NewsBite

Meghan has reportedly postponed the release of her new podcast episodes amid challenging period

It’s undoubtedly been a challenging start to the year for Meghan, whose major planned rebrand has hit another snag.

Royals Recap: All the latest Prince Harry and Meghan Markle drama

IN LONDON

Meghan’s plan to kickstart 2025 with the launch of several long-awaited projects has hit another snag.

After delaying the January premiere of her Netflix cooking show With Love, Meghan due to the catastrophic LA fires, it’s now been revealed that the scheduled release of new episodes of her Archetypes podcast have also been postponed.

The series, which originally launched on Spotify in 2022 before a dramatic parting of the ways between the Sussexes and the streaming giant, was set to be relaunched on Lemonada Media.

The company appeared to tease new episodes at the start of the month, but according to Hello magazine, the rollout has now also been “pushed back”.

The planned release of new episodes of Meghan’s podcast has reportedly been delayed.
The planned release of new episodes of Meghan’s podcast has reportedly been delayed.
The trailer for Meghan’s new series came out earlier this month. Picture: Netflix
The trailer for Meghan’s new series came out earlier this month. Picture: Netflix

MORE:‘Fake’: New Meghan Markle lie exposed

It may not have been ideal from a business sense, but as an industry source told People magazine, LA-born Meghan would have found delaying her Netflix series to be “an easy decision” amid the devastating situation in her hometown.

“I don’t think she could imagine putting out a show centred on joy and hosting when so many people in her home state no longer have homes to host people in,” the insider said.

“I think it’s sad that critics are saying she’s only doing this to avoid the fires overshadowing her show. We’re all human, and we’re dealing with a catastrophe.”

Meghan’s major rebrand as a lifestyle and cooking guru was due to land five years after her and Harry’s departure from the royal family and followed what appears to have been a challenging chapter commercially for the pair.

While Harry’s memoir, Spare, became a bestseller, aside from the ratings success of the explosive Netflix docu-series, Harry & Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex seems to have struggled to find her post-royal career footing.

Meghan and Harry met with victims of the Los Angeles fires as the disaster unfolded. Picture: CBS
Meghan and Harry met with victims of the Los Angeles fires as the disaster unfolded. Picture: CBS

MORE:$7.2m deal: Meghan, Harry’s US life didn’t cut it

Along with her new Instagram account and With Love, Meghan, she was due to launch her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard – but the delays have obviously caused a disruption to that co-ordinated rollout.

The latest development also comes amid a challenging period personally for Meghan and Harry, who were the subject of a bruising Vanity Fair article recently.

In the piece, titled “American Hustle”, Meghan was portrayed as a ruthless boss, with one staffer revealing they had not believed previous bullying claims about her – but quickly changed her mind after being hired, admitting it could happen “any given Tuesday”.

Another ex-staffer compared Meghan to a “MeanGirls teenager”, and described working on her Archetypes podcast as “really, really awful” and “very painful”.

Others described “taking extended breaks” to “escape scrutiny” or “undergoing long-term therapy” after working with her.

One former employee, speaking about their podcast projects, said the couple “wanted a big theme that would explain the world, but they had no ideas”.

The source also alleged that Meghan struggled to commit to a concept before “backtracking” and “watering them down”, leaving their team with episodes which had to be “completely reimagined late in production”.

Originally published as Meghan has reportedly postponed the release of her new podcast episodes amid challenging period

Add your comment to this story

To join the conversation, please Don't have an account? Register

Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout

Original URL: https://www.themercury.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/meghan-has-reportedly-postponed-the-release-of-her-new-podcast-episodes-amid-challenging-period/news-story/87ae3f3bb4555dd3af3ec55917665d19