Can we talk about “With Love, Meghan” and all these opinions!
I'm in your inbox because I love hosting personally, and found a way to do that professionally, too – through my supper club, my magazine, a forthcoming book, and
lots of video content in between. And in doing all these things, it has never been lost on me how many mainstream resources did not reflect me. In learning how to cook and how to host, I held on dearly to books, clips, and articles from B. Smith. In fact, she is the thesis for my entire career. Seeing a Black woman cooking and hosting from a place of joy, and luxury, and leisure, and not from the position of a mammy or hired help, that is a very important thing. And not just for me personally, but for our society, our media, and our history.
So when “With Love, Meghan” - a show following Meghan (Markle) Sussex entertaining her friends was to be on Netflix, this was not small news. But quickly…
“I’m Already Bored by Meghan Markle’s New Netflix Cooking Series” was the Eater headline pre-air. And “Meghan Markle Pioneers New Frontiers in Unrelatability" was the headline from NY Magazine after all episodes were available.
And to these writers and others, I hope you will zoom out and really consider how deeply harmful it is to be fueling rhetoric that suggests a Black woman cannot anchor a home entertaining show that is just as playful, whimsical, and “unrelatable” as every show we’ve ever watched from Martha and Ina (and Gwyneth, and Joanna, and Selena, need I go on?).
It is jarring to see everyone criticize this show and suggest that we should overlook the detail that the host of this show is also a Black woman. Please be so serious. What's the real issue with the show? I like seeing Black woman on big screens being beautiful, joyful, well-educated, well- traveled, affluent, and luxurious. Why don't you? Ask yourself and face your answer because some people are way too comfortable making commentary about who belongs in certain spaces and who does not. It's not OK.
And because history untaught is history repeated, I bring you to,
“Can B. Smith be Martha?” published in the New York Times in 1999. In this article, the writer goes through a toxic comparison of B. Smith and Martha Stewart that fuels a mass media disposition that we can’t have both. It was weird energy then. It is weird energy now. And to participate in these sharp critiques without questioning the undertones of your disapproval is irresponsible and dangerous.
With that said, let me get back to my “unrelatable” work as a Black woman who throws luxurious dinner parties and makes content about it.
- Tickets for my next dinner party in Tribeca on March 25th are available now! Chef Sabella Moreau is making us a Haitian feast with saltfish brandade, crispy snapper, passion fruit creme brûlée and more. And a musician will be there playing Caribbean music on a grand piano, so yes, we'll be unrelatable AF that night. Want to come? GET TICKETS.
- I also made a luxurious snack board for my friend and we snacked and yapped for an hour. Can you imagine? How unrelatable it was for us to want to have a moment of respite, and joy, and lunch. Click here for inspo.
- And if you want a magazine full of Black people doing even more unrelatable sh*t at home, there are still copies of WE Magazine for sale at BEM Brooklyn.
Now, I'm off to walk my dog. Then, I'm going to bake a lemon pound cake and tomorrow I'm going to pilates. Some people will hate to see you happy and healthy, so be exactly that.
With Love,
