustomed to and enjoy doing.'
The star initially spoke of the pair's conversation on his radio show. Pointing out how she picked up on his failure to remember that they had already met, he said: 'She was gleeful in telling me, I have to say.
'She was so happy to tell me that,' adding: 'I understand why she would want to throw that in my face, basically.
'I understand, you know, you never forget how you were treated. You're still the same person – she's still Meghan Markle.
Mr Cohen featured on Archetypes in November last year in what turned out to be the show's final episode
But he admitted that he had no idea Meghan would be keeping that 'awkward' moment in, saying that he 'got it' but that he found the move 'interesting' on her part.
'I just have to say, I get why she left that in. I thought that was so interesting,' he said.
Cohen went on to hint that he considered Meghan something of a 'whatever' person back when they first met, saying: 'First of all, you never know who you meet in a day.
'But listen, I didn’t become a Duchess obviously... I became an old queen talk show host.
'And when I was a young queen I remember meeting people who were "whatever", so I just think it’s interesting. It’s really interesting.'
Shannon Beador, Tamra Judge, Heather Dubrow, Vicki Gunvalson, Meghan Edmonds from Real Housewives of Orange County
The 'awkward' interaction between Meghan and Andy unfolded at the start of their interview, when the TV host told the Duchess it was 'nice to meet' her - only for her to reply: 'It’s good to see you. I’ve met you before, [but] you’ll never remember it.'
Cohen was shocked he had previously met the former actress and Markle then explained she first met at USA-Bravo event and added that she was a 'huge fan 'of the Real Housewives executive producer.
'I was so eager to be on your show, because I was such a Housewives fan at the time, and I just couldn’t get booked Andy!' Meghan said, before quipping, 'So, thanks for being here with me.'
She then noted the pair met a second time when she attended a WHHL taping with her Suits costar Gabriel Macht, however, the Duchess wasn't a guest on the hit show.
Cohen explained that when Markle added that she came to a WWHL taping 'before', he felt 'a little worse'.
He then admitted that rejecting the former actress an appearance was 'the biggest blunder in the 13 years of the show,' adding that he'd now be 'begging' for her to come to the show.
Source : www.dailymail.co.uk
