Meghan Markle has split from Netflix and will take complete control of her As Ever jam brand – just months after the streaming giant dropped her lifestyle show amid savage reviews from critics.
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, announced a partnership with the company 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, rosé wine and flower sprinkles.
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 comes 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.
Giving ‘With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration’ zero stars out of five, the Daily Mail’s reviewer Annabel Fenwick Elliott called the show ‘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.’
A spokesman for As Ever confirmed to the Daily Mail: ‘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.
Insiders told Page Six that the 44-year-old’s pet project won’t be up for renewal – after the Duchess called it ‘a lot of work’.
One insider claimed: ‘It is not returning as a series. There have been conversations about holiday specials, but there’s nothing in the works yet.’
Another source said: ‘People will see similar cooking and crafting on Meghan’s socials for the brand, but more bite-sized.’
