TOPSHOT – Meghan Markle (R) and her mother, Doria Ragland, arrive for her wedding ceremony to marry Britain’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in Windsor, on May 19, 2018. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)
A lot of people are blasting the German television station ZDF for its coverage of the royal wedding on Saturday (May 19).
Throughout the ceremony, the hosts focused on the fact that Meghan Markle is Black, and they called her, as well as other Black folks in attendance, “exotic.”
There was also a strange comment made about Markle’s mother Doria Ragland and the hairstyle she was wearing.
“Are those dreadlocks on Meghan’s mother?” asked one hosts. “It’s curly hair that’s been somewhat de-curled,” another replied. “Same as Meghan probably does all the time.”
And then there were other derogatory comments made about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“The two (Harry and Meghan) will probably never become King and Queen, so we can afford an exotic couple like that,” one host said.
“Meghan always wanted a Barbie doll family,” someone else commented. “But there were only white and Black Barbie families.”
One of the main stories that came out of the royal wedding was how Black culture was honored after the Chicago-born pastor Michael Curry brought down the house with his sermon on love. Plus, there was a Black 19-year-old cellist that performed named Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who became an instant viral hit.
On top of that, an all-Black group of gospel singers, The Kingdom Choir, performed.
“[They sung] beautifully Black,” one host said.
Afterward, plenty of people took to Twitter and let the hosts have it, like comedian Aurel Mertiz, who posted another weird comment that was made.
“Expert on @ZDF: ‘Meghan radiates Afro-American spirit’ — Officially the whitest sentence ever said,” he wrote.
Since getting calls and emails about its royal wedding coverage, ZDF released a statement but didn’t offer an apology.
“The ZDF viewer-service got calls and emails from the viewers with questions, as well as praise and criticism for different aspects of our coverage,” the statement read. “We take seriously the criticism of our viewers.”