Meghan Markle appeared to get the cold shoulder from one of Prince Harry’s closest celebrity friends on a Canadian red carpet, but David Foster insists the viral moment is being completely misunderstood.
The Duchess of Sussex and Harry attended the David Foster Foundation’s 40th anniversary gala in Victoria, British Columbia, on August 7 when cameras captured an interaction that quickly caught attention online. In the footage, Foster appears to walk directly past Meghan while the Sussexes are posing for photographers.
The awkward moment did not last long. Foster soon returned with his wife, Katharine McPhee, and the four happily posed together.
Still, those few seconds were enough to ignite claims that Meghan had been deliberately snubbed.
Foster has now stepped in personally to kill the narrative.
“As the host of the David Foster and Friends foundation event, I had already greeted our friends, the Duke and Duchess, at the entrance 10 minutes before the red carpet encounter,” he told People.
“Harry and Meghan are dear friends of mine,” Foster continued, insisting there was “certainly no snub.”
Then he went considerably further.
“It’s sad that certain media chose to deceive a red carpet encounter for clickbait,” Foster said, arguing that simple positioning for photographers had been transformed into “a hurtful lie.”
Royal Watchers Aren’t Completely Buying David Foster’s Explanation
Foster may consider the controversy settled, but plenty of people on X were considerably more skeptical.
One reaction featuring a Seth Meyers GIF bluntly declared, “That definitely sounds like a made-up story.”
Another user responded with an unimpressed “Oh sure, sure,” while other commenters suggested the explanation felt like an attempt to clean up an uncomfortable-looking moment after it went viral.
None of that proves Foster’s account is untrue. In fact, footage showing him returning moments later and smiling alongside Harry and Meghan cuts against the idea that an obvious feud was unfolding on the carpet.
His history with the couple does, too.
McPhee and Meghan knew each other growing up in Los Angeles, while Harry later developed a close friendship with Foster. McPhee once characterized the men’s relationship as being almost like “father and son.”
Foster also helped Harry and Meghan find privacy in Canada during one of the most turbulent periods of their royal exit. In 2019, he assisted in arranging the couple’s stay at a friend’s Vancouver Island mansion before they ultimately settled in California.
The gala itself raised millions for the David Foster Foundation, which helps Canadian families with children undergoing life-saving organ transplants.
But online, the charity work quickly found itself competing with a few seconds of red carpet footage.
Whatever actually happened when Foster walked past Meghan, his later interaction with the Sussexes looked considerably warmer than the viral clip suggested. That has not stopped royal watchers from picking the moment apart — and Foster’s forceful denial appears to have given them even more to argue about.
