Netflix were ‘not happy’ with Meghan Markle’s As Ever brand before their split.
The Duchess of Sussex’s jam and flower sprinkles business just ‘didn’t fit’ and their customers showed ‘no appetite’ for it, a Los Angeles insider claimed.
The Netflix source told the Daily Mail that there has been some consternation at their HQ in Sunset Boulevard over claims Meghan felt they had been ‘too cautious’ with her As Ever brand – and had held her back.
It came as another expert claimed that the end of the As Ever-Netflix partnership is the ‘kiss of death’ for her future brand deals with big business.
‘Netflix were not happy’, the Daily Mail’s insider said today.
The source claimed that Netflix had considered how they could sell As Ever products in their two new bricks and mortar stores in Philadelphia and Dallas in the US – off the back of her TV show With Love, Meghan.
But it never happened.
‘They were not happy with the fact that no one really cared about the brand – so when they were looking to create As Ever areas in Netflix House there was no appetite for it’, the source claimed.
‘It just didn’t fit with Squid Game or Stranger Things or Bridgerton like they had hoped’.
Netflix has been asked to comment. But on Friday it released a statement that suggested it never planned to be a long-term backer of Meghan’s lifestyle company.
The Duchess of Sussex was asked to comment.
Meghan has decided to take complete control of As Ever – just months after Netflix dropped her TV show and Harry and Meghan’s $100million contract was downgraded to a ‘first look’ deal.
A source close to her claimed she felt Netflix was too ‘cautious’ and she was happy to take ‘complete control’ of her jam empire.
The Duchess of Sussex apparently felt that ending their partnership after less than a year would allow her jams and candles to ‘go global’.
But an insider at the streaming giant in California has said that the tie-up was another in a long list of failures between the two parties.
Cookie Queens has not been picked up by Netflix, despite their new ‘first look deal’. Meet Me at the Lake remains in development 2.5 years on, despite their previous $100m contract.
Eric Schiffer, chairman of Reputation Management Consultants in the US, told Page Six: ‘Losing Netflix on As Ever is a brutal backlash because the halo just got ripped off, and what’s left looks like another failed Montecito money grab.
‘The pattern starts looking like lethally unwise brand management. For Meghan, losing Netflix is the kiss of death to the pitch that prestige partners still see unlimited upside’.
Netflix has been asked to comment.
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, announced the As Ever partnership with Netflix a year ago when it commissioned a new season of her show, With Love, Meghan.
The deal gave Netflix a stake in her As Ever brand, which includes her jam, wine, flower sprinkles and candles.
Insiders claim Meghan thought Netflix was being too ‘cautious’ and wants to ‘go global’, believing her brand can ‘stand on its own’.
But the abrupt split came just two months after the streaming giant axed With Love, Meghan, which ran for two series.
The Christmas special attracted scathing reviews from critics, who accused Meghan of being ‘out of touch’ in the ‘tectonically tacky’ show.
Meghan is still said to get on well with Netflix boss Ted Sarandos.
A spokesman for As Ever confirmed to the Daily Mail last week: ‘As Ever is grateful for Netflix’s partnership through launch and our first year.
‘We have experienced meaningful and rapid growth and As Ever is now ready to stand on its own.
‘We have an exciting year ahead and can’t wait to share more.’
A source told The Sun: ‘Meghan is still on good terms with the Netflix team and close personal friends with Ted [Sarandos], so hasn’t wanted to upset him, but is very happy to have full control of the company.
‘It’s a good time for Meghan to have complete control, given recent successes.
‘Netflix have been a good partner, but she’s wanted to go global with the brand for some time, but has been held back by the more cautious Netflix team.’
A spokesman for Netflix said: ‘Meghan’s passion for elevating everyday moments in beautiful yet simple ways inspired the creation of the As Ever brand, and we are glad to have played a role in bringing that vision to life.
‘As it was always intended, Meghan will continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently, and we look forward to celebrating how she continues to bring joy to households around the world.’
Ahead of the launch of With Love, Meghan in March last year, the duchess said the ‘make or break’ cookery show helped her ‘find herself’ again.
She described herself as a ‘female founder’ and ‘entrepreneur’, but not an influencer.
‘I see myself as an entrepreneur and a female founder and if the brand ends up influential, then that’s great,’ she told People magazine.
Just 12 months later, suggestions that Meghan plans to go global with her brand come amid reports the $100million Netflix deal with Harry was ‘up in the air’.
Archewell Productions, the couple’s media company, announced in August 2023 that it was making a film based on Carley Fortune’s novel Meet Me At The Lake.
Netflix purchased the rights to the novel for $2.9million (around £2.2million) but nothing has yet materialised.
Three years on, the project is said to remain categorised as a development and is lacking in both cast and a director.
Page Six reported insiders as claiming the projects are in limbo.
‘Three years in development for a movie like this at Netflix isn’t good,’ a Hollywood source was reported as saying.
Plans for a movie version of Meet Me At The Lake marked a change in direction for the couple, away from tell-all documentaries about the Royal Family.
The novel, which sold 37,000 copies in its first week, is centred around a couple who first meet in their 30s – just like Meghan and Harry.
Themes in the book include postnatal depression, mental health and childhood trauma relating to the death of a parent.
The Sussexes, who recently returned from their tour to Jordan, have also announced their plans for a Netflix version of The Wedding Date, a 2018 novel by American author Jasmine Guillory.
Last August, the couple signed a new ‘multi-year’ contract with Netflix.
Meghan and Harry were described as ‘over the moon’ at the news, although it was understood to be far less lucrative than their previous one.
In a further blow, it emerged in January that the Duchess’s cookery show – which offered lifestyle tips from inside a rented $9.5million mansion near Meghan’s Montecito home – would not be returning for a third series on Netflix.
The second season of With Love, Meghan also failed to land in Netflix’s Top ten US shows in its debut week, according to Forbes.
But it won’t be up for renewal – after the Duchess called it ‘a lot of work’.
