It's been said that the floodgates have opened on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Since news broke that they had lost their $20 million podcasting deal with Spotify, Hollywood power players and writers for top U.S. media outlets have spoken up about how "entitled," "lazy" and "untalented" the renegade royal couple have been — how they are "grifters" who hoodwinked the American public into believing that they deserve accolades, millions of dollars and global influence, just because they bolted from life in the British royal family.
But if people are turning on the California-based Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the couple are understandably perturbed, according to a new report by Us Weekly. In fact, they reportedly think that the onslaught of revelations and allegations about them are unfair. These revelations and allegations include their supposed lack of work ethic, Meghan's reported hopes to be signed as a Dior brand ambassador, Harry's "laughable" and "deluded" plan to interview Vladimir Putin on childhood trauma and Meghan's failed effort to entice Taylor Swift to appear on her "Archetypes" podcast.
"It seems to be one assault after another these days, with people lining up to take cheap shots at them," an insider told Us Weekly. "Quite frankly, both she and Harry are sick and tired of it."
Certainly, anyone would be sick of being the subject of constant headlines about being a "grifter," as star Spotify podcaster Bill Simmons called the pair. It's also understandable that the Sussexes would be vexed to learn that staff at their Archewell production company talked to The Wall Street Journal and told the outlet that their bosses are not very good at being media moguls, according to New York magazine.
In the story, "Harry and Meghan Produce a Hollywood Flop: Themselves," Their Archewell employees and associates told the Journal that the company "often lacks direction, and that its founders at times seem surprised by the work required to finish entertainment projects." These colleagues said that most of the couple's initiatives follow a follow a similar route: "Big idea, subpar execution."
But, contrary to reports, Netflix appears to be one of the media power players that hasn't abandoned Harry and Meghan — certainly not anytime soon.
Over the weekend, The U.K. tabloid The Sun cited "an industry" source, who said that the streaming platform was "pleased" to sign the couple for a reported $100 million production deal in 2020 and thrilled that their six-part docuseries "Harry and Meghan" was their most-viewed documentary ever. However, Netflix isn't interested in paying the couple the outstanding $51 million on their contract unless they turn out some new content.
Netflix is "looking for some great ideas going forward," the insider said. "The deal's continually under review which is normal for ones of this magnitude."
Late Monday, a Netflix spokesperson insisted in a statement to People that the platform "values" its partnership with Archewell Productions. "Harry & Meghan was Netflix's biggest documentary debut ever, and we'll continue to work together on a number of projects, including the upcoming documentary series 'Heart of Invictus,'" the spokesperson said. "The bond with Archewell Productions is one we deeply value."
"Heart of Invictus" will follow the athletes of Prince Harry's Invictus Games for service personnel as they prepared for the 2020 Invictus Games in The Hague, Netherlands, which was postponed to April 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, People reported. Meghan and Harry were spotted with cameras following them at the Invictus Games last year.
Their ongoing relationship with Netflix is apparently one reason Harry and Meghan believe that they will overcome the disappointing end of their Spotify deal and other recent disappointments, Us Weekly reported.
Sources told Us Weekly that the Sussexes have their sights set on a new chapter with "a ton of exciting things in the pipeline." Once source told Us Weekly, "(They're) ready to come back stronger."
