Harry and Megan dubbed "fucking grifters" Part Deux

[Qbish]

Harry and Meghan slammed by Spotify executive after podcast deal ends | The Independent

The old thread got closed, just as I was trying to quote tweet someone! So I've started this one, because this shitshow is still rumbling on

This is what I was trying to quote:

*There will be the Emmy nominations and I’m sure Netflix are working hard to get H&M’s documentary nominated.

Invictus runs 9- 16 September and the Emmys are on 18 September*

Entries for this year's Emmys have now closed. They've missed that opening, and who knows what will be going on with them by next year?!

I was trying to repost the comment about racism, where they accused the RF of racism, accepted an award for fighting racism, and then Harry blamed the press for it all and denied ever suggesting the RF was racist. That sort of gaslighting is extraordinary, and I wonder if that behaviour filters through to their business dealing, and how they work with staff.

The challenge they have now is they don't really have that Royal sheen anymore, they have set themselves up as public figures working in entertainment which is cut throat. They've used up a massive amount of good will extended to them within the industry I would have thought, and they don't have the RF PR protection anymore so those who have had a bad experience with them will happily talk about it and there is nothing they can do to stop it.

I suspect Harry is very relaxed, and 'I'm just Harry' one minute and very HRH expecting respect the next.

@Wheresthebeach - that was my comment (possibly one of many other posters).
Fully agree, they have a very strange handle on the actual truth, twisting things like a contortionist. Generally people expect to be told the truth, but when it's clear lies start coming out and fine after time get ticked off as yet another lie then it's clear they'll be tarnished, and that's what they're finding now IMO.
I also suspect you're absolutely correct about the 'Harry' thing til the entitlement surfaces - i much suspect MM is much the same

I noticed on his book cover he is referred to as prince harry , Meghan always signs things duchess. Harry was in court a couple of weeks ago he wished to be referred to as prince harry. I find it astounding that they are so focused on using their titles when deriding the very institution that provides Them. I guess they never fully wanted to leave though. They wanted to monetise, maybe their titles are still part of that.

And let's face it, without their titles, they're nobodies. And therein lies the essential dichotomy of Harry and Meghan - they've made a living since 2020 from slagging off the RF and everything it stands for - but without their connection to it, they're a pair of nobodies.

Yes I agree. I expect they just thought they'd leave and so what they felt like anyway ... it's just sad that what has been popular is their hate towards the RF, HMQ and PP died whilst their institution was being torn to bits by them. As much as PH&MM say they want to uphold it's not HMQ or PP, they still ripped into the RF which WAS the queens I statute on, so they were ripping into her.
Anyway, I wonder what happens next ... I'm sure we'll find out soon enough!

Yes. Which just fuels resentment. I still think they thought they'd be the popular pair overshadowing W&K. Adoring crowds, making money, leaving the dull work to the 'work horses' in the RF. They seem to be discovering that all work has its drudgery and requires a lot of dull preparation to get right. In the RF they had teams that did this for them, in the real world where they are trying to live off their ideas and content, they can't hide their lack of creativity or graft. Even though they would have had massive amount of help with production it's not worked out.

• I statute on = institution Stupid iPhone!

Agree, if they’d made it on their own the titles would be less relevant. But because the path they took, the one that paid most, was selling gossipy stories on the royals, it’s come to this , where as you say they very thing they attack is what’s keeping them afloat.

The Better up - Invictus tie in makes me personally uncomfortable

I took this from the last thread, Howsimplywonderful, but have to admit I hadn't realised there was one

Having looked it up I see it's yet another "partnered with" - an all too common phrase which can mean anything - but I have to agree the two don't necessarily stand comfortably together, especially with some of the questions being raised over Better Up

LA of all places must be teeming with highly talented and hardworking producers, writers and content creators. It is laughable that these two were given so much$ with so little evidence of talent. The Bench shows you everything you need to know about Meghan's understanding of an audience and ability to engage.

I still think they thought they'd be the popular pair overshadowing W&K. Adoring crowds, making money, leaving the dull work to the 'work horses' in the RF.

Clearly that was the plan - Sussex Royal website all ready to go and pump out PR about how wonderfully philanthropic they are, bla bla bla. Pity they fucked it all up by not asking permission and just assuming it would all be okay with Her Maj.

They were clearly receiving advice and encouragement from across the Atlantic from Meghan's PR firm and her celeb pals saying things like: 'Come to the US, we love the RF over here, can you imagine if you're based over here? You'll be the American outpost of the RF. Everyone will love you!'. They believed all the smoke that was being blown up their arses, because they wanted to. In their heads, they were the cool, modern stars of the RF, everyone else was a stuffy frump and if they could just be freed from the shackles and the limitations of royal hierarchy, they'd be the stars of their very own show ...

Yes, Harry seemed very sure he knew better than his father or borther, that he was making sure his grandmother was protected (that was a strange one) etc. All a bit grandiose.

Oh dear, this is awful. But the list of potential topics for Harry has me wheezing.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/06/harry-meghan-spotify-podcast-netflix-deal/674531/

I have vague recollections that these deals were seen by their supporters as signs of acknowledged brilliance by those who mattered - the people capable of putting multi million dollar deals on the table.

What wasn't acknowledged was:

1. That the deals were based on potential. No doubt about it, H&M were big news, and perhaps had a lot of ideas. Ideas are beaten by execution though. Every. Single. Time.
2. It assumed credibility on the part of those making the deals.
3. The fact that H&M would bear production costs as part of all these deals seemed to be ignored, as well as basic facts such as productivity and cancellation clauses would be inbuilt. The £250k investment for the Apprentice winner isn't even a £250k cash injection. It includes factors such as "12 days management input at £1000/day provided by Sugar Inc" or whatever. So I wouldn't be surprised if part of the deals included such costs.
4. They got the book deal, the Netflix deal and the Spotify deal. With no experience in writing books, relatively minimal production experience from Meghan only (plus her pregnancy interfering when she is without a doubt the more talented of the two), and no experience in podcasting.

That's just too many things to attempt and excel at, especially when the only reason you got offered any of those opportunities in the first place wasn't based on established talent, but in a voyeuristic interest in their private lives.

Netflix and Spotify come off looking like the biggest mugs here. They apparently shelled out the most cash and got the least. Oprah got the first exclusive. Penguin - got the rest of the dirt in Spare. Netflix got that Documentary series but that didn't have anywhere near the exclusive content that Oprah and Penguin got. Spotify, no wonder they are salty - all they they got is Archetypes.

I think Penguin will be happy with their investment - you can say what you want about Spare but it has sold massively in both hard back and audio book. If Meghan does an autobiography I can see it having the same sort of success.

No I don’t think it will either, the juicy bits , why people bought spare, is done already, no one needs to read it twice other than some die hard fans.

I do think Spotify, Netflix and everyone else would have remained on their side, and kept throwing buckets of cash at them, had they stayed popular. But with the public backlash, the lack of good content becomes an excuse to jettison them. If they were as popular as when they left, they’d have dealt with it and chucked more money at them. But unpopular and shite is never going to fly.

Taylor Swift is the polar opposite of Meghan & Harry. She is immensely talented, immensely hardworking and adored by millions across the world. Saw somewhere that her Eras tour is set to make 150M. She puts on 3-hour shows that people never forget for the rest of their life. Only 10% of people registered for tickets to her shows actually end up getting them so she can easily make 10x what she does now. H&M can only use their titles to convince rich corporations to sink money into their schemes or sell sordid personal stories. Using that money, they hire others to do as much of the work as possible for them. They're grifters of the highest level and it's hugely arrogant of Meghan to assume that a handwritten note could convince Taylor to associate with them.

People also admire Taylor because she is entirely self-made. Her love life is turbulent but she has never attempted to use a man to elevate herself or further her career. Meghan is literally only famous for marrying a prince, and being the first mixed-race working royal. However she seems to use her sole achievement of marrying a man (from a very racist family who has had problematic incidents in his past that are now swept under the rug) as proof that she is an all-round talent, humanitarian, feminist, entrepreneur and overall incredible person on the same level as the Obamas, Oprah, Amal Clooney etc. It's hugely embarrassing to watch.

Oh absolutely.

As an unpublished writer, I hands down agree with their decision to publish things like Spare. Guaranteed hot cakes seller.

But wasn't it £100m for a five book deal? I wonder how it's chunked out (£50m for Spare, smaller for the rest?), and how it relates to costs. Was the ghost writer deducted from the deal, for example? Will they cut and run if proposed books aren't as favourable?

£100m is lots, sure. But they're living a more-than £100m lifestyle (even in an "invest and live off the interest" way), and again, Harry isn't a writer. He didn't write Spare. He can only sustain interest in Spare-type deals by continually schilling his private life and/or by proving talent elsewhere.

Which I don't think is a hugely credible route to being happy.

This type of piss take, following South Park, really shows how much the tide has turned.

Spare was definitely a sales success. The question is whether 'Part 2' will be shelved due to the damage Harry did to his reputation.

Someone will be along to tell us that The Atlantic is also owned by Murdoch and on the payroll...

Irrelevant, if there's still justifiable interest in him.

You don't break sales records and then not bother with a sequel. Even if every single person thought he was a twat, they'll want to read it and call him a twat all over again.

Not that I'm not dying of jealousy over here without a publishing deal at all :D But you can't deny the economics of it - a huge but damaged reputation is a reputation nonetheless.

But what more has he got to say?

How many times can he whine about the fact that his brother was born first without it getting very boring?