After a legion of fans slammed Meghan Markle’s comparison to Nelson Mandela in an interview with The Cut, the only South African cast member has responded – calling out the story as a lie.
Watch Below: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Lion King premiere
Last week, during an interview with The Cut, Meghan Markle retold a conversation she had at the Lion King live-action movie premiere in London.
“I just had Archie. It was such a cruel chapter. I was scared to go out,” she explained before sharing a conversation she had with a cast member from South Africa.
“He looked at me, and he’s just like light,” she said.
“He said, ‘I just need you to know: When you married into this family, we rejoiced in the streets the same we did when Mandela was freed from prison.’”
Whilst the interview did clarify that Meghan “knows she’s no Mandela,” it didn’t stop the barrage of hate that came her way after the article’s release – and now the only South African cast member of the movie is speaking out.
Dr John Kani, who voiced the mandrill shaman Rafiki revealed to MailOnline that he has never met Meghan Markle – he didn’t even attend the UK premiere.
He also explained that the only other South African involved in the film was Lebo M, a composer who produces the music for the film, but that he was not a cast member.
“I have never met Meghan Markle. This seems like something of a faux pas by her…I have never met the Duchess at all,” he explained.
“The only South African was me playing Rafiki. But I did not go to the opening in Leicester Square as I didn’t have the time to do that. It just may be a misremembering on her side,” the actor continued before labelling the situation “baffling.”
Dr Kani also revealed that he does not believe people in South Africa celebrated the royal wedding in a similar fashion to that of the release of Nelson Mandela.
“In my memory, nobody would have known when she got married, when or what. We had no South African link to the wedding or to her marrying Harry.”
Dr Kani’s comments came just hours after Nelson Mandela’s own grandson called the Duchess out, urging her to “pull up her sleeves” and do more for ordinary people.
Zwelivelile ‘Mandla’ Mandela told The Times that the former actress should “get out there, pull up your sleeves and better the lives of ordinary people in England and in the United Kingdom.”
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