Serena Williams leads support for friend Meghan Markle

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Serena Williams and make-up artist Daniel Martin are leading the support for their close friend Meghan Markle in the wake of her bombshell Oprah interview. 

They spoke out in defense of their friend after the Duchess made a series of astonishing admissions on Sunday night about her life before stepping down as a working royal.

In a statement on Twitter after the interview aired, Williams – who was among those to attend Meghan’s wedding to Prince Harry – described her as a ‘selfless friend’ who ‘teaches me every day what it means to be truly noble’. 

‘Her words illustrate the pain and cruelty she’s experienced,’ Williams wrote.  

‘I know first hand the sexism and racism institutions and the media use to vilify women and people of color to minimize us, to break us down and demonize us. We must recognize our obligation to decry malicious, unfounded gossip and tabloid journalism. 

‘The mental health consequences of systemic oppression and victimization are devastating, isolating and all too often lethal.

‘I want Meghan’s daughter, my daughter and your daughter to live in a society that is driven by respect.

‘Keep in your memory the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.’

Meanwhile, Daniel Martin – who did Meghan’s make-up on her wedding day – shared a picture of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Instagram.

He posted the photo alongside a poem from Maya Angelou that said: ‘You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt. But still, like dust, I’ll rise.’ 

Earlier in the week, Martin had shared another image of him doing Meghan’s make up with another defiant poem about ‘light and love’ in her defense.  

It comes after a number of Meghan’s friends and former co-stars spoke out in her defense in the days before the interview aired. 

Her supporters came out in force with members of so-called Team Meghan attacking the Royal family as ‘historically racist’ on social media.

Fashion designer Misha Nonoo, who has been friends with Meghan for several years, wrote on Instagram: ‘Wise words from an incredible friend, an inspiring role model and a woman of strength, empathy and grace who always leads with her big heart’.

Her best friend Jessica Mulroney said in an Instagram post that no one ‘has ever had to deal with the pressure, the politics and the press’ like Meghan has. 

‘In the face of it all, I have never seen her wave from kindness, empathy and love,’ she wrote. 

TV and film director, Silver Tree, posted a series of tweets alongside photos of Meghan, saying: ‘This is Meg. A real person- not a cover story. She is one of my very nearest and dearest. Like all her friends I love her madly. 

‘She is the friend who insists on always hearing the details of your life, your day, your kids life, your kids day, before hers. Always before hers.’ 

Patrick J Adams, her co-star on the TV show Suits, referred to news that she had been accused of bullying staff, tweeting: ‘It’s obscene that the Royal Family… is promoting and amplifying accusations of ‘bullying’ against a woman who herself was basically forced to flea [sic] the UK in order to protect her family and her own mental health.’ 

TV producer Lindsay Jill Roth, who had Meghan as the maid of honor at her wedding, took to Instagram to say ‘goodwill runs in her bones’.

‘Meg’s M.O. has always been kindness; goodwill runs in her bones. I know this to be true after 22 years of very close friendship. I have seen firsthand how she treats her friends and their families, and her colleagues,’ she wrote.

‘If she’s driving with you in the passenger seat, she will fling her right arm in front of you at the slightest bump in a gesture of love to ensure your safety. If you have a specific goal, she will help you get there, and your passions will become hers on your behalf.’