To celebrate her 40th birthday, Meghan Markle announced her 40×40 initiative, which would pair women reentering the workforce with a famous mentor, some of whom haven’t held a “real” job in years. But what happened with it? Despite all of the news coverage about her announcement, the public hasn’t heard a peep about it since.

Begging the question, was anyone ever mentored or was the entire thing a smoke and mirrors publicity stunt?

Meghan Markle, who has never outgrown her c-list actress and hustler status, created a rather cringeworthy video with Melissa McCarthy where she announced her new initiative, called 40×40. 

As described by Meghan on Archewell, “I believe mentorship is one way to help women regain confidence and rebuild their economic strength, and for my birthday, I have asked 40 friends, activists, athletes, artists, and world leaders to help kickoff a global effort by contributing 40 MINUTES OF MENTORSHIP to support women re-entering the workforce. With this time, I hope they each help someone advance a professional life on her own terms, and, I hope that they inspire countless others to give 40 minutes of their time as well.”

Some of the notable people who agreed to participate in Meghan’s “mentorship” initiative included Hillary Clinton, the former royal’s cousin-in-law Princess Eugenie, Adele, Deepak Chopra, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi (a proponent of the anti-racism movement), Stella McCartney and others. 

However, it’s unclear what actually happened with all of this, if anything at all.

While Archewell includes quotes from people who allegedly participated in their own way, there’s little evidence of this program taking flight or having any notable impact.

Nothing has hit the news. 

There is no evidence or reflections by the famous mentors and peasant mentees about their experiences or how helpful it has been. Were any of these women actually mentored?

It’s a critical question, as every little thing that Prince Harry and Meghan do through Archewell is publicized.

The donation of a new roof to a women’s shelter in Texas after a storm is publicized. So was a provision of lunch to veterans volunteering for The Mission Continues.

If there were any groundbreaking stories about 40×40, wouldn’t Harry and Meghan want the world to know?

It did somewhat make somewhat of a splash on social media with about 20,000 #40×40, but that doesn’t mean much if there’s no real impact.

It could be that everything will be filmed and exploited for their upcoming reality television series for Netflix, where they will talk about how fantastic and generous they are. 

But in reality, right now, it’s doubtful this program had much impact if any at all. Like so many things surrounding Harry and Meghan, it’s mostly smoke and mirrors. A lot of hype with minimal payoff.