Meghan Markle has had a rotten time getting A-listers to join her inner circle, but she’s finally making headway with the ultimate “Friend” as a source exclusively tells Life & Style Jennifer Aniston is hitting her up for pep talks and opening the door with a golden ticket into her choosey social circle.
“Jen knows what it’s like to be in the public eye and under scrutiny, so she has a ton of empathy for Meghan and thinks the way she’s been treated is pretty diabolical,” the insider says. “At the same time, she’s really impressed with how Meghan’s shown such resilience.”
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, has been embattled on several fronts as of late. Her lifestyle brand American Riviera Orchard suffered an employee exodus in 2024, according to Closer, who reported the brand is still “firmly on the ground,” despite injections of capital to see liftoff. The publication also reported Meghan was having difficulty trying to replace the brand’s CEO.
“The numbers don’t lie and to have almost 20 members of staff quitting on them tells its own story,” a different source told Closer. “It’s unprecedented, even for a startup.”
“The brutal reality is Harry and Meghan are the toughest of taskmasters, they’re very demanding and difficult to work for and that puts a lot of people’s backs up.”
Worse yet, as Life & Style previously reported, the couple’s $100 million Netflix deal is on the line as project after project fails to live up to sky-high expectations. Their latest endeavor, the five-part mini series Polo, fell flat on its face and was even branded “tone deaf” by The Guardian.
Despite the recent spat of bad luck, the first insider says that Jen, 55, “admires how [Meghan]’s stayed strong and stuck to her principles through everything.”
“They have Oprah as a mutual friend and don’t forget Courteney [Cox] is friendly with Harry, so there’s already some common ground. Jen is very selective about who she lets into her circle, so she has taken things quite slowly with Meghan, but the word is she’s ready to fully welcome her in.”
The Sussexes have been eager to add to their SoCal social circle since Harry, 40, was rebuffed yet again by his heir-apparent brother, William. The formerly royal couple has been searching high and low for new A-list friends to buddy up to, including Nashville musician Jelly Roll.
With Jen, however, Meghan seems to have found a kindred spirit. The Morning Show star has, for the most part, been hunkered down with her beloved dogs to keep her company in her Bel Air mansion that she had purchased with ex-husband Justin Theroux. And even though there was talk that Meghan had some beef with Jen while working as an actress before she became a duchess, the insider insists it’s simply not true.
“There’s been this rumor that Jen snubbed Meghan years ago when they worked on Horrible Bosses, but that’s just not true.”
“Meghan had such a small part, so they hardly worked together, but it was no reflection on Meghan or how Jen felt about her. Anyone harping on that clearly has no idea how film sets work.”
