Simon Rex comes clean about tabloids offering $70K to lie about dating Meghan Markle before wedding to Harry
Were Simon Rex and Meghan Markle's dating rumors true or just a fallacy? In a recent episode of the 'Hollywood Raw' podcast, the actor opened up about how he was bribed by British tabloids to lie about the "relationship."
The former MTV VJ said that press outlets offered up to $70,000 to fabricate the details of his "friendship" just to label him as one of her ex-boyfriends. Coming clean, he confessed, "Nothing happened. We never even kissed. It was just, like, we hung out once in a very non-datey way. She was just someone I had met on a TV show and we got lunch. That was the extent of it."
The two actors worked on a sitcom called 'Cuts' in 2005, which revolved around the Barnes' family-run barbershop. A place where you could socialize and discuss while having a haircut, it stressed on the challenges faced by the employees in Baltimore. While Rex played Tiffany's rich ex-boyfriend Harrison on the show, Markle played Cori in an episode.
Right before Markle got hitched with Prince Harry in May 2018, a number of British tabloids penned down her dating history and called Rex one of her former love interests. It started with a report published in The Sun that claimed how the 45-year-old actor "blew the date" with the actress. In the interview, he is quoted, "It’s possible that she found out afterwards. There’s so many questions I don’t know the answer to about why we never went on a second date. But I’m blaming it on the garlic noodles. To this day that’s like an ongoing joke — don’t order the garlic noodles that ruined my chances!"
Shedding light on the aftermath of the story, Rex confessed on the podcast, "When that story broke, a couple of British tabloids offered to pay me a lot of money to say a lie that we actually hooked up,” Rex continued. “I said no to a lot of money because I didn’t feel right lying and f**king up the royal f**king family."
Both Meghan and Harry have decided to step down from the royal family but just before that, the couple sued a number of British outlets who put them under intense scrutiny.
Defending his wife's stance, Harry issued a statement in October 2019 against the “bullying” she faced after joining the royal family. "I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long. To stand back and do nothing would be contrary to everything we believe in," he said, adding, "There comes a point when the only thing to do is to stand up to this behavior because it destroys people and destroys lives."
He also said that his "deepest fear is history repeating itself," referring to his late mother, Princess Diana, who died in 1997 amid public scrutiny and added, "I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces."
It wasn't just one story or incident, but "an accumulation" that the couple decided to take action against. An insider told US Weekly, "Meghan comes across as a strong woman, but she’s been deeply affected by the negative stories about her." High Court documents from November revealed that they were retaliating against rumors about Meghan’s strained relationship with her father, her baby shower and even the developments made to Frogmore Cottage.