{"id":2321361,"date":"2026-03-10T13:07:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2321361"},"modified":"2026-03-10T13:07:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T13:07:21","slug":"meghan-markles-fight-for-her-business-is-a-must-win-after-netflix-blow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/meghan-markles-fight-for-her-business-is-a-must-win-after-netflix-blow\/","title":{"rendered":"Meghan Markle\u2019s Fight for Her Business Is a Must Win After Netflix Blow"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Meghan Markle<\/a>‘s lifestyle business As Ever has parted ways with Netflix, raising the prospect another chapter in her life that risks being recorded by the history books as distinctly unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

News of the split broke on Friday in U.K. in tabloid The Sun<\/em>, which quoted a source saying Meghan was still on good terms with the Netflix team but felt its caution was holding her back from going global. <\/p>\n

Newsweek<\/em> has confirmed the reliability of the reporting.<\/p>\n

The Duchess of Sussex initially said having Netflix as a partner<\/a> was “huge,” so it will have been a blow to see the partnership end after just a year, accompanied by a feeling it was no longer propelling her forward.<\/p>\n

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Needless to say, a spokesperson said in a statement to Newsweek<\/em>: \u201cAs Ever is grateful for Netflix\u2019s 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\u2019t wait to share more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick Ede, a U.K. brand and culture expert, told Newsweek<\/em> the framing\u2014that Netflix was holding back the business\u2014may have been a dangerous move though: “Netflix is a far bigger beast than she is.”<\/p>\n

Why It Matters<\/h2>\n

Prince Harry and Meghan’s Spotify deal collapsed in 2023 as Bill Simmons, an executive at the streamer, called them “f****** grifters<\/a>,” during a podcast discussion.<\/p>\n

Relations with Netflix had gone better though. Chief executive Ted Sarandos publicly defended Meghan<\/a> during a wave of negative reviews of her With Love, Meghan<\/em> cooking show last year. Meghan and Prince Harry still have a first look deal to make TV shows for Netflix.<\/p>\n

The Risk of Meghan’s Netflix Break Up<\/h2>\n

Ede said: “Giving Meghan her own show was a huge risk for Netflix, and for them to invest in her business and to help her,\u00a0so\u00a0I think for her to say that it was holding her back is\u00a0actually potentially\u00a0quite dangerous because Netflix is a far bigger beast than she is, and in the future you\u00a0wouldn’t\u00a0want that relationship to have broken down.<\/p>\n

“That’s\u00a0kind of the\u00a0problem with all of this. It feels like everything that they do never really goes anywhere, especially Meghan. There’s Spotify, then she did the Lemonada Media podcast, then obviously this and then she had The Bench<\/em>. And it feels like, again, it always comes down to: what does she do? Who is she and why is she doing it?”<\/p>\n

One of Meghan’s early forays into the media post-royal exit was her children’s book The Bench<\/em>, published in June 2021, which caused worldwide headlines. Ultimately, though, she did not pursue a career as a children’s book author.<\/p>\n

The couple had a multi-year deal with Spotify but produced one podcast, Meghan’s 12-part series Archetypes, before the relationship broke down.<\/p>\n

Meghan launched a second podcast last year called Confessions of a Female Founder<\/em> through Lemonada media but has put the project on hold for now while she focuses on As Ever.<\/p>\n

The split was presented in The Sun<\/em> as a mutual decision to part ways but what is less clear is the terms of that agreement. Netflix was an equity partner in As Ever, meaning it owned a share of the business.<\/p>\n

Newsweek<\/em> has not been able to establish whether Meghan had to buy that share back off the streaming giant and, if so, whether they gave it up for a profit or loss. <\/p>\n

“You own equity, and you own it in perpetuity, basically,” Ede said, “unless there’s some deal that it had done that said that actually, no, we’ll give it back to you.<\/p>\n

“But why would it do that after it had made all that effort? It spent all the money, it wants to recoup it. It will have made a loss,” Ede added.<\/p>\n

The Potential Reward<\/h2>\n

The Sun<\/em>‘s source said Meghan felt “very happy to have full control of the company” and that it was a good time to do so. With Netflix out of the way, she will be free to go global<\/a>, the source said. <\/p>\n

“She’s\u00a0got a huge global fan base,” Ede said,\u00a0“so\u00a0it’d\u00a0be stupid to\u00a0restrict\u00a0her from doing that but it must be an extremely expensive operation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“That global expansion is going to be huge so\u00a0you’re\u00a0kind of scratching\u00a0your head because\u00a0you’re\u00a0thinking\u00a0actually Netflix\u00a0with its reach could be the perfect partner.”<\/p>\n

And its not just going global: the Netflix partnership was geared toward the streaming giant’s ambition to expand merchandising its shows, whereas Meghan may want to take her business down other paths not related to her Netflix content.<\/p>\n

“Someone like Megan\u00a0probably wanted\u00a0to go into fashion, especially,” Ede said, “and she may have felt a little bit restricted from it. Obviously, the original\u00a0idea was that the TV show would be a huge hit and that would be a great way of driving demand and obviously increasing sales of her products. <\/p>\n

“I\u00a0don’t\u00a0feel\u00a0that’s\u00a0really happened.\u00a0So\u00a0they both may have sat there and gone, actually, is\u00a0this working for us? Because I do think that that fashion side of stuff could be the next way\u00a0she’s\u00a0going to play the game.”<\/p>\n

What People Are Saying<\/h2>\n

Netflix said in a statement: \u201cMeghan\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

Meghan said: \u201cThen Netflix came on, not just as my partner in the show, but as my partner in my\u00a0business, which was huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

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