What happened between Meghan Markle & Mindy Kaling? Candace Owens slams Duchess, claims she is "playing a human being" in a "performance"

American political commentator and podcaster Candace Owens weighed in on an interaction between Mindy Kaling and Meghan Markle in the July 3, 2025, video on her Candace podcast. Reacting to how Markle responded to Kaling, Owens slammed the duchess and claimed that she was “playing a human being” in a “performance.”

"I am sorry but, and genuinely I don't even mean to attack her. I just, there was something frustrating about her, and I think he hits the nail on the head. It's like she's playing a human being. Like it's a like it's a performance," Owens explained.

During this episode, Owens shared the March 13, 2025, clip from The Tim Dillon Show, where Dillon reacted to an interaction between Meghan Markle and Mindy Kaling.

The interaction in question was from Markle’s Netflix show, With Love, Meghan. In the short clip, Mindy Kaling, while conversing with Markle, referred to her as "Meghan Markle."

"It’s so funny, too, that you keep saying Meghan Markle. You know I’m Sussex now," the duchess responded.

Reacting to Markle’s response to Mindy Kaling, Dillon, in his video, claimed that Markle was doing "an impression of a human being," but she wasn’t a real "human being."

"Her lust for power, for status, for fame is so naked and so transparent. The demon inside of her is coming out of her eyes, and she's trying to be a human being, only to just be enough of a human being for the show," Dillon said in his video.

Owens, in her podcast episode, referred to these comments made by Dillon and added that he described Markle “very well.” She also echoed Dillon’s sentiment, stating that to her, the duchess came across as though she were in the "season three of some show" where she was "required to pretend that she’s a human being."

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Mindy Kaling addresses her viral moment on Meghan Markle’s Netflix show

From L to R, Mindy Kaling and Meghan Markle (Image via Getty Images)

Comedian and actress Mindy Kaling addressed the viral moment that unfolded during her guest appearance on Meghan Markle’s Netflix series, With Love, Meghan.

For context, in the March 4, 2025, episode titled Welcome to the Party, Kaling joined Markle for a sunny backyard get-together filled with lighthearted activities. The two prepared tea sandwiches, arranged ladybug crudités, and even assembled a balloon arch during their time together.

However, while they were working in the kitchen, Mindy Kaling remarked that people wouldn't believe that "Meghan Markle ate at Jack in the Box." In response, Markle pointed out how Kaling kept using her maiden name and reminded her that she was now a “Sussex.”

"You have kids and you go, ‘No, I share my name with my children…I didn’t know how meaningful that would be to me, but it just means so much to go, this is our family name, our little family name," Markle added.

Fans of the show believed this interaction between Markle and Kaling to be an awkward moment when Markle corrected Kaling on her use of her last name. Soon, this brief exchange went viral on social media, with viewers analyzing the interaction and speculating about the dynamic between the two.

However, during her March 6, 2025, appearance on The View, Mindy Kaling expressed surprise at the amount of attention the moment had received. Speaking to host Sunny Hostin, Kaling said she genuinely enjoyed filming her segment with Markle and didn’t expect the moment to spark such buzz.

"You know, I had a great time… I noticed that whenever I do something, anything related to Meghan, it becomes… big news," she explained.

The Mindy Project star also addressed how users on social media zeroed in on her facial expression during the exchange and interpreted it in various emotional ways. She admitted that she had no recollection of the moment until it started trending online.

"We were making sandwiches, and then they’ll push in on my face on TikTok and they’ll be like, ‘Look at this emotion you felt,’ and I honestly didn’t even remember it because we shot it like nine months ago," she said.

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Mindy Kaling’s latest Netflix venture was Running Point, and she was both the co-creator and writer of this series, which came out on February 27, 2025. Kaling is also working on the script of Legally Blonde 3 with pal Dan Goor and her company, Kaling Intl.

Meghan Markle has been focusing on building her businesses, including her lifestyle brand, As Ever, Archewell Productions, and her multi-project content deal with Netflix.