Last week Spotify parted ways with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Initial reports painted it as an amicable split. Then Bill Simmons, the streamer’s podcast honcho, went and called them “f*cking grifters.” But Spotify doesn’t appear to be the only media company frustrated with the semi-ex-royals.
As per The Sun (as caught by The Daily Beast), Netflix is really pushing on the pair to come up with more quality shows as part of their massive $103 million deal. So far they’ve only done one: the hit documentary Harry and Meghan.
As such, the streamer has only paid them half of the money they’re owed. A source says they’ll get the rest when they make more arresting programs. If they don’t, they’ll get nothing.
“Netflix was pleased to sign Harry and Meghan and is looking for some great ideas going forward,” the source told The Sun. “But the remainder of the deal relies on them producing those good ideas. The deal’s continually under review which is normal for ones of this magnitude.”
Harry does have an upcoming series slated for August: Heart of Invictus, about the Olympic-style games he started for wounded ex-service competitors. But Meghan’s proposed animated show Pearl, about a girl inspired by historical figures, was dropped after being picked up.
Last week, a source told The Sun that things aren’t great between Harry and Meghan and Netflix. Meghan, they said, “lives in her own bubble,” and doesn’t appear to have “grasped the economic reality”. The source added, “There is a less friendly attitude from some at the top. The feeling is that the lemon has been fully squeezed. The big bucks Harry and Meghan signed on for do not exist today.”
(Via The Sun and The Daily Beast)