I said this before, and I’ll say it again: with the way the Sussexes and Netflix are moving these days, it would not surprise me one bit if we soon see some quick announcement that the Sussexes have renewed their Netflix deal for another five years, and no, they will not disclose the terms. I could totally see that item appearing in Deadline or Variety this spring or summer. It’s beyond clear that Netflix believes in Meghan in particular, and they’re already supporting With Love, Meghan, and they’re partnering with her As Ever line. Every time a Netflix executive speaks on the record, they always say that they’re pleased with the Sussexes and they have more projects in development with them. All of Netflix’s moves are showing that they plan to be working with the Sussexes (Meghan in particular) for years to come. But obviously, that story doesn’t sell. Not when complete randos are spinning theories about how Netflix only wants to stick around in case… Harry and Meghan get a divorce?

Netflix won’t be renewing the Sussexes’ $100million contract but may make one-off shows with them going forwards just in case they get divorced, it was claimed today. Journalist and screenwriter Marina Hyde has said other streamers may also fight to work with the couple ‘to keep a vague hand in’ if one day Meghan and Harry split up.

‘The reality is that a lot of people are hanging around in case there’s a divorce’, she said. Amid dreadful reviews and poor viewing figures for With Love, Meghan, Ms Hyde has said that she believes the couple have already had their main TV hit with the Meghan & Harry documentary in 2022. But if their marriage were to dissolve, she speculated on her The Rest is Entertainment podcast with Richard Osman that streamers would be queuing up to make a series about it because it would be a ratings winner after a string of Sussex flops.

‘They [Netflix] are not going to renew. They might say we’re continuing to develop projects with them’, Ms Hyde said. ‘The reality is that a lot of people are hanging around in case there’s a divorce. That might be why Netflix, or whoever it might be, who’s got to deal with them, might keep a vague hand in’.

Meghan could also ‘name her price’ if she wanted to return to acting, Mr Osman said, adding: ‘It’s what she was known for. She’s good at it. Do that’.

Her Rest is Entertainment co-host Richard Osman, the best-selling author and also the brains behind countless TV hits in the UK, also laid into Meghan’s new show – and said the format was ‘flawed’ from the start.

‘If the whole show is my friends are coming over, it is fatally flawed. You should not get past a first meeting for a TV show. If you’re saying “Oh, the whole thing is about hospitality. The whole thing is about I love to cook for people, and I love to have guests over to my house. But it is not in my house”. Just from a TV producer point of view. I have completely lost interest. You might as well just be in a lab somewhere’.

Both agreed that for the couple to make major money, a return to acting for Meghan would be the way forward. Mr Osman said: ‘Meghan is an actress. Cast her in something. This is what I advise Meghan, take a job in something. You could pretty much name your price and project for the first thing you go back into acting for. It’s what she does’.

Marina added with a laugh: ‘I would have married him [Harry]. Got the two kids, got divorced, then ran back to Hollywood to be Julia Roberts for my 40s, but she’s not followed that plan’.

[From The Daily Mail]

Follow this train of thought: “The reality is that a lot of people are hanging around in case there’s a divorce. That might be why Netflix, or whoever it might be, who’s got to deal with them, might keep a vague hand in.” So these so-called “TV experts” and self-styled streaming-contract experts believe that Netflix won’t renew any kind of exclusive contract with the Sussexes, but Netflix will keep a loosey-goosey arrangement just in case Harry and Meghan get a divorce, and that divorce will be the real money-maker for the streamer? The streamer which does not have Harry or Meghan locked into an exclusive contract? Do these people even listen to themselves or are they so sick with jealousy, racism and incandescent rage that they just sit around and scream “what if they divorce” and “money problems” and “she should go back to acting!”

What’s so funny/infuriating about this is that literally no other producer/artist has seen their streaming contract put under this kind of incessant scrutiny and criticism. Amazon locked Phoebe Waller Bridge into an exclusive $60 million contract which produced absolutely NOTHING and then Amazon renewed the same deal in 2022.

Photos courtesy of Netflix.