Last week was pretty crazy with all of the ridiculousness over the Duchess of Sussex’s As Ever brand and the Sussexes’ Netflix contract. Variety published a lengthy hit piece which was contradicted on the record repeatedly within the very same Variety article. It’s clear to me that while Meghan has the support of Netflix’s C-suite, the middle-manager types hate her guts and they’re trashing her and Prince Harry every chance they get. Since Variety’s hit-piece came out, all of the usual suspects have been piling on with their own variations of the same quotes and themes. There has been a great deal of screaming, crying and throwing up over jam, and I’m really over it. Still, I read Page Six’s new exclusive about Meghan, Netflix and As Ever, and I was surprised to find some new information in this piece. Not only that, but it’s not wall-to-wall smears and character assassination. Some highlights:
Those As Ever bloom boxes: Even off this brief sales pitch, people were quick to point out that High Camp goes against the ideals that Markle, 44, and her husband Prince Harry allege to hold so dear. The company ships orders from its California farm via FedEx Priority Overnight to ensure customers get the petals within 24 hours being cut…Sources argued that many flower suppliers ship by air.
Netflix’s return on investment? “Netflix put millions behind this deal and I don’t think they saw a return whatsoever. They just cut a loss,” claimed one company insider. Others said there was no point in the streamer working on the brand when there was no show. Industry experts point out it can take years to launch a brand and return all investment — noting that it took Amazon nine years to become profitable, while Hailey Bieber’s Rhode beauty line did not return for investors for three years.
The Netflix-As Ever split: While a rep for the Sussexes said the plan was always for As Ever to stand on its own two feet, Netflix sources insist the announcement about severing ties came as a shock to staffers. “Why ever in the world would Netflix put all this money into the deal and then say the plan was to let It go after 11 months?” said the staffer. “You can try to spin it whatever way you want, but it’s just not true.”
A jam surplus, god bless it: But in a detailed report this week, Variety claimed that Netflix was sitting on a surplus of As Ever products, including tea and baking mixes, totaling more than $10 million in value, echoing a previous Page Six exclusive report that the company had been giving away products to staffers for free to unload it. Sources now tell us that all inventory has been transferred from Netflix back to As Ever custody.
Ted Sarandos still likes the Sussexes: “Honestly, there are people [within Netflix] who would rather not work with Meghan and Harry — they are fed up — but Ted always wants to give them one more chance,” said a well-placed industry insider. The Sussexes are Montecito neighbors with Sarandos and his wife, former US ambassador to the Bahamas Nicole Avant, and we’re told they remain friends. Still, “Ultimately, Meghan and Ted don’t have a relationship like they used to,” according to the insider. While there have been reports that Sarandos is no longer following As Ever or Markle on Instagram, Netflix reps on Friday told Page Six that he had never followed these accounts. Avant, however, does follow Markle. Netflix also stated that Variety’s claims that Sarandos is “fed up” with both Markle and Harry is “inaccurate.”
The difference between Bridgerton crap & As Ever: Additionally, As Ever never really “fit in” with the products that Netflix makes to promote its hit shows including “Squid Game” to “Bridgerton.” “That was merch — and As Ever is not merch,” said the insider, adding that it takes a very different skill set to build a brand. Markle went on to hire her own independent brand consultant and creative director, Devin Pedzwater, who also worked on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop.
The Sussexes’ Netflix projects: As for the Sussexes’ future with Netflix, their planned movie adaptation of Carley Fortune’s novel “Meet Me at the Lake” has been in development for the past three years, while “The Wedding Date,” based on Jasmine Guillory’s hit book, has yet to find a director and cast. Sources told Page Six that the Sussexes have now found a director for “Meet Me at the Lake” who has completed a rewrite of the project. They also claim other projects with Netflix are on the slate, though that could not be verified by either side.
An unnamed source scoffs at Bela Bajaria: Last week, Bejaria said, “I would say don’t believe whatever you read … We still have a relationship with them, we have movies in development with them, we have an amazing doc with them, they have things in development on the TV and film side.” But an industry insider sniffed: “She is just trying to get Netflix out of this news cycle. Maybe Bela needs to start fact-checking.”
When certain quotes about business or money don’t make any sense to me, I’ve just started assuming that they come from some British royal commentator masquerading as an industry insider or Netflix insider. Like, this quote makes zero sense: “Netflix put millions behind this deal and I don’t think they saw a return whatsoever. They just cut a loss.” Netflix invested in As Ever as a start-up, part of a corporate synergy project alongside With Love, Meghan. My interpretation of the breakup is still that As Ever’s first year was so profitable that Meghan could literally buy out Netflix. Even Page Six admits that by even their calculations, As Ever is turning a big profit. Notice how the unhinged criticism has shifted too, from “we don’t like Meghan’s bedside manner” to “I’m sure Netflix lost money” – which one is it? You don’t like her attitude or you’re just wrongly assuming that Netflix exited out of unprofitable business? By the way, Netflix is a $400 billion company – whatever they invested in As Ever, it’s little more than accounting error either way.
All of the stuff about the Archewell projects in the works… that’s great. And it’s nice that at least someone reports that Sarandos never followed Meghan or As Ever in the first place. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who runs his own Instagram anyway, and his wife still follows Meghan’s account.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
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