Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, who signed a reported US$100m ($177m) deal with Netflix in 2020, were made fun of at the Netflix preview event, held at The Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Hosting the Next on Netflix showcase in front of an audience including Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s chief content officer, John Mulaney joked with regard to his new chat show Everybody’s Live: “This is a really fun experiment. Not since Harry and Meghan has Netflix given more money to someone without a specific plan.”
It follows an 8000-word Vanity Fair cover story suggesting the couple have struggled to come up with credible programme ideas under their lucrative deals with both Netflix and Spotify.
Comedian John Mulaney made the quip about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle during a Netflix preview event. Photo / Getty Images
The article poked fun at the Duke’s idea for a Spotify podcast about sociopaths, in which he reportedly wanted to interview powerful men with complicated stories, such as Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg, about how their experiences turned them into sociopaths.
The article also alleged podcast staff needed “long-term therapy” or took extended breaks from work after working with the Duchess.
Bill Simmons, a Spotify executive, described the couple as “grifters” after their rumoured US$20m ($35m) deal with the company ended prematurely in 2023.
During the Netflix preview event, attended by celebrities including Ben Affleck and Tina Fey, dozens of projects across all genres were showcased by Bajaria – but she failed to mention any Sussex projects, past or present.
Instead, the “You’re Not Ready To Get Real” section of the speech promoted other reality shows including an Eddie Murphy documentary, a series going behind the scenes at the Dallas Cowboys NFL franchise, the Netflix hit Formula 1: Drive To Survive and popular dating show Love Is Blind.
The Sussexes were also omitted from Netflix’s glossy PR brochure, which did not feature the Duchess’s new cooking show, With Love, Meghan.
Meghan Markle in the trailer for her new Netflix show With Love, Meghan. Photo / Netflix
The Duchess postponed the release date of the new series, presented from her US$15m ($26.5m) Montecito mansion, from January until March because of the devastating wildfires in LA.
Instead, Netflix expressed its “excitement” at “a very posh series coming later this year that will really spice up your life”, with a 90-second unseen clip played of Victoria Beckham’s new reality docuseries, as yet formally untitled.
Mulaney’s quip was a key talking point in the schedule presentation as he promised audiences “the weirdest chat show ever”.
He said: “This will be the one place where you could see Arnold Schwarzenegger sitting next to Nikki Glaser sitting next to a family therapist, with music by Mannequin Pussy. That’s just a brief sampling of guests.”
Other major projects from Netflix include Jude Law’s Black Rabbit, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon reuniting for crime thriller Rip, season three of Squid Gameand the finale of Stranger Things.
