I could probably come up with a long, involved timeline for all of the shenanigans involving Jason Knauf, but I won’t. Knauf’s current position is Chief Executive of The Royal Foundation, which is the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s sad-clown foundation. Before he held that position, Knauf was the Communications Secretary for William, Kate and Harry, a position he took in 2015. He was very much the person responsible for Will and Kate’s near-constant messaging of “promising to be keen” for years. Knauf has been in the royal gossip news in recent months because he orchestrated that utterly desperate clownshow just days before the Sussexes’ Oprah interview, where Knauf apparently wrote a letter claiming Meghan was “bullying” Kensington Palace staffers. He was also named in Meghan’s lawsuit against the Daily Mail, and I will always believe that Knauf was actively trying to f–k with Meghan’s lawsuit too, until someone told him to shut it down. And now someone is shutting him down: KNAUF OUT.
The palace has just released a statement to announce the departure of Jason Knauf as the Chief Executive of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s Royal Foundation after seven years in the role. Jason Knauf, who first started working for William and Kate in February 2015 as Communications Secretary at Kensington Palace is leaving his position at the end of the year.
The statement outlined Knauf’s successes including overseeing ‘the development and launch of the Foundation’s most ambitious programme to date – The Earthshot Prize – as well as the continued development of The Duchess’ pioneering work on early childhood.’
Knauf will remain in the role until the end of 2021 before ‘a planned international relocation that has necessitated his decision to stand down.’ The statement revealed ‘the process for recruiting a new Chief Executive will begin in the coming weeks and Jason’s successor will be announced in due course.’
The Cambridges paid tribute to Knauf, describing him as an ‘integral part’ of their team.
‘We are immensely grateful for his hard work and commitment, both at The Royal Foundation and previously as our Communications Secretary. Since taking over as Chief Executive, Jason has driven positive change, making our vision for our charitable work and the causes that matter most to us a reality. We are sad to see him go but wish him all the very best in his future career. We look forward to launching the recruitment search shortly and welcoming a new Chief Executive later on this year.’
Knauf said: ‘Working with The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has been the privilege of my career. I will always be grateful for the opportunity I have had to support their leadership in the UK and internationally.’
When I posted about this on Twitter yesterday, I got a lot of comments about how Jason needs to tell all, or Jason knows where all of the keen bodies are buried. Y’all know it won’t work like that, right? First off, Jason is in it up to his neck. William and Kate are dumb and mean: Jason was the brains behind so many of their sad, pathetic and vile moves. And clearly, he left his fingerprints all over several messes (the Mail lawsuit, the Meghan/bullying story), which means that he’s pretty incompetent as far as courtiers go. Does anyone think it’s a coincidence that the crisis managers started work less than two weeks ago and one of their first moves was getting Jason Knauf out of there? If this is the stuff we know about, imagine what a f–king catastrophe it was behind-the-scenes?
Royal Suitor did a good thread on the staff turnover at KP over the past four years or so, and RS reminded me of something I only half-remembered. In 2017, there was a big, multi-palace staff reshuffle as Charles took over more of his mother and father’s work and began easing into what is now clearly a “soft regency.” Kate and William brought in more staff and new executive staff with the assumption that they would begin to work full-time for the Firm. What actually happened is that Kate got pregnant with Louis and Harry proposed to Meghan. The manufactured drama around Meghan hid a lot of inter-office and inter-palace bullsh-t. And none of the big-name staffers brought on to work in KP are still there – Catherine Quinn, Simon Case and Christian Jones all left after a few years. It certainly sounds like actual professionals have a big issue with working for Work-shy Baldingham (and his rage fits) and Work-shy Wiglet.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.
Good riddance! This is KP, CH and BP cutting their losses, because let’s face it for this mess to have gone ahead this long Edward Young (the Queen’s private secretary) was in on it and he is Charles yes man. I hope that Harry and Meghan find a way to sue this guy and make him bleed and pay, but I know that’s just wishful thinking on my part.
My first thought was did their new PR person tell them that Jason’s name is mud at this point to those who have been paying attention and it would look good to get rid of him and distance themselves from all the ‘our staff are in cahoots with the press to smear H and M’ shenanigans?
Probably reading too much into it
I don’t think you’re reading too much into it. This was my first thought too.
Not reading too much into it at all. H&M have receipts with Knauf’s name all over them, and the threat of his exposure undermining them was (and is) real. All of the Keen’s BS about how they were the wronged ones and they’re so sad about their current relationship with Harry is proven to be a huge lie given the things he’s done and the fact he remained employed by them.
This is a first step. And I doubt he’s doing much real work (lol like them) from now on even though he’s stepping down officially months from now. The crisis managers will keep him far away from anything the Keens touch from now on.
But the question remains, can they control the Keens’ themselves from leaking? Keen Guevara has Mummy leaking on her behalf, and Cain Keen is too thinned skin not to want to push back as he has in the past for long (IMO).
Even if the crisis managers did recommend this, I’m shocked that William would have allowed it! Maybe even Jason felt like it was time to move on from this sh!tshow (a lot of which he was responsible for).
It was my first thought as well. Even an outsider could see he needs to go , so I imagine the crisis manager was all over it
He’s a nasty, nasty little man. And Wiglet’s “pioneering” work on childhood? No: Piaget was a pioneer. Wiglet is counting down to the next new and hideously expensive coatdress as a ‘reward’ for launching a survey that is an absolute joke to even the laziest academic. Absolute joke, the lot of the KPers.
Yeah, I thought it was pretty funny that her “pioneering” work is on things that have been discussed for ages.
SHe did not even get a degree in Education or Psychology. I know people who did, and the degrees take work and a doctorate required a dissertation. Kate is a lightweight who majored in art history and has no clue about early childhood .
Isn’t Jason the guy who leaked Meghan’s letter to the DM? I don’t get how that’s legal. You’d think that would be a firing offense.
“KNAUF OUT”……..you’re killing it KAISER! 🥳. And totally agree with LAUREN. Also, agree with ANDREW NEMESIS….Piaget was a pioneer in early childhood development…..to put Keen Kate in same arena is pathetic embiggening.
And —- tin foil hat theory —- maybe Meghan agreed not to sue his ass if he was forced to step down! After all, she still has all her receipts. And….if not, I hope Meghan sues him, but I’m sure she’s got better things to do with her life. Although, she may wait to see if he tries to write a book, then sue him.
First thing that came to my mind was “KNAUF OFF!” (For those who don’t know Brit slang, “NAFF OFF” is tantamount to F*CK OFF. Don’t think I’ve had enough coffee yet…
“Good riddance”! I second that. I’ve always felt he was more of an orchestrator of chaos, backstabbing and enmity rather than a complete yes-man. I’m sure he can and has played the obsequious Gríma Wormtongue-like character (particularly with the Sussexes), but he is ultimately a schemer who can’t be trusted. I think the Cams will need to watch their backs.
Can it be this easy? Jason lied. Jason was leaving a paper trail that Meghan was a bully and mentioning the ones that left cause of Meghan bullying them. then kept the lie going by claiming something that is not his, who know the DOS can sue him, cause now they have to pay a lot of money for something Jason lied about and they build their case on his words. something else is that i read he is married then i read his partner. if he is married and his husband is a diplomat, does that mean Jason have immunity? Should Meghan sue Jason for falsifying document (s) to lie about her.? if they dig deeper into this they will expose William. William had him in Meghan camp to spy and tell lies about her. he worked for Meghan and yet disrespected her and respected William instead. what kind of business will hire a man that lie about his last employer to help his new employer. he should be investigated for making up stories to destroyed Meghan reputation. he was hired in 2015, worked with all 4 of them, then was sent to work for Harry /Meghan,then went back to William. during that time lies upon lies was printed for the world to see.
After he failed and basically ignored the MOS pleas and basically making a mess of Meghan’s tenure as a working Royal, he had to go. The MOS needed some type of compensation after that defeat. I can only imagine the anger and blackmailing going on behind the scenes right now. I also think the Sussexes lawyers got involved with those bullying claims. I can see why Dan was so upset yesterday because now one of their obvious top leakers, along with others has been fired or resigned.
It’s such sweet karma that the MOS lawyers accidentally CCd Meghan’s lawyers on emails to Jason and his camp…and then told the judge they wanted more money 💰
You know the contents of those emails were bad if they had grounds for that…I hope karma hits that u-turn comes back for round two for JK
Does Dan have any sources left??😄
I mean, Wootton’s big contract with the MailOnline, was also under the belief that he would keep bringing the hot royal stories – specifically about H & M.😏😏😏
Of course he does. Baldingham is his source, will just need a new mouthpiece in 2022. I don’t know what DW has on Baldingham, (it can’t be only Rose, there is probs more) but he has Baldingham by his b a l l s.
I agree with you that Schillings may be applying pressure on the bullying claims. With regards to that little weasel, he deserves everything coming his way. He will forever be remembered as the guy who helped launch a smear campaign against the first biracial princess in the BRF. I hope he puts that on his job description.
What’s MOS?
the Mail on Sunday, who Meghan was suing over the publication of her letter.
Sussex lawyers need to get that fully investigated and proven false, complete with KP issuing a statement to that effect. Otherwise the tabloids will keep using it against Meghan. If it is proven false, they could be sued for continuing to state it happened.
Well…..
what are we thinking celebitches? Did he leave or did he get fired?
All im saying it that the timing is suspicious and that the decision seems rushed.
He’s not leaving until the end of the year, so its possible that its not as rushed as we are thinking, but I agree that the timing is VERY suspicious. I don’t think he was fired because he was doing William’s dirty work, firing would open a new can of worms, but I think there was probably a sit down and he “came to the conclusion” that resigning was the best move.
I think it might have even been a mutual decision. Like knauff and his bosses both sat down and said that they should wait for the outcome of the court case and that if it ended up in a win for meghan he should leave. Otherwise it would be too suspicious
Who knows tho. He already went to a tabloid to say that the move is due to is partner getting a job abroad
Part of the long notice period too could be contractual. They want to make it look like he’s leaving of his own accord rather than firing him and as a CEO I would not be shocked if he had a 6 month notice period. I am a senior manager in a firm and have a 4 month contractual notice period.
The job abroad could be legitimate, so that means the leaving was going to happen anyway – but then we still have the suspicious timing of the announcement. It’s not a coincidence that it was announced this week.
I agree. I also agree with @Jay below that it probably could have been a neutral parting as in they all sat down and said “We think it’s best to go”.
Not getting rid of him immediately shows (whether that’s true or not) that they aren’t in a massive panic and it’s totally a normal leaving.
The timing can’t be a coincidence and I wouldn’t be surprised if they sped up the timeline of the announcement to try and wash their hands of Jason just in case it gets ugly. If it does the Cambridges can just say “Oh he’s leaving us so we’re okay!”
Just because he’s stepping down officially at the end of the year doesn’t mean he’s actually working.
I’ve worked long enough where I’ve seen:
1) senior staff leave and take months transitioning while the org works on replacing them. This usually (but not always) happens when senior staff of longstanding retire.
2) senior staff leave and the org agrees their official end dates is months after the announcement, but they’re effectively gone immediately (rarely show up to work if at all, aren’t involved in decisions, etc.). This usually has happened to avoid internal or external pr issues…such worry over lawsuits due to behavior (harassment) or sheer incompetence (in one case, the president of the org didn’t want the board to know what a complete mess had been made of hiring a VP who was not only incompetent but also an embezzler).
His leaving, knowing what he’s done and what a pr risk it is having him stay on with the Keens, and knowing that the crisis managers recently started, tells me this is on their advice.
@TigerMcQueen I think you’re right and he’s out now. It would be a PR nightmare if it was announced that he was leaving ASAP – so my guess is they’re giving the implication that he’s staying on through the end of the year but he’s essentially sidelined from here on out.
When Catherine Quinn left, it was fairly quickly – I think there was a month or two notice that she was leaving when her contract was up? It wasn’t drawn out for 7 months.
The Daily Mail said his husband has a job elsewhere and he’s relocating to be with him. (Or that was the implication? — I can’t remember the wording.)
The job could be legitimate but I wonder if Jason Knauf and his husband saw the writing on the wall around the time of the Oprah interview and the bullying claims and made sure to secure a new international job soon after.
@observing … Isn’t this the same boyfriend/husband who was outed as the source selling information about the Sussexes to Dan Wooton, which is one of the reasons Wooton left The Sun for his new hatchet job at the Daily Mail?
I have no idea. To be honest, I had no idea he was gay. I remember reading rumours here on this site’s comment section that he was sleeping with some other lady who was fired, so when I read he had a husband, I was surprised to say the least.
No, that was Christian Jones’ boyfriend who was leaking info to DW. I think. They probably all were at this point.
There’s a sussex supporter, tudorchick1501 (Anne Boelyn) who claims Jason’s husband follows reporter Chris Ship on twitter. She didn’t give his name or twitter handle though, so take with salt.
When these situations blow up everyone starts looking for the exits and focuses on avoiding civil and criminal liability. Meghan pushed the lawsuit and now too many ugly skeletons are in danger of falling out of the closet. Not to worry, Poor Jason will depart with an enhanced NDA, a nice cash prize, and a convenient relocation out of the UK. It’s all fun and games until it occurs to one that jail is a real possibility—courts taken a dim view of perjury.
Maybe it had to do with the “HR bullying complaint” that originally looked like it would end up in some type of official Inquiry. This plan of action seems to have backfired in KP’s face. I think Knauf left because KP (maybe BP & CH too) wants this whole episode to just go away and be forgotten as Meghan was willing to fight in court against the lies once again.
Yes, where does his exiting leave the “bulllying” lawsuit/inquiry now? I’m pretty confused where it all stands at this point even without JK leaving.
Wishful thinking but maybe he has been paid off to take the hit for the team and once he’s gone the palace will put out that they investigated the bullying claims and found out that JK manufactured them.
This!! It’s obviously a bad look when a star witness for the defense suddenly changes his story. Like oops sorry I got that whole letter thing wrong after both sides have spent millions on legal fees.
He wasn’t willing to take the stand and perjure himself.
Jesus what a sad group of people these staffers, the BRitish tabs and the royals themselves are.
All for their petty power plays andpublic perception shenanigans. Meanwhile over in Cali…M and H are rolling up their sleeves to help people.
I would give anything to have tea w Hilary Mantel and talk about her real opinions on this stuff. My Brit hubs does not understand my fascination but this is our generations Wolf Hall.
Yes, there was the whole Charles wants a line drawn under it.
L84tea, I am right there with you wondering where this “Meghan is a great big bully!” allegation is at. It upsets me that these people get to throw that allegation out there and say they are hiring independent investigators and then…crickets. They seem to continually trash Meghan’s reputation and get away with it. The haters are just going to say “Oh, the palace protected Meg by not going public, even though she doesn’t deserve their loyalty. See how kind W&K are?” Gag. Meghan’s lawyers need to demand either evidence or a public statement throwing someone else under the bus for the wrongful allegations. Jason is a good enough scapegoat.
I think it could be mutual, and the nice thing about his departure at the of the year is that if anything further comes out about his involvement in the Mail lawsuit or the supposed HR complaint, now it’ll be “Jason Knauf, who recently announced his departure… and “Knauf, who resigned from the royal foundation earlier this year”… It creates some distance from whatever messes there still might be to come. Good work, new PR people!
It’s kind of unusual that we know his name though, right? Royal staffers ate supposed to be relatively under the radar, discrete. And not necessarily good for his job prospects, I would think.
My friend is a lawyer who was once with a top firm. When the firm terminated her without cause, they allowed her to keep her phone and work email address for 4 months after termination until she found another job. Apparently, this is standard in those circles. Jason is out now. He’s probably being paid till the end of the year, but there was no need to announce it now if he was leaving in December.
Yes, this is how it works in tech. Officially, you’re out on Day One, but your actual contract may run longer, meaning you’re still getting paid and have health coverage. All part of the negotiations.
What’s weird is that the bullying investigation is supposedly going forward, but without its star witness, Jason. I think some of the supposedly bullied folks are also gone. That looks really weak, almost as if the bullying never happened. Hah.
Judge Warby issued his statement yesterday about the copyright shenanigans going on with the Mail on Sunday and Knauf and it was not complimentary. Knauf’s legal team and the palace’s legal team must have been informed that Warby’s statement was coming. So I don’t buy that this is coincidental timing. Knauf was pushed to distance him from TOB and Keen. Unspecific overseas diplomatic positions can be created at the spur of the moment. #Knauf was offed.
I think he was fired. Everyone was fine with what he was doing until sh*t hit the fan with Meghan’s lawsuit. She just kept winning and every time she did win, something else was revealed that made them look even shadier. Warby calling them out for all of their shenanigans and upping the amount the DM had to pay was the clencher. The palace lies all the time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if his departure came rather suddenly, including his partner’s new job.
I think this could very well be the truth of it.
Interesting HARPER. Timing is everything.
Since he help bury those bodies because he is responsible for so many of them, they can’t fire him, however I bet he received a nice payoff and a cushy job in another country to keep his mouth shut
@Cecilia I bet he was strongly encouraged to hand his notice in. After the MoS debacle, the fact that he was inadvertently forced to support Meghan’s narrative through his own blunder, his spurious allegations of bullying against a woman of colour, which severely damaged the monarchy’s eclat among younger generations, and the utter failure to represent Wiglet and PWT as anything other than lazy, self-entitled, enraged, racist and rude, he’s failed at everything he’s turned his hand to.
Poor Jason. There is no beginning to his talents.
There is no beginning to his talents. Love it.
“There is no beginning to his talents” made me snort coffee up my nose. Thanks 🤣🤧
This is absolutely the crisis managers coming in and cleaning up what they can. Throwing all his clothes on the front lawn of the palace would be a little too obvious, so they’ve negotiated a parting agreement that allows him to save face (i.e. the “my partner got a job offer so I guess I have to leave” bit) and which undoubtedly comes with a cushy severance and glowing references. I mean, who could his partner possibly have gotten a job with that would cause this obviously cravenly ambitious royalist to resign his job for the 2nd in line to the throne? Sorry, I don’t buy it. If the lawsuit debacle had ended differently then he might’ve kept his position, but to me it looks like the crisis managers recognize that cutting ties will help save face (look, the cambridges took action against the leaks and scheming! hurrah!) and try to stave off further inquiries into the shady dealings at kp.
Also, if he isn’t planning to move for many months, why leave now? Doesn’t make sense.
Sunday, I agree that the his involvement in the lawsuit was a final nail in his coffin. I know that after the bullying allegations were made, BP came out to say that they were investigating the PROCESS that is used to report bullying. It seems I read that Meghan’s attorneys had written a letter to KP? asking for evidence that supported any allegation of bullying. So, here’s my theory: The palace will have to address the bullying issue, because Meg’s attorneys will demand that. There will be a statement put out that says that after investigating we have concluded that the allegations did not rise to the level of bullying. Or something similar. Again, Knauf is the one who will get the responsibility for all of that because he’s the one who wrote that memo. Alone I don’t think that memo would have sunk him, but add that to the lawsuit and I think his future was clear and it wasn’t going to be with KP.
Yeah, he’s not going to spill anything or write a tell-all or whatever because he’s up to his ears in all this. (and probably signed a NDA but putting that aside.)
I definitely think he was messing with the MoS lawsuit, until he realized he couldn’t anymore (maybe his lawyers were like you are NOT going to perjure yourself for these people) or another reason. I mean the lawsuit has been going on for how long and it was just a few weeks ago that he was like, hold up, I actually didn’t help write this letter at all? That’s definitely fishy.
I am thinking the crisis managers are now realizing they are being underpaid and are trying to clean house.
Also glad you pointed out that all their big name hires in recent years, the ones who were supposed to “guide them” as they “learned the ropes” (yet again) of being FT royals…..have all left.
Finally, who else laughed at the line about Kate’s “pioneering” work with the early years???
If those crisis managers are the cause of him leaving than that would confirm my suspicion. The “crisis” that needs to be fixed is within the households. And then i would predict some other staffers might leave soon.
And it must be bigger than we think, or W and K would not be listening to them and doing what they’re told. I think whoever said Charles has ordered it is right.
@thirtynine great point, and I think Lorelei implied something similar above. If william and Kate are actually listening to the crisis managers?? That means either Charles laid down the law, or they know they’re in deep shit, or both.
Pioneering? I snorted into my soup.
Pioneering, in the sense, that this is the first real project that she’s come up with after how many years “learning the ropes”? And even here, she’s piggy-backing off the work of experts, who have been doing this work for years. But you know, she’s “keen.”
She does like to wear pioneer dresses, so maybe that’s what they meant lol.
Oh BECKS1…..loved the comment! Thanks for the reminder that Kate does like to dress for her various roles. 👏🏼👏🏼
Kate didn’t come up with the project, EKM. The Charles hire, Catherine Quinn, made in up in a matter of days/hours in the face of Meghan’s Together cookbook. The news of Kate’s new ‘pioneering, life-long project for Early Childhood’ was leaked to the Fail on Friday, three days before the secret Together cookbook was published. Kate’s early childhood focus was thrown together so hastily, they used an old phrase from the Tory party about societal decay.
I can’t help but think Catherine left cause she looked around and everyone was on operation Get The Biracial Duchess Outta Here and no one was trying to do any charity work. I can see her throwing the towel in and leaving to do some real charity work that was alleged when she left. Christian, Simon and Jason were all apart of driving out H&M, Catherine is the only one of them (that we know of) who wasn’t.
@S808 I would love to know Catherine Quinn’s thought on these past few years. She wanted to do real work in the charitable sector and what Archewell is doing is probably what she had in mind.
Quinn was more senior to Knauf, Jones and Case and she had real life experience that wasn’t being a political lackey prior to working for KP so she probably did see the childish games and didn’t want to be involved with it. Her comments of leaving to do “charity work” were certainly very pointed and suggested that Kate didn’t do much charity.
Dying over “pioneering.” The 5 Big Questions that did what, exactly? What an absolute joke.
What ever happened to the responses to the “The 5 Big Questions” survey? Was a report published or a conference held with panel discussions to disseminate information gathered to the the public?
@bay, you cannot tell me you’ve forgotten the pie charts!!!
Along with that line about the “ambitiousness” of Earthshot….thanks for the morning chuckle.
And earthshot’s “successful launch.” When? All I remember is vague statements about how is what totally the Pulitzer Prize of environmentalism, the single most prestigious award to ever be awarded, and that it would be happening… later. I would think that a successful launch would include a fully complete cycle of the thing: accepting entries, deciding what idea/innovation would win, hosting the super fancy awards show, and awarding the prize. I wouldn’t really consider an annual awards show/environmental prize to be “successfully launched” until they had successfully attracted many, many smart and innovative applicants who buy into the whole Earthshot idea to submit their actually workable ideas, and then awarded the first prize to someone who actually does something tangible and successful with the money and notoriety that comes from winning Earthshot and having Prince William support you. We don’t know if anyone is actually going to buy into this awards show scheme enough to submit their ideas for this thing. We don’t know if the ideas submitted will be good, workable, or able to be up and running, making a positive environmental difference soon enough to actually provide a successful, visual example of the sort of projects and results that Earthshot stands for. We don’t know if the awards show will be successful and draw lots of attention to the cause, and we don’t know if being recognized and awarded by Earthshot actually does anything substantial for the winner or for the environment.
@AmyToo how dare you?!!?!? It’s the most prestigious environmental award EVER because William said so!!!!!! That’s all we need to know! Everything else is just…..details. silly, unimportant details.
Complete with a stolen name, a stolen illusion to ‘Green Nobel’ and someone else who already has the name fighting against attempts by William’s team to trademark it.
Lol all day over the “pioneering” bit when those five questions came practically straight from a high school Introduction to Child Psychology textbook.
Yes, that wording made me laugh
It is 100% the crisis managers. Aside from the fact that he was clearly involved in the MoS lawsuit and all the behind-the-scenes drama there, there are huge swaths of the internet (us included, lol) who know him by name and have floated all sorts of conspiracies about him. The speculation is public, ongoing, and widespread to the point of him trending on social resulting in some online media coverage, and the last thing that the royals or their managers want is for people to continue to discuss at length the …interesting goingson behind the scenes. It makes it harder for the puppeteer to put on a good show when everyone is watching how he moves the strings. His “resignation” is the palace attempting to put an end to that – “pay no attention to the [bald] man behind the curtain.” Getting rid of him works in two ways: cutting ties with an obvious schemer puts an end to his palace manipulations and many messes and therefore might actually stop some of the idiotic “strategies” that kp has employed under him, and it also publicly sacrifices someone with name recognition so that they have someone to wink at and say well, changes are being made, they didn’t want to fire the poor man but they knew it was necessary, what a shame, their hands are clean though, etc.
Celebitchies are on fire today! Loved it SUNDAY…….. His “resignation” is the palace attempting to put an end to that – “pay no attention to the [bald] man behind the curtain.” 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Agree with everything you’re saying. This gives the public a head on a platter, so to speak, and he will be the cambridge scapegoat for what happened with Harry and Meghan.
The crisis managers are moving faster than I expected, to be honest.
This. I’ve mentioned after the Oprah interview JK would be the scapegoat for the Cambridges and compensated to keep his mouth shut. Too obvious.
Looking at all the messy scheming, how does this incompetent team do any philanthropy? It’s so obvious it’s only about PR now, not philanthropy! Don’t get me wrong. PR is important but so is actually groundbreaking work or bread and butter support. I pity the taxpayers having to pay for this real life Game of Thrones?! They expended so much effort to bring down Harry and Meghan, to make Meghan suicidal instead of working! No wonder an actual professional like Catherine Quinn left! This Cambridge Department of Evil and Cruelty can go to hell.
I laughed too Becks1!
The way those dumbass Cambridges have been confirming every attack they’ve attempted to level against the Sussexes is like watching poetry in motion! Karma has not missed one beat while connecting with her targets!!!
Makes me laugh that Kaiser used to refer to this tool as “poor Jason” back in 2015-2017!!😂🤣
I would hate to be them right now. All of the leakers have been fired or resigned. The Sussexes are commanding more power and influence. The tabloids are going to want to keep this one sided and frankly boring “feud” going to clicks and the Sussexes aren’t giving them or that family information that can be leaked.
They were just so f*cking sloppy that it was only a matter of time before it all unraveled. However, they severely underestimated Meghan. Had she been a weaker individual, the plan would have worked. Meghan’s determination and strength to see things through to then end, despite everything she was going through, really f*cked them up.
@JT At the time they started she was pregnant and hormonal so a perfect target. They didn’t anticipate her coming back swinging once her hormones and life settled. And, they especially didn’t anticipate their usual scapegoat Harry coming out fighting with her once he had a wife and child to protect. They saw Harry as the easy-going person who didn’t care when he personally got bad press and not as the warrior he was trained to be.
I think credit goes to an old commenter here called LAK and she started “poor Jason.” It was born in the comments for certain.
@Equality That’s a good point. Meghan being pregnant and off her game is what allowed them to get as far as they did in the first place. She was struggling so much, she couldn’t really focus on fighting back. Shortly after Archie, she dropped her lawsuit and the rest is history.
You’re also right in their view of Harry as well. They underestimated how attached he was to the “privileges” of being a part of the firm, privileges that they couldn’t live without. I think they completely forgot that Harry has lived in a goddamn war zone and was more comfortable there, by his own admission, than he was at the palace. He was ready to leave and they weren’t counting on that.
The timing is real interesting. Announcing his departure 7 months before he’ll actually leave his post and right after the latest round of Meg’s case that heavily involved him? He refused to go record about his involvement with the letter and the “palace 4”. messy, messy, messy. Yeah, I definitely believe the crisis managers sent him packing.
Here’s what i don’t understand. Meghan said he saw a draft version right? If the MoS then contacts you multiple times to know more about that because it could be vital for their argument why not say then and there that you don’t own any copyright and said copyright lies completely with her? It could have ended this case a lot sooner. Why was he dragging this out?
The only reason for ghosting them that I can think of is that his lawyer told him to shut up.
Again, I’m wondering: Didn’t he leak the letter in the first place? If not, who did?
Cecilia, I think it was because the MOS wanted a trial. That would have meant more discover, which would have meant more articles for them to write and make more money off of her. Knauf was smart to shut this down now. He had to know that M had receipts and would have proved he was perjuring himself. The smartest thing he did was to get his own attorney, who made it clear that he had to stop the copyright issue immediately.
My question: What will the MOS do going forward for clicks? Should the Keenbridges be worried?
It may be that he’s being paid to the end of the year but will be leaving sooner. Saying that he’ll be officially in post for another seven months gives the impression there is no direct link with Meghan’s court case. They’ll pay him off with a good severance package in return for hissilence.
Yes, this. When there’s security involved, you don’t usually let employees hang around like Banquo’s ghost.
This makes sense and is totally plausible. I definitely think he was fired and the statement was made to look like he was simply moving on.
They will kindly give him the remaining time off to prepare for his move.
Exactly this. The seven month remainder gives both parties what they want: the palace gets to continue denying involvement and keep their hands clean (a firing denotes guilt, resignation-due-to-relocation is neutral), and Jason gets to save face publicly, undoubtedly with a hefty severance package and glowing references. For me, the “my partner got a job” thing is such a flimsy excuse; it’s possible to get hired for a job that you don’t start for seven months, but is it plausible? Jason is a royalist and as ambitious as they come, so who could his partner have gotten a job for that would be important enough for Jason to give up working for the 2nd in line to the throne? I mean, maybe they should sell the rights to hallmark because that’s awfully romantic (eyeroll). I’m not buying it.
I think it also means he will stay off some decisions and issues, allowing his replacement to make those instead.
And By Line Investigates reported yesterday that the judge approved Meghan’s request for damages be made by an ‘account of profits’ that DM made off of that story. Furthermore, while DM wanted to make it vague and drag out this accounting process as long as possible, the judge demanded that they start providing specific information immediately. Considering the clusterf*ck relationship between Kensington, Jason and DM; DM probably has the blackmail clout to have JK fired. They are losing money and a dangerous precedent has been set for paying out damages to other claimants in the future because of him.
You’d think this situation would be the ultimate wakeup call to all these rag papers to stop f**king with the Duchess.
@GollyGee & L8T4Tea
I think that you are both right. I also think that British press and Harry’s family also backed off bc:
-Harry is the ultimate insider and he is a soldier who sees himself as being in battle here and is not taking prisoners. The interview proved that to anyone with an ounce of intellectual curiosity….I mean, really.
-Oprah didn’t just interview M&H. To anyone with a brain: she basically came out of retirement to throw the weight of her media empire behind an American actress named Meghan Markle.
There are so many layers to this: a commenter (I assume a WOC?) on this site said in a comment last year to the Royal family and the British press: “do not come for us [Black Americans] you don’t know us” That CB comment stuck with me. They brits didn’t understand the symbolic nature of the African Americans on the wedding guest list, the protective statement and the power; it sounds like the family only let Meghan see Serena play bc Kate was going too and none of them understands what Tyler Perry’s role in all of this, but Harry’s family and the British press do understand fear. They are going to walk away now.
Ok here’s my (admitted lame) gossip about the palace comms staff. I was working very nicely with the Calerence House staff (Prince Charles’s) and then had to arrange another meeting with Prince Harry. I asked Harry’s staff what their protocol was on posting photos of the meeting to our org’s social media, and she got super snobby and said “it is expected that photos of a private meeting not be circulated”. And I thought that was quite unrealistic in this social media age (it’s huge promotion for an NGO).
That seems….weird. and unrealistic. Was this when he was still with KP or after they merged into BP? It sounds like they weren’t considering the meeting official royal work, so pictures should be kept private, but why would that be?
It was just before everything with H&M went down. And I think they were just being ridiculous and snobby with me, a boorish North American.
Was Meghan in the picture already?
Or you mean pre-Megxit?
I imagine Harry was not kindly disposed to any sort of photographs at the time; it was a time of great stress for the Sussexes. I doubt that Harry cared one whit where you were from.
Who were you working with on Harry’s staff? It could be that KP staff didn’t want to post meetings of Harry working because we know they actively downplayed his successes in favor of their own. At that time it would’ve meant more content for sussex royal (or, more sussex content on their shared insta if it was before the split), and we know they didn’t want the sussexes getting any positive attention whatsoever.
Regardless, we know that the Sussexes (through Archewell) make it a point to have organizations post any announcements involving them to the org’s own social, so this is obviously uncharacteristic of their behavior which indicates that something else was going on behind the scenes.
Jezz, “And I think they were just being ridiculous and snobby with me, a boorish North American.”
But you have no bias against American’s, right?
If I’m reading correctly, Jezz IS the American
She isn’t knocking Americans
Dear Jason and Your Spouse,
Congratulations on your impending overseas relocation and your new, totally unexpected appointment to a diplomatic position in Paris! We wish you great success in this new endeavor. Included with the position is a spacious residence in the heart of the city. To get there from the center of Paris, turn right at the Alma tunnel and proceed through the tunnel to your destination. Best wishes,
New Royal Crisis Advisors
Ouch!
Love This
Whoa, HARPER………..Zing! Clean up in Lane 2.
HEHEHEHE, naughty, naughty you.
Ohhhh I didn’t even think about timing of the crisis managers. Good call!
I’ve been waiting for this post all night! Can’t wait for the comments.
It’s beginning to look like the Oprah interview and the alluded-to receipts actually worked. Dan Wootton was on quite a tear yesterday – he must be devastated to lose his royal source.
What I need the background on is the email to poor Jason that the DM’s attorneys accidentally sent to Meghan’s team. Anyone have the full scoop on that?
It’s a good month for Karma.
Omg, the email…like…these are high powered lawyers?
Supposedly the emails revealed that Jason ghosted the MOS’s increasingly frantic voicemails to return their calls regarding the copyright ownership. What kind of crackpot legal assistant accidentally cc’s the opposing team?
This is actually rather common because of Outlook’s autofill feature. The firm I work for now has (for more than a year) a warning whenever we enter an email address to anyone outside the firm.
Also, please do not disparage legal assistants. They are invaluable at any good law firm. The stereotypes perpetrated against them are unfair and undeserved. As I’ve mentioned before on this site, I know several paralegals and legal assistants who have very specialized skills— for example, running the logistics of high profile trials, organizing preparation for Congressional hearings, etc.
I can’t speak for the UK, but in the US, legal assistants at a large firm would not be the ones who would email an individual who is supposed to be a key third party witness. It is most likely that this error falls squarely on the attorney designated as the point of contact for Knauf and/or KP— someone who is probably a senior member of the firm.
Yes like Lara said the autofill feature can be a problem because of this, I always always double check my email addresses when I’m sending any email, but especially an email like this one. And yeah this wasn’t a legal assistant’s error. This was the attorney’s error.
Maybe a legal assistant who couldn’t stand the client and their lies?
My apologies to the profession of legal assistants. I do not mean to disparage their hard work by automatically blaming them for the sloppy stuff. It’s more rewarding to blame the $1000 an hour lawyers for the screw-up.
In my experience it is usually the senior old man lawyers who mess up on things like this because they don’t usually focus on details like that and an auto fill isn’t something they would think of, especially if they are working from home and are more distracted than usual.
LaraW, thank you for the kind words! I was a paralegal for many, many years. I can imagine a scenario where the paralegal or legal assistant would be placing calls or sending emails in the very beginning. The attorney would have asked that, but have assumed there would be a response. When there isn’t any response, then the attorney definitely places the calls or sends the emails. So, my guess is that an attorney at the firm got in a hurry and didn’t take a look at who they were sending the email to. Ouch! That’s gotta hurt.
@Becks – sometimes I have to double check just emailing within the firm! Have had a few incidents where emails that should have gone to someone else do not go there AT ALL. And the kicker is always that you only realize it after the person emails back being “I don’t think you meant to send this to me.”
@equality – that legal assistant would burn a million bridges if they did that. You might despise a client, but it’s not an attorney’s job to like them. It’s an attorney’s job to represent them in court and advise them in legal matters. Sabotage by a legal assistant would be a Big Deal.
@Harper – It is indeed much more satisfying to blame the high powered, old, stodgy, should-have-retired-a-decade-ago partners than legal assistants. There is always That One Partner who serves as a cautionary tale as to Why We Don’t Click On Emails That Offer Free Money In Exchange For Your Password. 🙂
@Nic919 – My experience also. I’ve also seen partners who are tech-savvy but stretched too thin and are so busy writing 15 emails to different clients and opposing counsel while also having the entire day booked with meetings. It doesn’t seem to have gotten any better working remotely– in fact it seems to have gotten worse. (In general I have come to loathe working from home because I am ALWAYS on, even moreso than before. Which I did not think was possible.)
@Saucy&Sassy – You’re very very welcome! There’s one paralegal who practically runs all IP trials, and I swear the firm’s IP department would fall on its knees if this paralegal ever left. They are truly irreplaceable. They have a dedicated secretary and a really nice office! That’s how important they are to the firm. And I have absolutely not doubt that if the firm had to choose between letting go of this paralegal or four junior attorneys, the attorneys would go. It is just mind boggling the expertise this person has that no one else can replicate.
What? Now I’m curious. Please, someone spill some tea!
Question- I keep seeing tweets saying that it was Jason that gave the DM Meghan’s letter but I thought it was her father? Can a case be made that it was Jason or is that more speculation?
I believe Jason is believed to have given the digital copy he supposedly advised Meghan on to a DM editor to help the defense in the lawsuit, in support of their cockamamie copyright claim.
@ c-she’ll- Hmm ok that makes sense. I do wonder about Thomas Markle and Jason Knauf. Pure speculation but did he tell Thomas to give the DM the letter or originally tell someone at the DM to try and get the letter from Thomas?
@belli- just read what u said below and that’s what I was wondering too. Possibly no way of ever knowing
The one that they published was from her father, but they used Jason advising on the digital draft as part of their defence. I’ve seen speculation that they either saw that draft first or knew about it.
Jason was also Thomas’ handler around the wedding I believe. I think had something to do with Markle’s f*ckery too. Thomas was very low key until he wasn’t and we know William was trying to convince Harry not to marry Meghan. Jason’s half assed work is all over that as well.
Poor Jason. It feels like it was just yesterday that he was hired because the other candidates had their own ideas and William wanted a Yes Man.
Him going is very useful for the Cambridges. If anything else damning comes out, they can pretend he was acting on his own and he’s gone, so they come out squeaky clean.
Honestly, I’m shocked he’s held on this long. He’s been outed in a number of shenanigans that make Bulliam and Khate look abysmal. Simon Case of the Flybe adventure. Christian Jones whose pillow talk fed garbage to Dan Wooton. Catherine Quinn I don’t know about. But JK is the worst and has left a long, dark trail of broken lives and businesses in his wake. Supposedly, his partner is taking a foreign assignment and Jason is trailing along. Yeah, right.
Can’t wait to see what else the crisis managers do to clean up this mess.
I don’t think that Quinn was much involved with the attacks on Meghan. She wasn’t a Tory political lackey like the other three and she was more senior with experience in academic circles. And when she left exactly when the two years were up, she basically confirmed she left to focus on charity work, which was shady about how little Kate worked on charitable endeavours.
I think she was a Charles hire to try to force a facade of professionalism and work on Kate. Six weeks after the hire was announced, Kate was 5-6 weeks pregnant. Quinn got less than one year of ‘work’ out of Kate, threw in the towel, and walked.
Jason was used to swimming in very shallow ponds. He tried his usual shenanigans with Schillings lawyers and realized too late he was badly out of his depth. Once the Queen’s attorneys had to get involved to clean it all up, I assumed his time was nigh. Meghan and Harry’s decision to hire a competent law firm keeps paying off.
Your comment around Meg hiring competent lawyers got me thinking how palace sources were upset that she didn’t use their lawyers. They were trying to make it about protocol or whatever but it was so smart of Meghan to completely bypass that. She got her own representation and who she hired don’t seem to f*ck around. Imagine how this case would have gone had she used their lawyers on top of the Jason Knauf shenanigans. She would have lost the case.
Times up for KP. The crisis managers have come to clean up the mess that the Cambridges made since Meghan’s arrival.
What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall in those conversations. It’s feeling like these crisis managers are actually telling W&K, cut this crap out right now…One thing I really hope they ARE drilling into their heads is to let this one-sided fued go, move on from all the one-upping, and simply shut up and work. That’s what W&K need to hear from someone.
It is but the press won’t stop making this a one sided competition. Simply writing about billy & cathy and the “work” that they do doesn’t sell. They need to bring the sussexes into it somehow and im sorry but with every article written, the cambs are on the loosing end. To the dm readers might want to believe otherwise.
True, the papers won’t stop, but W&K completely feed into it, which makes it worse, and that’s been their mistake because they cannot compete with the Sussexes. If they would just worry about their own island, do their work, show up and wear the fancy jewels, they at least have a shot at looking a lot less foolish. Trying to outdo H&M is a losing battle for them, and they make themselves looks worse and worse every time they try to one-up. But then again, they made the mistake of getting in bed with the tabloids, so now they are trapped and have to try and compete. It’s such a huge MESS and they did it to themselves.
There’s also the issue of what receipts the tabloids have on Keen and Mean that are still hanging over their stupid heads like swords of Damocles. On the one hand I suppose they realize it’s time to clean up the trail of bullsh*t they’ve created and they need to cooperate with the new crisis managers’ plans, but on the other there’s a pack of tabloid vultures circling around ready and willing to let loose some might damaging stuff. They’re in a “damned if you do damned if you don’t” situation and Poor Jason being paid off isn’t going to stop continued leaks from KP courtiers who, I imagine, are still getting info on the sly from Ma Midd and Uncle Pervy unless they’re being told to STFU by said crisis managers and possibly Charles.
@Jaded But then Charles will be bullying them and make them cry.
I guess the crisis team decided to start getting rid of liabilities. I hope he’s not relocating back to the US, the only places he’ll be able to find work are conservative NGOs and think tanks, and even then it won’t be a good look for them. Everyone else will look at how he was involved with the smear attempts on Meghan and tell him to pound sand.
No way he spills the tea. Her up to his eyeballs in the shenanigans that went on.
I am so glad Meghan took the bull by the horns and exposed these lying bullies. It is disgusting that the RF did nothing about this. That in itself speaks volumes. Their lack of action gave their stamp of approval.
IIRC the RF did not want her to even pursue this lawsuit. Guess we can see why now. Can anyone remember how that was reported that the family advised against it or who specifically didn’t want her to sue?
The RF always covers and protects the sneaky lying Cambridges. That is the way they roll. I am so glad Meg has a backbone and has done all that she did. She is a brilliant strong woman. She is perfect for Harry.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Mail exacts payment from Jason for his failure to secure their win in the lawsuit Meghan brought against them. The Mail had everything riding on Jason’s copyright claim and he failed to come through for them. Interesting times ahead for House Cambridge and all associated.
I just commented about this up thread. The DM is having to pay more than usual and based on an accounting of profits for that story which could set a precedent for future lawsuits against them.
A super interesting question. I’d imagine that anything overt against Jason would reveal the DM’s involvement or maybe make things look good for H&M, which the DM wouldn’t want. Something sneaky and filled with innuendo? Something that insinuates Jason wasn’t doing his best for W&K?
W&K better get ready to pay as well. The DM lost hard. They had to pay more than they were expecting and the judge basically told them off. The Mail weren’t even allowed to go to trial like they wanted, so they can make money off the suit, which would’ve made up for a loss. They were blocked at every turn.
And the once again checkmate to the Sussexes. I love how they underestimated Meghan,they really thought they were doing something in trying to dim her light and put her in her place.
I said a week or so ago that in a real organisation, Knauf would either be fired or he’d resign. KP is still not a real organisation because even before this announcement a real organisation would have been actively recruiting someone to replace him and KP hasn’t started looking for a new CEO yet. The question now is was he fired or did he resign and what was the reason for the decision to leave? I know they’re saying his husband is being posted overseas but in many instances the spouse stays behind. Was Knauf’s position made untenable because he failed to help the Mail on Sunday with their case or did the crisis managers say he had to leave because his name kept cropping up in issues pertaining to Meghan?
I think the latter definitely has to do with it. There was a thread going around on twitter last month i think, about jason knauff and his shady practices. It attracted the attention of quite some blue ticks. KP doesn’t want that linked to them since they’re going for that wholesome image. As someone already pointed out, maybe they saw the writing on the wall after the oorah interview and therefore his partner decided to get a job abroad.
What i want to know is if megs can sue knauff for defamation over those bullying claims
That twitter thread was a very interesting read(if it’s the same one someone posted here last week?) and you’re right KP doesn’t want to be linked to it because the conclusion was all roads/stories led to William as the head of the triad in the smear campaign against Meghan. Knauf is the first casualty in W&K/KP distancing themselves from what is glaringly obvious they were instigators of. KP still has Wootton as their lackey. I’m guessing Knauf was told to resign. ‘Stand down’ is a curious phrase. His partner (does he have a name?) was probably offered a relocation position from the RF with enough degrees of separation that it wouldn’t be easily connected to them and is being used as a convenient excuse.
Work-shy willer. Kaiser I am done
Lololololol
Wiglet sorry
I think Poor Jason’s leaving is the result of a perfect storm; the crisis is managers see what a sh!t show he has created, he is probably the one describing TOBs rage, the debacle with the dm and Meghans letter, and lastly the knowledge that Meghans lawyers wont drop the bullying accusation and will want everyone on record and all documentation.
Tl;dr crisis managers saw clearly that Poor Jason was behind everything they need to clean up.
Byline Investigates has the full story with a link to the Judgement. https://bylineinvestigates.com/2021/05/12/judge-in-meghan-case-punishes-mail-on-sunday-for-behaviour-outside-the-norm/
Justice Warby’s conclusions include :
”The defendant’s pleaded case is reduced to a speculative hypothesis, founded on hearsay from an unknown source, which lacks corroboration and is contradicted by both the key individuals.” (para. 13)
”That was the state of the evidence when the case came before me on the first summary judgment application. My conclusion was that the defendant’s case lay between the improbable and the unreal. It was not fanciful and should not be dismissed without further enquiry. That further enquiry has now been undertaken, and the Addleshaw Goddard letter of 6 April 2021 demonstrates to my satisfaction that the defendant’s case is unreal.”(para.48)
My first thought was did their new PR person tell them that Jason’s name is mud at this point to those who have been paying attention and it would look good to get rid of him and distance themselves from all the ‘our staff are in cahoots with the press to smear H and M’ shenanigans?
Probably reading too much into it.
Good riddance. I wish him an ounce of luck. It’s wild how the Cambridges/KP are probably just going to get away with all their bs… But it’s fine, I hope they’re happy with the results.
I am way behind the curve in this world of Royal intrigue, but I think we can all agree it’s only a matter of time before W&K do something else that makes them look really bad. I think Meg and Harry know that you don’t have to wish anything bad on people like them, they just do it to themselves naturally.
Mariahlee, it may seem like the Cambridges got away with it. I prefer to think that upon self-reflection, they see:
(a) They really messed this thing up
(b) They are trapped, and it IS like a zoo
The DM is already lashing out at Jason, seeking to tarnish his to their constituency. They currrently have a story up saying “How Jason Knauf Helped Meghan Win Her Lawsuit.”
There is some scared ass covering going on here – the MOS were desperate to get him on record/the stand claiming ownership of her letter to her father and when he eventually came out and said it wasn’t his am sure the Fail started turning the screws. I would not be surprised if he claimed that he wrote it to the Fail and others. Plus that story of the sacking of the PA (Melissa) won’t go away, there is some serious tea there and the Keens are distancing themselves from him as they have no use for him now – they are throwing him to the press and legal wolves.
Karma is coming for him and he deserves what ever he gets. Wootton is going to go after him now – there already was a story about the bullying claims and the sacked PA in the Fail last week.
Wait, now I’m worried no one is there to lead the ground breaking early years project for Waity. How will she keep ‘listening and learning’?
There was a twitter poster who said that there was trouble with registering “earthshot” in some countries, probably because of another charity called that.
I read an article about this, cannot remember where, but it specifically named Jason Knauf, as failing to get the word Earthshot copyrighted and it is an issue.
There is this not-for-profit started in 2008. I don’t know if the foundation is still active.
https://www.distributedsun.com/earthshot.html
The EarthShot Foundation was launched in 2008 by the founders of Distributed Sun to pursue solutions to the energy, environment and economic problems we face locally and globally. EarthShot is a nonpartisan, non-aligned, not-for-profit organization formed for educational purposes. Our goals are fostering competence and accelerating change in our transition toward a low-carbon economy. Since formation, we have convened forums led by over fifty of our nation’s foremost thought-leaders and accomplished decision-makers in clean energy, technology, policy and investment.
How much will willie pay him to be silent about willie shenanigans.
BRF have to make sure that jason will not write a book about willie and smear the chance for willie to be king.
It is either pay him and everyone know BRF is very stingy with their money or jason must make sure that his husband next job is not in paris.
Why would he have to relocate if his husband is only going to Paris? That’s some shady shit. Dude was definitely fired.
There’s a sussex supporter, tudorchick1501 (Anne Boelyn) who claims Jason’s husband follows reporter Chris Ship on twitter.
No, he’s not moving to Paris as far as we know. People are saying that in reference to Diana’s death.
They’ll have given him an airtight NDA which, if he doesn’t abide by it, will cost him big time. He won’t work again if there’s a hint of leaking from him, his husband or any other person associated with him.
Toxic Tom is another loose end that the Firm needs to tie up. Knauf was Bad Dad’s handler in the run up to the wedding and Knauf claimed he did everything to “protect” Meghan’s reputation. If that’s the case where was Knauf when Bad Dad was trashing Meghan and the royals during the summer of 2018? Dollar bet it will come out in some way Bad Dad was blackmailing the royals: give me money and housing or I keep talking to the press. And I bet it’s on tape too. Throw in Scammy’s drive by to KP to remind everyone she was Scotland Yard’s fixated persons list. ( I would love the tea spilled on that.)
Because he was the puppetmaster. BD better move back to the US. Lots of bad things can happen to Americans in Mexico, with the drug cartels and kidnapping cartels, wink wink.
I think this came from the Queen’s office that Jason had to go and I also think Jason does indeed need to be worried for his safety. This family is ruthless and Jason put a target on his back.
It has been tremendous fun watching the wheels come off the Cambridge wagon. There’s more to come, I hope–plenty of crises to manage, new guys!
Sing it, Merricat!
The intrigue, behind-the-scenes backstabbing, shady leaking, and paid-for silence is better than reading a spy novel. Keep it coming, you royal freaks.
Karma’s just putting her bra on.
“Planned international relocation”? Is Jason moving to California, y’all? Lol
Mina_Esq, I believe he is from Texas–at least, IIRC his mother lives there now. Should be able to get a job with the far right Republicans. They like people who lie.
The Daily Mail is pure evil. Just been reading Hacked Off and how the DM targeted the Stotts because of their connection with Harry and Megan. The editor needs to be in jail for what has been done to Harry and more so Megan and their friends.
An editor doesn’t behave this way unless they’re working on behalf of someone.
This is the face of the guy who orchestrated the campaign against M and H. This twerp did the dirty work and M and H have the receipts.
why is this jason guy not charged with a crime.? he tried to destroy Meghan life. not only that , but William had him do his dirty work.william should be charged. if there is evidence william was behind this his ass should be grilled on what he told jason to do to his sister in law.
If we have learned anything from the last five years here in the US it’s that only the plebs get charged criminally. Those at the top never pay any price for their crimes. Sorry to be so jaded, but there it is.
What a coincidence that Jason announced he’s leaving the same day that the judge issues a ruling in Meghan’s favor for summary judgment against the MOS and court docs show that the MOS’ lawyers were desperate in November for Knauf to bail him out and were leaving him voicemails that he didnt return which Meghan’s lawyers found out about because the MOS’ dumb lawyers accidentally ccd them on emails to Knauf’s lawyers!! Total coincidence and not at all a sacrficial lamb offered up!!
Another coincidence that doesnt get mentioned much: Christian Jones left KP a few months after ByLine reported that Harry claimed in court docs that a whistleblower told him that Dan Wrotten was paying Christian’s boyfriend for scoops on the Sussexes in 2019. Weird! They’re all in up to their eyeballs. Wouldn’t be surprised if Sara Latham also leaves BP to “spend more time with her family” by the end of the year aa she was one of the “palace 4” who like Jason was supposed to help the Fail but never brought any evidence for them to put forth at court.
Jason, it’s called “karma” and it’s spelled “Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!”.
Let’s also credit Meghan’s lawyers here. They showed a willingness to “go to the mattresses” for their client. When the bullying allegations came up, Schillings immediately wrote Jason and KP a letter asking for all docs related to this and the “investigation”.
Don’t be surprised to see Jason’s sorry ass hauled into a courtroom, NDA or not.
#POORJASON
Never forget!! Lmaooook
Whoaaaa, this is some tea. This is probably one of my top 5 Celebitchy posts just based on the amazing comments. If you had a Hall of Fame of posts, I would suggest this one!! Anyways, this announcement and the timing aren’t coincidental, they rarely are in the business world. The Meghan/Harry/Oprah combo continues to get people fired. First Piers Morgan, then Sharon Osbourne, now #PoorJason. Who else is next? (I guess Jason is more of a casualty of the newspaper lawsuit but I think the interview had some impact as well)
It was a managed exit. Too many people know him & his name is tangled up with Meghan’s no protection claims, the bullying claims & now the Fail relying on his evidence against Meghan. They don’t want to be connected with someone whose hands are blatantly dirty (same with Christian Jones) so no doubt BP put in a word for his partner’s new opportunity.
No way he’s still working- my guess is he’s out now but probably on garden leave. They just didn’t want to make it look like he was leaving immediately following the collapse of the Fail’s copyright defence & make reason for his departure obvious.
Interesting the Cambridges are allowed a global focus. I remember when it was said royals should focus on UK taxpayers. My guess is the partnerships mentioned might model some we’ve seen from Montecito and suddenly they won’t be ‘restricted’ because of their roles as was reported in 2019.
Now I have the image of them following H&M around the globe. Which basically what this “global ambition” is. Just like trying to capture Gen Z, they’re starting from behind and do not like to work so we’ll see how that goes.
I think posters here said H&M could’ve focused on the commonwealth and W&K could’ve focused on the UK and now I think that wouldn’t have worked. W&K are simply too jealous. H&M shining in any capacity has to snuffed out.
There is so much to be said about Jason Knauf I don’t even know where to start. Omid tweeted about karma, so something tells me that Jason must have been given his marching orders. My guess is it will be a soft exit that KP will try to do as sensitively as possible given how much dirt Jason has on them. But Jason was one son of a b*tch, he deserves his bad karma. I also think he and Willie are a toxic pair, and he very much enabled William. Let’s not forget that Willie and keen lost atleast half of their fanbase to harry and Meghan during their hate campaign, and no matter how racist they looked, they never once reigned it in. That just goes to show how badly managed KP is. He has done a lot of damage by enabling their insecurities. Willie and Keen need someone with an outsiders perspective on the real world who can actually tell them no.
Anyway, Well done Meghan and harry, it’s definitely another win for them.
I think this very much has to do with the outcome of the Meghan’s legal case and how the Fail was really depending on Jason’s testimony/ collaboration, which was based on a lie. Will’s hatchet man didn’t deliver in the end and everyone sees his fingerprints all over the dysfunction and the mess he created to try to destroy Meghan. As for the husbands job, I wouldn’t be surprised if this new job abroad for the husband was arranged to get Knauf out of the way, and it’s more subtle than just firing him outright. They didn’t need to make this announcement so far in advance so wonder what that’s about. He deserves no sympathy and good riddance to bad rubbish.
Oh yeah…Meghan definitely has receipts!
It’s interesting to see, but since Harry returned from England, some of these stories have lost their ardor. The BM is still vindictive and racist, but I think they are all starting to acknowledge how hard it is to continually and consistency attack and libel a woman who has put thousands of miles between them. I mean, she’s not even living in England, but these people can’t stop talking about her.
It’s also interesting to see both Will and Kate “trying” to step up like they really want to work. It’s obvious why these two brothers don’t get along. I would bet real money William acts like the entitled over-bearing asshole he really is, while fully expecting his lil’ bro, Hardy Harry, to abide by his rules.
Poor Harry is left alone and because he had the audacity to chose Meghan Markle, an American, to fall in love with, and now banished to the “colonies”
I’m glad Meghan has a mind of her own because it mean she came complete with grit and determination. Plus, she’s light years ahead of RF when it comes to PR.
Sadly, if the RF would have done their best to make Meghan feel welcome, and encourage their own subjects to also feel that way, we wouldn’t be talking, harping, and complaining about how badly she’s treated now.
jason is still walking away a free man, after all the hell he put meghan and harry though… urg. he should be charged with hate crime.
Face reading is a thing. His face throws lots of crap. He’s very weak of personality. He’s a ‘small’ man not in height but stature. There’s not much positive in his face
After the Queen handed over most of the authority, Prince Charles and Andrew got rid of Christopher Geidt because he was the one with the power and knew how to deal with Harry and William’s disagreements.
When the Sussexes moved to BP she tried to have Mr. Geidt as a part of the administration. William got some of that authority which he quickly misused, causing Meghan such misery.
He entrusted Jason to do the dirty work and Jason failed spectacularly like William at the ‘summit’ – in reality was a renegotiation of a labour contract.
The briefings and other shenanigans went on unabated until recently.
So what really happened ? Did Jason jumped or was he pushed?
All signs seem to point to him being pushed as he briefly replaced Prince Harry as the scapegoat, the ultimate irony.