Mail: The Sussexes got a ‘development fee’ when they got a new Netflix contract

The Daily Mail just published yet another piece devoted to the Duchess of Sussex’s style within With Love, Meghan’s second season. Season 2 drops tomorrow, and while I will watch it as soon as I can, just know that I’m also pretty focused on the US Open, which started on Sunday. Anyway, this new Mail piece is basically just “Meghan wore expensive clothes and jewelry on WLM.” As soon as the second season drops, the Mail will cover every single little thing Meghan does, says and wears, and I assume we’ll get some crazy pieces about “Meghan wore $8 million worth of clothes!!” Enough! Meanwhile, the Mail’s Palace Confidential show had a lot of weird things to say about the Netflix contract:

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s new Netflix deal is the ‘best outcome’ the Sussexes could have hoped for, according to experts on the latest episode of Palace Confidential. Daily Mail’s chief showbusiness writer and Friday columnist, Alison Boshoff, was the first person to reveal that Netflix would receive a non-exclusive first-look deal – a downgrade on the Sussexes’ previous contract. The couple’s new output will include a second season of With Love, Meghan, which is set to be released on Tuesday, as well as a Christmas special in December.

Making her Palace Confidential debut, Alison said: ‘The new deal is the best they could have possibly hoped for – I think it is the best possible outcome. There’s no way that they could get the same deal again because those big money deals just aren’t being handed out. What these deals give you is a development fee which can be generous, or can be mingey. It is generally in the low millions. They save face, Netflix get the chance to say “pat on the back, we appreciate you, thank you for what you have done already”. No one is going to want a project Netflix has passed on. All their content will still be on Netflix because no one is going to buy it.’

When asked by presenter Jo Elvin if there was any possibility of a third instalment of the show, Alison said: ‘I don’t think imminently. I think she’s going to rest it.What she did was, she filmed the first two parts, and the holiday special, all at the same time. I hear talk of another idea which she is interested in doing, which will centre more around lifestyle and travel – so we are going back to her days with The Tig.’

Referencing the trailer for the next instalment of Meghan’s Netflix series, Richard Eden, the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor, said: ‘What did strike me was how much of a contrast this was to the TV appearances of her husband, Prince Harry.’ Speaking on the hit YouTube show, Richard said: ‘The last time we saw him, he was being interviewed by the BBC, moaning, complaining, looking desperately unhappy about his lost appeal. And then we have the complete contrast with Meghan, who is upbeat and jolly, as if “everything is great”. You think: “Wow, is this really a couple? They’re just so different.”‘

[From The Daily Mail]

Eden is comparing Harry’s BBC interview (filmed just an hour or so after he lost a significant case about his security) to WLM? They can’t comprehend how a guy can be serious and emotional in an interview when his wife is upbeat in her cooking and entertaining show? But I really wanted to talk about what they said about the Netflix contract. They’ve backed down so much, it’s WILD. For years, their assistant’s second-cousin’s best friend’s neighbor worked at Netflix and insisted that the Sussexes were totally done at Netflix, that everyone hated them and they would never get another contract. Now that a new contract has been signed, they’re still trying to make it sound like it’s pitiful in some way because… the Sussexes were already paid $100 million, AND Netflix reupped their contract with a significant signing bonus or development fee? I also think that if Netflix ever does “pass” on a proposed project, Harry and Meghan would find it very easy to go somewhere else. Netflix knows that too. Last thing: I absolutely believe Meghan is going to film or announce more seasons of WLM very soon.


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18 Responses to “Mail: The Sussexes got a ‘development fee’ when they got a new Netflix contract”

  1. Julia says:

    Actually the last time we saw Harry, other than the lovely surfing video Meghan posted, he was in Angola getting world wide attention for recreating his mother’s walk across a land mine field. We also saw him at Beyoncé and James Taylor concerts living his best life. Of course he is going to be serious talking about his family’s security! It’s possible to have knocks in your professional and personal life but still have a happy, contented home life!

    • K8erade says:

      Of course and overall I would say Harry has a happy life but security issues have to be stressful. Especially when the British media will knock you down every chance you get and create further issues.

  2. jais says:

    I don’t think this person really knows anything. But if Meghan was going to do some lifestyle and travel then I’d be into it. WLM travel edition, lol. But again, I don’t know that this person knows anything.

    • Blithe says:

      I’ve enjoyed the way WLM feels —to me, at least — like a fuller outgrowth of The Tig. It’s a format that can be as flexible as Meghan wants it to be. She could step from preparing a dish, to going to a local market to source ingredients for that dish, to going to the international sources to share more about the history and culture behind current interpretations of said dish. There’s no limit to Meghan’s ability to channel this type of program in different directions —if she wants to. “WLM travel edition” would be pretty cool, and I’m hoping for at least one WLM cookbook.

      • jais says:

        The sky is really the limit. Security would be an issue for something travel related but it would also be very much in the vein of Meghan’s interests.

  3. Blogger says:

    “You think: “Wow, is this really a couple? They’re just so different.”

    I know. Right Maureen. The Lazies look so miserable together. Don’t know why they settled for one another. Trapped, as they say. 🥱

    Meanwhile, Meghan is Instagramming Harry surfing. What a gorgeous Californian couple 😂 they truly are living the dream. You should try it Maureen. Make you less miserable.

  4. bisynaptic says:

    Maureen says what, now?
    “Daily Mail’s chief showbusiness writer and Friday columnist, Alison Boshoff, was the first person to reveal that Netflix would receive a non-exclusive first-look deal – a downgrade on the Sussexes’ previous contract. The couple’s new output will include a second season of With Love, Meghan, which is set to be released on Tuesday, as well as a Christmas special in December.”
    — They make it sound as if the “new output” is part of the first-look deal. Shoddy writing, shoddy journalism.

    • TheFarmer'sWife says:

      Gasp, imagine Meg doing a Christmas Special thst will air in December!!! Is this news? When do Christmas Specials air in the UK? That was my take away, All those words to ultimately say Netflix and HnM still like each other and the UK press can’t stand it.

  5. Those folks know nothing they are just hypothesizing by trying to make the Sussexes seem miserable. The Sussexes have won, the Sussexes are happy, the Sussexes are deeply in love, the Sussexes are thriving. Standards contract for streaming services which gives the Sussexes breathing room and keeps their coffers full. The gutter rats just can not handle the truth.

  6. Cathy says:

    “Speaking on the hit YouTube show”
    A bit of wishful thinking there Richard? If it was a hit then it would be on actual TV? Even, dare I say it, on Netflix?

  7. Dee(2) says:

    Well the one thing they don’t like is audacity. They were crowing just 3 weeks ago about how the deal was over and Netflix was so happy to be rid of them. Now it’s let’s figure out every possible way that a first look deal that matches what every other person that is successful is getting is bad when it comes to the Sussexes.

    And Richard Eden is a weirdo. Firstly, it’s not odd at all to have different reactions to different things occuring in your life. Harry can be upset about one thing, and perfectly happy about another at the same time. Also, it’s odd to him that Harry could be upset about something in May and Meghan could be happy about something in August? Do they think they just exist in a constant state as Eeyore?

  8. MikeB says:

    Here we go again, the overused word “expert” by the tabloids. These “experts’ claim to know what the thoughts were by Netflix with the new contract with H&M, what has beenreported by Netflix and H&M is all they know, everything else is make believe.

  9. Becks1 says:

    Yes, Maureen, sorry to disappoint you, but this is really a couple. And Harry was angry and upset in May but it doesn’t mean he wallows in despair every day while Meghan is tra-la-la-ing through the garden ignoring his anger and hurt.

  10. B says:

    I’m sorry but I can’t stop laughing at: “‘The last time we saw him, he was being interviewed by the BBC, moaning, complaining, looking desperately unhappy about his lost appeal. And then we have the complete contrast with Meghan, who is upbeat and jolly, as if “everything is great”. You think: “Wow, is this really a couple? They’re just so different.”‘

    Meghan JUST posted a sexy video of Harry surfing to the music of What A Man by Salt n’ Pepper but this desperate fool is writing how a serious interview Harry did in May and Meghan’s engaging August trailer for WLM says they are on different pages. LMAO I honestly can’t even predict where the reach will come from anymore because they are that farcical.

  11. Michelle says:

    The only people that know anything about that deal have already said as much as they are going to at this time, until one of them say otherwise we assume nobody outside those people know anything!!! Sussex’s are in control of their own destiny 😊

  12. Cadbury Eggs says:

    Sooo glad Meghan’s show is out tomorrow. I need a pick me up for certain

  13. Amy Bee says:

    These people really don’t know what’s going on.

  14. IdlesAtCranky says:

    I’m sorry to be blunt — ok, I’m not.

    This spew from the As Ever Completely Uninformed, Totally Ridiculous, Slanted Harder Than A Black Run Ski Slope, So-Called “News Outlet” in the pay of the Palaces — is such a steaming pile of rancid garbage that if it weren’t so desperately pathetic, it would be incredibly offensive.

    If I could muster the strength, I’d laugh.

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