Netflix is said to be ‘done’ with Harry and Meghan, according to a brutal take-down of the couple in Hollywood’s entertainment bible Variety.
A lengthy new feature examining their deal with the streamer, which claims to be sourced from half a dozen well-placed insiders, says the union between the two parties has been ‘far from a fairy tale’.
‘The Sussexes’ perceived pattern of selling repackaged versions of the same story about their exit from royal life has exhausted Netflix,’ the magazine says.
The article goes on to claim: ‘Their partnership may continue to taper off, and with it will Meghan and Harry’s remaining showbusiness lifeline.’
It quotes a source as saying: ‘The mood in the building is “We’re done.”‘
In a series of devastating claims, the magazine says the couple’s ‘bedside manner has ruffled feathers in meetings’ while the ‘lacklustre’ ratings for shows such as With Love, Meghan have led to serious doubts at the streamer.
The couple’s company, Archewell Productions, is also accused of ‘poor communication’ in dealings with Netflix.
There are even claims – strongly denied by both Netflix and a lawyer for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – that Netflix chief Ted Sarandos is ‘fed up with the pair’.
Harry and Meghan have frustrated and worn out bosses at Netflix, according to insiders speaking to American showbiz bible Variety
Their perceived pattern of retelling the same story, beginning with Harry & Meghan in 2022 (pictured), was said to have exhausted the streamer
The couple’s company, Archewell Productions, is also accused of ‘poor communication’ in dealings with Netflix
He is said to have remarked he would not sit for a call with Meghan ‘unless a lawyer was present on the line’.
Netflix states this is ‘absolutely inaccurate’ while lawyer Michael J. Kump, acting for the Sussexes, described it in a letter to Variety as ‘blatantly false’ and claimed that Meghan speaks and texts regularly with Mr Sarandos – as well as having ‘been to his home, sans lawyers’.
The article also says that two insiders allege Netflix, which Variety say paid around £45million for a five-year deal with the Sussexes, was ‘annoyed’ by the couple’s decision to give a tell-all interview to Oprah Winfrey in the wake of their acrimonious departure from the Royal Family.
The company was also said to have been ‘blindsided again’ by Harry’s decision to publish his vitriolic memoir Spare, details of which were ‘downplayed’ by Meghan.
The magazine suggests executives felt both projects had an effect on their own hit-job documentary with the pair.
However, a spokesman for the Sussexes insists they cooperated with Netflix throughout.
The magazine goes on to say that, despite the success of Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan, ‘A-list talent and directors’ are ‘hesitant to work with the pair’ given their track record – and it claims several projects have been canned.
Despite the streamer’s insistence that they remain committed to the couple through a ‘first look’ deal, ‘sales agents and filmmakers on the ground’ are said to be uninterested in any Archewell Productions involvement in projects, according to four different sources, the magazine says.
The Sussexes, pictured here in Vancourver ahead of the 2025 Invictus Games, insisted via a spokesperson they have co-operated with Netflix throughout
Netflix were said to have been ‘annoyed’ that the couple gave a tell-all interview to Oprah Winfrey in 2021 (pictured)
Variety also makes several explosive claims about Meghan’s style and approach to business deals.
The publication states: ‘In virtual and in person meetings with partners, she tends to talk over or recast Prince Harry’s thoughts, sometimes while he is in mid-sentence, sources say (usually preceded by a touch to the arm or thigh).’
In a letter to the magazine, Mr Kump says that this assertion ‘seems calculated to play into the misogynistic characterisation of her bossing her husband around’.
It says Prince Harry also attests this is ‘categorically false’.
The article also claims three different sources have told its writer the duchess has ‘odd methods of providing feedback’ – notably ‘disappearing’ during Zoom calls to signal her ‘offence’.
Mr Kump contests that this is because she ‘works from home and is the mother of young children’ who occasionally divert her attention.
The magazine says that after her second series of With Love, Meghan ‘cratered’, sources told them that ‘Netflix was losing faith in the former royals’.
It concludes: ‘After half a decade of inconsistent shows, strategic shifts, false starts and a diminished hold on the popular imagination, are the Sussexes really living the Hollywood dream they imagined?’
Netflix boss Ted Sarandos (pictured) is said to be ‘fed up with the pair’
Shows such as With Love, Meghan (pictured) have failed to hit expectations, which has contributed to the decline of the relationship between the streamer and the couple
The insider revelations come less than a fortnight after it emerged Netflix was parting ways with Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As Ever.
The range, which produces products like wine, tea and jams, was initially launched in April 2025 in partnership with Netflix’s Consumer Products division, to coincide with the release of With Love, Meghan.
Both the brand and the show now seem to have been dropped – although a spokesperson for the Sussexes told Variety there would continue to be ‘seasonal specials’.
But a ‘Holiday Celebration’ episode released last December fell flat, with the Daily Mail’s reviewer Annabel Fenwick Elliott giving it zero out of five stars and branding it ‘unlikeable’.
She wrote: ‘It’s the syrupy hypocrisy and our hostess’s deep lack of self-awareness that continue to make her and this show so unlikeable.
‘If only she could lean into her waspish, Type A personality – poke a little fun at herself, even – she could just about be endearing, in a Monica-from-Friends sort of way.’
But proving a door opens when another closes, Meghan has since signed up to headline an Australian ‘ultimate girls’ weekend’ where she will deliver a gala dinner speech and pose for photos with VIP guests.
Harry and Meghan are returning to Australia next month, eight years after their previous visit in 2018 (pictured)
Meghan is appearing at a women-only event in Sydney, which an describes as a ‘girls’ weekend like no other’
Up to 300 guests will be welcomed to the three-day luxury retreat in Sydney from April 17 to 19, during her trip to the country with the Duke of Sussex.
Meghan reached out to the organiser, Her Best Life podcast host Gemma O’Neill, with the idea after being put in touch by a mutual friend.
VIP ticket holders who pay £1,700 will get front-row seats and the chance to pose for a group table photo with the Duchess.
Guests will also indulge in morning yoga classes, a ‘sound healing’ experience, a meditation and manifestation session at the five-star InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach hotel.
However, the extravaganza has already run into difficulties after it was reported on Monday that Ms O’Neill’s PR agency went bust with a giant $500,000 tax bill.
Administrators were said to have been appointed after O’Neill’s talent management business, Gemmie Agency, went into voluntary liquidation in November – with the podcaster saying she couldn’t pay her debts due to a lack of savings and her ‘limited income’.
The firm owes AU$543,548 to the Australian Taxation Office, with another AU$3,300 owed to small business Jack Lawrence Accountants and Advisors, news.com.au reported.
A spokesman for the Duchess of Sussex confirmed on Tuesday that she will still be appearing at the Her Best Life Event, at the InterContinental Hotel overlooking Coogee Beach in the east of Sydney.
Besties Australia, organisers of the weekender being supported by Meghan in mid-April, are mentioned in the insolvency report.