Andy Cohen slams claims Meghan Markle did not conduct interviews for 'Archetypes'

Andy Cohen defended Meghan Markle from allegations that she did not conduct interviews on her "Archetypes" Spotify podcast. He vouched that she did because he was one of the guests on the series.

The "Watch What Happens Live" host called claims that the former "Suits" star had her producers do the interviews "ridiculous." He told US Weekly, "Of course, I [spoke with Meghan], And she definitely [interviewed me]. That's an insane rumor" and pointed out, "Her podcast is conversations with people. How would she not have, of course she did."

Cohen was among the male guests interviewed on "Archetypes." He, along with comedians Trevor Noah and Judd Apatow were invited to talk about the stereotypes that hold women back in the last episode of the series.

Recalling the experience, the 55-year-old Bravo executive said the Duchess of Sussex was "quite well-researched," she was also "well-informed" and "thoughtful." It was also during their conversation that the mom-of-two talked about an interest in the early 2010s to appear on "Watch What Happens Live" and that during that time, she was a big "Real Housewives" fan. He called not having her as a guest the "biggest blunder in the 13 years of the show."

Meghan Markle released "Archetypes" on Spotify in August 2022. Cohen further talked about his interview with Meghan Markle in his book "Daddy Diaries" which came out earlier this year. In it, he shared his feelings after the duchess seemingly accused his reality TV show, "Real Housewives," of spreading negative stereotypes of women in her monologue, but she did not directly put the blame on him.

She said about the franchise as quoted by Newsweek, "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.? Or in a franchise like 'Housewives,' are we fueling the fire of archetypes by creating caricatures of women?"

Meghan Markle then played a clip of an argument about cheating from "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" which she admitted gave her mixed feelings. She said, "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."

She continued, "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."

But in his book, Cohen clarified that the duchess never brought up her concerns about the franchise to him during their conversation in her podcast. He said he went to the interview ready to defend the show writing, "I'm going into this expecting to have to defend my beloved troop of 'Housewives,' something I've grown accustomed to and enjoy doing."

When asked if he would be interested to discuss "The Real Housewives" again with Meghan Markle, he told the magazine that he would "love" for her to be a guest on "Watch What Happens Live" so they could continue the conversation. Regardless, he clarified in his book that the Duchess of Sussex "was lovely" and that they "had a great time together" during their discussion in "Archetypes."