A bombshell Vanity Fair piece about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's business and personal lives since leaving royal life apparently has the Duchess of Sussex absolutely reeling.
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00:00A bombshell Vanity Fair piece about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's business and personal
00:04lives since leaving royal life apparently has the Duchess of Sussex absolutely reeling.
00:09"'Not many people have asked if I'm okay.'"
00:12For the January 17th article, VF's Anna Peel talked with dozens of mostly anonymous people
00:17who have worked with Meghan, Harry, and their production company, Archwell. The picture
00:21they paint of the Sussexes' difficulties getting projects at both Netflix and Spotify off the
00:25ground is bleak. Royal correspondent Katie Nicholl summed it up.
00:28They constantly seem to be on the back foot. We're hearing about shows being delayed, postponed,
00:34or canned."
00:35In particular, Meghan's Netflix lifestyle show, With Love, Meghan, was postponed from
00:39its January 15th, 2025 release date to March 5th, just three days before it was initially
00:44set to start streaming. Entertainment correspondent Kinsey Schofield, host of the To Die For podcast,
00:49told Sky News Australia that the formerly royal couple is bruised and upset over what's
00:54come out. She said, referring to the couple's California home,
00:57"'I cannot imagine how many dishes broke over the weekend in Montecito over this vanity
01:02fair.'"
01:03Schofield added that things are not good for the Sussexes at the moment. So, what did this
01:08ex-bosé say, exactly? Sports writer and podcaster Bill Simmons, who worked with the couple at
01:12Spotify, bluntly called them b---- grifters. An unnamed ex-employee at Spotify explained
01:18the conundrum of trying to make worthwhile content with the couple.
01:20"'The thing you're escaping is the reason you're compelling.'"
01:23The article explains that Spotify put pressure on the couple to produce something, anything,
01:28that people might listen to. And while Harry and Meghan had what employees described as
01:31good ideas, they were always cut down by self-censorship. One said, talking about Harry,
01:36"'Well, he has a million things that he has to protect. And he has the book. And they
01:40have the documentary. And they don't want to make the queen upset. And their public
01:43image.'"
01:44VF revealed that Meghan's reps had potentially explored the notion of a post-divorce book.
01:49The article states,
01:50"'This book, this notion of a book, really, might center on a post-Harry divorce. Not
01:54that there was actually one in the works.'"
01:56The article also describes Meghan's approach to working with collaborators. Though one
02:00called her a lovely, genuine person, others said she would start off that way, but would
02:04become cold and withholding toward people when something went wrong. One source said,
02:09"'She's constantly playing checkers. I'm not even going to say chess, but she's just very
02:13aware of where everybody is on her board. And when you are not in, you are to be thrown
02:17to the wolves at any given moment.'"
02:19Piers Morgan, a longtime critic of Meghan's, went on Meghan Kelly's SiriusXM show to specifically
02:24talk about that element of the Vanity Fair piece.
02:26"'Actually, she in particular is a nasty little bully who sends staff into therapy. Think
02:32about that for a moment.'"
02:33There have long been bullying rumors floating around Meghan, dating back to before she and
02:37Harry quit being full-time royals in 2020. She has pushed back against those accusations,
02:42but the Vanity Fair piece adds a new wrinkle. The Sussexes are also said to be bad neighbors.
02:48The article even refers to them, despite their recent activism after the area fires, as local
02:52villains, with Montecito Neighbors saying the couple is responsible for housing price
02:55increases, bringing in out-of-towners who drive too fast, and making local restaurants
02:59harder to get into.
03:01This was such a vicious read.