‘Minor Stars’: Harry, Meghan ‘genuinely disliked’ by Hollywood

The floodgates have opened with LA and Washington insiders revealing how they really feel about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

It would’ve been quite the moment.

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex and the world’s most famous ginger schmoo, schmoo, schmoozing at an Emmys after party thrown by mega agency WME while drinking a (pause for effect) ginger margaritas.

Also on the menu, spicy tuna bites, whatever they might be, and schadenfreude as the duke and wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’s entertainment careers continue to nosedive.

As the starry crowd that gathered on the rooftop of the Waldorf Astoria, notably absent, was WME’s most titled client, the former Suits star turned royal.

That party was held only days after The Hollywood Reporter published a bombshell story alleging that Meghan was the Benito of bosses, offering an “unsparing portrait” and featuring a source close to the couple saying, “everyone’s terrified of Meghan … she’s just terrible.”

You don’t need an advanced degree in Sussexology to interpret how bad this is for them. But now we have more and flood gates seem to have been set to “open” with more harsh reporting coming out about the Duke and Duchess.

The floodgates have opened with LA and Washington insiders revealing how they really feel about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

“There’s now a genuine dislike and distrust towards them by some,” a senior producer has told the Daily Mail’s Alison Boshoff. “I don’t think mainstream Hollywood ever took them seriously. From day one Archewell felt to most industry onlookers more like a brand building exercise than a genuine production operation.”

Part of the issue is their output or lack thereof with the producer having said, “even Harry and Meghan naysayers would have been shocked at how little they’ve actually achieved.”

Added to which, one senior industry figure told the Mail, “it’s hard to find anyone with a good word to say for (the Sussexes’) film and television credibility.”

That’s why, as the insider told the Mail, the duo is now facing “schadenfreude with extra venom”, which sounds like some heinous cocktail that requires dry ice and an unhealthily stout pour of Midori. (Don’t try this at home kids.)

We could maybe wave away the Mail’s claims, after all, Meghan successfully sued them over privacy claims in 2022 except that this is a case of tip meeting iceberg.

Like The Hollywood Reporter, Puck is a highly influential, must-read site that covers Wall Street, Washington, Hollywood and Silicon Valley and they recently offered a damning judgement of the Sussexes, naming their megabucks Netflix deals as some of the “losers” of the era of peak TV.

Puck has reported that “the streamer is not expected to renew” (that’s their emphasis by the by), noting the duke and duchess having a polo and a cooking show in the pipeline, these “offerings likely won’t connect the way the royal couple’s Harry & Meghan did.”

All of which sounds like it should be accompanied by a soundtrack consisting of a slow, sad slide of the trombone.

Wah, wah, wahhhhhh.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in an interview with CBS. Picture: CBS Sunday Morning

If bad news comes in threes then someone can’t count because after The Hollywood Reporter, after producers whispering to the Daily Mail and after Puck’s dire appraisal comes another insider whispering some less-than-sweet nothings about Meghan and what powerbrokers really think of her.

For years, ever since Harry was forcibly taught the words to the Star Spangled Banner back in 2020, there has been frothy speculation that the Duchess of Sussex might fancy dipping her toes into the political arena. Little surprise then that the last time the US went to the polls, the Sussexes filmed a get-out-the-vote video in which they all but wore “Vote Biden” T-shirts, (good for them, I say) and thus setting off a much red-faced indignation in London.

This time around, with only six short weeks before America chooses between a charismatic, inspiring leader and a broiled ham of a diet autocrat, the Sussexes have all but gone missing this time around.

Last week the High Priestess of La La Land and Sussex intimate Oprah Winfrey threw a live stream event for Vice President Kamala Harris, which was watched by millions and millions of people, and which starred luminaries such as Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Bryan Cranston.

You would have thought that the Sussexes inclusion would have been all but preordained. Only they were not there.

While the Telegraph has reported that the Harry and Meghan-shaped hole is a tactical choice on their part and that they are deliberately staying out of the race for the White House, others have a less flattering take. As a Democratic strategist who is separately tapped into the Californian party machine and knows the state’s Democratic governor put it, “With all due respect to Meghan Markle given the star power that we have in California, she’s kind of in the minor ranks of them to be honest.”

‘There’s now a genuine dislike and distrust towards them by some.’

The Telegraph’s chief reporter and deputy US editor write in the piece that “there’s the distinct possibility that the Democrats just don’t want the Sussexes’ support. The Duchess is a figure who is both loved and hated. In a tight election, Ms Harris cannot afford to lose voters, however unlikely that might be as a consequence of an endorsement from the Californian exiles.”

None of this can be how Harry and Meghan foresaw their American careers way back the last time that the tangerine tyrant-lite was running for the Oval Office: “Genuinely disliked”, their “star power” having plummeted such that they are now relegated to the “minor ranks” of Hollywood and their Netflix deal, with only months left on it, dumped on the loser pile.

Nor have the Duke and Duchess of Sussex ever taken home any nice shiny, glittering entertainment awards for their TV-making.

That is, unlike guests at their wedding and reportedly former friends David and Victoria’s Bekham. The week before trays of those ginger marks were circulating, the Netflix series about their lives took home the best doco Emmy.

Maybe one trombone won’t cut it after all.

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.