After walking away from life as working members of the Royal Family in 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sparked fierce debate by publicly accusing Harry’s relatives of racism, violence and starting confrontations that ended in tears.
The future looked bright for the couple when they left Britain for a new life in California. Their status as a hot commodity helped them land multimillion-dollar deals with streaming giants Netflix and Spotify, as well as voiceover deals, awards and primetime interviews—including an explosive conversation with Oprah Winfrey.
Prince Harry’s bestselling memoir, Spare, broke sales records upon its release earlier this year, and the couple’s intimate and revelatory Netflix documentary, Harry & Meghan, became the platform’s most-watched documentary debut in late 2022.
Meanwhile, their production company Archewell’s multiyear Spotify partnership spawned Meghan’s Archetypes podcast, which was an instant hit when it premiered with an interview with tennis legend Serena Williams.
“I loved digging my hands into the process, sitting up late at night in bed, working on the writing and creative. And I loved digging deep into meaningful conversation with my diverse and inspiring guests, laughing and learning with them, and with each of you listening,” Meghan said when the podcast was released.
‘F***ing grifters’
More recently, however, the Hollywood tide appears to have turned on the Sussexes.
Earlier this month, the couple and Spotify announced that they had mutually agreed to part ways, meaning the 13-episode Archetypes podcast—the only content to come out of the $20 million deal—would come to an end.
The series, which focused on issues holding women back and featured a plethora of celebrity guests including Mariah Carey and Paris Hilton, reportedly failed to hit targets despite its early success.
Earlier this week, it was reported that pop superstar Taylor Swift declined a handwritten invitation from Meghan to appear on the podcast. The reasons behind the snub were not made clear.
After Archetypes was axed, Spotify executive Bill Simmons publicly denounced Harry and Meghan as “f***ing grifters,” suggesting on his own podcast that he had once had a difficult brainstorming session with Prince Harry over Zoom.
Simmons has made no secret of his disdain for the royal, once describing being associated with the same company as Prince Harry as “embarrassing.”
“What does he bring to the table? He just whines about s**t and keeps giving interviews,” he said in a 2022 interview. “Who gives a s**t? Who cares about your life? You weren’t even the favorite son.”
United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer told Semafor in an interview published on Monday that the problem the couple really had with Spotify was that “Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent.”
“Just because you're famous doesn't make you great at something,” he said.
Zimmer’s comments came amid multiple reports that the couple are in over their heads when it comes to media production.
Prince Harry, meanwhile, reportedly pitched a podcast exploring childhood trauma’s impact on powerful men, with proposed guests including former U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin. It was one of many ideas the royal floated during his three-year partnership with Spotify—none of which materialized into podcasts—and led to a barrage of criticism when the nature of his ideas emerged.
He also struggled to conceptualize an idea for a podcast series, according to the Wall Street Journal—meaning the Sussexes failed to meet the terms of their deal with Sportify, which reportedly included an agreement that each of them would voice and have hands-on involvement with a podcast.
Earlier this week, the WSJ reported that Harry and Meghan’s $100 million Netflix deal, like the Spotify partnership, has led to more cancellations and rejections than produced shows—with sources telling the news outlet that the streaming giant is unlikely to renew the deal when it ends in 2025.
Their production company, Archewell, did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
An animated children’s series called Pearl that the couple hoped to make for Netflix was ultimately canceled, with at least two other television ideas the duo proposed failing to be greenlit by the company, according to the WSJ.
Live to Lead, Harry and Meghan’s second project for Netflix—which followed their eponymous fly-on-the wall documentary—failed to break into the streaming platform’s Top 10 chart. A Netflix documentary about the Invictus Games, one of Prince Harry’s most valued causes, is nearing completion.
But the newspaper’s sources alleged that Netflix executives had been left dissatisfied with Archewell’s productivity, reportedly complaining that their initial documentary is all they have to show for the company’s costly partnership with the pair.
U.K. newspaper The Sun also reported last week that the Netflix deal was unlikely to be renewed.
“There is a less friendly attitude from some at the top,” a source told the outlet, adding that the “big bucks” the couple signed on for no longer exist in 2023’s streaming industry, which has taken a blow from unstable subscription numbers and a Hollywood writers’ strike.
“The feeling is that the lemon has been fully squeezed,” the anonymous source told The Sun.
A royal commentator, meanwhile, labeled the couple “a one trick pony” as far as Netflix is concerned, and told newspaper The Expressthat A-listers and corporations “are distancing themselves…because they seem to be a flop.”
A Netflix spokesperson told Fortune on Tuesday, however, that the firm’s relationship with Harry and Meghan remains strong.
"We value our partnership with Archewell Productions,” they said. “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."
Anonymous sources who have worked with Harry and Meghan told the WSJ that the couple’s inexperience as producers, difficulties finding material that would gel with their brand and still drum up audience interest, and a general rejig in the media landscape after the pandemic, have all acted as barriers to their success. Their company lacks direction, insiders said, and often follows a “big idea, subpar execution” route.
Richard Fitzwilliams, a U.K.-based royal commentator who has been following Britain’s Royal Family for decades, told Fortune in a phone call that losing the Netflix contract would be “very damaging” for Harry and Meghan.
“You wonder who is advising them and [if they are] actually going to produce something with substance because obviously, these huge contracts, they want bang for their buck,” he said.
“The thing is, most of the interest in them has been because they've gone rogue, because they launched—very successfully—a variety of attacks on the Royal Family, and the main interest is in that. [But] that's not inexhaustible, they could probably live off it for a few years. And what happens then?”
If the Sussexes’ deal with Netflix does end up on the chopping block, Fitzwilliams said there is “a possibility of [them] doing very badly” in Hollywood.
“If that's the case, I think they've a lot to worry about,” he added.
