Meghan Markle's Pal Janina Gavankar Seen Laughing At Chris Rock Show Amid His Digs At Duchess: Report

One of Meghan Markle's longtime best friends enjoyed Chris Rock's comedy show over the weekend despite the comedian's digs at the duchess, according to a report.

Janina Gavankar was at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theater Saturday night to watch the live taping for Rock's new Netflix special, "Selective Outrage," where the comedian fired some shots at Markle and the British royal family.

The "Vampire Diaries" star, 42, who has been a staunch supporter of Prince Harry's wife, was seen laughing at Rock's jokes backstage as she watched the show with her good friend Dave Chapelle from the VIP Green Room, Page Six reported, citing unnamed eyewitnesses. International Business Times could not independently verify this information.

"Janina looked to be enjoying the show very much, she was standing up by the TV screens and laughing," one eyewitness told the outlet.

Rock's roast of Markle began when he claimed that "everyone is trying to be the victim, including people who know g--damn well they're not victims." He specifically mentioned the duchess' name as he took a jab at the Sussexes' interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, People noted.

"Like, who is this girl Meghan Markle? Seems like a nice lady – just complaining. Like, didn't she hit the light-skinned lottery? And she's still going off complaining," the comedian said.

Rock joked that some of Markle's allegations against the royal family, such as an unknown royal raising "concerns" about "how dark" their now-3-year-old son Archie's skin color might be before he was born, were "not racism" but rather what he called "in-law s--t."

"Sometimes it's just some in-law s--t," Rock continued. "Because she's complaining, I'm like, 'What the f--k is she talking about? 'They're so racist, they wanted to know how brown the baby was going to be...' I'm like, 'That's not racist,' 'cause even Black people want to know how brown the baby gon' [sic] be. S--t. We check behind them ears."

Rock also claimed that Markle was "acting all dumb like she didn't know nothing. Going on Oprah, 'I didn't know, I had no idea how racist they were.' It's the royal family! You didn't Google those motherf-----s? What the f--k is she talking about, she didn't know?"

"The f--k? It's the royal family, they're the original racists," he continued. "They invented colonialism. They're the OGs of racism. They're the Sugarhill Gang of racism. Like, 'a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip hip hop-a don't stop — the racism.'"

Rock added that he actually understood Markle's "dilemma."

"Black girl trying to be accepted by her white in-laws," Rock said. "Oh, it's hard. It's so hard, it's very hard — but it ain't as hard as a white girl trying to be accepted by her Black in-laws. Now, that s--t is really hard."

He continued, "If you [are] Black, and you want to be accepted by your white in-laws, then you need to marry a Kardashian. Because they accept everybody. Kris Jenner is like the Statue of Liberty."

Gavankar, who attended Markle and Prince Harry's wedding in 2018, previously defended the former "Suits" actress following the Sussexes' 2021 interview with Winfrey.

During an appearance on "This Morning," Gavankar slammed Buckingham Palace's comment that "recollections may vary," in response to Markle and Prince Harry's claims of their struggles as working members of the royal family.

"Though their 'recollections may vary,' ours don't because we lived through it with them. And there are many emails and texts to support that," Gavankar said.

During Prince Harry's press tour for his memoir "Spare" earlier this year, he denied ever calling the royal family racist.

"In the Oprah interview, you accuse members of your family of racism," ITV reporter Tom Bradby said, per Page Six.

"No," Prince Harry responded. "The British press said that, right? Did Meghan ever mention 'they're racists'?"

"She said there were troubling comments about Archie's skin color. Wouldn't you describe that as essentially racist?" Bradby explained.

Prince Harry argued that rather than racism, it was "unconscious bias," which is social stereotypes held subconsciously about specific groups of people.

"The difference between racism and unconscious bias ... the two things are different," the royal explained. "Once it's been acknowledged or pointed out to you as an individual, otherwise an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you have an opportunity to learn and grow from that ... otherwise unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism."