‘Haven’t actually made money’: Report Hollywood has barred Meghan
A damning new report has revealed just how bad things have really become for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Los Angeles.
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Christmas is a time for joy and love and the accumulation of Quality Street wrappers stuffed down sofa cushions, but clearly not in Hollywood.
With only 23 shopping days until we gather with our loved ones for an orgy of commercially-mediated bonding and ham, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have just gotten an early and unwanted gift – a stinging set down as their entertainment careers come unfortunately close to the skids.
According to a new report, LA big wigs and their frazzled assistants have no time for the duchess, even though she is married to the King of Great Britain’s son and was once arguably the most famous woman in the world.
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Forget making marquee movies or even must-watch TV – Meghan can’t even get her calls answered, it has now been claimed.
The Times has reported that there are “rumours” that “power players in Hollywood who were formerly enamoured of the couple will no longer take Meghan’s calls personally”.
Paula Froelich, an entertainment correspondent and editor for the US cable channel NewsNation, has told the paper: “This is what happens when you haven’t actually made money — you fall [down] the totem pole of importance. People in LA roll their eyes at them”.
This industry rolling of the eyes and call dodging comes after what has been a barren year in Sussexland, with the self-appointed truth tellers having, so far, not released a single book, TV show or podcast in 11 months.
The sum total of the output has been couriering around the place gifted pots of Meghan’s jam and a parade of People stories that wafted with the fug of dysfunction and pique as Harry battles the British Home Office and to get his father to take his calls too.
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The bad news is that the Sussexes may well need the people who matter to take their calls, with multiple reports having previously suggested that Netflix, their biggest backer, has no interest in renewing their contract when it comes to a close.
If that comes to pass, they have no significant entertainment deals left. Spotify parted ways with them last year, with one executive labelling them “f***ing grifters”, and there is no sign of any further books from publisher Penguin Random House.
The couple having been photographed with Paramount head Brian Robbins and his wife Tracey at events has so failed to translate into any green work shoots.
Irons in the fire? Harry and Meghan look like they are running shockingly low.
With the new year terribly close and the tinsel already sagging, 2025 is shaping up to be a game-changing, all-or-nothing hinge point for their future.
They now have only two chances left to convince the deal-makers and honchos that they are worth betting on – his Polo series, out this week, and her cooking slash baking-a-cake-as-a-radical-act-of-resistance show. (Well, that’s entirely supposition, given the dearth of actual details around it).
Given the only series of theirs that has unquestionably rated was their Harry & Meghan tell-all and their all-you-can-eat buffet of royal family drama, their reported $US100 million deal now rests on these efforts to turn towards the frothy.
However, even these upcoming and far more lightweight offerings could pose a headache for the couple, like making them look uncomfortably hypocritical. We are a long way from their original promise of “content that informs but also gives hope”, Toto.
As Froelich pointed out of the sport of polo, “You can’t play a sport that costs a minimum $US2 million a year to participate in and pretend to be the height of empathy and authenticity”.
Likewise, how will Meghan’s TV show celebration of rose-pruning and 41 ways with feta or whatever gel with her work to make herself into a leading feminist voice? Gloria Steinem never took a break from fighting the patriarchy to teach homeviewers how to make paella.
Sharks could be about to be jumped.
One thing the duke and duchess have managed to do extremely well is to build up a well of detractors and disgruntled sorts willing to regularly and serially whisper in journalists’ ears.
A full dozen former and current Sussex staffers were interviewed for The Hollywood Reporter’s paint-strippingly negative September bombshell report, “Why Hollywood Keeps Quitting on Harry and Meghan”.
“Everyone’s terrified of Meghan,” a source close to the Sussexes told the Reporter.
“She belittles people, she doesn’t take advice … she’s just terrible.”
“She’s absolutely relentless,” another source told the publication.
“She marches around like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders. I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.”
Days later came a senior industry figure telling the Daily Mail, “It’s hard to find anyone with a good word to say for their film and television credibility”.
Then, speaking to The Daily Beast, people who had worked for the duchess labelled her a “demon” who had “psycho moments” as a boss.
In a town built on ego, none of this might matter, if only the Sussexes’ shows were bringing in subscribers and viewers. After all, the almighty dollar rules all.
January 8 will be a big day – the five-year anniversary of Le Grand Megxit. What’s just astounding is that in that time, they have gone from being proud symbols of resistance to institutional power structures to seeming like they are verging on ending up on the home shopping network.
A Sussex brand sandwich squasher anyone? The Official Prince’s Panini Press ™? Who knows what might quite literally be in store for Christmas 2025.
Daniela Elser is a writer, editor and a royal commentator with more than 15 years’ experience working with a number of Australia’s leading media titles
Originally published as ‘Haven’t actually made money’: Report Hollywood has barred Meghan
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