To be uncomfortable after my manager went on a rant about how much she hates Meghan Markle during a team meeting?

[AlertBird]

So, today, in our team meeting, my manager went on a full-on rant about how much she hates Meghan Markle. It seemed completely out of place and unnecessary, especially considering the meeting was meant to be about work. It got a bit awkward and no one really knew how to react.

I get that people have opinions but I just felt like it was unprofessional to bring something like that up during a work meeting. It felt like a personal issue being projected onto everyone else.

AIBU to feel uncomfortable about this or is it just me being overly sensitive?

The Prime Minister has an actual influence people's lives. It is quite unusual to have that strong a reaction about a person you don't know who has no bearing on your life whatsoever.

I'm sorry but a Manager has no right to inflict their personal opinions on team members. This wasn't a quiet, cosy chat with a like-minded colleague, this was a professional meeting, which had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Meghan Markle. What if team members disagreed? Would you think it absolutely fine to start a free for all slanging match? If that's your idea of a good manager I hope you aren't one.

It's really not the same thing and didn't the liberals get a significant amount of mp s in the last GE?
If you can't see the difference in ranting about MM who frankly mskes zero difference to everyday life and ranting about a politician I can't help you 🤷‍♀️

@Munnygirl

It maybe a strange comparison to you but it’s still the same thing. What about people having an opinion on the leader of the liberal party. He doesn’t really have a sway over policy but people will have an opinion about him

All MPs vote on policy. All are paid for by us as tax payers.

It's not a sensible comparison at all to someone with no effect on your life who has a Netflix show you can simply turn off and never think about again...

I don't like MM OR Kate, because both seem to think they're due our approval even though neither has done anything interesting or worthy after successfully marrying a famous man, but there is defintely an online community of nutjobs who think about MM night and day, and are very much racist.

I think it's fine to not like people in the public eye, but full on hatred is really weird, unless it's someone who's caused suffering to people eg. By whipping up bigotry

Why do you use that name, as surely you know that HRH Catherine, Princess of Wales, is married and according to English culture and tradition, has taken her husband’s name? I mean, if it’s good enough for Meghan

I don’t think she’s unwell, at least not that I know of. She didn’t seem particularly stressed - just very passionate about how much she dislikes MM. It was odd because it had nothing to do with the meeting and no one really knew how to respond. If she is under pressure, I guess it could have been a misplaced vent, but it still felt unprofessional.

It’s not though. People can and do have a strong reaction to MANY people in the public eye and to say that it’s unusual is absurd.

Very inappropriate and boring.

My (ex) boss is apparently anti abortion. He went on a rant. Nobody said anything but it was on the tip of my tongue to say Hey there are three women here.. For all you know they may have had one (or more) so shut up! Normally when he went on about something, we just let him rant. He went on about Harry Potter being bad (I suppose the dark arts and stuff but really it is just about good and evil. He also went on about sex and the city - well the clue is in the title.

He also planned that everyone should come in on a Saturday to work (he spent most of his time at work despite having a family). NO one said anything though they weren't happy then one doctor said no, out of thye question, I play the piano on Saturday!

Ranting about the Prime Minister is unprofessional in a work meeting, but the conduct/policies of the government that the Prime Minister leads do have a direct impact on the lives of British people.

Meghan Markle has no impact at all on UK citizens. Nothing she does directly affects us. She is irrelevant to our lives.

Read what else i said

So she's Catherine/Kate Mountbatten-Windsor if she's taken her husband's name. Princess of Wales is her role, job title, whatever, but it isn't her name or her husband's.

@Munnygirl

It’s not though. People can and do have a strong reaction to MANY people in the public eye and to say that it’s unusual is absurd.

People didn't just say a strong reaction is unusual. They said that reacting at the level of OP's manager is unusual. If you don't think it's unusual to rant about a celebrity / public figure with no bearing on your actual life, in a professional meeting, about an unrelated topic, with people not even joining in... then you are wrong.

The people who dislike her are very passionate.
The dinner lady and nursery practitioner at my last job had a full blown argument after the Netflix Harry and Meghan show dropped. The anti-meghan wouldn’t let it drop. Kept on saying that the Opera interview cannot be found online anymore as it was all lies and had so many random conspiracies she was very pro Kate aswell.

Would you have the same reaction if the manager was complaining about someone else? Though I do agree a business meeting is not the place to discuss this

@Munnygirl

Would you have the same reaction if the manager was complaining about someone else? Though I do agree a business meeting is not the place to discuss this

If a manager showed up to a meeting and out of nowhere starting ranting about a celebrity they hate then of course I would. It's an utterly bizarre and unprofessional thing for someone to do whoever it's about.

MM has no effect on this manager's life. She's a celebrity with a Netflix show you can choose to watch or not.

It's still baffling to me that you compared that to people who influence policy or are paid for by the public.

Why couldn't you have said, 'I don't think anyone likes her, but moving along to xxxxx work related stuff...'

Yes, it sounds like a deeply unprofessional situation and it would make me uncomfortable too. My concern for your manager is that she is being radicalised online by dedicated MM hate groups and she is struggling to now disassociate from it in her professional life. Not liking MM is one thing, but disliking her to the extent that you can't identify where it's appropriate to share your opinions on her, and where it isn't, suggests she's down a fairly concerning rabbit hole.

No, it doesn't, but a lot of racists do dislike her.
Op, I'd be uncomfortable too. It's inappropriate for work, as I quite like Meghan and am enjoying her series at the mo, I'd obviously have a different opinion to her.
Where are you supposed to "go" with that in a work experience? It's not appropriate.
She was either wanting a companion in a bitching session about someone, or didn't give a shit about making people feel awkward as they didn't want confrontation or disagreement.
YANBU

Totally inappropriate .
Very strange

Meghan has got some women losing their minds

My point that you could have an opinion on ANYONE the PM was just an example

This

I didn’t say otherwise, in fact, I did not mention HRH, Catherine, Princess of Wales’s married name at all. Just in case you missed it, it was merely highlighting Meghan’s ( previously k/a Rachel) missive towards one of the participants in her latest Netflix show. But yes, you are correct that is indeed her married name (or even, if we are doing it according to Meghan’s demand to her guest, Mrs Wales 😀)