When NBC announced that Meghan Markle would be appearing on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” they made a mistake.
The confusion over the Duchess of Sussex’s alleged talk show appearance began Monday when NBC published a story on its website stating that Prince Harry’s wife will appear on “The Tonight Show” on December 7, according to the Daily Mail.
The report was quickly debunked by Omid Scobie, a royal correspondent and co-author of the best-selling biography “Finding Freedom” on Prince Harry and Meghan.
Scobie tweeted:
“Looks like someone at NBC didn’t get the memo! Despite an announcement via their various PR channels, Meghan isn’t scheduled to appear on ‘The Tonight Show.'”
Shortly after, the broadcaster apologized for causing confusion and removed the piece from its website.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, an NBC representative said:
“Earlier today, it was inaccurately reported that Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex would be appearing on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ on December 7.”
The now-deleted NBC article claimed that Markle would talk about her recent projects and the Sussexes’ upcoming Netflix docuseries, which will premiere next month. The documentary and Prince Harry’s upcoming memoir “Spare” have sparked furious debate even before their release.
The representatives for Markle and Prince Harry have not publicly addressed the error.
Following Queen Elizabeth II’s death on September 8, the duchess had previously canceled an appearance on “The Tonight Show.” She was supposed to meet with Fallon on September 20, the same day she and Prince Harry were supposed to attend the UN General Assembly in Manhattan.
The former actress, however, canceled both appearances, which were scheduled for the day after the Queen’s funeral.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are preparing to release their docuseries, which has reportedly been in the works for a year and has already sparked widespread interest.
According to Page Six, the couple had a falling out with the original director of their docuseries, Oscar nominee Garrett Bradley, over the project’s vision, which resulted in her departure.
Unnamed insiders told the outlet that Bradley, who directed the critically acclaimed Netflix series “Naomi Osaka” about the young tennis sensation, and the Sussexes couldn’t agree on the tone of the docuseries.
One industry source told Page Six:
“Garrett wanted Harry and Meghan to film at home and they were not comfortable doing that. There were a few sticky moments between them, and Garrett left the project. Harry and Meghan’s own production company captured as much footage as they could before Liz Garbus was hired.”
However, Prince Harry and Meghan allegedly clashed with Garbus and Netflix executives over the content of their series, which the duchess appears to have addressed in a recent interview with Variety.
Markle said:
“It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story — a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired — even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it. But that’s not why we’re telling it. We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens.”
The Netflix docuseries starring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle is set to premiere in December.