Despite recent reports that Netflix has gone full steam ahead in producing a Meghan Markle cooking show and a series about professional polo with Prince Harry, the streamer is “not expected” to renew the splashy, five-year, US$100mil (RM437.7mil) contract it signed with the couple in 2020. That’s according to Puck co-founder Matthew Belloni and entertainment reporter Lesley Goldberg.
In Belloni’s Monday (Aug 19) newsletter, he and Goldberg listed Netflix’s deal with the California-based royal couple, and their Archewell production company, as one of the “worst” of Hollywood’s Peak TV era. They noted that the couple’s 2022 docuseries, Harry and Meghan , about their departure from their unhappy royal lives, was a blockbuster hit. Critics say that’s due to the fact that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex dished dirt about the British monarchy and about Harry’s relatives.
Belloni and Goldberg said that none of the couple’s other projects has “connected” in the same way, including Meghan’s “passion project,” an animated children’s series called Pearl , which was cancelled before it even got started. Belloni and Goldberg also said that Meghan’s forthcoming cooking show and Harry’s announced polo series are two other “offerings” that aren’t expected to “connect.” If Harry and Meghan lose the Netflix association, it could prove to be another disappointment for the aspiring media moguls, after Spotify cut ties with them in June 2023, repor.