Tony Hale was so excited to work with Beyonce on the Verizon commercial and he said that she’s just lovely in person. [Pajiba]
Another view of the Bennifer messiness this week. [LaineyGossip]
What’s up with Selena Gomez & her cryface emoji? [Buzzfeed]
I love this – an NBA fan is using astrology to predict team chemistry. [Jezebel]
Salma Hayek celebrates 15 years of marriage. [JustJared]
Matt Damon talks about the Dunkin Donuts commercial. [Socialite Life]
Travis Kelce admits he crossed a line with his coach. [Hollywood Life]
Kate Hudson was in Home Alone 2. [Seriously OMG]
Juliette Binoche wore Dior to The New Look premiere. [RCFA]
Kim Petras has new music! [OMG Blog]

Here are some photos from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first public event during their three-day trip to Canada, all part of the “One Year To Go” Invictus Games publicity. They arrived in Vancouver late Tuesday, and they stepped out on the slopes on Wednesday. They did a photo op to show off the adaptive ski trail, one which will be used during next year’s Invictus Games. There’s much more on the Sussexes’ itinerary and it’s my hope that we’ll get to see them at a lot of public events. Meghan looks absolutely gorgeous in these photos – something about the snow, the light and the way her winter beanie frames her face… it’s giving PRINCESS. Anyway, we’ll have more, I’m sure. For now, I wanted to highlight this hilariously seething story in the Telegraph, which was published to coincide with the Sussexes’ first events in Canada. The headline? “Prince Harry and Meghan have three days to prove they can behave.” You guys!!!

The Sussexes have landed. Fresh from launching their newly rebranded website, complete with coat of arms, Prince Harry and Meghan are in Canada for three days in the spotlight. They will spend Valentine’s Day hobnobbing with athletes and families at an event to countdown to next year’s Invictus Games with a speech from Harry later this week and hugs a plenty. The question back in Britain is: will that be it?

With the world’s television cameras on site in Vancouver and Whistler, will there be interviews, “secret” charity visits and a quasi-royal tour complete with wall-to-wall social media commentary to promote the Games and the Sussexes? Their fragile peace with the Royal family, tested to its limit over the last few years, hangs in the balance once again. It would be fair to say there is some trepidation. Gone are the days when the palace waited anxiously to discover which truly image-shattering bombshells would rain on them in Netflix documentaries, books and Oprah interviews.

“What is left to say?” one source said. But the timing, while the King is behind closed doors recuperating from his second round of cancer treatment and the Princess of Wales bounces back from abdominal surgery, still leaves something to be desired.

Not only is there a marked absence of real working royals from the public eye – the Queen and Princess Anne soldiering on, notwithstanding – but Harry is fresh from a 30-minute face-to-face meeting with his father for the first time since the Coronation. His team appear to have reached a truce with the Buckingham Palace aides the Duke distrusts: neither side has leaked a squeak of information about the meeting so far.

Sources close to the Sussexes confirm that the Canada trip is intended to be strictly on-message at Invictus, with no extra visits around Vancouver on the schedule. With three days out and about stretching ahead, the chances of Harry being asked about his father are high. He usually takes part in multiple television interviews as well as being surrounded by endless mobile phone cameras with the capability to video and upload his conversations to social media. Palace insiders will be watching from afar with morbid curiosity to see what their cross-Atlantic outpost will say and do.

This year, the Duke is expected to use his Vancouver speech to detail “how special Canada has become” to him and his wife. It is just the sort of thing the King would hope to say in person, had his health allowed him to travel to the Realm since his accession. In another world, Harry could deliver that message on behalf of King and country. Instead, he is working freelance but still wields the power to boost or damage all-important international relationships.

The next three days will be make or break. More than ever before, the Sussexes must make a decision. If they want to salvage a relationship with the remaining Royal family, they must prove their discretion. In palace terms, that means keeping schtum. But in a world where they need to build their brand to pay the Californian mortgage and ever-present security bills, they also need to generate publicity.

[From The Telegraph]

Everything I have to say, I’ve said a million times before. This was always about control. How to control Harry and Meghan, how to bring them in line, how to cage them, how to bring them to heel, how to force a divorce, how to leave them in mortal danger without security, how to impose the royal soap opera on their independent lives. The Windsors ran out of bargaining chips, threats and punishments long ago. All the Windsors have are these pathetic attempts at guilt trips, crying into their gin-and-tonics about how this trip could be make or break, this one needs palace approval, this one has every palace aide on edge. The Sussexes do not give a f–k about the clownshow over there. The Windsors are once again clout-chasing the popular royals they exiled.

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid.

Various Daily Mail columnists are still ranting and raving about sussex.com, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new all-in-one website for all of their charitable and commercial projects. Those columnists swear up and down that THIS is the moment for King Charles to “finally remove their titles.” Yeah… if Charles didn’t do it after the Netflix docuseries and Harry’s memoir, he’s not going to do it over a website, especially not when the left-behind Windsors’ asses are dragging. Maybe I’m wrong! Charles is incredibly petty and vindictive, but on this title issue, he seems fine with the status quo. Probably because he thinks it’s the one final thing he can hold over Harry’s head. In any case, the Mail’s Ephraim Hardcastle column (which is basically a catch-all Mail staffer-written column) had this:

Harry and Meghan continue to toy with royal rules as they launch another website, but will the King remove their titles?

‘Not likely, that would involve Parliament and might easily misfire,’ says my reliable royal source.

Many of Charles’s subjects – particularly those in the older age groups – are tired of the Sussexes but young people might find such a move unfair, particularly if the Duke of York is allowed to keep his titles.

However, my source adds: ‘King William might think otherwise.’

[From The Daily Mail]

Considering the Punxsutawney Prince crawled out the bottle last week to call up every media ally and rant about how much he hates his brother, I would say there’s a very good chance that when “King William” is on the throne, his reign will be solely devoted to trying to punish and smear his brother from afar. Just the fact that William’s allies were already talking about how the “next time William speaks to Harry, it will be at their father’s funeral” last November, shows you that William is already thinking about what he’s going to “do” to Harry. It will start at their father’s funeral.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.

The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, which was staged in Las Vegas. Valentine’s Day was their big homecoming, with a huge parade and presentation for the fans and residents of Kansas City. Thousands of people came out to celebrate the Chiefs, and many of the players were still drunk and partying. Then shots rang out. A uniquely American tragedy, yet again, for the millionth time. The Kansas City Police Department said that there is at least one casualty and 22 people are wounded from gunshots. One of the shooters was jumped by Chiefs fans and held until the police got there. Travis Kelce and the Chiefs are spreading support and love to their community:

Travis Kelce offered his condolences and support following a shooting at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2024 Super Bowl victory parade on Wednesday.

“I am heartbroken over the tragedy that took place today. My heart is with all who came out to celebrate with us and have been affected. KC, you mean the world to me,” the tight end, 34, wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

During a second press conference on Wednesday, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves confirmed there was one deceased and 22 wounded after the shooting at Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. Authorities were still working on the total number of victims and identifying the deceased victim at the time.

“Three persons were detained and under investigation for today’s incident,” Graves said. “Right now we do not have a motive. I’m angry at what happened today. The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment.”

The Chiefs released a statement shortly after the mass shooting.

“We are truly saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred outside of Union Station at the conclusion of today’s parade and rally. Our hearts go out to the victims, their families, and all of Kansas City,” their statement began. The NFL team added that “all of our players, coaches, staff and their families are safe and accounted for,” while also sharing that they were in close contact with law enforcement officials and thanked first responders.

[From People]

It’s just awful. I feel so bad for the people of Kansas City, for Chiefs fans and for the team. This was supposed to be a wonderful day of community for Kansas City, coming together to see their Super Bowl champions and it ended with gunfire, ambulances and at least one woman murdered.

I am heartbroken over the tragedy that took place today. My heart is with all who came out to celebrate with us and have been affected. KC, you mean the world to me.

— Travis Kelce (@tkelce) February 15, 2024

Breaking Video of Heroic Kansas City fans tackling one of the shooters pic.twitter.com/cAxL9Kox8d

— Fantasy Fanatics (@FFB_Fanatics) February 14, 2024

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.

One of the weird things about the Windsors’ racism and white supremacy is that those clowns completely freaked out about what to call the first mixed-race children in the modern royal family. As we now know, when the Duchess of Sussex was pregnant with Archie, then-Prince Charles and the current Princess of Wales were having open conversations about “how dark” the baby would be and what his skin color would “mean.” Charles made a big point of telling Harry and Meghan that their children would not have royal titles, and that he planned to change the Letters Patent when he became king, specifically to deny prince/princess titles to their children. All of which meant that when Archie was born, he was title-free and given the surname “Mountbatten-Windsor.” Lilibet Diana was also born a Mountbatten-Windsor.

Then QEII died and King Charles suddenly realized that it would look pretty bad to change the Letters Patent, so Lili and Archie became princess and prince the moment their grandfather became king. Lili was even christened as Princess Lilibet. As it turns out, that wasn’t the only change. Now that Archie and Lili are going to school, they’re not using Mountbatten-Windsor as their surname. They’re using Sussex. Lili Sussex and Archie Sussex!!! From a very interesting piece in the Times of London:

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have rebranded their website to “unify” their family after their children started using the Sussex title. Rather than being known as the Mountbatten-Windsors, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet had been known as Archie Sussex and Lilibet Sussex since the coronation, a source said — in the same way that Harry was known as Captain Wales when he was in the army.

On Monday, Harry and Meghan released Sussex.com, a rebranded website that is understood to have taken a year to build. However, it came under criticism for using the couple’s coat of arms. Insiders say that the aim of the rebrand is to bring all the couple’s projects — and both their children — under the same umbrella website. Their foundation and production company are called Archewell, inspired by their four-year-old son’s name. However, the new website is thought to be intended to be inclusive of both children.

After publishing his autobiography Spare, which detailed a childhood of being treated as a less-important “spare” to the “heir”, the Sussexes are said to be keen not to discriminate against their own second-born, two-year-old Lilibet.

A source said: “The reality behind the new site is very simple — it’s a hub for the work the Sussexes do and it reflects the fact the family have, since the King’s coronation, the same surname for the first time. That’s a big deal for any family. It represents their unification and it’s a proud moment.”

[The website] uses the coat of arms that Meghan was issued with when she married into the royal family. While some reports have questioned the legitimacy of the Sussexes using the coat of arms on their promotional website, a royal insider said: “It isn’t any sort of problem for the rest of the royal family. It hasn’t even been part of a conversation. Harry is more concerned about the health and wellbeing of the King and Kate and thinks that is where the focus should be. There certainly hasn’t been any problem raised about the use of a coat of arms by anyone at the royal household — why would they object when it’s perfectly normal and is pretty routine? Lots of people are familiar with the Duchy of Cornwall products in the shops and there are about 800 companies using the royal warrant coat of arms for commercial reasons.”

“Sussex.com is just an umbrella for good causes like [Harry’s organisations] Sentebale, Invictus and Travelyst and separates them out from the non-profit Archewell foundation and Archewell Productions, which is a profit-for-good company. There’s no use of the word ‘royal’ on the site for a good reason — to ensure there could be no conflict with anyone’s wishes.”

[From The Times]

Isn’t this some straight reporting from the Times! Someone wanted it on the record that if the royals wanted to say something about sussex.com, they needed to speak to Harry directly. Harry will take their collective silence as the go-ahead. And yes, thanks to the source for pointing out all of the royal warrant coat of arms and the Duchy Originals line. Anyway, I’m really excited to hear that Archie and Lili are using Sussex as a surname, and I love that H&M wanted something which is more inclusive of Lili, their little gingersnap spare.

Note by CB: Sign up for our mailing list and get the top 10 stories about the drama over Lilibet’s name. We only send one email a day on weekdays.

Photos courtesy of Netflix, Misan Harriman/The Sussexes.

Barry Keoghan & Sabrina Carpenter are a (random) new couple and they stepped out together in West Hollywood this week. [Just Jared]
Kanye West is going to get sued by so many people. [Socialite Life]
Tiger Woods left Nike & he’s started his own clothing company. [LaineyGossip]
Jessie Buckley looks punk in Simone Rocha. [RCFA]
Review of Lisa Frankenstein. [Pajiba]
Some of the latest Naeem Khan looks. [Go Fug Yourself]
Cinderella is now public domain. [OMG Blog]
Sally Jessy Raphael without her iconic glasses. [Seriously OMG]
Spoilers for Love Is Blind. [Starcasm]
Kendall Jenner is probably still dealing with her ex, Devin Booker. [Hollywood Life]
A Beyonce-Taylor Swift collab? Eh. But I believe the other rumor, which is that Beyonce covered Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” [Buzzfeed]

As you can see, the Daily Mail is NOT OK with sussex.com, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s new website, in which they’re trying to organize everything in one website framework. When the website went live, the Mail immediately got sources to cry about the whole thing was terribly “gauche” and how the royals should do something about it. The Windsors can’t do sh-t unless they’re prepared to go to Parliament just to remove Harry and Meghan’s Sussex titles. Which I wouldn’t rule out, even if the Windsors would look like idiots for not removing Prince Andrew’s York titles. Anyway, Sarah Vine barfed out yet another screed about how the Sussex titles should be removed, and I’m not going to excerpt any of it. Meanwhile, the Mail got Becky English to coauthor this completely bonkers piece about the website which brought down the monarchy.

Prince Harry and Meghan’s new website using their Sussex titles is a betrayal of their agreement with the late Queen Elizabeth, it was claimed last night. The couple’s ‘provocative’ decision to relaunch their homepage as ‘Sussex.com’ sparked accusations they are trying to be ‘more Royal’.

Well-placed sources said the new online venture would provide a ‘big challenge’ for Buckingham Palace’s Lord Chamberlain. The top Royal official must decide whether to take the Sussexes to task or ‘let it slide’ in order to keep the already fragile family peace. The growing row centres around the Duke and Duchess’s decision to replace their Archewell website – the umbrella name for all their philanthropic and business endeavours – with ‘Sussex.com’.

Many close to the royal household believe it is a flagrant breach of the supposedly cast-iron assurances Harry and Meghan gave the late Queen when they acrimoniously quit as working royals in 2020, and comes perilously close to using their royal status for commercial gain. Others described it as a betrayal of the agreement, ‘if not in letter, certainly in spirit’.

But a source close to the couple brushed off the claims and defended the use of their royal titles for the website. They said: ‘Prince Harry and Meghan are the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. That is a fact. It is their surname and family name.’

The palace has declined to comment, preferring to focus on The King who returned to London yesterday for meetings and cancer treatment.

But one insider said: ‘Buckingham Palace may have its hands tied in taking action. The King has other things he needs to focus on at the moment and the last thing His Majesty needs is another fight with his son. But this won’t go down well at all.’

Following the so-called ‘Sandringham summit’ in 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex agreed to step back from royal duties and not use their HRH titles for business purposes or trade off their royal connections. They were also forced to put on ice their existing website, Sussexroyal.com, which had been launched weeks earlier without any warning and effectively contained their ‘manifesto’ for a new life half-in, half-out of the royal family. Since then they have traded under their new guise of Archewell. The couple’s decision to launch Sussex.com this week was therefore seen as reopening old wounds.

Insiders highlighted the decision to use only Meghan’s royal coat of arms on the web page and not Harry’s. Some theorised that having the prince’s coat of arms would be too provocative ‘even for them’. Others wondered whether it was because ‘ultimately this is a re-branding for Meghan’.

[From The Daily Mail]

Harry’s coat of arms would have been TOO PROVOCATIVE! The Welsh Guards would have to ride at dawn to defeat the provocative coat of arms! Anyway, the Mail can’t stick to one rationale for why this is a slap in the face to a dead queen – Harry agreed to not use his HRH and he isn’t. He agreed to stop using the “Sussex Royal” branding for social media and the one website. The issue, we were told, was the word “royal.” The Windsors believe that they alone own the word “royal.” The Sussexes are not using the word “royal.” They also ignored that family in their personal bios on sussex.com. So what’s the issue? Also: I would be very interested in hearing if Harry actually had to sign anything in 2020 and, if so, what exactly he signed. Because reading between the lines of this ridiculous outrage, the Windsors don’t actually have anything other than “but Harry promised, this was the vague verbal agreement!” We know Meghan didn’t sign anything… because they excluded her from all of the exit talks.

Note by CB: Get the Top 8 stories about Harry and Meghan at the One Love premiere when you sign up for our mailing list! I only send one email a day on weekdays around lunchtime.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, cover courtesy of the Mail.

Note: the beach photos in this post are from 2019, I’m just using them to illustrate the story.

For four weeks, I’ve wondered why the Middletons have disappeared. It was four weeks ago (exactly) when we were told the Princess of Wales underwent “planned abdominal surgery” and would be in the hospital for up to two weeks, and then out of commission for months. So much weirdness has followed… the fact that Prince William seemingly only visited his wife once at the London Clinic, the fact that absolutely no one has seen or apparently heard from Kate in nearly two months, the weird behavior of Charles and Camilla towards the Waleses. And throughout it all, the Middletons have been in the wind too – no photos of Carole driving over to Windsor, no reports of Carole and Mike out with their grandkids.

Well, this is an interesting update. This week, Pippa Middleton was seen and photographed in St. Barts with her husband and children. Terribly Moderately Wealthy James Matthews’ family owns the Eden Rock resort in St. Barts, and Pippa and TMW James try to make it down there at least once a year. I would imagine Pippa’s kids are currently enjoying a school holiday, just like Kate and William’s kids. You can see the photos of Pippa and her family here at the Mail.

Pippa looks happy, like she doesn’t have a care in the world, and like she’s certainly not worried about her sister’s health or condition. Or should I say, Pippa isn’t worried that her sister’s condition is terrible or very serious. If Kate was in a coma or the situation was touch-and-go, the Middletons would have stayed out of sight, in the UK, including Pippa. Then again, I’ve believed for some time that Pippa and Kate’s relationship has cooled down in recent years, especially after Pippa named her daughter Rose. Still, it would be ice cold to go on holiday in St. Barts if your sister was at death’s door. Ergo, Kate is most likely okay or doing better than we were led to believe.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.

Several weeks ago, Robert Hardman’s latest royal book was being widely excerpted and discussed. Most of the discussion centered on QEII’s rage about her great-granddaughter’s name, to the point where many people failed to mention that Hardman’s sources took many digs at Prince William. Hardman’s book was authorized, and so it’s basically officially from Buckingham Palace that William isn’t academic, intellectual, political or any kind of reader. Nor is William religious in the least – he doesn’t like going to church and he’s not committed to this whole “Church of England” thing. There’s been little discussion of that, but now that Lent and Easter are approaching, there are more questions about whether William will get off his ass and attend a Maundy service in his father’s absence. From The Mail:

With Ash Wednesday marking the start of Lent tomorrow, the King’s thoughts will be doubtless be turning to an important moment in the year of a Monarch and an occasion he will not want to miss. An ancient Christian ceremony mixing leadership and service, next month’s Maundy Thursday service sees the King wash the feet of his subjects and hand out specially minted Maundy coins. It has deep roots. Stretching back to the Middle Ages, the Maundy Service commemorates the the Last Supper, when Christ washed the feet of his disciples but also remembers the commitment to serve made in the King’s Coronation vows.

Yet with King Charles now receiving cancer treatment, there is every chance he will not be there this year (the venue is yet to be disclosed) leaving this duty to – most likely – his heir, Prince William. The task would certainly remind the prince of his destiny – and of how very much that future is bound up with Christian faith. It would also raise some questions that nag a little more insistently with every passing year: just what does Prince William believe? And how committed is he to the Church of England he will one day lead.

His great friend, Lord Chartres, once told me that the King ‘is enthralled by religion’. That fascination does not seem to be shared with the Prince of Wales. There is little evidence of his own religious beliefs, although he was christened as a baby and later confirmed by Lord Chartres. By the time Charles was in his forties – the age that William is at now – he was regularly given lengthy speeches about religion and ethics. Speechmaking is not William’s forte, it is true. He prefers practical action.

Where there is evidence of his interest in faith, it is in his strong connections to religious organisations that work at the grassroots, helping those who are homeless. About such things, he is passionate. His charitable commitment has not, however, been enough to prevent speculation that William might cut ties with the Church of England when his time comes. That he would not be Supreme Governor.

According to biographer Robert Hardman’s new book, Charles III – New King, New Court, William is not a regular church-goer and ‘is not instinctively comfortable in a faith environment.’ Not that the prince could change the relationship unilaterally, for the British monarchy and the Established Church, the Church of England, are so bound up together that he could not become King without being ‘in communion with’ the Church of England, according to the Act of Settlement, 1701.

Today and in the immediate future, the King’s siblings and children will be more concerned for his health than the constitutional niceties of church attendance. But whoever washes the feet of the 75 chosen citizens – 75 to mark Charles’s age – on March 28, this much will be unavoidable: Christian faith, which at the heart of the King’s life and looked-for recovery, is at the very heart of Monarchy itself. At some point, answers will be needed.

[From The Daily Mail]

Keep in mind, if William had his way, he would have been away from “work” past Easter, like Kate. The timeline for Kate’s recovery was “after Easter” and even now, they’re suggesting that it will be more like May or June before she’s seen again. My point is that no, I do not believe William will take over any of the religious events this year. He will skip the Maundy service (March 28) and he’ll probably skip going to church on Easter Sunday too. Charles will probably ask Anne or the Edinburghs to go to the Maundy service in his place. This Mail columnist is right – questions will be asked and “at some point, answers will be needed.”

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar, Cover Images.

Well well well! In the months since Spotify ended their contract with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, there were some rumors that maybe Meghan was getting out of the podcasting business. Her sole podcast for Spotify, Archetypes, was a big success, even temporarily dethroning Joe Rogan from the top of the podcasting charts. I thought Archetypes got better as it went along – Meghan is a quick learner, and she was figuring out in real time what she wanted to do. All of which to say, I wanted her to do another podcast and I was sad that it looked like she was over it. But she’s not over it! She just signed on to Lemonada Media, a female-run company. The best part is that Archewell solely owns Archetypes, so Lemonada will now platform Archetypes Season 1, plus Meghan is apparently working on a new pod.

Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex is staying in the podcast business. The Duchess, otherwise known as Meghan Markle, has signed a new podcast deal with Lemonada Media, the company behind Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The move will see her launch a new podcast series and Lemonada will also distribute her previous Spotify series Archetypes to all podcast platforms.

It comes after her and her husband Prince Harry parted ways with Spotify last year. There are no details of the show yet, but Meghan will host the as yet untitled series.

Archetypes, which was previously a Spotify exclusive, will be rolled out to all audio platforms with Lemonada distributing. The series has recorded over 10M downloads, around a million listens per episode and debuted as Spotify’s No.1 podcast in 47 countries around the world when it launched in August 2022. The series, which is produced by her and Prince Harry’s Archewell Productions, won a People’s Choice Award for The Pop Podcast of 2022 and Markle won best entertainment podcast host at the Gracie Awards.

The deal is a coup for Lemonada Media, which was founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer, a former executive producer at Pod Save America producer Crooked Media, and Stephanie Wittels Wachs, cofounder of theater company Rec Room Arts.

“I’m proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting,” said Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex. “Being able to support a female founded company with a roster of thought provoking and highly entertaining podcasts is a fantastic way to kick off 2024. Our plan to re-release Archetypes so that more people can now have access to it, as well as launching a dynamic new podcast are well in the works. I’m so eager to be able to share it soon, and am overjoyed to be joining the Lemonada family.”

“We are beyond honored that Meghan has trusted us to help democratize access to Archetypes, and that so many more people around the world will have access to the series soon. Meghan’s talent as host, creator and conversationalist is unparalleled and we are thrilled to co-create a new series with her that fosters her approach to creating art that matters,” added Lemonada’s CEO Jessica Cordova Kramer.

“As we’ve started development with The Duchess of Sussex, we are blown away by her collaborative spirit and clear vision, along with her deep desire to build compassion and community through this work. The Lemonada team felt immediate kinship with Meghan and the Archewell Productions team, and we are delighted to be working together,” added Lemonada’s Chief Creative Officer Stephanie Wittels Wachs.

[From Deadline]

The only thing the Derangers have at this point is that Meghan’s Lemonada deal probably doesn’t pay as well as the old Spotify deal, which the Sussexes signed in 2020 (during the podcast boom). To that I say: it speaks volumes to me that Meghan prioritized a smaller, female-run company rather than, say, Audible. Meghan probably could have gotten more money if she wanted to go with a larger platform. She chose not to. I also love that Meghan still feels like she has something to say – she wasn’t scared off by her experiences at Spotify, nor was she scared off by the ridiculous smear job from Salt Island. Good for her! I feel like the second go-around will probably be more streamlined and she’ll be more confident about what she’s doing and what the voice of the show will be. Also: it’s amazing that Archewell owns the Archetypes archive. LMAO!

Note by CB: Get Harry & Meghan’s Top 8 most loved-up appearances when you sign up for our mailing list! I only send one email a day on weekdays.

Lemonada Media Announces New Partnership with Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex.

The Award-Winning Podcast “Archetypes” will be available to stream on all audio platforms for the first time this Spring, with Lemonada overseeing ad sales and distribution.https://t.co/U5tJxiDbLu… pic.twitter.com/U3WABJmQTE

— Misan Harriman (@misanharriman) February 13, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.