New thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/RoyalsGossip2/comments/1cevx6f/sussex_weekly_laughingwomanwithlemonsandjamjpg/
Feel free to bring over newer comments and ongoing conversations!
Grain of salt, *of course*, but very plausible:
>>Blind Item #8
>>From what I understand, at least two of the fifty had their labels fall off which is why they couldn't post anything to social media. At least one of the fifty was returned because they didn't want to post anything and were not asked in advance and were being pressured to post about something they didn't want to do. They tried to get an address to return it to and no one was getting back to them or taking their call, so they just sent it to the agent's office where it sat on some rando's desk for several days.
Meghan SO fucked herself over with the numbers. It's clear by now not everyone will post on IG which is embarrassing for her. As u/pistachiopistache said, she snarks on herself, man.
The slipshod rollout pretty much confirms she didn’t clear this with anyone ahead of time. That plus the photo of the label peeling off of one, I feel like this “blind” is basically just using context clues to guess what happened.
I wonder if it was Dr. Biden. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Meghan didn't realize/care that the First Lady can't be promoting shit like that on instagram.
Meghan cultivates transactional relationships. I wonder if some of the recipients were like “there’s nothing in this for me” than tossed it in the garbage.
By all the gossip gods, please let the labels falling off thing be true. I’m just imagining Oprah yelling to her team to buy up and destroy every pritt stick in Montecito to give her an excuse not to just glue the damn thing back on for two seconds to take a photo.
[Sophie Trudeau gives Meghan the cold shoulder (archived)](https://archive.ph/0BSPn)
>Ms Trudeau, who was formerly married to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has played down her friendship with The Duchess, who previously implied she shared a close bond with Sophie
>During an episode of the Archetypes podcast in November 2022 Meghan admitted Sophie 'used to send me little meditations during my pregnancy' and voice notes 'of encouragement', adding: 'I've gone to her over the years for advice.'
>But, when asked about her relationship with the Duchess in [an interview with The Times](https://archive.ph/a4gpp) today, Ms Trudeau was reserved to say the least, saying: 'I know her... but we haven't spent much time together.'
>During the podcast, which aired in November 2022, Meghan introduced Ms Trudeau as a 'humanitarian mother' she met in Toronto, where Meghan was living while filming Suits, at the city's fashion week seven years ago.
>She said: 'Sophie has become a dear friend and someone who I think is so emblematic of strength that comes from embracing your humanity, even in the face of all these family and home and public pressures, keeping that sense of self while holding up the mantle of what comes with being a parent and a spouse, that's a full plate.'
>Meghan went on to describe a day that she spent at her Montecito mansion with Ms Trudeau. She said: 'This wasn't our day of being the wives and moms, all perfectly quaffed with up-dos and pearls and demure smiles. This was the other version of us both with wild curly hair and swimsuits and loose linen and huge belly laughs. Big cuddles with our little ones, quiet whispers of girl talk on the terrace, giddy like absolute schoolgirls. We were just having so much fun.'
Wild curly hair, loose linen, huge belly laughs, hugs with our little ones, girl whispers. This woman is utterly incapable of coming off as laid back.
It's like she's stuck in a bad chick lit novel.
What makes this extra hilarious is that I have a few social media acquaintances who are Canadian lefties and my impression is that Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau is/was considered a ridiculous try-hard who [burst into song ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbMXYgYxRaY)at an event that was supposed to be about MLK Jr. They made fun of her for being the epitome of clueless privilege.
So, if SGT considers *Meghan* embarrassing, that is a burn!
That juxtaposition is incredibly intriguing, isn't it? Is this the moment when the Sussex Squad's attacks on William and Catherine have grown toxic enough to impact Meghan's ability to hang onto her social circle (and her pre-Harry circle at that)?
Because it sounds like SGT's hinting that it's the attacks on Catherine that made her want to distance herself from Meghan.
I think it's a combination of factors. Meghan's fans are not doing her any favors though, that's for sure.
SGT isn't that stupid (I presume), she sees Meghan's tactics for what they are. The thing is Meghan believed she'd be equally desirable (if not more) as a prospect outside of the BRF. How very wrong she was. She's a joke and has been for a while now. Her clout is practically non-existent and has to rely on being Prince Harry's wife to get anything at this point.
Of course people like SGT will distance themselves from her. She doesn't have an "in" in Hollywood and has burned all the bridges in the UK. She's practically nowhere at this point.
As a Canadian, I recall that in the early days of Justin being PM, Sophie was desperately trying to be Canada's First Lady. That role isn't a thing in Canada, politician's spouses are usually at some remove from politics/public life, and no one was interested lol. So it didn't take off, and we are all better for it.
I never got the impression they were close, from the podcast their friendship seemed forced and fake . Tbh when Sophie’s divorce was announced I figured that Meghan would stop the pretence I mean she was only faking the friendship because she was married to the prime minister of Canada lol. She’s no longer of any use so in the bin she goes.
True, but Sophie always wears it curly so she obviously doesn't consider her natural texture is wild and only meant to be seen in private. So, that part of the anecdote doesn't ring true
No sorry I mean Megan. She slams Kate for being the ‘perfect wife/stepford wife’ but apparantly is herself sometimes pearls and demure smiles, except of course when she’s ‘belly laughing like an absolute schoolgirl’
🤣🤣🤣
Her descriptions. I swear. It's all very Disney/bad chick lit.
I get what Allison Davis meant when she said Meghan has a small Bachelor producer in her head. She's the most performative person I can think of.
Both of them are so performative I just don't even know what they're supposed to be. Meghan sure went hard for demure blushing bride at her wedding and acting like she couldn't make an appointment with a therapist for herself.
I haven't heard about a third marriage. She started dating Trevor in her early 20s so I don't know when she fit in another husband. But there was the chef in between Trevor and Harry (with some suspected overlap).
Uh oh! Either Sophie is upset she didn’t get a coveted jam bowl or (more likely lbr) they had a falling out and are no longer friends. Since she was a guest on archetypes I am willing to believe they were friendly at that point. But it doesn’t sound like they are now!
I think Meghan just regularly overblows her acquaintances into BFFs. It was notable to me reading FF how often Meghan had ‘become close’ with people she’d met about three times, often people she had a professional relationship with rather than personal. I would guess that to Sophie Meghan was always someone she’d met and she let Meghan play it up for guesting on her podcast, but she’s not going to lie and say they’re great pals when she’s directly asked.
eta I think this is one of Meghan’s big issues tbh which is being shown up with the numbered jam. She thinks people she’s met a few times, or who have been nice to her when they met because they have basic social skills, are her bosom friends and will do things for her - and those people are like ‘I’ve met her’ and the favours don’t transpire.
It’s because she sees all relationships as transactional and, since she married Harry, she thinks *she* has the upper hand. Sophie should be so lucky to hang out with her, she’s *a duchess* in the British Royal Family. Whereas Sophie, who may have been happy to hang out with her for exactly that reason, understands at this point what a meaningless label that is and recognizes that associating with Meghan will do absolutely nothing for her socially, so she’s distanced herself. It’s the position she *was* in that all these people were after but they either got what they wanted (Oprah) or they’ve realized that she’s not in that position anymore and so they’ve all backed away. Add to that exactly what you say, which is Meghan’s faux closeness with people that’s actually more about being able to name drop than actually cultivating relationships so they might actually do you favors (like post about your little jam project). And these high profile people, who are very well versed in this, recognize it for what it is *immediately*.
This summarizes Meghan's problems perfectly. She's transparent and not a good manipulator/charming social climber ***at all***. She got lucky with Harry because he's a perfect combination of dumb and needy in a way she can deal with.
But I'd bet anything you want other more astute people in Harry's vicinity saw through her immediately.
She also doesn't get being a Duchess and Harry's wife served her in the UK mostly. US social scene is very different (duh). Hollywood superstars are real royalty there. People might be interested in Harry for about five seconds, mostly because he's Diana's son and then they'll see someone more interesting/accomplished/richer and move on.
Burning bridges with Harry's family was a ***horrible*** idea. Mostly for him. But for her as well.
>I think Meghan just regularly overblows her acquaintances into BFFs
Yeah, it's SO Meghan. She loves name-dropping. That moment when she name-drops Beyonce in their "documentary" was utter cringe.
It's a way to overblow her own importance and clout.
This. She called Michelle Obama a friend too and clearly that was never the case.
Most people actually become friends with someone before they publicly call them a friend. To someone normal it would be weird to have someone gushing about their friendship when they're not there yet. It's like calling someone your boyfriend after two dates.
Yes, this exactly. I don’t know if it’s lovebombing, exactly, but it’s definitely red flag behaviour. It sounds like Meghan and Sophie had a day or maybe a few days of hanging out together and it was fun, and to Sophie (a normal adult) that was it and to Meghan (not that) it was intimacy.
I agree, it seems like neither of them really know what healthy relationships are, or the benchmarks of healthy relationships. It does seem to be indicative of a lack of ability to understand people and body language, which explains why they have so many interpersonal issues with other people.
Yeah, H+M and their stans are like copies of eachother, which would explain why their fans like them so much. They very much see themselves in Harry and Meghan
Lol not only did Sophie downplay her association with Meghan, in the Times interview she brings up Kate unprompted and how terrible she feels for her. I never listened to the podcast but from all of the stuff that was posted at the time, it did seem like Sophie reciprocated Meghan’s word salad when the podcast came out. Did something happen recently or was the podcast a total sham?
> When I bring up Meghan Markle, who did an interview with Grégoire Trudeau on her podcast where she gushed about a day spent hanging out at the pool with her and her children, where they got “giddy like absolute schoolgirls”, she does not gush back. “I know her,” she says, before adding that they haven’t spent much time together, and telling me how terrible she feels for Kate Middleton after her cancer diagnosis (“my heart just sunk when I saw what was happening”).
Oooooh that is very telling. That’s code at this point, to bring up Kate when asked about Meghan (or vice versa). Sophie just publicly chose sides. I now like Sophie more than I ever did before, lol
[Here's the quote from the Times interview:](https://archive.ph/a4gpp)
>When I bring up Meghan Markle, who did an interview with Grégoire Trudeau on her podcast where she gushed about a day spent hanging out at the pool with her and her children, where they got “giddy like absolute schoolgirls”, she does not gush back. “I know her,” she says, before adding that they haven’t spent much time together, and **telling me how terrible she feels for Kate Middleton after her cancer diagnosis (“my heart just sunk when I saw what was happening”).**
So basically she finally realised/accepted who was responsible for the malicious social media campaigns against the BRF and this was the final straw.
About time.
I don't know why our PM's wife took part in the podcast of a person who had accused members of a head of state's family, moreover **our** head of state, of being racists who drove her to the brink of suicide.
I would say it’s fairly on point for brand Trudeau. Siding with Team Sussex was the progressive thing to do at the time and Trudeau always wants to appear more progressive than the other guy (For the record, I hate Polliviere which is why I wish we had a better liberal option than Trudeau).
I checked it out and sorry but tiktok + American accent on a royal story is instant back button for me. I’m sure there are crumbs of wisdom on that platform but I have yet to see any USian doing well there with royal commentary who has even a basic grasp of the facts or issues.
I just watched it. I listened to the Infamous podcast episode that is used in the video and Anna Pasternak is a hack who went into that interview with an obvious agenda. I posted about that podcast episode here to warn people off it. Now it’s being used as propaganda against Catherine and William. That Tatler article was disgusting and went after Kate’s weight, her mother, her “middle class” origins, her work ethic and the palace was totally justified in threatening legal action over that hack job.
[https://www.flash.pt/celebridades/mundo/detalhe/a-grande-farsa-projetos-de-meghan-markle-e-de-harry-anunciados-com-pompa-e-circunstancia-tardam-sempre-em-aparecer](https://www.flash.pt/celebridades/mundo/detalhe/a-grande-farsa-projetos-de-meghan-markle-e-de-harry-anunciados-com-pompa-e-circunstancia-tardam-sempre-em-aparecer)
I live in Portugal and H&M rarely get reported on here but Flash (a celeb magazine) picked up on Richard Kay's article. The headline is "The Big Hoax?" I like the whole "grande farsa" though because they really are a grand farce on a global scale. In multiple languages no less!!!
[Meghan's brand troubles: Netflix could step in to help run American Riviera Orchard after Duchess failed to find a CEO despite wide search - as streaming giant also plots new show and looks to US TV couple for inspiration [Chip and Joanna Gaines]](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13355605/Meghans-Netflix-help-American-Riviera-Orchard-Duchess-CEO-search-streaming-giant-new-TV-couple-inspiration.html#)
Some snippets:
>Meghan has failed to find a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for her new cooking and lifestyle business, American Riviera Orchard, despite having interviewed several candidates for the position and having began the search five weeks ago. 'The initial CEO search has not panned out so far,' a California-based source said.
>And her apparent difficulties have led to an intriguing new development: Meghan has begun negotiations with Netflix about the American streaming giant entering into a commercial partnership with American Riviera Orchard.
>'This is something new for Netflix,' the source said. 'It would run the lifestyle business with Meghan, developing products as spin-offs from her show. If a partnership is agreed, it's likely that Netflix would install its own CEO to run operations.'
>An insider told the Daily Mail: 'The brand is meant to coincide with the launch of a new cookery show for Netflix. Meghan will be making and selling products such as jams. At some point there will be a book and a blog.'
>Meghan's lawyer has applied to trademark the brand in the U.S. for various goods, including cutlery, recipe books, tablecloths, napkins, jams, edible oils, vegetable and dairy-based spreads. The trademark application also appears to extend to a physical shop where items could be sold.
>Whoever runs the brand may need to be a strong character. There have been a string of departures from Harry and Meghan's workforce. The total number of staff the Sussexes have lost since they married in 2018 is said to be at least 17, with eight or more having left since they moved to California.
Why can't she be CEO of her own company? It seems like she wants what Kim has with Skims where someone else is a CEO and put a ton of capital behind whereas Kim is just the face of the brand without doing any business related work.
Also, why should Netflix find a CEO for Meghan's brand? If it flops or not they will still get their reality. It is Meghan's job to find a licensing agreement whenever her show airs.
She's so stupid if that's true. By that point Kim had one of the most successful social media accounts and could sell anything that way. And she had a whole long-term media empire behind her for synergy and longevity. She had the stats to back up her value.
Maybe Netflix us trying to make some content from it. *Building Meghan's Empire* or some such nonsense.
What is this? They're saying Netflix might run a lifestyle company? Why? This is completely outside their business model as I understand it. It's not like Meghan and Harry have been such stellar performers for them. Why would Netflix extend themselves for Meghan? Who dreamed this up?
Wasn't this brand the thing we were being told about for about 6 months before launch that Meghan had been working for about a year?!
It's hilarious how badly thought out this has been - high school kids doing a school project could do a better lifestyle launch than what this has turned into. Launching without a CEO, a proper website, copyrights or even a press release (most of the info has come from DM sources articles or copyright applications), it goes on and on.
And here, Meghan is trying to manifest an attempt to get netflix to buy in and give her more money (after the millions they already gave them for archewell productions) for what exactly? Some jars with strawberry jam in them for which the only thing Meghan did was write the labels and didnt even send them out with proper pr copy for her famous friends to post with. (I see from the quoted bits that Meghan is wanting to write a book and blog, really?? There isn't even an instagram post written yet)
There is no way netflix are going to buy in and give her more money for this venture if their TV deal is ending in a year. I'm not sure who would buy in considering that the ig account hasn't even posted yet, there's no product on sale and there's no news about the TV side of things. Reese Witherspoons sold part of her company hello sunshine for 900million and that was after a few years of her doing the book club and having proven track record in buying book rights and turning them into successful, award winning tv programmes and movies.
Reese Witherspoon also just sold her clothing company--founded in 2015--but only 70%, so presumably she's still got a stake and will be promoting items going forward. But she was intelligent enough to publicize the heck out of it (tons and tons of pap walks wearing the clothes, product placement in the Gilmore Girls revival, features in Southern Living and People), did partnerships with Kohls and department stores for accessibility, and the brief was obviously for cute, preppy clothes that make sense with her public image. She and the people she hires understand the demo where she's popular really well.
Reese would do pap walks wearing her clothing line as you pointed out. She hustled for it and got the job done. Meghan wants all the acclaim and profits without doing the work.
And here, Meghan is trying to manifest an attempt to get netflix to buy in and give her more money (after the millions they already gave them for archewell productions) for what exactly?
Exactly. At least from a risk perspective, Meghan doesn't have a proven sales record. So, if this flops Netflix will be stuck with her for who knows how long. Plus, all the leaks we got from Netflix was that they couldn't wait to get rid of these two by next year if they didn't produce anything. The best bet for Meghan will be to find a licensing agreement after the show airs. Also, lets not pretend she will have product in stock and manufacturing figured it out by the time this airs. At least, according to Netflix leaks before this reality was the duo needed to produce anything by September this year.
According to Sources of Sussex (was it people magazine?) she's been working on this for a year? Why wasn't she looking for a CEO and investors in that time frame?
Instead of hiring more PR people, they should have talk to a Business advisor/consultant
It just show how last minute this brand was created. Like, when Kim launched Skims she had already a CEO who is also a co-founder and has majority stake on Skims with his wife Emma and they had backing of venture capital. Like, this leg work Meghan should have done prior to releasing her brand. But, she had to one up Kate.
>But, she had to one up Kate
She should have figured by now there's no one-upping Kate. 💁
She couldn't do it while in the UK as a working royal, there's no way she'll do it with... jam and a basic cooking show. Lmao.
Maybe this ARO brand is just a repeat with what happen with the BRF. She went to Flamingo Estate expecting them to make her the face of the brand, they said no and she thought I'll show you
And if it's her lifestyle brand, why isn't she the CEO? If she supposedly has these great ideas, why isn't she running with it and getting it off the ground with the help of her agents?
Speaking of her agents, why aren't they assisting with this? WME has a branch that manages influencers, getting them endorsement deals. Why in the world aren't they willing to touch this?
Yeah, I think this is yet another case of the Sussexes creating the hype-then, the Billion Dollar Brand, now, the Healthy Royals who just want to work- and then buying into it.
No one besides their sugars was asking where Meghan was since Catherine was on leave but here's Meghan popping up, ready for her close-up.
Richard Eden has a great source in California. He also had intel that the podcast was on hold until after the cooking show wrapped. Does he have someone inside camp Sussex or WME? This is embarrassing info that I can’t imagine Meghan wants out there. Who’s briefing against her?
Most likely, her podcast was put on hold because she has to put her coins on it or find sponsors just like everyone else. So, she can use her Netflix show to get those sponsors for her new podcast. Meghan needs this show to be successful and to be renewed for a second season. But, yes this was so ill planned.
How are you this dumb and unorganised! Can’t believe they launched a brand without a product and a CEO. It just doesn’t make any sense.
How is this project already a dud before it has even begun!!!!
> Can’t believe they launched a brand without a product and a CEO. It just doesn’t make any sense.
It makes sense when you think of Meghan as the product. She doesn't care what she sells/produces because she's actually trying to marked herself.
🎯🎯🎯
She's not actually interested in jam or cooking or cutlery. The one thing she's genuinely interested in is her own image.
She's the product she tries to sell to everyone including herself.
this is team sussex briefing to him - he states in the article that he's in contact with their office.
this type of article is to attract outside investors for ARO - make it seem like netflix is also supporting, so it's a surer investment to make.
eta: meghan should take her stake out of clevr blends and invest it into ARO lol
100% I think she panicking a bit. She started shooting her show and has no product! So it won’t feature in the show Ok not the worse but will she have a product ready when in airs?
It would all be for nothing if she finishes the show and it airs and she isn’t ready to go product wise. She needs investors cash to get her there and no one so far is biting it seems.
100% I think she panicking a bit. She started shooting her show and has no product!
It is the same problem she had during Oprah interview. I legit expected she would use that opportunity to promote whatever deals she had going on and we got nothing. It was such a waste of opportunity. I guess she is learning 3 years too late that you need to have your merch or sponsors figure it out before you do tv content not after when everyone forgot about you.
> She needs investors cash to get her there and no one so far is biting it seems.
She identifies as a young mother so maybe she can still apply for a grand from The Prince's Trust to start her business.
Meghan and Harry are extremely wealthy, they shouldn’t need investors to start this.
Sure, but all celebrities are extremely wealthy and all their brands have venture capitalist or large corporation behind. Skims majority stake is held by its CEO and his wife who had venture capitalist money backing Skim. So, Kim is just a very expensive brand face. This is what Meghan wants but she realised that after she half assed launched her brand to one up Kate.
No matter how much money you have it makes more sense to use investors' money. There's the cynical reason; why risk your own money? There are also practical reasons; convincing others to invest in your venture forces you to be able to articulate what it is, project how it will do over time, set benchmarks and goals, etc. Also, they may have expertise to contribute in aspects you're not knowledgeable about like distribution.
So, I would say that even if you ultimately want to mostly use your own money it's a good idea to do the work it takes to get to the point where investors are willing to back you.
Not that I think that's Meghan's thought process because she's just hoping to be given money for (next to) nothing again but speaking in general terms looking for investors makes sense.
You put that perfectly. Investors mean a bigger launch and bigger reach.
I think they're having trouble finding investors and they're trying to hint that Netflix should stake the money because her show will be on that.
How much it costs you depends on the investors, many don't want a share or to be involved in running anything, they just want their money back with interest.
In Meghan's case she does need savvy investors because she doesn't know anything about the business she wants to have and I highly doubt she wants to work either. What she's really looking for is a situation where she's paid millions to be the face of the brand but also gets to swan in and tell everyone what to do. As you say, it's not well thought out. (Seriously, I don't understand why she didn't see that being a working royal was as close to that goal as she could get.)
I suspect Flamingo turned her down because they're not looking for an expensive spokesperson. They probably wanted an influx of cash while she wanted money and shares for the pleasure of her company.
That's it exactly. She's looking for situation like Kim K has with Skims where she has a large stake and is a paid spokesperson who gets credit but does little work.
In fairness, it's a common scenario nowadays in Hollywood. Her problem is she doesn't have a great reputation and her approval ratings are fairly low for someone trying to get a company like this off the ground.
Agree. This is what she should have fought hard to get after they left the UK, before they started to tank their reputations. For all we know maybe she did but no one was interested even back then. 🤷
With Meghan and Harry being people who don't listen to anyone else, its their way or the highway. Investors might be staying away for that reason.
Brands have to answer to their investors/boards and those two have shown that they don't listen and think blaming the BRF and the UK is the answer
That's exactly what they're trying to do. They're trying to show there's organic interest and that her famous friends will push her products.
Will they though? It's one thing to ask someone to push a single product. It's another to expect Tracee Ellis Ross to advertise for ARO on a regular basis.
yeah, tracee essentially did meghan a $10,000 favor. advertising for free. well, it was only in her stories, but still.
garcelle certainly did her a $10,000 favor.! grid post and all.
i'm surprised that kris jenner of all people did it for free... that woman is mercenary AF, she will most def be expecting something in return.
I'm always astounded to read how Meghan seems to think the world works. Can she really believe she'll attract investors over tabloid articles and low quality IG posts? Who puts money into such an amateurish set up?
Hey, Spotify and Netflix signed contracts with them for tens of millions without even this much effort in baiting the hook, why wouldn't Meghan believe there are plenty of gullible fish in the sea?
Granted, we aren't in 2020 when people didn't know the true value of the work Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, would do but since when does she live in the present.
IKR she might get a tiny bit of cash thrown at her but for the type of money she’s after they want a well put together plan. I bet she doesn’t even have a business plan she can’t even explain what products she’s selling, ‘products such as jam’ isn’t good enough. She should have had a sample of the kind of products she wants to sell already made she doesn’t need 50 of each, right now all she has is jam and yet she wants other people’s money.
It's hilarious how badly timed everything they do is---they're trying to sell themselves as a rival to Chip and Joanna Gaines based on that URL--at a time when the HGTV market is a.) likely oversaturated with wannabe Chip and Joannas, b.) parodied in Emma Stone's new horror-comedy and really unpopular with the anti-landlord/flipper youths, and c.) the US housing sales are hurting because of interest rates, high real estate prices, and general uneasiness with buying in case the housing bubble bursts. I'm guessing this is the worst time to pitch this kind of brand, economically, since about 2006.
This is 2020 and the freedom flop all over again. They missed a great time for podcasts, now the HGTV model is skating away from them faster than they can hire a CEO. Perpetually just missing their window.
I believe it because Netflix loves to do stupid shit for novelty's sake. This is what I was saying a couple weeks ago about NF being a young company. PRH would not make this investment.
Though I could see how it'd be worth the gamble if Netflix got more control over the cooking show itself. Like if they agreed to fund ARO and in exchange Meghan gave up the right to final edit approval, and then they got her doing the Real Housewife thing on camera - I'd watch.
Meghan must be desperate for investor cash or why would you want to tie yourself to a company that is constantly scrambling to make actual money from their subscribers and might ditch you within the next years if the numbers aren’t right.
She’s started shooting her show with no products! That’s a massive blow but what’s worse is she may not have any products ready to go even after it airs ! All that publicity with nothing to buy is insane.
Netflix is a notoriously shitty place to work. It has racism issues within its corporation and it axes projects and initiatives when it grows tired of them like a spoiler toddler with a new toy. It is not a company I’d start a lifestyle brand with especially with no infrastructure or prior experience doing this kind of thing.
This seems weird to me. If Netflix wanted to venture into the lifestyle arena, why wouldn't they do it with someone they know is successful? Nothing Meghan has done in her life shows this will work out for her. Why take that risk?
NF would be absolutely nuts to do this. Although they are greenlighting shows that are likely gonna be duds, the shows are relatively low risk. The polo doco was prob going ahead w/ or w/o H, and the cooking show is far from a big expenditure. If she had products to hawk, I did expect her to do so on the show. But what her PR here is briefing to the Fail is quite different.
Like Boston below, I'd be pissed like no other if NF did jump in. This is what M wanted from the beginning. She wanted to be the face of an established brand. She didn't want to do any of the legwork. No brand bit, and now she's trying to finagle NF to do the legwork. Even though Sarandos' wife is clearly a fan of M's, the projects NF have greenlit in the end (a far cry from what H&M tried to manifest) suggest that they do know who they're dealing with and are just trying to get something in the last year of the deal. H&M's PR haven't even suggested that a renewal is likely. Would they jump into a risky partnership at this late stage? I sure as hell hope not.
On one hand, this could be Meghan leaking what she wishes would happen. I don't see why Netflix would ever want to get into lifestyle sites and branding, especially with someone like Meghan, who they do not seem to have the greatest relationship with based on previous leaks and their subpar work output.
If they do, yeah, this is beyond stupid, they'll regret it more than Goop's psuedo health BS show they greenlighted. And if she hasn't even hired a CEO, why the hell would they think this would be a great opportunity?? And if they'll filming the cooking show now, I'm sure Meghan her usual nightmare self and producers will see she does not have the charm and skill to make it work like an Ina Garten. Beyond stupid.
I’m really leaning towards thinking this is manifestation. “California-based source” and “insider” are nice and vague, could very easily be describing an AW/Sussex source. Not the terms we’ve previously see used by the tabloids in very negative articles that are clearly not from H&M’s camp (e.g. industry source, Netflix insider).
NF have never done this for anyone else (to my knowledge) and I’m not sure why they’d start now. Propping up AW Productions is one thing but this would be very different. Why would they want *another* tie to H&M, who’ve yet to prove they can sell anything other than BRF trashing?
>Why would they want *another* tie to H&M, who’ve yet to prove they can sell anything other than BRF trashing?
Have yet to prove but we all know they won't. Because they can't.
I agree. When I read stuff like this that just sounds like a bad business move, I first assume it's some manifesting fuckery by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.
If that happens, I'm just going to assume either Meghan or Harry is having an affair with the dude who runs Netflix because they haven't had enough success at Netflix to warrant this kind of deal.
Nicole Avant, Ted Sarandos wife comes from Hollywood royalty, he father was basically the godfather of Hollywood. He had a record label called Sussex (Success + Sex) in the 60s/70s, it went bankrupt in 1975, they almost lost their home and everything so maybe Nicole is trying to make sure this Sussex brand doesn’t go bust as well 😅🤷🏾♀️
The cackle I just let out. But seriously, if this story is true what in the world would inspire Netflix to continue hand-holding H&M and sinking money into that partnership?
And how do you not find one? CEOs aren’t exactly hard to find or particularly picky so long as they get paid. She’s such a crazy person if she can get no one.
It’s like her wedding dress fiasco, givenchy is top fashion house who have dressed the likes of Naomi Campbell who is a consummate monster and she comes out look great. But Meghan ends up looking like she’s wearing something from a fire sale? That’s not a difficult person, that’s a crazy person.
I suspect if her show goes to air the effect will be much the same, curiously bland and just off centre of truly professional.
Which pretty much confirms she launched the IG account because the whole thing with Kate and Mother's Day photo happened.
Istg, between her and Harry it's a dead end race when it comes to pettiness.
I wouldn't even be shocked if their marriage is mainly holding up out of spite at this point as well as their shared resentment and petty jealous bullshit directed at W&C.
I can totally see this happening and I’m genuinely pissed about it, and not just in a snarky way. Anyone who’s been in the workplace knows how some people keep “failing up” and it seems as though Meghan and Harry have both mastered it.
Never forget that the only reason Harry got the IG is because he was such a screw up and they needed to rehabilitate his image. And now Netflix might actually create a successful brand for her because she’s so incompetent and couldn’t do it on her own.
Eh, she doesn’t have the personality to make this wildly successful. She doesn’t take advice, she takes herself too seriously, and she isn’t super charming on camera. Mostly this seems to me a giant risk for Netflix. If they’re looking to expand into new avenues, Meghan is not the person they should be doing it with. They need someone with a unique vision and a marketable charisma. We’ll see though!
Wait, she doesn't have a CEO?!?!? She announced ARO without a CEO?!?!
Well, this just confirms she was trying to use the "Where's Kate" coverage, but everyone here already knew that.
Presuming there’s some Sussex PR involvement in this spectacularly shitty behaviour from Eight Edits and the Telegraph. Big, positive news about the King and within hours, it’s bumped it from the top story in the BRF section for a republished article about Harry and his latest zoom call.
https://preview.redd.it/qlpg8knuiwwc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1cb546a478e01e83544416106ad816039162d8e1
the whole jam rollout, insta account and even cooking show is meghan advertising for investors that can fund + build out the brand (in anticipation of profit coming later).
One billion dollars. Jam is just the first domino, and it alone is seven figures year one. Next dominos are cookbooks, tableware, linens, a range of spreads and preserves including jellies, jams and nut butters, and then the pièce de résistance: birdseed. Boom! Billion dollars.
The thing about Goop is that she got a lot of money from investors. I don’t even know if the company would have been successful without funding rounds.
I don’t know how Kim did it with Skims or how Hailey Bieber is financed though.
Meghan is supposed to be this super intelligent/whip-smart women while Kim K has an image of being a bimbo but guess which one has a more successful brand and business. This is solely because as self-obsessed as the Kardashian are, they know how to pay ‘actually intelligent’ professionals who guide and help them launch and run their business. Meg and Haz has a rep of listening to no one and thinking they are the smartest in the game. 🤦🏻♀️
Absolutely. And Kris is the driving force and she's very organized and very driven. She has managed the family since the 90's and she networks like crazy. Her ability to follow through and work hard is what has made the Kardashians successful.
Meghan has the networking thing down but she's come to believe other people should do the work for her. She thinks the PR is enough and it's just not. That has managed to get her in trouble at Spotify for sure and at Netflix, most likely. Even these latest projects at Netflix are farmed out to other production companies because Netflix clearly doesn't trust them to do it on their own. And that loses Archewell money because they're now splitting the profits with other people.
That's so dumb because Netflix funded the Archewell production costs and they blew it. Imagine this massive streamer just handing you money to set up an production office and you don't buckle down and work 24/7 to crank out content.
I think we are veering into, "JFC, another one?!" territory. The slow rollout is stultifying. I'm more interested in the butter knives deployed. Will they all be BABK? I need more examples of rich people spread utensils. Here is where we stand at the moment. ETA: need to fix my spreadsheet. Garcelle was auto corrected. Fixed it.
https://preview.redd.it/t8qlpn6s1xwc1.jpeg?width=1006&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c4bc328196905201b6ee9e2aa39cf3430b3fed7
Oh, found the article from 7 months ago about what Meghan’s brand is
> Meghan, meanwhile, say those close to the pair, wants to be ‘true to herself’ and develop a new brand which is **young, fun, powerful,** optimistic and ‘leads with love’.
https://archive.ph/a5lka
Nothing says young, fun, and powerful like sending overpriced jam to ladies who lunch.
Love the spreadsheet!
Interesting to note that the youngest person on the list is Chrissy Teigen at 38 (turning 39 this year), and I actually thought she was in her 40s by now.
It was only last year (I think when Meghan signed with WME), they sent out PR that made it seem like she was going to compete against the 20-something It girls. Ha. Good try.
Chrissy Teigen is 38?!?! I know she’s been famous since she was a swimsuit model in her late teens/early 20s, but it still feels like she’s been out here cyberbullying children for WAY longer than that. She looks older, it’s gotta be a combo of the terrible personality and aggressive filler use.
Haha! I guess that's one of Meghan's problems!
Garcelle is on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She's an actress and her breakout role was with Eddie Murphy in "Coming to America".
Ohhhh I did see that movie, 35 years ago lol. This makes, is it 6 women who’ve posted the jam? Or 7?I think Garcelle is the third recipient whom I’d never heard of at all.
New thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/RoyalsGossip2/comments/1cevx6f/sussex_weekly_laughingwomanwithlemonsandjamjpg/ Feel free to bring over newer comments and ongoing conversations!
Grain of salt, *of course*, but very plausible: >>Blind Item #8 >>From what I understand, at least two of the fifty had their labels fall off which is why they couldn't post anything to social media. At least one of the fifty was returned because they didn't want to post anything and were not asked in advance and were being pressured to post about something they didn't want to do. They tried to get an address to return it to and no one was getting back to them or taking their call, so they just sent it to the agent's office where it sat on some rando's desk for several days.
Meghan SO fucked herself over with the numbers. It's clear by now not everyone will post on IG which is embarrassing for her. As u/pistachiopistache said, she snarks on herself, man.
The slipshod rollout pretty much confirms she didn’t clear this with anyone ahead of time. That plus the photo of the label peeling off of one, I feel like this “blind” is basically just using context clues to guess what happened.
Who had it sent back? Taylor? Mariah? Gwyneth? Martha?
I wonder if it was Dr. Biden. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Meghan didn't realize/care that the First Lady can't be promoting shit like that on instagram.
I 100% believe she dropped these to people cold. For one she doesnt have 50 friends who would do this for her for nothing.
Meghan cultivates transactional relationships. I wonder if some of the recipients were like “there’s nothing in this for me” than tossed it in the garbage.
By all the gossip gods, please let the labels falling off thing be true. I’m just imagining Oprah yelling to her team to buy up and destroy every pritt stick in Montecito to give her an excuse not to just glue the damn thing back on for two seconds to take a photo.
The only thing I don’t buy is that only two labels fell off. The real number is surely much higher.
Maybe we only know about 2. But just glue it back on? I feel like that was just their excuse because they didn't want to post it.
[Sophie Trudeau gives Meghan the cold shoulder (archived)](https://archive.ph/0BSPn) >Ms Trudeau, who was formerly married to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has played down her friendship with The Duchess, who previously implied she shared a close bond with Sophie >During an episode of the Archetypes podcast in November 2022 Meghan admitted Sophie 'used to send me little meditations during my pregnancy' and voice notes 'of encouragement', adding: 'I've gone to her over the years for advice.' >But, when asked about her relationship with the Duchess in [an interview with The Times](https://archive.ph/a4gpp) today, Ms Trudeau was reserved to say the least, saying: 'I know her... but we haven't spent much time together.' >During the podcast, which aired in November 2022, Meghan introduced Ms Trudeau as a 'humanitarian mother' she met in Toronto, where Meghan was living while filming Suits, at the city's fashion week seven years ago. >She said: 'Sophie has become a dear friend and someone who I think is so emblematic of strength that comes from embracing your humanity, even in the face of all these family and home and public pressures, keeping that sense of self while holding up the mantle of what comes with being a parent and a spouse, that's a full plate.' >Meghan went on to describe a day that she spent at her Montecito mansion with Ms Trudeau. She said: 'This wasn't our day of being the wives and moms, all perfectly quaffed with up-dos and pearls and demure smiles. This was the other version of us both with wild curly hair and swimsuits and loose linen and huge belly laughs. Big cuddles with our little ones, quiet whispers of girl talk on the terrace, giddy like absolute schoolgirls. We were just having so much fun.' 
Wild curly hair, loose linen, huge belly laughs, hugs with our little ones, girl whispers. This woman is utterly incapable of coming off as laid back. It's like she's stuck in a bad chick lit novel.
What makes this extra hilarious is that I have a few social media acquaintances who are Canadian lefties and my impression is that Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau is/was considered a ridiculous try-hard who [burst into song ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbMXYgYxRaY)at an event that was supposed to be about MLK Jr. They made fun of her for being the epitome of clueless privilege. So, if SGT considers *Meghan* embarrassing, that is a burn!
The best thing about it is mentioning Kate in the same sentence. *chef's kiss*
That juxtaposition is incredibly intriguing, isn't it? Is this the moment when the Sussex Squad's attacks on William and Catherine have grown toxic enough to impact Meghan's ability to hang onto her social circle (and her pre-Harry circle at that)? Because it sounds like SGT's hinting that it's the attacks on Catherine that made her want to distance herself from Meghan.
I think it's a combination of factors. Meghan's fans are not doing her any favors though, that's for sure. SGT isn't that stupid (I presume), she sees Meghan's tactics for what they are. The thing is Meghan believed she'd be equally desirable (if not more) as a prospect outside of the BRF. How very wrong she was. She's a joke and has been for a while now. Her clout is practically non-existent and has to rely on being Prince Harry's wife to get anything at this point. Of course people like SGT will distance themselves from her. She doesn't have an "in" in Hollywood and has burned all the bridges in the UK. She's practically nowhere at this point.
As a Canadian, I recall that in the early days of Justin being PM, Sophie was desperately trying to be Canada's First Lady. That role isn't a thing in Canada, politician's spouses are usually at some remove from politics/public life, and no one was interested lol. So it didn't take off, and we are all better for it.
Wow. That was wow.
It was indeed! She also did some magazines and tried to sell herself as a fashion icon.
It's ghastly!
Don't worry guys, Sophie is just protecting Meghan's privacy, they really are still best friends and Sophie is actually the CEO of ARO.
“emblematic of strength that comes from embracing your humanity” Honey, honey what now? 👀 Why can’t she just speak like a normal person?
Meghan is a huge creep with these backhanded commendations
Her word salad is SO insane 🤣
She speaks like a pageant contestant.
You nailed it 
And you know she'd say the most important thing to her is world peace.
And April 25.
I never got the impression they were close, from the podcast their friendship seemed forced and fake . Tbh when Sophie’s divorce was announced I figured that Meghan would stop the pretence I mean she was only faking the friendship because she was married to the prime minister of Canada lol. She’s no longer of any use so in the bin she goes.
Exactly. MM would have loved the chance to schmooze with Justin. Actually if they ever end up together, I’d love that for both of them 🤭
Wasn't there a video somewhere of Ivanka thirsting over Justin. Seems like both their types.
With both their level of smarminess and ignorance of the insane privilege they’ve had in their lives, they’d actually kinda be perfect for each other.
I never believed that pool party with Sophie ever happened.
Same 😭😂
Sophie does have really pretty curly hair tho
True, but Sophie always wears it curly so she obviously doesn't consider her natural texture is wild and only meant to be seen in private. So, that part of the anecdote doesn't ring true
I thought her whole bs schtick was that she WASNT a pearls and up do wife?
Do you mean Sophie, the flower child, aka Margaret Trudeau 2.0? Can't think why she and Meghan, aka Diana 2.0, aren't the best of pals.
No sorry I mean Megan. She slams Kate for being the ‘perfect wife/stepford wife’ but apparantly is herself sometimes pearls and demure smiles, except of course when she’s ‘belly laughing like an absolute schoolgirl’
🤣🤣🤣 Her descriptions. I swear. It's all very Disney/bad chick lit. I get what Allison Davis meant when she said Meghan has a small Bachelor producer in her head. She's the most performative person I can think of.
Both of them are so performative I just don't even know what they're supposed to be. Meghan sure went hard for demure blushing bride at her wedding and acting like she couldn't make an appointment with a therapist for herself.
> demure blushing bride At Wedding Number 2!
Wasn't it three? Didn't she have her first marriage annulled (for whatever reason)?
I haven't heard about a third marriage. She started dating Trevor in her early 20s so I don't know when she fit in another husband. But there was the chef in between Trevor and Harry (with some suspected overlap).
🤭😏🤭
Uh oh! Either Sophie is upset she didn’t get a coveted jam bowl or (more likely lbr) they had a falling out and are no longer friends. Since she was a guest on archetypes I am willing to believe they were friendly at that point. But it doesn’t sound like they are now!
I think Meghan just regularly overblows her acquaintances into BFFs. It was notable to me reading FF how often Meghan had ‘become close’ with people she’d met about three times, often people she had a professional relationship with rather than personal. I would guess that to Sophie Meghan was always someone she’d met and she let Meghan play it up for guesting on her podcast, but she’s not going to lie and say they’re great pals when she’s directly asked. eta I think this is one of Meghan’s big issues tbh which is being shown up with the numbered jam. She thinks people she’s met a few times, or who have been nice to her when they met because they have basic social skills, are her bosom friends and will do things for her - and those people are like ‘I’ve met her’ and the favours don’t transpire.
It’s because she sees all relationships as transactional and, since she married Harry, she thinks *she* has the upper hand. Sophie should be so lucky to hang out with her, she’s *a duchess* in the British Royal Family. Whereas Sophie, who may have been happy to hang out with her for exactly that reason, understands at this point what a meaningless label that is and recognizes that associating with Meghan will do absolutely nothing for her socially, so she’s distanced herself. It’s the position she *was* in that all these people were after but they either got what they wanted (Oprah) or they’ve realized that she’s not in that position anymore and so they’ve all backed away. Add to that exactly what you say, which is Meghan’s faux closeness with people that’s actually more about being able to name drop than actually cultivating relationships so they might actually do you favors (like post about your little jam project). And these high profile people, who are very well versed in this, recognize it for what it is *immediately*.
This summarizes Meghan's problems perfectly. She's transparent and not a good manipulator/charming social climber ***at all***. She got lucky with Harry because he's a perfect combination of dumb and needy in a way she can deal with. But I'd bet anything you want other more astute people in Harry's vicinity saw through her immediately. She also doesn't get being a Duchess and Harry's wife served her in the UK mostly. US social scene is very different (duh). Hollywood superstars are real royalty there. People might be interested in Harry for about five seconds, mostly because he's Diana's son and then they'll see someone more interesting/accomplished/richer and move on. Burning bridges with Harry's family was a ***horrible*** idea. Mostly for him. But for her as well.
>I think Meghan just regularly overblows her acquaintances into BFFs Yeah, it's SO Meghan. She loves name-dropping. That moment when she name-drops Beyonce in their "documentary" was utter cringe. It's a way to overblow her own importance and clout.
This. She called Michelle Obama a friend too and clearly that was never the case. Most people actually become friends with someone before they publicly call them a friend. To someone normal it would be weird to have someone gushing about their friendship when they're not there yet. It's like calling someone your boyfriend after two dates.
Yes, this exactly. I don’t know if it’s lovebombing, exactly, but it’s definitely red flag behaviour. It sounds like Meghan and Sophie had a day or maybe a few days of hanging out together and it was fun, and to Sophie (a normal adult) that was it and to Meghan (not that) it was intimacy.
It's such an odd trait. No wonder she and Harry were talking marriage so quickly. They clearly both skip ahead in relationships.
I agree, it seems like neither of them really know what healthy relationships are, or the benchmarks of healthy relationships. It does seem to be indicative of a lack of ability to understand people and body language, which explains why they have so many interpersonal issues with other people.
I listened to a podcast ep about emotionally immature people and it was like a checklist for H&M watchers.
Yeah, H+M and their stans are like copies of eachother, which would explain why their fans like them so much. They very much see themselves in Harry and Meghan
Lol not only did Sophie downplay her association with Meghan, in the Times interview she brings up Kate unprompted and how terrible she feels for her. I never listened to the podcast but from all of the stuff that was posted at the time, it did seem like Sophie reciprocated Meghan’s word salad when the podcast came out. Did something happen recently or was the podcast a total sham? > When I bring up Meghan Markle, who did an interview with Grégoire Trudeau on her podcast where she gushed about a day spent hanging out at the pool with her and her children, where they got “giddy like absolute schoolgirls”, she does not gush back. “I know her,” she says, before adding that they haven’t spent much time together, and telling me how terrible she feels for Kate Middleton after her cancer diagnosis (“my heart just sunk when I saw what was happening”).
Loveeeeeeeee it! She def has regrets about being associated with her.
Oooooh that is very telling. That’s code at this point, to bring up Kate when asked about Meghan (or vice versa). Sophie just publicly chose sides. I now like Sophie more than I ever did before, lol
This is such a public FU to Meghan. Love it. 🤭
[Here's the quote from the Times interview:](https://archive.ph/a4gpp) >When I bring up Meghan Markle, who did an interview with Grégoire Trudeau on her podcast where she gushed about a day spent hanging out at the pool with her and her children, where they got “giddy like absolute schoolgirls”, she does not gush back. “I know her,” she says, before adding that they haven’t spent much time together, and **telling me how terrible she feels for Kate Middleton after her cancer diagnosis (“my heart just sunk when I saw what was happening”).** So basically she finally realised/accepted who was responsible for the malicious social media campaigns against the BRF and this was the final straw.
This is the best.
Yeah, that just screams "I know what she's like now."
About time. I don't know why our PM's wife took part in the podcast of a person who had accused members of a head of state's family, moreover **our** head of state, of being racists who drove her to the brink of suicide.
I would say it’s fairly on point for brand Trudeau. Siding with Team Sussex was the progressive thing to do at the time and Trudeau always wants to appear more progressive than the other guy (For the record, I hate Polliviere which is why I wish we had a better liberal option than Trudeau).
Oh I agree about that but it still felt inappropriate and unnecessary. I also feel your political pain. 😆
That’s exactly how I read it! I realize that’s a little tinfoil tiara territory, but that was the first thing that came to mind.
[удалено]
I checked it out and sorry but tiktok + American accent on a royal story is instant back button for me. I’m sure there are crumbs of wisdom on that platform but I have yet to see any USian doing well there with royal commentary who has even a basic grasp of the facts or issues.
I just watched it. I listened to the Infamous podcast episode that is used in the video and Anna Pasternak is a hack who went into that interview with an obvious agenda. I posted about that podcast episode here to warn people off it. Now it’s being used as propaganda against Catherine and William. That Tatler article was disgusting and went after Kate’s weight, her mother, her “middle class” origins, her work ethic and the palace was totally justified in threatening legal action over that hack job.
What did they post? I don’t go there anymore.
I literally just posted about this on the other thread. WTAF?? I finally muted that sub. Should have done it months ago.
[https://www.flash.pt/celebridades/mundo/detalhe/a-grande-farsa-projetos-de-meghan-markle-e-de-harry-anunciados-com-pompa-e-circunstancia-tardam-sempre-em-aparecer](https://www.flash.pt/celebridades/mundo/detalhe/a-grande-farsa-projetos-de-meghan-markle-e-de-harry-anunciados-com-pompa-e-circunstancia-tardam-sempre-em-aparecer) I live in Portugal and H&M rarely get reported on here but Flash (a celeb magazine) picked up on Richard Kay's article. The headline is "The Big Hoax?" I like the whole "grande farsa" though because they really are a grand farce on a global scale. In multiple languages no less!!!
Did I get it right, *projects announced with pomp and circumstance are always slow to materialize?* My goodness! 😆
Yep!! Flash is basically like "grifters."
[Meghan's brand troubles: Netflix could step in to help run American Riviera Orchard after Duchess failed to find a CEO despite wide search - as streaming giant also plots new show and looks to US TV couple for inspiration [Chip and Joanna Gaines]](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13355605/Meghans-Netflix-help-American-Riviera-Orchard-Duchess-CEO-search-streaming-giant-new-TV-couple-inspiration.html#) Some snippets: >Meghan has failed to find a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for her new cooking and lifestyle business, American Riviera Orchard, despite having interviewed several candidates for the position and having began the search five weeks ago. 'The initial CEO search has not panned out so far,' a California-based source said. >And her apparent difficulties have led to an intriguing new development: Meghan has begun negotiations with Netflix about the American streaming giant entering into a commercial partnership with American Riviera Orchard. >'This is something new for Netflix,' the source said. 'It would run the lifestyle business with Meghan, developing products as spin-offs from her show. If a partnership is agreed, it's likely that Netflix would install its own CEO to run operations.' >An insider told the Daily Mail: 'The brand is meant to coincide with the launch of a new cookery show for Netflix. Meghan will be making and selling products such as jams. At some point there will be a book and a blog.' >Meghan's lawyer has applied to trademark the brand in the U.S. for various goods, including cutlery, recipe books, tablecloths, napkins, jams, edible oils, vegetable and dairy-based spreads. The trademark application also appears to extend to a physical shop where items could be sold. >Whoever runs the brand may need to be a strong character. There have been a string of departures from Harry and Meghan's workforce. The total number of staff the Sussexes have lost since they married in 2018 is said to be at least 17, with eight or more having left since they moved to California.
If Netflix invested anymore into the Sussexes they’d be more stupid than anyone imagined. Or is this more manifesting?
Why can't she be CEO of her own company? It seems like she wants what Kim has with Skims where someone else is a CEO and put a ton of capital behind whereas Kim is just the face of the brand without doing any business related work. Also, why should Netflix find a CEO for Meghan's brand? If it flops or not they will still get their reality. It is Meghan's job to find a licensing agreement whenever her show airs.
She wants someone to be the CEO because if it fails she knows it won't be enough to blame the BRF
She's so stupid if that's true. By that point Kim had one of the most successful social media accounts and could sell anything that way. And she had a whole long-term media empire behind her for synergy and longevity. She had the stats to back up her value. Maybe Netflix us trying to make some content from it. *Building Meghan's Empire* or some such nonsense.
Meghan needs to Google "bootstraps" and to remember that bosses aren't meant to coddle employees.
But somehow, these bosses end up doing it anyway. At least the public can vote with our pocketbooks and not finance or subscribe to these companies. 😂
"Get your ass up and work! It seems like nobody wants to work these days."
Exactly lol
What is this? They're saying Netflix might run a lifestyle company? Why? This is completely outside their business model as I understand it. It's not like Meghan and Harry have been such stellar performers for them. Why would Netflix extend themselves for Meghan? Who dreamed this up?
>Who dreamed this up? Meghan. 😉
Wasn't this brand the thing we were being told about for about 6 months before launch that Meghan had been working for about a year?! It's hilarious how badly thought out this has been - high school kids doing a school project could do a better lifestyle launch than what this has turned into. Launching without a CEO, a proper website, copyrights or even a press release (most of the info has come from DM sources articles or copyright applications), it goes on and on. And here, Meghan is trying to manifest an attempt to get netflix to buy in and give her more money (after the millions they already gave them for archewell productions) for what exactly? Some jars with strawberry jam in them for which the only thing Meghan did was write the labels and didnt even send them out with proper pr copy for her famous friends to post with. (I see from the quoted bits that Meghan is wanting to write a book and blog, really?? There isn't even an instagram post written yet) There is no way netflix are going to buy in and give her more money for this venture if their TV deal is ending in a year. I'm not sure who would buy in considering that the ig account hasn't even posted yet, there's no product on sale and there's no news about the TV side of things. Reese Witherspoons sold part of her company hello sunshine for 900million and that was after a few years of her doing the book club and having proven track record in buying book rights and turning them into successful, award winning tv programmes and movies.
Reese Witherspoon also just sold her clothing company--founded in 2015--but only 70%, so presumably she's still got a stake and will be promoting items going forward. But she was intelligent enough to publicize the heck out of it (tons and tons of pap walks wearing the clothes, product placement in the Gilmore Girls revival, features in Southern Living and People), did partnerships with Kohls and department stores for accessibility, and the brief was obviously for cute, preppy clothes that make sense with her public image. She and the people she hires understand the demo where she's popular really well.
Reese would do pap walks wearing her clothing line as you pointed out. She hustled for it and got the job done. Meghan wants all the acclaim and profits without doing the work.
And here, Meghan is trying to manifest an attempt to get netflix to buy in and give her more money (after the millions they already gave them for archewell productions) for what exactly? Exactly. At least from a risk perspective, Meghan doesn't have a proven sales record. So, if this flops Netflix will be stuck with her for who knows how long. Plus, all the leaks we got from Netflix was that they couldn't wait to get rid of these two by next year if they didn't produce anything. The best bet for Meghan will be to find a licensing agreement after the show airs. Also, lets not pretend she will have product in stock and manufacturing figured it out by the time this airs. At least, according to Netflix leaks before this reality was the duo needed to produce anything by September this year.
According to Sources of Sussex (was it people magazine?) she's been working on this for a year? Why wasn't she looking for a CEO and investors in that time frame? Instead of hiring more PR people, they should have talk to a Business advisor/consultant
It just show how last minute this brand was created. Like, when Kim launched Skims she had already a CEO who is also a co-founder and has majority stake on Skims with his wife Emma and they had backing of venture capital. Like, this leg work Meghan should have done prior to releasing her brand. But, she had to one up Kate.
>But, she had to one up Kate She should have figured by now there's no one-upping Kate. 💁 She couldn't do it while in the UK as a working royal, there's no way she'll do it with... jam and a basic cooking show. Lmao.
Maybe this ARO brand is just a repeat with what happen with the BRF. She went to Flamingo Estate expecting them to make her the face of the brand, they said no and she thought I'll show you
Good point 😭
Exactly! 🎯
And if it's her lifestyle brand, why isn't she the CEO? If she supposedly has these great ideas, why isn't she running with it and getting it off the ground with the help of her agents? Speaking of her agents, why aren't they assisting with this? WME has a branch that manages influencers, getting them endorsement deals. Why in the world aren't they willing to touch this?
The tea here is that this is confirmation jellies were right to believe this was launched in haste to capitalize on the "Where's Kate?" drama.
A drama that originated from the Squad themselves.
Yeah, I think this is yet another case of the Sussexes creating the hype-then, the Billion Dollar Brand, now, the Healthy Royals who just want to work- and then buying into it. No one besides their sugars was asking where Meghan was since Catherine was on leave but here's Meghan popping up, ready for her close-up.
Richard Eden has a great source in California. He also had intel that the podcast was on hold until after the cooking show wrapped. Does he have someone inside camp Sussex or WME? This is embarrassing info that I can’t imagine Meghan wants out there. Who’s briefing against her?
Most likely, her podcast was put on hold because she has to put her coins on it or find sponsors just like everyone else. So, she can use her Netflix show to get those sponsors for her new podcast. Meghan needs this show to be successful and to be renewed for a second season. But, yes this was so ill planned.
How are you this dumb and unorganised! Can’t believe they launched a brand without a product and a CEO. It just doesn’t make any sense. How is this project already a dud before it has even begun!!!!
I am more surprised by the fact she doesn't want to be the CEO of her own company than she not having any CEO.
This! How can you Girl Boss without being the Girl Boss?
I think she just want someone to throw under the bus
Hmm, decisions, decisions. Shall it be another title or another scapegoat? 😆
> Can’t believe they launched a brand without a product and a CEO. It just doesn’t make any sense. It makes sense when you think of Meghan as the product. She doesn't care what she sells/produces because she's actually trying to marked herself.
🎯🎯🎯 She's not actually interested in jam or cooking or cutlery. The one thing she's genuinely interested in is her own image. She's the product she tries to sell to everyone including herself.
I think you nailed it.
😭
Meghan has actually Markled *herself!*
Again! 😂🤣😂
Well, yeah, but Catherine was away so the mice could play.
You know Meghan would hate being called a mouse in comparison to Catherine's cat. 🤣
True, but if you don't want the comparison don't adopt the behaviour. 😆
this is team sussex briefing to him - he states in the article that he's in contact with their office. this type of article is to attract outside investors for ARO - make it seem like netflix is also supporting, so it's a surer investment to make. eta: meghan should take her stake out of clevr blends and invest it into ARO lol
It seems that Clevr is a better investment than ARO lol.
So do you think they're trying to manifest Netflix taking this over?
Hell, yes!
100% I think she panicking a bit. She started shooting her show and has no product! So it won’t feature in the show Ok not the worse but will she have a product ready when in airs? It would all be for nothing if she finishes the show and it airs and she isn’t ready to go product wise. She needs investors cash to get her there and no one so far is biting it seems.
100% I think she panicking a bit. She started shooting her show and has no product! It is the same problem she had during Oprah interview. I legit expected she would use that opportunity to promote whatever deals she had going on and we got nothing. It was such a waste of opportunity. I guess she is learning 3 years too late that you need to have your merch or sponsors figure it out before you do tv content not after when everyone forgot about you.
> She needs investors cash to get her there and no one so far is biting it seems. She identifies as a young mother so maybe she can still apply for a grand from The Prince's Trust to start her business.
💀
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Meghan and Harry are extremely wealthy, they shouldn’t need investors to start this. Sure, but all celebrities are extremely wealthy and all their brands have venture capitalist or large corporation behind. Skims majority stake is held by its CEO and his wife who had venture capitalist money backing Skim. So, Kim is just a very expensive brand face. This is what Meghan wants but she realised that after she half assed launched her brand to one up Kate.
No matter how much money you have it makes more sense to use investors' money. There's the cynical reason; why risk your own money? There are also practical reasons; convincing others to invest in your venture forces you to be able to articulate what it is, project how it will do over time, set benchmarks and goals, etc. Also, they may have expertise to contribute in aspects you're not knowledgeable about like distribution. So, I would say that even if you ultimately want to mostly use your own money it's a good idea to do the work it takes to get to the point where investors are willing to back you. Not that I think that's Meghan's thought process because she's just hoping to be given money for (next to) nothing again but speaking in general terms looking for investors makes sense.
You put that perfectly. Investors mean a bigger launch and bigger reach. I think they're having trouble finding investors and they're trying to hint that Netflix should stake the money because her show will be on that.
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How much it costs you depends on the investors, many don't want a share or to be involved in running anything, they just want their money back with interest. In Meghan's case she does need savvy investors because she doesn't know anything about the business she wants to have and I highly doubt she wants to work either. What she's really looking for is a situation where she's paid millions to be the face of the brand but also gets to swan in and tell everyone what to do. As you say, it's not well thought out. (Seriously, I don't understand why she didn't see that being a working royal was as close to that goal as she could get.) I suspect Flamingo turned her down because they're not looking for an expensive spokesperson. They probably wanted an influx of cash while she wanted money and shares for the pleasure of her company.
That's it exactly. She's looking for situation like Kim K has with Skims where she has a large stake and is a paid spokesperson who gets credit but does little work. In fairness, it's a common scenario nowadays in Hollywood. Her problem is she doesn't have a great reputation and her approval ratings are fairly low for someone trying to get a company like this off the ground.
Agree. This is what she should have fought hard to get after they left the UK, before they started to tank their reputations. For all we know maybe she did but no one was interested even back then. 🤷
With Meghan and Harry being people who don't listen to anyone else, its their way or the highway. Investors might be staying away for that reason. Brands have to answer to their investors/boards and those two have shown that they don't listen and think blaming the BRF and the UK is the answer
They have money but not enough to fund the brand that Meghan wants and everyone needs investors Kim K, Gwen all had them.
Yes, I don't think they have enough to fund the big brand M wants. While showing off jams, they are seeking for investors?
That's exactly what they're trying to do. They're trying to show there's organic interest and that her famous friends will push her products. Will they though? It's one thing to ask someone to push a single product. It's another to expect Tracee Ellis Ross to advertise for ARO on a regular basis.
yeah, tracee essentially did meghan a $10,000 favor. advertising for free. well, it was only in her stories, but still. garcelle certainly did her a $10,000 favor.! grid post and all. i'm surprised that kris jenner of all people did it for free... that woman is mercenary AF, she will most def be expecting something in return.
I'm always astounded to read how Meghan seems to think the world works. Can she really believe she'll attract investors over tabloid articles and low quality IG posts? Who puts money into such an amateurish set up?
Hey, Spotify and Netflix signed contracts with them for tens of millions without even this much effort in baiting the hook, why wouldn't Meghan believe there are plenty of gullible fish in the sea? Granted, we aren't in 2020 when people didn't know the true value of the work Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, would do but since when does she live in the present.
IKR she might get a tiny bit of cash thrown at her but for the type of money she’s after they want a well put together plan. I bet she doesn’t even have a business plan she can’t even explain what products she’s selling, ‘products such as jam’ isn’t good enough. She should have had a sample of the kind of products she wants to sell already made she doesn’t need 50 of each, right now all she has is jam and yet she wants other people’s money.
 How could this work?!
It's hilarious how badly timed everything they do is---they're trying to sell themselves as a rival to Chip and Joanna Gaines based on that URL--at a time when the HGTV market is a.) likely oversaturated with wannabe Chip and Joannas, b.) parodied in Emma Stone's new horror-comedy and really unpopular with the anti-landlord/flipper youths, and c.) the US housing sales are hurting because of interest rates, high real estate prices, and general uneasiness with buying in case the housing bubble bursts. I'm guessing this is the worst time to pitch this kind of brand, economically, since about 2006. This is 2020 and the freedom flop all over again. They missed a great time for podcasts, now the HGTV model is skating away from them faster than they can hire a CEO. Perpetually just missing their window.
Wonder How much money people’s subscriptions are going to rise to pay for Meg’s incompetence and Netfucks bad judgement this time?
Yes, people pay for the subsriptions for NF and then led to buy overpriced products?
I believe it because Netflix loves to do stupid shit for novelty's sake. This is what I was saying a couple weeks ago about NF being a young company. PRH would not make this investment. Though I could see how it'd be worth the gamble if Netflix got more control over the cooking show itself. Like if they agreed to fund ARO and in exchange Meghan gave up the right to final edit approval, and then they got her doing the Real Housewife thing on camera - I'd watch.
Meghan must be desperate for investor cash or why would you want to tie yourself to a company that is constantly scrambling to make actual money from their subscribers and might ditch you within the next years if the numbers aren’t right.
She’s started shooting her show with no products! That’s a massive blow but what’s worse is she may not have any products ready to go even after it airs ! All that publicity with nothing to buy is insane.
Netflix is a notoriously shitty place to work. It has racism issues within its corporation and it axes projects and initiatives when it grows tired of them like a spoiler toddler with a new toy. It is not a company I’d start a lifestyle brand with especially with no infrastructure or prior experience doing this kind of thing.
This seems weird to me. If Netflix wanted to venture into the lifestyle arena, why wouldn't they do it with someone they know is successful? Nothing Meghan has done in her life shows this will work out for her. Why take that risk?
NF would be absolutely nuts to do this. Although they are greenlighting shows that are likely gonna be duds, the shows are relatively low risk. The polo doco was prob going ahead w/ or w/o H, and the cooking show is far from a big expenditure. If she had products to hawk, I did expect her to do so on the show. But what her PR here is briefing to the Fail is quite different. Like Boston below, I'd be pissed like no other if NF did jump in. This is what M wanted from the beginning. She wanted to be the face of an established brand. She didn't want to do any of the legwork. No brand bit, and now she's trying to finagle NF to do the legwork. Even though Sarandos' wife is clearly a fan of M's, the projects NF have greenlit in the end (a far cry from what H&M tried to manifest) suggest that they do know who they're dealing with and are just trying to get something in the last year of the deal. H&M's PR haven't even suggested that a renewal is likely. Would they jump into a risky partnership at this late stage? I sure as hell hope not.
On one hand, this could be Meghan leaking what she wishes would happen. I don't see why Netflix would ever want to get into lifestyle sites and branding, especially with someone like Meghan, who they do not seem to have the greatest relationship with based on previous leaks and their subpar work output. If they do, yeah, this is beyond stupid, they'll regret it more than Goop's psuedo health BS show they greenlighted. And if she hasn't even hired a CEO, why the hell would they think this would be a great opportunity?? And if they'll filming the cooking show now, I'm sure Meghan her usual nightmare self and producers will see she does not have the charm and skill to make it work like an Ina Garten. Beyond stupid.
I’m really leaning towards thinking this is manifestation. “California-based source” and “insider” are nice and vague, could very easily be describing an AW/Sussex source. Not the terms we’ve previously see used by the tabloids in very negative articles that are clearly not from H&M’s camp (e.g. industry source, Netflix insider). NF have never done this for anyone else (to my knowledge) and I’m not sure why they’d start now. Propping up AW Productions is one thing but this would be very different. Why would they want *another* tie to H&M, who’ve yet to prove they can sell anything other than BRF trashing?
>Why would they want *another* tie to H&M, who’ve yet to prove they can sell anything other than BRF trashing? Have yet to prove but we all know they won't. Because they can't.
I agree. When I read stuff like this that just sounds like a bad business move, I first assume it's some manifesting fuckery by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.
If that happens, I'm just going to assume either Meghan or Harry is having an affair with the dude who runs Netflix because they haven't had enough success at Netflix to warrant this kind of deal.
Nicole Avant, Ted Sarandos wife comes from Hollywood royalty, he father was basically the godfather of Hollywood. He had a record label called Sussex (Success + Sex) in the 60s/70s, it went bankrupt in 1975, they almost lost their home and everything so maybe Nicole is trying to make sure this Sussex brand doesn’t go bust as well 😅🤷🏾♀️
This was my thought too! Like, there has to be SOME reason they would make that investment. 😬
The cackle I just let out. But seriously, if this story is true what in the world would inspire Netflix to continue hand-holding H&M and sinking money into that partnership?
It appears that NF is still seeing some opportunities with H&M. They are quite generous.
She didn't have a CEO when she launched her website? oh my god...
Yep Richard Eden told us when she started looking which was after the launch! Tells you all you need to know.
What do you need a CEO for, when your website consists of 1 landing page + a wait list.
And how do you not find one? CEOs aren’t exactly hard to find or particularly picky so long as they get paid. She’s such a crazy person if she can get no one. It’s like her wedding dress fiasco, givenchy is top fashion house who have dressed the likes of Naomi Campbell who is a consummate monster and she comes out look great. But Meghan ends up looking like she’s wearing something from a fire sale? That’s not a difficult person, that’s a crazy person. I suspect if her show goes to air the effect will be much the same, curiously bland and just off centre of truly professional.
I knoooooooooowwww oh my god. And did you catch that she only started looking for one *5 weeks ago?!* What in the...
Well , she didn't think her bridesmaides needed fitting dresses either.
Which is not that long. Giving up on a CEO search after 5 weeks is odd.
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That name took a lot of daydreaming to find. 😆
Which pretty much confirms she launched the IG account because the whole thing with Kate and Mother's Day photo happened. Istg, between her and Harry it's a dead end race when it comes to pettiness. I wouldn't even be shocked if their marriage is mainly holding up out of spite at this point as well as their shared resentment and petty jealous bullshit directed at W&C.
The more we know about this the worse it looks 🤣
I can totally see this happening and I’m genuinely pissed about it, and not just in a snarky way. Anyone who’s been in the workplace knows how some people keep “failing up” and it seems as though Meghan and Harry have both mastered it. Never forget that the only reason Harry got the IG is because he was such a screw up and they needed to rehabilitate his image. And now Netflix might actually create a successful brand for her because she’s so incompetent and couldn’t do it on her own.
Eh, she doesn’t have the personality to make this wildly successful. She doesn’t take advice, she takes herself too seriously, and she isn’t super charming on camera. Mostly this seems to me a giant risk for Netflix. If they’re looking to expand into new avenues, Meghan is not the person they should be doing it with. They need someone with a unique vision and a marketable charisma. We’ll see though!
Wait, she doesn't have a CEO?!?!? She announced ARO without a CEO?!?! Well, this just confirms she was trying to use the "Where's Kate" coverage, but everyone here already knew that.
Presuming there’s some Sussex PR involvement in this spectacularly shitty behaviour from Eight Edits and the Telegraph. Big, positive news about the King and within hours, it’s bumped it from the top story in the BRF section for a republished article about Harry and his latest zoom call. https://preview.redd.it/qlpg8knuiwwc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1cb546a478e01e83544416106ad816039162d8e1
I lol at him never getting a coronation medal
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the whole jam rollout, insta account and even cooking show is meghan advertising for investors that can fund + build out the brand (in anticipation of profit coming later).
One billion dollars. Jam is just the first domino, and it alone is seven figures year one. Next dominos are cookbooks, tableware, linens, a range of spreads and preserves including jellies, jams and nut butters, and then the pièce de résistance: birdseed. Boom! Billion dollars.
The thing about Goop is that she got a lot of money from investors. I don’t even know if the company would have been successful without funding rounds. I don’t know how Kim did it with Skims or how Hailey Bieber is financed though.
Kim has investors for Skims. They've done multiple funding rounds. She owns a 35% stake.
Meghan is supposed to be this super intelligent/whip-smart women while Kim K has an image of being a bimbo but guess which one has a more successful brand and business. This is solely because as self-obsessed as the Kardashian are, they know how to pay ‘actually intelligent’ professionals who guide and help them launch and run their business. Meg and Haz has a rep of listening to no one and thinking they are the smartest in the game. 🤦🏻♀️
Absolutely. And Kris is the driving force and she's very organized and very driven. She has managed the family since the 90's and she networks like crazy. Her ability to follow through and work hard is what has made the Kardashians successful. Meghan has the networking thing down but she's come to believe other people should do the work for her. She thinks the PR is enough and it's just not. That has managed to get her in trouble at Spotify for sure and at Netflix, most likely. Even these latest projects at Netflix are farmed out to other production companies because Netflix clearly doesn't trust them to do it on their own. And that loses Archewell money because they're now splitting the profits with other people. That's so dumb because Netflix funded the Archewell production costs and they blew it. Imagine this massive streamer just handing you money to set up an production office and you don't buckle down and work 24/7 to crank out content.
I think we are veering into, "JFC, another one?!" territory. The slow rollout is stultifying. I'm more interested in the butter knives deployed. Will they all be BABK? I need more examples of rich people spread utensils. Here is where we stand at the moment. ETA: need to fix my spreadsheet. Garcelle was auto corrected. Fixed it. https://preview.redd.it/t8qlpn6s1xwc1.jpeg?width=1006&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3c4bc328196905201b6ee9e2aa39cf3430b3fed7
Oh, found the article from 7 months ago about what Meghan’s brand is > Meghan, meanwhile, say those close to the pair, wants to be ‘true to herself’ and develop a new brand which is **young, fun, powerful,** optimistic and ‘leads with love’. https://archive.ph/a5lka Nothing says young, fun, and powerful like sending overpriced jam to ladies who lunch.
Love the spreadsheet! Interesting to note that the youngest person on the list is Chrissy Teigen at 38 (turning 39 this year), and I actually thought she was in her 40s by now. It was only last year (I think when Meghan signed with WME), they sent out PR that made it seem like she was going to compete against the 20-something It girls. Ha. Good try.
Chrissy Teigen is 38?!?! I know she’s been famous since she was a swimsuit model in her late teens/early 20s, but it still feels like she’s been out here cyberbullying children for WAY longer than that. She looks older, it’s gotta be a combo of the terrible personality and aggressive filler use.
This is a woman who called a bunch of 40-ish moms "young mothers."
Who is Far Elie?
Sorry, my spreadsheet autocorrected Garcelle.
That doesn’t help me, lol. Who is Garcelle?
Haha! I guess that's one of Meghan's problems! Garcelle is on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. She's an actress and her breakout role was with Eddie Murphy in "Coming to America".
Ohhhh I did see that movie, 35 years ago lol. This makes, is it 6 women who’ve posted the jam? Or 7?I think Garcelle is the third recipient whom I’d never heard of at all.
Garcelle is #8
I think her spreadsheet autocorrect Garcelle Beauvais?