#prince netflix documentary 2020

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

The Daily Mail has helpfully listed all the times Meghan’s rebrands and relaunches have failed.

Archived Link

Here, FEMAIL reveals the Duke and Duchess' projects that, for all the carefully constructed razzmatazz of their launch, have so far come to little.

ARO/Roop:

[L]ittle more has been officially revealed about the brand, with no Instagram posts on the firm's official account since March and the website simply offering fans the chance to join a waitlist. But what exactly are potential customers waiting for? Jam and dog biscuits? A source told The Daily Mail in June that the priority is instead the launch of a rosé wine. It's unclear when exactly American Riviera Orchard products will be available.

Archetypes:

The Duchess, who produced only one series of her podcast Archetypes for Spotify before parting ways with the company, had signed with Lemonada to develop and host a new series. However, a source told Eden that there is not expected to be any work broadcast this year. 'The relaunch of Meghan's Archetypes podcast got pushed back to 2025,' the California-based source says….Lemonada is said to be concerned that there would also be 'scheduling conflicts' between the launch of its podcasts and that of Meghan's lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.

40x40:

It was unclear at the time as to exactly how the project would work, or whether there would be any way to measure its success. But according to The Sun, less than 10 months on, there was no follow-up on the campaign and royal expert Angela Levin said she thought the 40x40 project had been 'cancelled'. She said: 'I think it's very quietly gone into the dustbin,' added that it was an idea of the royal's that 'didn't come off'. There also doesn't seem to be any mention of the 40x40 project on the Duke and Duchess' Archewell website.

Spotify:

Last January, [Bill Simmons, Spotify’s head head of podcast innovation and monetization] blasted Prince Harry, saying it was 'embarrassing' to be affiliated with the same company. 'Shoot this guy to the sun,' he said, according to sports website The Big Lead. 'I'm so tired of this guy. What does he bring to the table? He just whines about s*** and keeps giving interviews. Who gives a s***? Who cares about your life? You weren't even the favourite son. You live in f****** Montecito and you just sell documentaries and podcasts and nobody cares what you have to say about anything unless you talk about the royal family and you just complain about them.'

The couple produced less than 13 hours of content during the three-year partnership: 12 episodes of Meghan's Archetypes show, and a 30-minute Christmas special featuring both the Duke and Duchess.

Pearl/Netflix:

Harry and Meghan signed a five-year agreement with Netflix* in 2020 worth an estimated $100million (£80million) but earlier this year there was speculation that their contract renewal was under threat.

The couple's first launch on the streaming giant was their six-part documentary 'Harry and Meghan' which was released in 2022 and caused controversy with its series of swipes at the Royal Family. … But in May, Netflix dropped Meghan's planned animated series Pearl as part of a wave of cutbacks prompted by the streaming service's drop in subscribers. All references to her doomed animation were wiped from her Archewell website after the series was axed by the streaming giant. A prior description of the series under the Archewell Productions subsection was nowhere to be found after it was cancelled.

*There’s been a lot of speculation over the years about their Netflix deal, but this is the first official confirmation in writing (that I’ve been able to find) that it’s a 5-year deal. This supports my theory that the new push for content (Meghan’s lifestyle show, her cooking show, and Harry’s polo documentary) is a final “do or die” effort to be able to renegotiate their contract and renew their deal.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

"Miserable Prince Harry wants his old life back & is planning a royal return after crapping all over his family."

After years trashing the Royal Family, Prince Harry is reportedly working on at least a partial comeback:

According to a report from The Daily Mail, Harry has become dissatisfied with life as an American Hollywood liberal and is consulting experts on how he can rehabilitate his image in Britain and the wider world.

The Mail reported: Prince Harry has sought advice from trusted former aides in Britain on how to mastermind a return from exile in the United States, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Sources said the Duke of Sussex is consulting people ‘from his old life’ as a working royal after allegedly growing dissatisfied with advice from American-based image experts.

The overtures signify the first stage in a strategy to ‘rehabilitate’ Harry that would involve him spending more time in the UK to repair his relationship with his father and potentially initiate a partial return to the royal fold.

Sources stressed that Harry and Meghan, who have spent the past four years living in self-imposed exile in California with their two children, are not seeking a permanent return.

This newspaper can also reveal that the couple have parted company with yet another American PR adviser. Christine Weil Schirmer joined the Sussexes in 2020 as head of communications but left quietly late last year.

Since marrying Meghan Markle in 2018, Harry has given up his duties as a working royal and has sought to build a life in California dedicated to left-wing advocacy and making huge sums of money.

Among Harry’s various projects have included a Netflix documentary series where he and Meghan dished the dirt about their supposed mistreatment by the Royal Family and a memoir in which he trashed his family members and complained about the struggles he faced growing up in the limelight.

While details of Harry’s plans for a return to the royal fold have not been revealed, it remains unclear whether his family members would forgive him for his betrayal and allow his return.

The state of Harry’s fractured relationship with his brother, Prince William, was once again underlined this week following reports that the two men had “kept their distance” from one another while attending a funeral service for Lord Robert Fellowes, the brother-in-law of their late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

[ingek73]

RITY NEWS

What It’s Really Like to Work for Meghan Markle: Staffers Reveal Truth Behind Rumors (Exclusive)

By Justin Ravitz and Jaime Harkin September 24, 2024

Hours after The Hollywood Reporter published a piece alleging Meghan Markle’s “terrible” behavior is the cause of the high turnover rate at the company she runs with her husband, Prince Harry, a current employee posted a note on Instagram passionately debunking the report. The September 12 article, which claimed that those who work for Meghan are “terrified” of her, included quotes from a source calling her a “dictator in high heels” who “belittles” people and has reduced “grown men to tears.” The staffer said the allegations made in the article are wildly inaccurate and damaging to both the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and members of their team. Current and former staffers quickly flooded the comments with statements of support. “Best bosses I have ever had,” one current team member wrote, while an ex-staffer added that their time with the Sussexes was “truly an honor.”

The Duchess of Sussex has long been dogged by reports she promotes a toxic workplace environment. Back in 2021, days before the couple sat down for an in-depth CBS News interview to share their story, The Times of London reported the former actress had allegedly bullied and reduced staff members to tears at Kensington Palace. In August, NewsNation claimed Meghan and Harry had lost 18 employees between their time in the U.K. and the U.S. (they launched Archewell Foundation in 2020), with a source blaming an “unbearable” and “condescending” Meghan for the “churn and burn” rate.

Several current and former staffers paint a different picture to Us. Ben Browning, their former head of content — who was responsible for getting their Harry & Meghan documentary on Netflix before leaving after his contract expired in early 2023 — says his experience at the company and with Meghan and Harry in general “was positive and supportive,” adding, “we all continue to be friends. The narratives we’ve seen suggesting the contrary are untrue.” Onetime chief of staff Catherine St-Laurent tells Us she and the couple have also “remained close” and says, “The time I spent working with Prince Harry and Meghan was incredibly meaningful to me.”

While Josh Kettler’s August departure as Harry’s chief of staff sparked more negative press, he says he was “warmly welcomed” by both Harry and Meghan and the Archewell team during his stint. “They are dedicated and hardworking,” he tells Us of the pair. “It was impressive to witness.”

Ashley Hansen, global press secretary to the duke and duchess and the head of communications for Archewell, says her bosses couldn’t have been more supportive when she had to take some extended time off for a serious surgery. “When I told them, I was met with the kind of concern and care a parent would express if it were their own child,” she recalls. “I was asked what I needed, how and if they could help, and told to take as much time as I needed.” Hansen says Harry and Meghan sent flowers and care packages, “but most profoundly to me, Meghan would personally reach out to my husband daily to make sure that we both were OK and had support,” she adds. “It meant so much to him and even more to me. You don’t realize how much that kind of kindness and thought means until you need it.”

Normal Hiccups

There’s little doubt the company — which employs a small team of roughly 16 full-time employees and is comprised of the Archewell Foundation (their charitable nonprofit), a production side (which deals with audio work like podcasts and their Netflix deal) and communications (Markle’s new lifestyle brand is a separate entity) — has had some growing pains. “Archewell is not unlike a start-up; it’s relatively young,” says Hansen, adding, “Two things can be equally true: you can be a great leader and still have turnover. No boss or company is immune to that.”

Adds a current employee who asked to remain anonymous: “People leave at any company — they get new opportunities, change their careers or feel their role isn’t the right fit. They also sometimes get let go. Those decisions are part of doing business.” Hansen maintains Meghan and Harry have no hard feelings toward anyone who’s left. “They want people to grow and to have opportunity — whether that’s within or eventually outside of [the company].”

Good Vibes Only

The current anonymous staffer says colleagues have been “dumbfounded by the claims,” adding, “It’s clear where this type of commentary is coming from. It’s likely made up from someone who’s disgruntled.” Browning tells Us the narrative is “simply a predictable attempt at creating intrigue through sewing false conflict.”

The office culture is positive. “This is the first company I’ve worked [where I] liked every person,” says the source. “Harry and Meghan picked the best of the best from every field and watered the seeds for them to flourish. We have an enormous microscope on us. But good things are happening.”

Staffers outside of the production team, which has an office in Hollywood, work remotely most of the time — including Harry and Meghan, who share an office at their Montecito home. Occasionally, staffers will gather at the couple’s mansion or meet at Soho Works. “The teams find ways to work together in shared spaces,” says a former staffer, adding that everybody’s welcome to request in-person meetings with Harry or Meghan wherever and whenever. While the Sussexes get dressed up for formal events, they sometimes show up at virtual meetings in baseball hats and T-shirts.

During weekly Zoom calls, Harry will chat casually with staffers. “He’s fun. He definitely takes the work seriously, but when a meeting starts, the first five or 10 minutes are all pleasantries, like, ‘How was your weekend?’ Or “How’s the construction going at the house?’” the ex-employee says. As a group, they go to happy hours and have holiday parties. “We’re planning a karaoke night,” adds the current staffer, “because we have two people getting married on the team.”

Sweet Gestures

Other acts of kindness from the duke and duchess? “When I adopted my dog, the next day, I had a luxury brand leash and new collar on my doorstep,” says the former staffer, who adds that parents-to-be are given brand-new gifts and top-notch secondhand stuff from the couple themselves “like unused car seats and baby items they no longer need.” During the Colombia trip, the duke and duchess texted a team leader to take everyone out for drinks.

“They want to take care of us,” the current employee says. “Meghan will do things like, ‘You mentioned on the call your skin is bothering you, I put together a kit for you.’” And during team visits to the couple’s Montecito home, no one departs empty-handed. “Whenever staff goes to their house, they leave with a basket with fresh flowers, fresh fruit, fresh eggs,” the staffer says.

Behind the Scenes

Meghan’s known for giving credit where it’s due. “If you’re in a meeting and a great idea is referenced, she makes sure to give props to the person who generated the idea,” says the former employee. “[After] a big trip, every employee gets a personal email thanking them for their contribution in making it a success.”

The former employee says Meghan is the first person to wish staffers a happy birthday and is “compassionate and understanding” when it comes to illness or family commitments. As for rumors of Meghan’s penchant for tantrums, the current staffer says they have “never” heard her yell, explaining that the duchess “gives clear direction and is solution-oriented.” And those reports of firing off demanding emails at 5 a.m.? Meghan’s official email signature reads: “My working day may not be your working day. Please do not feel obliged to reply to this email outside your normal working hours.”

On the Defense

Loyal staffers take the outside criticism to heart. “We’re here for a reason,” says the current team member. “If you come for our bosses, you’re coming for us. This isn’t a criminal organization. We’re trying to do good.”

A second former staffer recalls asking for a break during a low point in their lives and says Harry and Meghan were more than happy to give them time off, no questions asked. “I needed to be totally off the grid. They couldn’t have been more supportive and even paid me during my leave. It’s so in their nature to lean in and support and take into consideration that there is a human behind this job.”

“Part of the profound injustice of having to speak publicly on this in light of these endless and damaging narratives is that so much of the kindness, mentorship, and support that Prince Harry and Meghan share with others happens quietly behind closed doors,” says Mandana Dayani, who served as the president of Archewell for 18 months in 2021 and 2022. “I’ll never forget sitting on the floor in their kitchen while Meghan was feeding Princess Lily and cold-calling a dozen senators — their reactions were unbelievable — to ask them to advocate for paid leave.”

Dayani and Meghan traveled to Uvalde, Texas, after the tragic 2022 school shooting. “For hours, [Meghan] sat in a room with grieving families, going one by one to each person — hugging them and crying with them,” she recalls to Us, noting that Meghan has since kept in touch with the families affected by the tragedy.

While working with the Sussexes, she grew close to them personally. “Some of my favorite memories were during our weekly meetings in their Montecito home, where Meghan always served the most incredible lunches, snacks and her latest beautiful concoction.”

They all remain close. “These are kind, decent, caring people who I am very proud to call my friends.”

For more on Meghan, watch the exclusive video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly — on newsstands now.

[sassyfrassboss]

The divorce has to be coming soon. Harry isn't useful for her anymore. She's not making money by being connected to him anymore. I've always thought she'll ditch him the moment she begins to think that she can make more money without him and that moment is now.

They didn't even get an invite to TTC and the fact there was no lead up PR about them being invited or being on the balcony is extremely telling.

Since 2020 Harry was able to get her deals with Netflix, Spotify and the Oprah interview. She now has the prince/princess titles for her kids.

However, two things she really wanted, which Harry failed to deliver, was (1) a tiara moment on the BP balcony and (2) a carriage ride and balcony moment with her and her children.

Now that Spotify has cancelled their contract and word is Netflix only has the IG documentary left...Meghan is going to have to hustle without Harry.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Sussexes vs Beckhams: What like its hard? by u/Mickleborough

Sussexes vs Beckhams: ‘What, like it’s hard?’ To paraphrase one of the better writers of trash, Archewell Productions is intensive care, but the hospital just closed.Arsewipes began in 2020 with a reasonably impressive roster of staff, most (if not all) of whom have departed.Its œuf, I mean œuvre, to date, comprises:‘Harry & Meghan‘ fauxcumentary, released Dec 2022. At one time the 2nd ‘most successful documentary’ (unclear how this is measured) ever for Netflix. This has since been trounced by the ‘Beckham’ documentary: Daily Mail archived / unarchived‘Live to Lead’, released Dec 2022. Underwhelming follow-up to the fauxcumentary. Similar to comments made about the confusing timing of Meghan’s firstborn (along the lines of ‘the first woman to go into labour after childbirth’), in that many interviews were conducted before the Sussexes’ Netflix deal, particularly the Ruth Bader Ginsburg interview, which was conducted in 2019 (she died in 2020): Telegraph archived / unarchived‘Heart of Invictus’, released August 2023. As a rag put it: ‘Prince Harry’s Netflix Show Flops With Audiences’. Newsweek! say it isn’t so! archived / unarchivedThere allegedly are cooking and polo programmes in the works, but screentime or it didn’t happen.Meanwhile, back in 2019:https://ift.tt/qLyz2Zr archived / unarchivedBeckham sold 55% of Studio 99, pocketing $269 million / £205 million:https://ift.tt/3QROVdW 99’s been busy:https://ift.tt/l8PHAI9 produced the ‘Beckham’ documentary for Netflix, which has been commercially very successful. And - doubtless to Meghan’s chagrin - it’s been nominated for not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 Emmys, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series:https://ift.tt/yTRZ0hL: How difficult is it for a Hollywood virgin to put together a tstudio to produce screen content? post link: https://ift.tt/xXZBJzI author: Mickleborough submitted: August 31, 2024 at 01:56AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[bananaofswifts]

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour opening weekend: Tears, joy and ‘therapy’

Fans descend on Glendale, Ariz. (a.k.a. ‘Swift City’) for a long-awaited chance to commune with their pop icon, revel in her lyrics and express their true selves

By Emily Yahr

GLENDALE, ARIZ. — Taylor Swift had endless choices when deciding how to kick off her first concert tour in nearly five years on Friday night, a captivating spectacle that stretched over three hours and included 44 songs. After starting with a brief snippet of “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince,” the namesake song to her 2020 Netflix documentary, she launched directly into “Cruel Summer.”

As the track’s hazy opening synth-pop beats blasted through State Farm Stadium, you could hear the gasps, with simultaneous shouts of “OH MY GOD!” barely heard above the ecstatic mayhem (and in some cases, heaving sobs) among the nearly 70,000 in attendance. Swift, resplendent in a shimmering bejeweled silver bodysuit and matching knee-high boots, beamed at the crowd, because she knew exactly what she was doing.

Swift fans believe that, in a parallel universe, “Cruel Summer” (the yearning anthem on her 2019 album, “Lover,” about a steamy and toxic relationship, with a chorus that demands you sing-scream along) was destined to be the song of the summer of 2020, released as a single as Swift planned to embark on a series of festivals called Lover Fest. Obviously, the global bummer of 2020 happened instead. Yet the obsession with “Cruel Summer” persisted, especially because Swift had never performed it live.

So this wasn’t just a song. For many, this was a stinging, subconscious reminder of how much we lost and what could have been. It was also a moment of pure, delirious joy — not only because of the thrill of hearing a beloved song live for the first time, but also because it’s clear that even one of the most powerful celebrities on the planet had felt all of that, too. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that at the top of her first show on her Eras Tour — 52 dates of sold-out stadiums — she wanted to pick up right where she’d left off before the world shut down.

“I don’t know how to process all of this and the way that it’s making me feel right now,” Swift told the stadium when the song was over, her voice slightly shaking. Later, she added: “I’m really, really, really overwhelmed, and I’m trying to keep it together all night.”

ying to keep it together” has rarely applied to the 33-year-old Swift, who, nearing the end of a second decade as a professional musician, has ascended to a rare, glorified status as a once-in-a-generation pop star. She has no chill. After rising to fame with songs about her awkward, unpopular teen years, she now embraces cringe and earnestness. That’s part of the draw for her legion of fans, who see her as one of them. After Ticketmaster melted down during sales for the Eras Tour, the parent company’s chairman went on the defensive by pointing to the extreme demand, claiming that the number of people trying to buy tickets “could have filled 900 stadiums.”

The Swifties shelled out hundreds — sometimes thousands — of dollars for tickets and travel and descended on Glendale this weekend, determined to make the often harrowing process of ticket-buying a distant memory. The Phoenix suburb, which recently hosted the Super Bowl, could hardly contain its excitement. The mayor declared it would temporarily change its name to “Swift City,” and electronic signs on the highway encouraged safe driving with Swift puns: “CUT OFF? DON’T GET BAD BLOOD. SHAKE IT OFF.” “RECKLESS DRIVING? YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN.”

But that was nothing compared to the electric energy surrounding the stadium. To be a Taylor Swift fan is to learn to master the clues and secret messages that could be embedded in every lyric, public comment and social media post, no matter how opaque. To be a Taylor Swift fan is to always come ready, which includes devising the perfect outfit to wear to a concert, with unlimited options bestowed by the singer herself, who chose a tour theme, “eras,” that celebrates her past and present.

Being in the crowd was like being in a force field where all pretenses are gone; Swift’s music covers the spectrum of bubble-gum pop (which she refers to as “glitter gel pen lyrics”) to deep introspective poetry, and her concerts are a place where you can dance or cry to either. Swift has laid bare her own insecurities and emotions over 10 studio albums and more than 200 songs. Here, in her presence and among one another, fans become their truest selves.

Scanning the crowd, you could see countless sequins and bejeweled skirts and jackets, an homage to the “1989” era. There were also dark blue dresses with stars for “Midnights”; red heart sunglasses, a black bowler hat and a T-shirt reading, “Not a lot going on at the moment,” a shout-out to the “22” music video; dark lipstick and black leotards as a tribute to “Reputation”; lyrics scribbled down people’s arms in marker, something Swift used to do before every concert; and No. 13 painted on hands, another former Swift tradition, from when she was starting out as a country star.

“My inspiration is the Red Tour, one of Taylor’s iconic outfits, and I just wanted to re-create it,” said Giacomo Benavides, a 26-year-old content creator dressed like a circus ringleader who traveled from Peru for the show.

Some were even more specific: Olivia Jackter of Tucson, 26, wore a traffic-light get-up that displayed the phrase “I don’t know,” referring to a lyric from the song “Death By a Thousand Cuts.” Would non-Swifties understand it? Of course not. Did that matter? Of course not. “This was going to be my costume for Lover Fest. I’ve been waiting for this for years,” Jackter said.

A group of 20-something women attached plastic Easter eggs to white T-shirts with photos of some of their favorite “Easter eggs” and hints that Swift has dropped over the years. One man dressed in a cat costume as Swift’s newest pet, Benjamin. Two women whooped excitedly when they walked by each other in a line for food and saw that they wore matching floral dresses similar to what Swift wore to the 2021 Grammy Awards.

Another popular theme was “All Too Well,” the searing breakup ballad that recently got a second life when Swift released the updated 10-minute version. Lots of fans wore outfits displaying those lyrics. Ivan Hernandez of Phoenix sported a blue T-shirt that read, “Where’s the scarf, Jake?” — a reference to the song’s supposed subject, Swift’s ex-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal, and the lyric that suggests that he swiped her scarf.

“[My son] wanted to go to the concert, and he said, ‘Let’s wear outfits,’ and I was like, ‘Well, I’m not going to wear an outlandish outfit,’” said Hernandez, 46, whose 13-year-old son, Eli, was wearing an Eras Tour shirt they had bought at the merchandise stand Saturday afternoon before Swift’s second show. “So I just went online and started looking for something about ‘All Too Well,’ and this is the one that came up.”

Swift, who misses nothing, praised everyone for their effort from the stage.

“You have really outdone yourselves, guys. The way that you decided to show up to this concert, you really, really decided to show up,” she said, noting that she saw people dressed as mirror balls (from the song “Mirrorball”); willow trees (from “Willow”); and “sexy babies” (from “Anti-Hero” — and too complicated to explain). “I have seen, like, really amazing, specific visual representations of lyrics or weird online inside jokes that we have.”

“I was thinking about tonight and how special this is,” she added. “You have led me to believe, by you being here, that it’s special for you, too, so it’s really nice that it’s mutual.”

Swift’s unusually close relationship with her fans started back when she was a country artist, a genre in which singers are supposed to think of listeners as their peers. Swift always went a step beyond, chatting with fans on Myspace back before Nashville executives even knew what that was, and that connection has continued to this day.

In concert, Swift referred to the journey that she and her fans have taken together, like they’re a family. (The “four new members of the family,” she said, are the four albums she has released since her last tour.) She made no secret of the fact that she monitors fans’ social media activity, even dryly noting that her 2020 record “Evermore,” is “an album I absolutely love, despite what some of you say on TikTok.” (People on the platform are convinced that “Evermore” is her “forgotten child.”)

This is all why her bond with her fandom remains so strong. She connected early on to fellow teenage girls who inferred from society that their crushes and feelings and dreams were silly, only to find someone in Swift who took them seriously and who could articulate, in songwriting, what they didn’t even know they were feeling.

“By the time she’s done living through something and writing about it and releasing music, I’m living through it,” said Briana McReynolds, 32, of Phoenix, who showed up in a T-shirt covered in lyrics, as well as a purple streak in her hair to represent “Lavender Haze,” Swift’s latest single. Her best friend, Chris, accompanied her to the concert as an “emotional support Swiftie.” (“I’m doing my best,” he said.)

She’s just accidentally kind of written the soundtrack for my life,” McReynolds said. “She’s matured with all of us, or we’ve matured with her. So no matter what age I am, she can totally sing my heart.”

Caitlin O’Connor, 32, of San Diego came to the show with her mom; they have seen every Swift tour together for the last 15 years, and O’Connor makes sure to go multiple times.

“You don’t need therapy; you need Taylor Swift songs,” O’Connor said. Swift’s concerts, she explained, “are my happy place, and there’s nothing else like it. It’s the most natural high you could get in your whole life.” On her arm, she has a tattoo of lyrics from Swift’s “Treacherous”: “All we are is skin and bone, trained to get along.”

“I love that line. Really, at the core, everybody is human,” she said. “And that’s also the thing with Taylor Swift concerts: Everybody is really nice. … You bond over something immediately.”

Swift is highly aware of the world she’s built, and she doesn’t shy away from it. In a surprisingly direct admission, while introducing the song “Mirrorball,” from her 2020 album “Folklore” during an acoustic set, she reiterated to the crowd just how intensely she’s missed them over the past several years.

“I was thinking about how one of the songs that I wrote with you in mind during the pandemic was one of the first songs I wrote on ‘Folklore,’ and it was me writing about how badly I craved the connection that I feel from the care that you have directed my way,” she said. “I was trying to think of a sort of eloquent way to say that I love you and I need your attention all the time.”

The stadium quieted as she strummed and sang.

“I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try; I’m still on that trapeze, I’m still trying everything to keep you looking at me. ’Cause I’m a mirror ball. … I’ll show you every version of yourself tonight.”

And although she asked the members of the crowd for their attention, she didn’t need to; it was already there, and it always will be.

[go-scottishgal14]

Meghan and Harry's Netflix show takes a dive as rivals Victoria and David Beckham's very candid docuseries hits

No. 1

Meghan and Harry's Netflix show has slumped to 211 on the streaming platform's global chart while 'Beckham' is No. 1 with 3.5 times the viewing figures 

The royal couple's one-time close friendship with Victoria and David Beckham has similarly soured

By LAURA COLLINS CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 22:21, 3 June 2024 | UPDATED: 22:27, 3 June 2024

It's enough to spoil the duchess's latest batch of strawberry jam.

New figures released by Netflix and obtained by DailyMail.com show that not only has viewer interest in Meghan and Harry fallen off a cliff, the couple has been well and truly eclipsed by the popularity of their former friends, David and Victoria Beckham.

Engagement figures for 2023, released last week, reveal that the Beckhams' eponymous documentary hit the top spot for global viewing with a whopping 43.9million views between July and December last year.

In that same period Harry & Meghan's Limited Series Volumes I and II, limped in with just 1.9million views and 12.6million total views across the year.

When it first aired in December 2022 the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's docuseries was an instant hit, giving Netflix its biggest debut with 81.6million hours viewed in the first four days. But, after an initial frenzy, figures began a steady slide as millions of viewers lost interest and the series lost traction well before the sixth episode aired.

The show has now slumped to 211 on the streaming platform's global chart while 'Beckham' is No. 1 with 3.5 times the viewing figures and 208.5million hours viewed in the first two months alone.

The disparity is perhaps due in part to the fact that fans who had tuned into Harry and Meghan's docuseries hoping for insight and intimacy were instead left tired by their relentlessly, 'woe is me' tone. Viewers complained about the couple's self-absorption and the fact that for all their enviable privilege they seemed to do nothing but bemoan their lot.

In stark contrast 'Beckham' was a show that left viewers uplifted by the Beckham's family life, relationship and work ethic. Fans raved at the couple's 'resilience,' and marveled at Beckham's self-effacing grit and ambition.

This was a couple viewers could get behind, where Harry and Meghan were a couple viewers could leave behind.

David Beckham's documentary has amassed a record breaking 3.8million viewers, Netflix's largest UK audience this year

Netflix reportedly paid £88 million ($100million) for Harry and Meghan's bombshell docuseries as part of a multi-year deal with the streaming giant

Engagement figures for 2023, released last week, reveal that the Beckhams' eponymous documentary hit the top spot for global viewing

 In recent months there has been increased speculation that Harry, 39, and Meghan, 42, could lose the $100million deal that they inked with Netflix back in 2020.

Aside from their flagging docuseries the couple's much-vaunted Netflix deal has so far only produced two shows which, the latest figures show, have struggled to generate any interest at all.

'Heart of Invictus,' released in August 2023 and covering Prince Harry's games for wounded warriors wheezed across the line with just 300,000 views in 2023.

'Live to Lead,' released in December 2022, about inspiring world leaders and featuring interviews with Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Gloria Steinem garnered just 800,000 views.

And when it comes to bang for their buck the Sussex's with their $100million deal are a long way from keeping up with the Beckhams whose 43.9million views cost Netflix a comparatively modest $20million.

Coincidentally that is the size of the Spotify deal that Harry and Meghan lost when it fell apart in 2023 with just 12 episodes of Meghan's 'Archetypes' podcast to show for it.

The row is believed to have heightened when the Sussexes allegedly accused the Beckhams of leaking stories about them to the press - while royal biographers claimed Meghan 'didn't like the footballer's friendship with Prince William.

Victoria produced a custom-made white coat and dress for Meghan in 2020 which she wore during her last appearance in Westminster Abbey in March that year (pictured).

Here, FEMAIL breaks down how the relationship fell apart - from wedding invitation snubs and disagreements over designer clothing to fears of an upstaging

Speaking at the time Spotify's Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization, Bill Simmons, famously described the couple as 'grifters,' saying, 'I wish I had been involved in the 'Meghan and Harry leave Spotify' negotiation. ' The F***ing Grifters.' That's the podcast we should have launched with them.'

Now, sources are speculating that their Netflix deal may be about to go the same way with Meghan's cooking and lifestyle show and Harry's documentary about polo being described as 'padding,' by some, while others ask what they have left to share now that their relationship with the rest of the royal family is all but over.

Harry and Meghan's one-time close friendship with Victoria and David Beckham has similarly soured. The former Spice Girl turned clothes designer and her husband were guests at the Sussex's wedding back in May 2019.

Meghan often wore Victoria's designs with the older woman opening her little black book of UK stylists to her when she first set up home in the country.

Later, according to biographer Tom Bower, David, 49, and Victoria, 50, offered the couple refuge in their Los Angeles home when they were looking for a place in the States.

But according to Bower a telephone call from Harry to the former Manchester United star left Beckham 'furious' and effectively ended the once warm friendship.

According to Bower the royals were concerned that close friends were leaking stories about them to the press and Meghan particularly suspected Victoria. Harry called and repeated this accusation to Beckham and the rest, and the friendship, is history.

Now, to rub salt into the wounds of the Beckhams' soaring popularity in the face of the Sussex's decline, Beckham has probably spent more time with King Charles III than Harry has this year, as the former England captain has been announced as the newest ambassador to the King's Foundation.

The King and the former footballer are now reportedly 'bee-keeping buddies' who have exchanged pots of honey from their respective hives in Highgrove and Oxfordshire as well as bee-keeping tips.

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

About the commercial aspects of the the half in/out that they were proposing -

I think one of the biggest reasons they pushed so hard for megxit is because they already had some commercial.deals in the pipe line. And they were desperate that the money coming in from.those should go into their private accounts and not the royal foundation's account. They learnt this the hard way when they did the elephant documentary voiceover.

I strongly believe that Meghan was mad that the Disney money had to go into the foundation, and had to be used to for charity. I think this is where is all started and was a reason why William ordered the digital forensic investigation into the foundation accounts immediately after they left in fall 2019. And also why William split their household and the Sussexes were booted from the foundation.

By Nov/Dec 2019 they also had Quibi deal locked and were going to start working on it by March 2020 (Quibi then went caput in the pandemic so that never materialized, but they had no way of knowing that in late 2019). That money was going to be coming in and they needed it in their personal accounts.

Netflix was also likely in the pipeline, numbers were flying around and they needed to make sure that that money, coming in by mid/late 2020 by their estimates, would be private.

Oprah was also in talks with them. The Apple documentary was signed but Harry had to take permission from the queen for it. And he had to say it was as part of his work for Heads Together. He couldn't be listed as one of the producers in a rpicate capacity for that.

There was an Invictus documentary which had been shot by then, and was likely going to be aired on Amazon in 2020. The Sussexes knew about this documentary, but wanted to monetizeu in some way. Harry (and Meghan) had some sort of a claim on it, and in fact, when negotiations were happening with Netflix, this was part of the proposal. It's why this documentary was pulled from Amazon immediately after their Netflix deal was signed.

This original documentary, as it was made in 2020, never actually aired.

Anyway, so what I'm saying is that one of the reasons they were so heavy handed with their megxit manifesto is because they wanted to dictate the terms and get their way with how the commercial aspects of their deals with these would work in their favour. This is the part that wasn't allowed. All of the rest of it - the perks, the favours, the traveling, the holidaying, the redcarpets etc - would have been possible anyway.

Even having a home in California and staying there part of the year would have been ok. Meghan would have just thrown a tantrum and got away with it. It's the money part that did them in.

They weren't asking to be middlemen or commission agents the way Andrew or Prince Michael were doing. They wanted to be openly making money. And there's where in think Meghan's need for stardom and fame and riches did her in.

This was Meghan's dream and her brainchild. And the only way she could succeed in this is if she had Harry attached to her deals officially, because he was the draw. She realized it early on and maybe that's how her team even secured the deals. And that's why they had to megxit so dramatically. And that's why she had to break him away from his family.

If Harry was still close to his family back in 2019, in any capacity, then they would have eventually convinced him not make commercial deals in a private capai. It just wasn't done, and he understood that. But he came to believe that they were keeping him from shining bright and preventing him from using his potential. Lol

Old ask from February 24th

I think one of the biggest reasons they pushed so hard for megxit is because they already had some commercial.deals in the pipe line. And they were desperate that the money coming in from.those should go into their private accounts and not the royal foundation's account. They learnt this the hard way when they did the elephant documentary voiceover.

No, I don't think so. Because once the Sussexes left the Royal Foundation and set up their own charity (Sussex Royal), everything would have been coming through Sussex Royal. So any money or donations Meghan got for doing Disney's elephant documentary would have been sent to Sussex Royal.

The issue with Sussex Royal was that it wasn't set up the way the Sussexes wanted. I forget the specific details, but essentially the Sussexes wanted the organization to be X but it was actually set up as Y and being a Y-type of organization put some kind of other restrictions on what they could/couldn't do. (I want to say it had something to do with a board of directors, but I'm not sure.)

I strongly believe that Meghan was mad that the Disney money had to go into the foundation, and had to be used to for charity. I think this is where is all started and was a reason why William ordered the digital forensic investigation into the foundation accounts immediately after they left in fall 2019. And also why William split their household and the Sussexes were booted from the foundation.

By Nov/Dec 2019 they also had Quibi deal locked and were going to start working on it by March 2020 (Quibi then went caput in the pandemic so that never materialized, but they had no way of knowing that in late 2019). That money was going to be coming in and they needed it in their personal accounts.

This timeline is a little off. Here's the actual order of events, with a few other milestones:

William booted the Sussexes from KP in October/November 2018.

The household split in March 2019.

Also in early 2019 (according to the Daily Mail), the Quibi negotiations start. My theory is they start around the household split, perhaps when the Sussexes believe they have more privacy.

The Sussexes left the Royal Foundation in June 2019 and immediately launched the Sussex Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (aka "Sussex Royal").

The Lion King premiere was July 2019, but the Sussexes weren't paid for it.

Meghan recorded her voiceover for the Elephant documentary sometime during the fall of 2019 in London. The BRF sidelined the Sussexes right after Remembrance Day, and it's assumed they traveled immediately to the US for Thanskgiving and stayed there for a bit before going up to Vancouver for December and Christmas, so that means she recorded sometime between late September and early November of 2019.

Megxit and Sandringham Summit in January 2020. The Daily Mail says the Quibi negotiations break off in January 2020 too.

The Sussexes set up Archewell in March 2020.

The Sussex Royal Foundation changed its name to MWX Foundation in early July 2020.

But in late July 2020, MWX Foundation was dissolved and by August 5th, terminated.

Netflix was also likely in the pipeline, numbers were flying around and they needed to make sure that that money, coming in by mid/late 2020 by their estimates, would be private.

Oprah was also in talks with them. The Apple documentary was signed but Harry had to take permission from the queen for it. And he had to say it was as part of his work for Heads Together. He couldn't be listed as one of the producers in a rpicate capacity for that.

I think Netflix and Oprah entered the picture by November-ish 2019 when the Sussexes were in the US for Thanksgiving. Since it sounds like the Sussexes stopped the Quibi negotiations, they wouldn't have done that without having Plan B on the hook, so they had to have been well into discussions with at least Netflix for that deal.

And remember, the BRF had legit concerns about Meghan dialing into the Sandringham Summit to attend virtually. They were concerned that she could record the meeting without their knowing or have other people with her also listening in without their knowing. That they had these concerns to begin with suggests that they were very aware of deals being made or deals being discussed.

There was an Invictus documentary which had been shot by then, and was likely going to be aired on Amazon in 2020. The Sussexes knew about this documentary, but wanted to monetizeu in some way. Harry (and Meghan) had some sort of a claim on it, and in fact, when negotiations were happening with Netflix, this was part of the proposal. It's why this documentary was pulled from Amazon immediately after their Netflix deal was signed. This original documentary, as it was made in 2020, never actually aired.

I think the Invictus documentary was made with the BRF's support and that's why it has never been broadcast. If it had a 2020 air date, then it most likely would have been filmed in 2019 (though I suspect there was a lot of footage from the 2018 Sydney IG) when Harry was with the BRF.

I don't think there's copyright issues or anything like that involved; I think it's more of a money issue. For instance, ecause the BRF notoriously does not accept payment - or donates any payment they get to charity - for this kind of thing, had the original Invictus documentary gone through, the Sussexes wouldn't have been able to profit from it. So it was shelved.

Anyway, so what I'm saying is that one of the reasons they were so heavy handed with their megxit manifesto is because they wanted to dictate the terms and get their way with how the commercial aspects of their deals with these would work in their favour. This is the part that wasn't allowed. All of the rest of it - the perks, the favours, the traveling, the holidaying, the redcarpets etc - would have been possible anyway.

Even having a home in California and staying there part of the year would have been ok. Meghan would have just thrown a tantrum and got away with it. It's the money part that did them in.

I disagree. The BRF would never set them up with a second home in California, no matter how big a tantrum Meghan threw. The offer would have been for anywhere in the realms or the Commonwealth if they wanted the BRF to handle the bills and/or security. What probably would have happened was they'd split their time three ways; part of the year in Britain royalling, part of the year at their second home in the realms/Commonwealth, and then verrrry long stretches of time "on sabbatical" or "working" in the US.

I do agree that they presented the Megxit Manifesto as fait accompli because of the commercial deals. My tinhat theory (though not that tinhatty when you really think about it) is that they had a bunch of contracts/deals already signed, or close to being signed, so they structured the manifesto that way to preserve those deals but the BRF called their bluff on it.

They weren't asking to be middlemen or commission agents the way Andrew or Prince Michael were doing. They wanted to be openly making money. And there's where in think Meghan's need for stardom and fame and riches did her in.

This was Meghan's dream and her brainchild. And the only way she could succeed in this is if she had Harry attached to her deals officially, because he was the draw. She realized it early on and maybe that's how her team even secured the deals. And that's why they had to megxit so dramatically. And that's why she had to break him away from his family.

If Harry was still close to his family back in 2019, in any capacity, then they would have eventually convinced him not make commercial deals in a private capacity. It just wasn't done, and he understood that. But he came to believe that they were keeping him from shining bright and preventing him from using his potential. Lol

I think I'm going to disagree with this last point. The BRF had no issues with the Sussexes making deals or producting content. They all make deals and they all make content, so there's a good chance they would have encouraged Harry and Meghan to do that; partner with their charities to produce content about their work. It's the commercial part they had problems with. If the money went to their charity (or any charity), the BRF wouldn't have an issue because that's what they all do (for instance - when William plays polo for charity, any money that he would make, like an appearance fee or prize winnings, gets paid directly to the charity. He doesn't ever see or touch that money.) But that's not what the Sussexes wanted. They wanted to hold the cash in their hand and personally direct whose pocket the cash went to.

And unfortunately, I don't think there's any kind of counsel the BRF could've done for Harry in 2019, whether they were close or not. This was a 2018-before-the-wedding conversation when they were considering titles. But woulda coulda shoulda.

And in woulda-coulda-shoulda land, if there had been a difficult conversation about titles, half in/half out, commercializing and merchandizing, finances, I doubt we'd all even be here today. But no one wanted to have those hard, difficult conversations. All they said was "Meghan can keep acting," Harry said "no," and then the BRF rolled over. So here we all are.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

The Sussexes🍋 have delivered little since signing w/the steamer in 2020

"Meghan and Harry’s $100 Million Netflix Deal Is a Hollywood Miss | Emily Smith Feb 28, 2024

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s lucrative Spotify deal fell apart in 2023, Bill Simmons, The Ringer’s founder and managing director, was incensed.

“I wish I had been involved in the ‘Meghan and Harry leave Spotify’ negotiation,” Simmons, the head of podcast innovation and monetization at Spotify, which owns The Ringer, said on his self-titled show. “‘The F–king Grifters.’ That’s the podcast we should have launched with them.”

Simmons’ astonishing comments followed the collapse of the Montecito, California-based Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s $20 million deal with Spotify, signed in December of 2020. They delivered just 12 episodes of Markle’s “Archetypes” podcast.

But the Spotify contract paled in comparison to the estimated $100 million Netflix agreed in September 2020 to pay them, a deal which produced a documentary series “Harry & Meghan” two years later — and little else since then.

Aside from the docuseries, the exclusive Netflix deal produced the “Heart of Invictus” in August 2023, which covered Prince Harry’s games for wounded warriors, and “Live to Lead,” about inspiring world leaders and featured interviews with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Gloria Steinem. That series premiered on Dec. 31, 2022.

Unproduced is an animated series created by Markle titled “Pearl,” which Netflix axed in May 2022 as part of a series of cutbacks. There is little else close to production.

What’s gone wrong? TheWrap spoke to multiple insiders who say the Sussexes have worn out their welcome in Hollywood with an iron-fisted desire for control, combined with a lack of experience. A revolving door of executives have departed the couple’s production company, Archewell, in the past two years while a long list of exhausted agents, producers and other industry veterans have stamped it with a “life’s too short” reputation.

The Sussexes founded Archewell Productions in the name of their four-year-old son, Archie. It includes their nonprofit charitable foundation, plus a for-profit arm focused on media projects.

“Everything with them was fraught and complicated because they wanted complete control,” one Hollywood creative who has worked with them, who declined to be identified, told TheWrap.

Another insider with knowledge of the management of Archewell agreed, saying the couple have proven to be stubborn to the point of alienating others.

“It appears that they just want what they want and won’t take advice,” the insider said.

“Taking on Harry and Meghan was a great coup for Netflix,” public relations and image guru Mark Borkowski told TheWrap. “It probably got a lot of eyeballs and subscriptions, but they [Harry and Markle] never delivered.”

Borkowski added that the clients he works with are closely watching their budgets and costs, but, given the former royals’ lifestyle, “The amount of income this pair has to raise is enormous.”

An insider with knowledge of the Netflix deal with Archewell said it is an “overhead agreement,” meaning not all the money would go to the Sussexes, but it also helps fund their staff, office and development fees.

Archewell and the Sussexes declined to comment for this story.

The former royal couple were initially a hot property. Before signing with Netflix, they also had discussions with Apple, Disney and NBCUniversal, The New York Times first reported. Meghan previously narrated a documentary about elephants for Disney+, and Harry collaborated with Oprah Winfrey on a docuseries about mental health for Apple TV+.

The “Harry & Meghan” docuseries, directed by Liz Garbus, was a legitimate hit, setting a record for the biggest debut for a Netflix documentary with a total 81.6 million hours watched on its first four days of availability, amounting to more than 28 million households watching.

The series was an intimate glimpse inside the Sussexes’ marriage and made headlines for their criticism of the British royal family for failing to support them, including allegations of racism and a narrative that the couple was essentially forced to leave England for the U.S.

But production was apparently difficult. One individual with knowledge of the series said dealing with the former royal couple was a “nightmare” as they were fiercely protective of their story.

“Harry and Meghan made the collaborative process very hard, to the point that there was no collaboration at all,” the insider said.

Other projects have not gotten off the ground.

Netflix and Markle announced “Pearl” with much fanfare in 2021. The animated series — co-executive produced by Markle and David Furnish — was to center on the adventures of a 12-year-old girl who finds inspiration in a variety of influential women throughout history. Netflix canceled it the following year while it was still in the development stage.

There have been reports Netflix bought the romantic Carley Fortune book “Meet Me at the Lake” for $1 million for the pair to produce into a movie. Other plans included a TV drama feminist retelling of Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations” and a documentary about Prince Harry traveling solo in Africa. But these all seem far from getting off the ground.

Another Archewell insider told TheWrap that “Meet Me at the Lake” was “in active development,” but has not yet been cast. And Harry’s trip to Africa has not been scheduled. Some projects will be announced in the next few months, the insider added.

“They have a couple of unscripted things they’re working on,” Netflix’s chief content officer Bela Bajaria said at the “Next on Netflix” event on Feb. 1 of Markle and Harry, including “a movie in development” and “a [scripted] series.”

Bajaria emphasized that these projects were still in “early development,” which raises the question what exactly has been going on between Archewell and Netflix? COVID struck at the start of their deal, Markle went on maternity leave and then the writers’ and actors’ strikes halted production for much of last year. But with all that, it is it is remarkable how little the couple have actually made work for the streamer.

Reps for Netflix, which has also pulled back on its TV and film expenditure during the work stoppages, declined to comment. Harry and Markle do not have guild relationships so any non-U.S. productions would not have been affected.

Markle recently announced she’s joining forces with Lemonada Media — whose tag line is “Making Life Suck 🍋 Less” — for a new podcast, and it will also rerun her “Archetypes” podcast. The company, founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs, is small and is not expected to be a big pay day for Markle.

The actress is still earning residuals from “Suits,” which recently found an entirely new audience on Netflix.

Archewell turnover: Meanwhile, there has been a dramatic executive turnover at Archewell — particularly those negotiating TV, film and media deals. Mandana Dayani, a human rights activist and business executive, was the president of Archewell from May 2021 to December 2022 and stepped down just days before Harry and Markle’s docuseries aired, with no reason offered. 

The company also lost its BAFTA-winning head of content Ben Browning in January 2023 after his contract expired. Browning, who worked on “Harry & Meghan” and the “Archetypes” podcast, returned to his former employer, FilmNation Entertainment as president of production.

Bennett Levine, their production manager, also left in January, as did Rebecca Sananes, Markle and Harry’s head of audio who left to work as a freelance writer and podcast producer after the “Archetypes” podcasts were concluded.

The company has also parted ways with their SVP of scripted television, “Fargo” producer Nishika Kumble, who lasted less than two years in the role.

“Meghan and Harry don’t have a quality team around them,” Borkowski said. “They drive this ship, they are in the wheelhouse. Whether you are the Obamas or Meghan and Harry, you have to defer to people who can really get the job done.

“They just need to sort out a proper production company, they need significant hires,” he added. “People who can actually develop scripts, wrangle talent.”

The Archewell insider insisted the couple has hired talented new executives. Tracy Ryerson was brought in as the new head of scripted content. She formerly worked at the production company behind “Peaky Blinders,” Caryn Mandabach Productions, and starred in a reality show titled “The Real L Word.” Former Disney+ executive Chanel Pysnik joined in 2021 as head of unscripted.

The Sussexes made a surprise appearance at the Jamaica premiere of the Bob Marley biopic “One Love” in late January, sparking speculation about a possible deal with the film’s distributor Paramount Pictures, especially given that they reportedly travelled with the company’s boss Brian Robbins — who is a neighbor in Montecito — via a Paramount private jet.

Yet parent company Paramount Global is strongly rumored to be up for sale, so it is unlikely to be a safe landing pad for the couple.

Last August it was announced that WME signed Markle to be repped by Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, Brad Slater and Jill Smoller. Archewell is also being repped by the agency, which didn’t comment to TheWrap.

“She is extremely ambitious and knows what she wants,” an industry insider told TheWrap of Markle’s discussions with the talent agency. “But there have been issues with executive turnover inside Archewell.”

In the meantime, The Sussexes need to make money to keep up their California lifestyle and their $14.65 million mansion. The U.K.’s Daily Mail reported that they made around $20 million from their tell-all documentary, while Harry made an estimated $15 million from his memoir “Spare.”

“I think possibly Netflix has dodged a bullet,” Borkowski said. “They know their content, they are data wonks, they know where the interest is. So they’ve got a very good idea or not whether there is a huge amount of excitement around Meghan and Harry.”

The viewing public may not be interested in a romantic movie from the Sussexes, he said. “They create a lot of column inches, but do people want content from them unless it is revealing something extraordinary [about themselves or the British royals]?” he said. “I don’t know how much more they can reveal.”

https://www.thewrap.com/

After Prince Harry and Meghan Markle pulled the plug on their $20 million podcast deal with Spotify this week, Bill Simmons, the streamer’s head of podcast innovation and monetization and CEO of The Ringer, called them “f—ing grifters” on the latest episode of his podcast.

The deal, which was struck in 2020, resulted in only one show, the one-season, Markle-hosted “Archetypes.”

“I wish I had been involved in the ‘Meghan and Harry’ leave Spotify negotiation, the f–ing grifters,” he told guest Joe House on Friday’s episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast.” “I gotta get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories. F— the grifters.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Harry and Meghan would not receive the full $20 million from their payout. The two signed a deal with Netflix in 2020 to produce documentaries and series, and released their first show — a docuseries called “Harry & Meghan” — earlier this year.

Simmons, who founded sports and pop culture website The Ringer, sold it to Spotify in 2020 for $250 million. He’s in charge of several Ringer-branded podcasts at the podcast giant.

https://x.com/rBillSimmonsPod/status/1669665129393160192?s=20

[thepastisalreadywritten]

So now we are finally getting down to the brass tacks of what this is really all about.

It took three slick trailers and three hour-long episodes, but at last, we appear to have arrived at the “truth” of Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary.

And far from love being the central theme – or even race – like all the most destructive royal tales from Richard I to Edward VIII, sibling rivalry lies at its heart.

There were not-so-subtle clues in Harry & Meghan Vol 1 with Harry’s reference to “a hierarchy of the family” and Meghan’s suggestion that William and Kate’s “formality on the outside carried through on the inside.”

We even had Harry’s thinly disguised jibe about the temptation for Windsor men “to marry someone who would fit the mould as opposed to somebody who you perhaps are destined to be with.”

The implication was clear: he married with his heart and William with his head.

Then there was the seemingly calculated omission of the Prince and Princess of Wales from any of the imagery associated with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding and Harry’s steadfast refusal to so much as acknowledge his big brother’s support in the aftermath of their mother’s death.

Keen to avoid any positive references to William whatsoever, Harry, 38, even went so far as to describe his relationship with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho as “like brothers” while insisting that “second families” in both Africa and the Army brought him up.

Yet in the latest trailer, the kid gloves well and truly come off.

Claiming he and his wife were the victims of “institutional gaslighting,” he accuses the palace and/or the media of lying for his brother but not him.

“They were happy to lie to protect my brother,” he declares. “They were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.”

Who the “they” refers to is open to interpretation, but since Harry now seems to think the palace and the press are one and the same thing, after accusing royal correspondents of being “an extended PR arm” of the Royal family, the trailer doesn’t feel the need to be explicit. 

But then again, Harry and Meghan aren’t big on specifics either, preferring to cast around generalisations in the hope of tarring the entire media with the Twitter troll's brush.

“I wasn't being thrown to the wolves, I was being fed to the wolves,” says the Duchess, in the vein of Montecito’s own Little Red Riding Hood, again neglecting to name her tormentor. 

Could “Goodness Grandma, what big tiaras you’ve got” be one of the stories “they” lied about? Or tears over bridesmaids dresses? Or that tale about Meghan wanting air fresheners inside “musty” St George’s Chapel? Or might it have had something to do with avocados?

Thankfully, we only have to wait until Thursday to find out.

Royal aides will doubtlessly be hoping Harry and Meghan stick with their tried and tested “blame the media” strategy, rather than the declaration of war that would be accusing the palace of briefing against them on William’s behalf.

The latter would certainly appear to be a departure from the heir to the throne issuing a statement in November 2016 in which he said he “absolutely understands the situation concerning privacy and supports the need for Prince Harry to support those closest to him.”

As a source told The Telegraph at the time: “The Duke was as alarmed as anyone about what was happening with Meghan.”

Strangely, the couple do not appear poised to mention this, preferring the narrative that they were purposefully hung out to dry.

“Our security was being pulled, everyone in the world knew where we were,” recalls Meghan, 41, seemingly forgetting that all this happened after she and her husband took their own decision to “step back as 'senior' members of the Royal family and work to become financially independent,” in January 2020.

The comment, like so many in this series, reflects the sense of entitlement of a couple who were not willing to play second fiddle to anyone.

Curtseying to the Queen is mocked. The notion of Meghan having to dress herself, ridiculed.

If it wasn’t bad enough that William and Kate had a superior place in the palace pecking order, they also had to put up with them hogging all the positive publicity.

Christopher Bouzy, a long time cheerleader for the Sussexes who analysed the negative social media comments about Meghan, claims that an orchestrated misinformation campaign was mounted against them.

“They were actively recruiting people to disseminate disinformation,” he says.

Again it is who the “they” is, although one imagines it is unlikely to be Sunshine Sachs, the couple’s former PR firm, which was once accused of employing “bare knuckle” tactics to defend Hollywood’s groper-in-chief Harvey Weinstein on social media.

Filming himself on a plane, Harry laughs with relief as he cheerfully declares: “We are on the freedom flight.”

Towards the end of the trailer, he makes clear how strongly he believed in what they were doing.

“I always felt as though this was a fight worth fighting for," he insists, before adding: “To move to the next chapter, you’ve got to finish the first chapter.”

Yet as anyone who has ever fallen out with a sibling knows, you can never truly close the book on your own family, no matter how much you may have been paid to sell your story.

[ausetkmt]

NPR: In new documentary, Ibram X. Kendi asks 'What is wrong with Black people?'

In new documentary, Ibram X. Kendi asks 'What is wrong with Black people?'

Eric Deggans looks at the new documentary "Stamped from the Beginning," which looks at the history of racist ideas in America.

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

The Netflix documentary "Stamped From The Beginning" starts with a provocative question writer and professor Ibram X. Kendi asks of other Black academics.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING")

IBRAM X KENDI: Can you please tell me what is wrong with Black people?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: What is wrong with Black people?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK, what do you mean by that?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: What is wrong with Black people?

RASCOE: Kendi, who founded the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University, answers by invoking how systemic racism can convince Black people and everyone else that Black people deserve to be marginalized. NPR TV critic and media analyst Eric Deggans has watched "Stamped From The Beginning" and has also been following recent allegations of mismanagement against Kendi at the BU center. Hi, Eric.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE: Hi.

RASCOE: So first, tell us more about this documentary. It's out on Netflix later this month.

DEGGANS: Yeah, it's this percolating primer on the themes in Kendi's award-winning 2016 book of the same name. Now, there's compelling animation, historical photos, interviews with lots of academics - although it might be tough for some people to watch. It's centered on this idea that much of the systemic racism that's directed against Black people was created as an attempt to justify enslavement and exploitation of Black people, not the other way around. And in the film, you know, Kendi speaks of this ruler known as Prince Henry of Portugal who he says turned to enslaving Black people from Africa in the mid-1400s instead of Europeans because it was harder for them to run away. Here's a clip. Let's listen.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING")

KENDI: Prince Henry didn't want to admit he was violently enslaving African people to make money, so he dispatched a royal chronicler by the name of Gomes Zurara.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

KENDI: Gomes Zurara justified his slave trading by stating that Prince Henry was doing it to save souls and that these people in Africa were inferior.

DEGGANS: So that, Kendi says, is the creation of Blackness in which Europeans treat Africans from many different tribes and countries as one inferior race to justify exploiting them.

RASCOE: So these are some very complex concepts about race and history. How does this fit with his other work, you know, like his bestselling book "How To Be An Antiracist" or his ESPN series on sports and race?

DEGGANS: Well, you know, I've interviewed Kendi for NPR's Life Kit podcast. And at the core of a lot of his work is this idea that racism is a behavior, not just a state of being - that it comes down to choices you make every day. And in Netflix's "Stamped From The Beginning," that means examining these ideas like the myth of Black hypersexuality, which has been invoked throughout history to justify raping Black women or lynching Black men. And after the death of George Floyd in 2020, you know, Kendi gained new prominence speaking on these themes - the themes in "How To Be An Antiracist." And those ideas are found in so many contemporary issues that it makes sense that Kendi could leverage them into an ESPN project on racism in sports or this Netflix film.

RASCOE: And what about that criticism Kendi ran into following his decision earlier this year to lay off about half the staff at the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University? Where do those allegations of mismanagement stand?

DEGGANS: Well, the university just released an internal audit finding there were no issues with how the center's finances were handled, which kind of backed up Kendi's contention that the layoffs were not a result of bad fiscal management. And it also pushes back against some critics who tried to delegitimize his concepts by suggesting he's some kind of fraud. Now, hopefully, this will allow people to focus more on his ideas, which he sums up at the end of "Stamped From The Beginning" by answering that original question. The only thing wrong with Black people, he says, is that we think something is wrong with Black people.

RASCOE: NPR TV critic and media analyst Eric Deggans. Thank you so much.

DEGGANS: Thank you.

[ingek73]

Tominey: Prince Harry & Meghan ‘could be a poster couple for workshy Britain’

April 02, 2023

By Kaiser

The Telegraph’s Camilla Tominey is frantic. When Prince Harry showed up unexpectedly at a London High Court last week, Tominey could not contain her rage and fury at Harry for daring to stand up to a British tabloid. She barfed out an especially crazy piece about how Harry is a piece of sh-t for calling out the Daily Mail and calling out his father, who hires senior staff straight from the Mail’s editorial board. Tominey even admitted that Harry’s work-trip to London last week “would almost certainly have upstaged the King’s European charm offensive.” Camilla Tominey is such a loser and she defends losers. Well, she had another column in the Telegraph where she latched onto the Daily Mail’s “exclusive” story about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell charity tax filing, wherein they claimed (for tax purposes) that they worked one hour a week on Archewell’s charity arm. Behold, I give you “Harry and Meghan could be a poster couple for workshy Britain.” Sub-head: “But when it comes to self promotion, no one can doubt that the publicity shy couple have put in the hours.” Here’s part of her piece:

We all know that productivity has gone down since the pandemic…But who knew that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have what it takes to become a poster-couple for workshy Britain, even after they left the UK to become “financially independent” in the United States?

The revelation that they last year carried out just one hour’s work a week for the Archewell Foundation, their non-profit organisation, has naturally been seized upon by the sort of people who revelled in that South Park episode. To be fair to the Duke and Duchess, it is standard practice for directors in the US to list their hours, as they have done on these newly released tax records.

Moreover, we can hardly say that they haven’t been busy since they stepped back as working royals – what with their Oprah Winfrey interview, their six-part Netflix documentary and Prince Harry’s autobiography, Spare.

Indeed, the Duke has also been occupied at the High Court this week, bravely setting aside his security concerns to join a group of well-known faces in suing Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, for allegedly stealing their private information, which the newspaper group denies.

Clearly, the amount of hard graft that is necessary, supposedly to protect one’s privacy, should not be underestimated.

In Harry and Meghan’s case, it has involved the traducing of a great many people to generate the requisite number of headlines to show just how intrusive the press can apparently be. We must never forgive the sacrifices they have made in the name of global royal reporting.

To be a royal is to be duty-bound in pursuit of the service of others, but Harry and Meghan’s approach has been rather more self-serving than that. For when it comes to self promotion, no one can doubt that the couple have put the hours in.

[From The Telegraph]

Imagine writing this about two people who left the UK in 2020, had their security pulled, were in fear for their lives, and were simply trying to survive for months with the kindness of a relative stranger (Tyler Perry). And in three years, this is what Harry and Meghan have done: welcomed a second child and recovered from a miscarriage; bought a home; won at least two lawsuits against the Mail; produced a wildly successful memoir; produced a wildly successful Netflix docuseries; produced a wildly successful and award-winning podcast; taken a Chief Impact Officer position with a billion-dollar life-coaching business; made a successful investment in a small oat-latte business; built a charity which has already worked on several substantive projects with tangible objectives and raised millions of dollars as well as working with corporate sponsors; organized another successful Invictus Games despite a global pandemic; continued conservation work in Africa; built an actual business and charity from the ground up, and on and on. While I wish we saw more of Harry and Meghan too, what they’ve managed to accomplish in three years is amazing.

Imagine writing all of this snide bullsh-t about “work-shy” Meghan and Harry… and then having nothing to say about Prince William and Kate, who barely do one event a week and are currently on a month-long vacation. I guess someone’s buying it?

Repeating this because it is a fantastic list:

Imagine writing this about two people who left the UK in 2020, had their security pulled, were in fear for their lives, and were simply trying to survive for months with the kindness of a relative stranger (Tyler Perry). And in three years, this is what Harry and Meghan have done: welcomed a second child and recovered from a miscarriage; bought a home; won at least two lawsuits against the Mail; produced a wildly successful memoir; produced a wildly successful Netflix docuseries; produced a wildly successful and award-winning podcast; taken a Chief Impact Officer position with a billion-dollar life-coaching business; made a successful investment in a small oat-latte business; built a charity which has already worked on several substantive projects with tangible objectives and raised millions of dollars as well as working with corporate sponsors; organized another successful Invictus Games despite a global pandemic; continued conservation work in Africa; built an actual business and charity from the ground up, and on and on. While I wish we saw more of Harry and Meghan too, what they’ve managed to accomplish in three years is amazing.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

📃 Megalist of 𝑭𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 and Other 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 in H&M’s Political Orbit 📃 by u/SeptiemeSens (Part 2 of 3)

📌 Link to Tumblr post Part 1 of 3

📌 Link to Tumblr post Part 3 of 3

📌 Other notable names:

Ari Emanuel - CEO of William Morris Endeavor (WME) and famed Hollywood super agent who signed H&M in May 2023 to become power players in film and TV production, brand partnerships, and endorsements.  Ari is a prominent Democratic Party donor and his brother Rahm Emanuel is the former mayor of Chicago, former Chief of Staff for President Obama, and currently U.S. Ambassador to Japan [source 1 // source 2 // source 3]

Donald Trump - When H&M relocated to Los Angeles in March 2020, former President Trump tweeted that they'd have to pay their own way. Trump has great respect and admiration for the late Queen Elizabeth II and he's also a fan of King Charles. However, he is *not* a fan of Meghan. As for Harry, Trump said: “I wish a lot of luck to Harry, because he’s gonna need it.” [source 1 // source 2 // source 3 // source 4]

Doug Emhoff - husband of Vice President Kama Harris, aka the 2nd Gentleman. H&M met with Doug at the Project Healthy Minds summit in New York City on World Mental Health Day 2023 [source]

Gavin Newsom - Governor of California. Allegedly two (2) weeks before the 2020 election, Meghan had an hour-long virtual meeting with Newsom. Newsom had been under pressure to appoint a woman of color, possibly Meghan, to replace California senator Kamala Harris if she became Vice-President. In May 2024, Gavin publicly defended Archewell Foundation's "delinquency" status [source 1 // source 2]

Ivanka Trump - During President Trump's term, Ivanka made national paid leave for families a significant part of her portfolio as Senior Advisor. Her goal was to expand upon the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to provide for paid coverage. In a significant policy win for Ivanka in 2019, Congress voted to provide all federal workers with 12 weeks of paid parental leave [source 1 // source 2 //source 3]. This was two (2) years *before* Meghan's open letter to Pelosi and Schumer. Important to note that Meghan was very much an Ivanka fangirl for many years and even interviewed Ivanka for The Tig [source 1 // source 2]. 👉 slideshow of Meghan cosplaying Ivanka through the years

Jacinda Arden - Former Prime Minister of New Zealand was among seven “extraordinary leaders” interviewed on Live to Lead, a Netflix documentary series inspired by Nelson Mandela. It was presented by H&M and co-produced by Archewell Productions. However, upon the release of this documentary in 2022, Jacinda's office immediately distanced herself from the Sussexes stating that her interview actually took place three (3) years prior in 2019 and that her involvement had nothing to do with H&M, who were only brought in at a late stage. In 2023, Jacinda was appointed to the Board of Trustees of Prince William's Earthshot Prize [source]

Jessica Mulroney - M's former bestie, stylist, and maid of honor is married to Ben Mulroney, son of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Jessica was also fashion adviser to Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, former wife of Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. Jessica and Ben Mulroney are close friends with Justin and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau [source 1 // source 2]

Johnny Mercer, Member of Parliament (MP) - In April 2024, Harry was found by a High Court to have "breached a confidentiality ring" when he emailed information to his friend, the Veterans Minister and MP Johnny Mercer concerning his legal battle over his UK security arrangements. Harry was ordered to pay 90% of the Home Office’s legal costs of defending his challenge [source]

Justin Trudeau - Prime Minister of Canada first met Meghan in 2016 through the One Young World summit. Harry and Justin also connected in 2016, over the Invictus Games to be held in Toronto the following year. When Megxit was announced, Justin said that he was supportive of Harry and Meghan’s move but refused to say whether or not Canadians were paying to protect the royal couple. More than 80,000 Canadians signed the Canadian Taxpayers Federation petition telling Trudeau they were opposed to paying for H&M's security costs with taxpayers’ money. After public backlash and immense pressure from Canadian taxpayers, the RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] ceased providing its protective policing services for H&M as they had formally stepped down as working royals [source 1 // source 2 // source 3]

post link

author: SeptiemeSens

submitted: June 04, 2024 at 11:46AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[jackiekashian]

Fan Faves of 2022

The votes are in for 2022!

ALL THE EPS have something for someone and are great but here is a starter list if you’re thinking to start listening to TDF and are not a numerologist completest. and it’s just guest name and dorkdom. www.dorkforest.com or wherever you listen to podcasts. It’s also on youtube.

Note: show’s been going since 2006 but I’ve only been surveying since 2011. Standup info and other podcast is at www.jackiekashian.com

2022

TDF EP 659 and 688 - Both with my Sister Darla Kashian (Fiddly/SimpleMeals and Orchestras)  TDFEP 660 - My brother Phil Kashian - Fly Fishing TDF EP 658 - Caitlin Durante - Paddington Bear TDF EP 665 - Irene Tu - In-N-Out Burger TDF EP 670 - Moontower LIVE w Guy Branum, Atsuko, Chris Cubas TDF EP 675 - Shelley McLendon - Cult Documentaries TDF EP 678 - Andy Ashcraft - Marvel Phase Four TDF EP 679 - Kyle Clark - Learning to Draw TDF EP 691 - Sean Blair Flannery - Chicago Dive Bars TDF EP 696 - Carmen Morales - Collaging  

TDF EP 677 - Andrea Jones-Rooy - Spreadsheets TDF EP 704 - Nour Hadidi - Pokemon TDF EP 692 - CJ Sullivan - Professional Gamblers TDF EP 703  - Kurt Braunohler - Surfing TDF EP 684 - Antonio Portela - Trombone

SO MANY GOOD ONES THIS YEAR. I’m feeling pretty strong on my “encourage people to talk” skills!! :) yay dorkouts. 

DUDE. the formatting on the rest of this blows. I will try to fix it and repost. but here’s the good news. It’s LIKE PROSE NOW!

2021

TDF EP 611 - Greg Proops - Negro Leagues TDF EP 654 - Jamie Loftus - Chuck E Cheese TDF EP 605 - Tom Papa - Bread TDF EP 627 - Joyelle Johnson - Gone with the Wind TDF EP 652 - Andy Ashcraft - Sandman LARPS TDF EP 626 - Aisha Alfa - Korean Food TDF EP 634 – Heather Tomson – Grey Gardens TDF EP 640 - Brandon Palomo - Pearl Jam TDF EP 620 - Brian Swartz  - M.A.S.H. TDF EP 642 - Danielle Koenig – CHEERS

TDF EP 646 - Caitlin Gill - Silk Screening Shirts TDF EP 601 – Jenn Welch - Animal Crossing TDF EP 617 - Katie McMillian - Stardew Valley TDF EP 635 – Kate Gaffney – Stevie Wonder TDF EP 651 – Tess Rafferty – Light Murder Mysteries TDF EP 624 - David Rees  - Effects Pedals TDF EP 649 – Ophira Eisenberg – Novels galore TDF EP 644 – Matthew Chadourne – Criterion Collection TDF EP 647 – Jenny Zigrino – Estate Sales TDF EP 628 – Justin Mohareb – Marvel

2020 TDF EP 562 - Guy Branum - Mitford Sisters TDF EP 568 - Maria Bamford - Canadian Reality Shows TDF EP 599 - Jen Kirkman - Hallmark Christmas Movies TDF EP 565 - Darla Kashian – COOKING TDF EP 598 - Russ Kashian - Hallmark Christmas Movies TDF EP 549 - Tig Notaro – Veganism TDF EP 581 - Jenny Yang - Comfort Food TDF EP 591 - Amber Preston - Church Cookbooks TDF EP 574 - Ron Funches - Call of Duty and Animal Crossing TDF EP 577 - Barbara Holiday - Escape Rooms TDF EP 558 - Sarah Mowrey - Fleetwood Mac TDF EP566 - Matt Kirshen/Myq Kaplan - Advice Columns TDF EP 595 - Kristin Key - Mad Libs TDF EP 576 - Robert Jenkins - Guns and Safety TDF EP 588 - Sofiya Alexandra - Wheel of Time books TDF EP 570- Jim Woster – Columbo TDF EP 573 - Robert Hurt - Babylon 5 TDF EP 550 - Danielle Perez - Mariah Carey TDF EP 583 - Dar Vendegna  - PIckleball TDF SPOILER 3 - Andy & Jackie - Rise of Skywalker

2019 TDF EP 523 Lydia Popovich Dolly Parton TDF EP 511 Auggie Smith Dead Comedians TDF EP 535 Christopher Titus Prince TDF EP 530 Phil Kashian Hitchhiking TDF EP 532 Brian Posehn Heavy Metal TDF EP 549 Tig Notaro Veganism SP1 Endgame Spoiler Dork Out TDF EP 503 Wynter Spears Public Restrooms TDF EP 524 Sara Benincasa Frederick Law Olmstead TDF EP 529 Caitlin Gill Murder She Wrote TDF EP 545 Mary Becquet Chinese Ghosts Vampires TDF EP 525 Matt Oswalt Taking Pictures TDF EP 510 Gary Anthony Williams Birds TDF EP 531 Robert Hurt DS9 TDF EP 547 Thom Tran The Flash TDF EP 540 Brian Jacobovitz Cthulu RPGs TDF EP 515 Judith Stephen CosPlay TDF EP 528 Justin Hermann Heroscape TDF EP 538 Dave Ross Zelda and LINK TDF EP 544 Sharon Houston Netflix British Reality Shows TDF EP 505 Kat Burdick Next Generation TDF EP 509 Michelle Biloon NYT Crossowords

2018 TDF EP 487 Amy Miller - Dolly Parton TDF EP 471 Emma Arnold - BEES TDF EP 499 - Erin Foley - Hallmark Christmas Movies TDF EP 481 - Cheryl Jones - Maritime History TDF EP 471 - Andy Ashcraft - GenCon TDF EP 482 - Nato Green - Union Organizing TDF EP 473 - Tamra Brown - Tiki Bars TDF EP 493 - Nina Manni - Air and Hotel Points TDF EP 446 - Carlos Delgado - Great British Bakeoff TDF EP 495 - Alice Wetterlund - Sharks TDF EP 487 - Mark Waid - Superman TDF EP 454 - Open Mike Eagle - Wrestling TDF EP 457 - Jean Grea - Ikea TDF EP 447 - Gariana Abeyta - All Genres have Great Movies

2017 TDF EP 390 - Phil Kashian - LOTR and MY BROTHER TDF EP 422 - Steve Agee  - John Hughes Movies. Weird Science TDF EP 426 - Sara Schaefer - Cross Stitch TDF EP 431 - Jenny Jaffe - Planners. Calendars. Stickers. All the things. TDF EP 405 - Rebecca Sugar - Musicals TDF EP 438 - Jen Briney - freaking CONGRESS TDF EP 423 - Karen Rontowski - Moth Man TDF EP 401 - Jason Hatrick - Scuba diving TDF EP 429 - Kyle Clark - Halloween Theme Parks TDF EP 417 - Nat Towsen - Speed Racer TDF EP 402 - Tyler Hinman - Escape Rooms TDF EP 428 - Solomon Georgio - Black Sitcoms TDF EP 403 - Hal Lublin - Saturday Night Live TDF EP 408 - Al Madrigal - Jack Reacher NOVELS TDF EP 435 - Wyatt Gray - HP Lovecraft TDF EP 442 - Doug Stanhope - getting naked and Leisure Suits TDF EP 404 - Julie Dixson Jackson - Geneology TDF EP 427 - Lisa Allard – Quilting

2016 TDF EP 336 Jim Stewart Allen - Oregon Trail TDF EP 383 Jenny Chalikian – Xena TDF EP 387 Caitlin Gill - Roald Dahl TDF EP 358 Wil Anderson - Cricket TDF EP 359 Heather Simmons - Alice in Wonderland. TDF EP 340 Barbara Holm - Buffy the Vampire Slayer TDF EP 380 Beverly D’Angelo - things that Change your Life - Music, Places TDF EP 366 Karen Rontowski - Tarot Cards TDF EP 373 Stu Goldsmith - Boardgames with a STORY TDF EP 364 Maria Bamford LIVE at JFL Montreal (Bandcamp) 2016 I really liked: TDF EP 385 Jenny Zigrino - Authentic Historical Costuming TDF EP 347 Riley Silverman - The Potato. Mostly Frozen. TDF EP 355 Ivan Van Norman/Andy Ashcraft - Zombies & pen/paper games TDF EP 341 Cathy Ladman - Knitting TDF EP 349 Moon Zappa - The BIG questions TDF EP 368 Martha Kelly - Law and Order SVU TDF EP 367 Phil Johnson - Pirates TDF EP 362 Rory Scovel - Golf (quietly clap) TDF EP 339 Sovereign Syre - Spanish Invasion of Florida. TDF EP 348 Dash Kwiatkowski - Superman TDF EP 338 TJ Chambers - Chess TDF EP 379 Michelle Thaller – SPACE! LIVE DC Drafthouse (Bandcamp)

2015 TDF EP 303 Matt Saxe – all Vice Presidents. TDF EP 298 Jason Klamm – Vice Presidents and Lego! TDF EP 312 Greg Proops at LA Podfest – 70s Movies TDF EP 320 Wil Wheaton – BEER and Boardgames TDF EP 287 Michelle McNamara – Robert Durst and more True Crime TDF EP 294 Retta – Purses. Handbags TDF EP 323 Chez Amanda – Xfiles. Finally. TDF EP 310 David Koechner – History dork! TDF EP 268 Tammy Pescatelli – Thrift stores and Vampires TDF EP 279 Brian Kiley – Presidential Biographic Minutia TDF EP 285 Ian Abramson – McDonald’s Land TDF EP 316 Breanna Conley – Old time Photo Booth collecting 2015 another 12 that I picked: TDF EP 329 Robert Hurt – Space Ships TDF EP 321 Ryan Stout – Injustice. AS USUAL. TDF EP 324 Suzy Soro – Ghosts. TDF EP 313 Danielle Radford – great “bad” movies TDF EP 305 Murray Valeriano & Monty Franklin – Surfin. TDF EP 269 Christian Brown, Roselle Hurley and Andy Ashcraft - LARPing TDF EP 271 Bridget Everett - Barry Manilow, Richard Simmons & Rudy TDF EP 273 Sean Crespo – DUNE TDF EP 284 Brian Upton - history and aesthetics of gaming TDF EP 293 Live at Bridgetown Branum, Kilgariff and Preston (Bandcamp) TDF EP 300 Amy Shira Teitel – SPACE TDF EP 325 Gail Carriger Live in SF – Anglophile. (Bandcamp)

2014 TDF EP 259 – Laraine Newman - Dubstep TDF EP 245 – Brittnee Braun - Cosplay TDF EP 249 – Brian Regan – Line Mentality TDF EP 215 – Robert Hack – Doctor Who TDF EP 264 – Joseph Scrimshaw – Star War Prequels TDF EP 227 – Emily Gordon – Breakfast around the world TDF EP 239 – Rhea Butcher – Back to the Future Movies TDF EP 260 – Jimmy Pardo – Chicago (the band) TDF EP210 – Corey Olsen – Tolkien TDF EP 258 – Emily Heller – ESM & HS Debate

2013 TDF EP 177 - Greg Proops - Ancient History TDF EP 172 – Janeane/Bamford - Beading/SuzeOrman TDF EP198 – Live Podfest w Kilgariff/Bamford/Anthony/Valeriano - Salad TDF EP 189 – Moshe Kasher - Religion TDF EP 199 – Michelle McNamara - True Crime TDF EP 203 – Ryan Stout - Traffic Court

TDF EP 150 – Gina Yashere - Ghosts/Elevators TDF EP 151 – Craig Shoemaker - Wizard of Oz TDF EP 207 –  Matt Mira - James Bond TDF EP 167 – David Huntsberger - Horses TDF EP 200 –  Andy Peters/Mike Schmidt - Wrestling TDF EP 190 –  Cameron Esposito - Lesbians TDF EP 202 –  Matt Weinhold/Dana Gould/ Shawn Sheridan - Halloween

2012 TDF EP 129 – Live with Michelle McNamara (True Crime) TDF EP 111 – Jim Gaffigan (obscure news personality) TDF EP 117 – Corey Olsen (TolkienProf) TDF EP 142 – Live with Retta, Rajskub, Kilmartin and Scovel TDF EP 94 – Mary Jo Pehl (reading and writing and more reading) TDF EP 133 – Kira Soltonovich (Korean Spas) TDF EP 113 – Jesse Schell and Andy Ashcraft (oh. Video Games) TDF EP 98 – Henry Phillips and Mike Phirman (Guitar Comedy and Music) TDF EP 139 – Joel Hodgson (ventriloquism) TDF EP 93 – Live with Ernie Cline (the 80s and Ready Player One) TDF EP 102 – Dan Telfer (Dinosaurs and science in general) TDF EP 108 – Al Madrigal (Sales and Cartoons) TDF EP 148 – Guy Branum - Canada TDF EP 95 – Live with Kevin Eastman (ninja turtles) TDF EP 97 – Rose Abdoo and John Matta (tiny tiny ART! And The Thing) TDF EP 99 – Asterios Kokkinos (Pokemon) TDF EP 100 – PF Wilson – (history of the various football leagues) TDF EP 103 – Live with Andy Kindler (“indie” comic books) TDF EP 104 – Merrill Markoe (I feel like we talked dogs mostly) TDF EP 110 – Patrick Brady (animation)   TDF EP 120 – Erin Foley (NY Giants) TDF EP 121 – Tom Franck (Art) TDF EP 130 – Lois McMaster Bujold (I dork out AT her. She talks writing) TDF EP 138 – Michael Everson (coding fonts for obscure languages)

2011 # 55 Greg Proops – Making Baseball interesting           # 67 Hardwick/Palascak – Harry Potter                       # 37 Karen Kilgariff  - Sandra Bullock                         # 16 Dana Gould – Planet of the Apes                         # 48 Aisha Tyler – girl on girl fandom                         # 24 Jen Kirkman/ Karen Rontowksi – ghosts/UFO                 # 49 Dana/James - HOLLYWOOD                               # 40 April/Vargus – TRIP TO MIDDLE EAST                                                   # 3 Madigan/Kilmartin – the KENNEDY’S #42 Maile Flanagan/Yuri Lowenthal - Animation #50 Michelle McNamara – True Crime #30 Ed Brubaker / Kermet Apio – Comics #14 Thrilling Adventure Hour – so many things Origin Story – #69 Andy Origin Story - #71 Maria #73 Rich Sommer – Mad Men and Boardgames #77 Matt Weinhold/Ken Daly – Horror Movies #82 Chad Daniels/David Huntsberger – just hilarious #80 Bengt Washburn – Fine art #51 Andrew Solmssen - IT #28 Eric Drysdale - VIEWMASTER #58 Bees – uh, BEES #63 Perfume – and, PERFUME #44 Jim Coughlin – A4 Paper #91 Trains!    

NOTE Premium eps w/o iTunes: Here’s how to download albums from Bandcamp:

1.    Download the .zip file from Bandcamp. 2.    Unzip the file to your Music folder. 3.    Rescan your Music folder. 4.    Open the music app and listen to your tunes.

[laresearchette]

Friday, November 18, 2022 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: INTERRUPTING CHICKEN (Apple TV+) SPIRITED (Apple TV +) ZIWE (Crave TV) DISENCHANTED (Disney + Star) BLUE’S BIG CITY ADVENTURE (Paramount +) EMERIL COOKS (The Roku Channel) MARTHA HOLIDAYS (The Roku Channel) INVENTING THE CHRISTMAS PRINCE (W Network) 8:00pm

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA THE PEOPLE WE HATE AT THE WEDDING SUGAR WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING

CBC GEM THE CUBAN DOCUMENTARY NOW (Season 4) (!!!!) EXPRESS GRAND DESIGNS AUSTRALIA (Season 10)

CRAVE TV CANADA’S DRAG RACE: CANADA VS. THE WORLD (Season 1, Episode 1) A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS HARMONY GIRL (2020) GREMLINS HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS HOME HOT SEAT JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS L WORD: GENERATION Q (Season 3) LEGALLY BLONDE LEGALLY BLONDE 2 THE POPE’S APOLOGY: REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK BY CREESON AGECOUTAY AND JILL MACYSHON THE SCORE TO THE ARCTIC TURBO VEGHEADZ: HOLIDAY SPECIAL ZIWE (Season 3)

DISNEY + STAR BEST IN SNOW BREAKAWAY DISENCHANTED ESPN FILMS PRESENTS: 144 JUNE 17TH, 1994 MARION JONES: PRESS PAUSE MICKEY AND THE ROADSTER RACERS: DIGGITY-DOG (Season 1 premiere) MICKEY MOUSEKERSIZE (Season 1 premiere) MICKEY: THE STORY OF A MOUSE   ONCE BROTHERS STRAIGHT OUTTA L.A. THE TWO ESCOBARS UNGUARDED WINNING TIME: REGGIE MILLER VS. THE NEW YORK KNICKS THE WONDERFUL AUTUMN OF MICKEY MOUSE YOU DON’T KNOW BO

NETFLIX CANADA THE CUPHEAD SHOW! (Part 3) ELITE (Season 6) INSIDE JOB (Part 2) REIGN SUPREME SLUMBERLAND SOMEBODY THE VIOLENCE ACTION

NBA BASKETBALL (SN NOW) 7:00pm: Heat vs. Wizards (SN/SN1) 7:30pm: Bucks vs. 76ers (TSN4/TSN5) 8:30pm: Nuggets vs. Mavericks (SN1) 10:00pm: Knicks vs. Warriors

NHL HOCKEY (SNPacific) 10:00pm: Kings vs. Canucks (TSN4) 7:00pm: Penguins vs. Leafs

REINDEER GAMES HOMECOMING (CTV Life) 7:00pm:  Sparks fly between a Vermont biology teacher and her high school crush as they compete in a holiday fundraising tradition.

MARKETPLACE (CBC) 8:00pm: The cost of living is higher than it’s been in nearly 40 years and we’re all feeling the pinch. We reveal the ways we're paying more & getting less. An inflation survival guide you can't afford to miss. Reporter: Travis Dhanraj

RODEO NATION (APTN) 8:00pm: A few wrecks make Zachery King question the future of his season.

LOONS: A CRY FROM THE MIST (Cottage Life) 8:00pm: Biologists try to figure out why North American loons are in danger.

CHRISTMAS IN LOVE (Super Channel Heart & Home) 8:00pm: Ellie must decide if she should trust the big city CEO she is falling for, but more importantly, whether to take a leap of faith in making her own dreams come true.

TRAVEL MAN: 48 HOURS IN… (CBC) 8:30pm:  Richard Ayoade is joined by comedian Ellie Taylor for a 2-day meander around Madrid, following an itinerary rich in art, ham, history and histrionics.

STORIES FROM THE LAND (APTN) 8:30pm: The last two active traditional net fishermen on one of Canada's largest lakes wonder what the future holds as fishing operations dwindle to a sliver of what they used to be.

THE PASSIONATE EYE (CBC) 9:00pm: Wall Street Blues; A band of online day traders managed to completely disrupt the stock market, the global financial industry and maybe, the future of who gets to make big money and how.

TRANSPLANT (CTV) 9:00pm: Bash's life is scrutinized during his citizenship interview; when treating survivors of a building fire, Theo needs Bash's help with a scared young boy; Mags helps a recovering addict who swallowed her keys; June and Bash treat estranged brothers.

THE SCORE (Crave) 9:00pm: Two small-time crooks drive to a secluded cafe for a big score.

CANADA'S DRAG RACE: CANADA VS. THE WORLD (Crave 2) 9:00pm (SERIES PREMIERE): It’s an all-star season of sorts with Canadians, as well as, foreign nations featured including New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

CRIME BEAT (Global) 10:00pm: Glen Davis was a multi-millionaire philanthropist, well-known for his generosity; he and his wife donated millions to charities, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).