June 26, 2023

"Earlier this month, Spotify announced that it was ending its partnership with the royal couple after they..."

"... produced just one season of Markle’s podcast in two and a half years. Spotify executive and podcaster Bill Simmons publicly branded them 'fucking grifters' on their way out. Then a Bloomberg report revealed some of Harry’s laughably implausible podcast pitches, like interviewing Vladimir Putin, Mark Zuckerberg, and Donald Trump about their childhood trauma.... Netflix isn’t interested in paying the Sussexes the additional $51 million... unless the couple cranks out some more hits.... [T]he [Wall Street] Journal reports that they are developing... 'a TV show for Netflix called Bad Manners based on Miss Havisham... [the] character from Great Expectations. The prequel would recast the lonely spinster as a strong woman living in a patriarchal society, though it is unclear whether the show will get a green light from Netflix.'... Other proposed projects seemed designed to replicate successful shows already on Netflix, such as a sitcom described as Emily in Paris, but about a man.... Netflix said no.... It’s unclear why [Netflix and Spotify] thought one of the stars of USA Network’s Suits and a guy who’s admittedly spent his life in a royal bubble would be good at churning out relatable TV and audio content."

26 comments:

Skeptical Voter said...

People (and sometimes even woke businessmen) eventually realize that they have bought a pig in a poke. There'll be neither silk, nor anything to put in the purse, arising from the "product" of these sow's ears.

Political Junkie said...

The quoted portion is so bad for Mrs. and Mr. Wallis Simpson, that no comment is needed.

Caroline said...

"The prequel would recast the lonely spinster as a strong woman living in a patriarchal society..."
You really can't make this stuff up.
Viola Davis will no doubt star.

RideSpaceMountain said...

I swear that when - not if - they get divorced the enormity of the mistake Mr. Markle has made is going to slam into him with the force of Lizzo doing an Olympic half-gainer tuck that lands squarely on his face. That is if he isn't getting an impression of this already. Harry is psychologically misguided and emotionally immature in the face of this 21st century ebony Wallace Simpson, but he's not stupid. He can't not see the trajectory he's facing.

Dude has set himself up for a worse fate than uncle Andrew, and Andrew's an underage hooker chaser. If Harry was my 'army buddy' in need of 'some counseling', I would tell him to get in front of this thing and quick before he goes from spare to prayer, if you know what I mean.

Owen said...

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Are the geniuses at Spotify trying to say they were tricked? "F***ing grifters" = "They deceived me." But in fact, it was self-deception. The Royal Couple was transparently incompetent and unmanageable, at least by the "talented team" available to Spotify.

IMHO.

RMc said...

It’s unclear why [Netflix and Spotify] thought (...) a guy who’s admittedly spent his life in a royal bubble would be good at churning out relatable TV and audio content.

To be fair, the people who've spent their lives in the Hollywood bubble can't do it, either!

Oh Yea said...

It has also been reported that Taylor Swift rejected a request by personal note from Meghan to be on her podcast. However, Taylor didn't even personally acknowledge the request but let it be handled by one of her assistants.

Enigma said...

To update the old anti-G.W. Bush attack: "Some people are born on third base and think they hit a triple."

Living on the backside of old money and the luck to land a minor TV star role is not happy. Will the couple descend into a Britney Spears train wreck? We can only hope.

The B Side of Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icJGjVKjyFo

Big Mike said...

”Netflix’s Bold Ultimatum for Harry and Meghan: No Work, No Pay"

If Harry wanted to be paid for not working he needed to figure out a way to assassinate his brother back before his brother married Kate (oh, and not get caught of course). Harry and William are both qualified helicopter pilots. There should be useful employment out there for a helo pilot.

Narr said...

Who could have seen that coming?

That said, I wonder if he wanted to get Putin, Zuckerberg, and Trump on at the same time? That could be a hoot.

Michael K said...

Two rich losers. Whyy would anyone be interested in them.

cassandra lite said...

I may just have to go full German and capitalize Schadenfreude.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Royalty have always been grifters. But when you abandon the pretense of representing/"ruling" anything the grift becomes too blatant, the grifter too absurd.

Which is why this republican delights in these clowns.

Greg the Class Traitor said...

From "Netflix’s Bold Ultimatum for Harry and Meghan: No Work, No Pay" (NY Magazine).

Seriously? What kind of moron considers that a "Bold Ultimatum"?

PB said...

How soon until the money runs out?

Kate said...

Miss Havisham is cruel. No matter how you explain her backstory, the end is always the same: monster. They didn't think this through. You don't convince viewers that a strong woman is heroic when she inevitably becomes a villain.

mccullough said...

Netflix gave Obama $50 million to produce After School Specials.

Of course it was just a payment for Obama signing Net Neutrality.

But Netflix expected actual creative output from The Royals, much to their surprise.

TRISTRAM said...

The Markle’s have the bad luck to strike out when the venture capital (debt) fueled content bubble popped. They needed to set out 4 years earlier to make the FU money.

Barbara said...

In this day and age, I find it hard to believe that H and M haven’t by now hired an army of really smart PR people to save themselves from themselves. Or maybe life coaches?

gspencer said...

Paul Shanklin did a great parody during the Clinton years, "Griftin' the Night Away" (based on the original Twistin' the Night Away by Sam Cooke).

Describes Meghan and the ball-less Harry.

Friendo said...

Cunts, the lot of them.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

ugh - they are such a-holes. Go away.

AndrewV said...

I'd imagine that we would have been sparerd this spectacle if Harry's grandmother had let him stay in the British Army instead of joining the family business as just another ribbon cutter. There he probably would have married a colonels daughter or a mess mates sister. Instead we got this, a bad celebrity marriage as an act of rebellion.

Wince said...

This is why work requirements are cruel in the eyes of Democrats?

Aggie said...

It must really suck to forgo being a major-but-secondary figure in the world's most important royal family, only to find yourself at the mercy of the marketplace, eking out a third-string social life in L.A. with a camera-hogging, trailer-trash, virtue-spewing shrew for a wife, and nobody to blame but yourself.

Old Harry must have 4" callouses on his backside from kicking himself in the ass.

William said...

I get the sense that he married her not despite her flaws but rather because of them....The couple are not getting much love in these or other precincts. Perhaps this will make their love grow stronger, and their love affair will become the most fabled one of our time. And Meghan will sprout gossamer wings and fly to the moon. At any rate, I believe the correct response is indifference rather than hostility. I'm supportive of anyone who shakes down Netflix for a cool fifty million. I think I'm probably more hostile to woke media executives than to members of the royal family. There are some members of the royal family that I do not wish to see burn in hell for all eternity....The Miss Havisham pitch sounds interesting. I wonder if Meghan pitched using non traditional casting for the Havisham role and the willingness to play the role for an extra twenty million.