A royal expert described as a ‘toxic racist liar’ and dropped by CNN after being cheated on by Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview to comment before it airs, threatens to sue.
Victoria Arbiter, 48, was ‘ruthlessly mocked’ online by supporters of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the so-called ‘Sussex Squad’, when she and three other royal commentators were seduced two days before the explosives interview to give their thoughts . was broadcast.
Days after the hoax was uploaded to YouTube under the title ‘We Proved Royal Experts Lie About Harry and Meghan’, CNN canceled an offer of a new contract and she has since ‘literally lost all my work’.
Ms Arbiter also claims she was left with ‘acute anxiety and depression’ after the scam, as well as losing tens of thousands of pounds in lost earnings, reports The Telegraph.
The single believes she is a victim of fraudulent misrepresentation and is now considering legal action against the London-based scoundrels as part of efforts to restore her reputation.
She told the newspaper: ‘I just want to clear my name and for them to apologize and be held accountable for what they did.
‘They tried to laugh and make money and in the process destroyed my life as I knew it. If it were not for my family and friends, I do not know what the ultimate outcome would have been. ‘
Harry and Meghan portrayed during their explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in March last year
Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter was ‘mercilessly mocked’ online by supporters of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex when she and three other royal commentators were seduced into giving their thoughts on the interview before it aired
Victoria with her father Dickie, who also fell victim to the YouTube polish shortly before the interview last year
She added: ‘I literally lost all my job. I was mercilessly mocked. I went to see a doctor who diagnosed me with acute anxiety and depression. I still have insomnia. ‘
Pranksters Archie Manners, a former Radley College student, and South African-born Josh Pieters misled the royal experts into giving pre-recorded interviews using the fake company name Beneath the Fold.
Among those deceived were also Ms Arbiter’s father, Dickie, former press secretary to the Queen, Richard Fitzwilliams and Majesty magazine editor-in-chief Ingrid Seward.
Mr Arbiter agreed to a £ 300 fee with the joker and told them they needed a pre-record – a concept which she said was a recognized industry practice.
But the YouTube video was then posted with allegations from Mr. Manners (29) and mr. Pieters (28) that the experts give their opinion on footage that they did not see to ‘jump on the buzz of the Harry and Meghan interview’.
In the original video, she told the couple: ‘She [Oprah] asked the difficult questions, she had to ask the difficult questions, but at the same time I think she asked those questions in a sympathetic light. ‘
She also told how Oprah gave the Sussexes an ‘easy ride’ because they are already well known to each other. and described as ‘incredibly moved, stunned, saddened’ by the rift between Harry and William.
But Ms Arbiter says the video was very edited and she at times refused to comment because she was unaware of what was not broadcast in the interview at the time.
Other remarks she made to the jokers were allegedly based on snippets and teasers that had already been made public before its broadcast.
The royal expert said she could ‘barely breathe’ when she came to the realization that she had been deceived.
Harry and Meghan pictured together on Day Two of the Invictus Games 2020 in April earlier this year
Days after the YouTube video was uploaded, CNN, which paid her an annual fee, walked away from an offer of a renewed contract. She was also suffocated by other broadcasters when she became a victim of online vitriol.
She said: ‘The attack was relentless. I lost the ability to earn an income. We were still in the midst of a pandemic, so there was no survival work to be found.
“I was too scared to leave my house. I lost a stone in weight and my lashes fell out. I still suffer from insomnia and sometimes the anxiety is so crippling that I cannot function.
‘I lost 15 months of income not to mention future opportunities and I’m about to lose my home. I’m a single with a son to support.
‘I started going to counseling, but I had to quit because of the unpaid costs. My character has been killed, I have been humiliated in public and my reputation is in ruins. ‘
Ms Arbiter, who also recalled that she had ‘dark thoughts’, has since been removed from the video following complaints from her lawyers, but says the damage has already been done.
Mr. Manners and Mr. Pieters gained notoriety for their online pranks, after previously misleading Katie Hopkins into accepting a fake award and paying influencers for fake wellness treatments.
When they spoke to The Guardian following the video in March last year, the couple said they had made the joke to see if people would say “things that were not necessarily true just to jump on the buzz” .
Mr Manners added: ‘For me it’s like asking a football commentator to give me a 90 minute vote on [a match they have not seen]. It’s such a ridiculous point of view. ‘
The couple also said the editing of the video was ‘incredibly fair’.
Dickie Arbiter has previously said the video is’ deliberately misleading and a scam, while Mr. Fitzwilliams said there was an agreement that the comments would be used based on what was broadcast in the interview to avoid anything inappropriate.