Meghan Markle’s Netflix kids show was canceled because executives reportedly thought children wouldn’t care about a series produced by a duchess
Meghan Markle’s animated Netflix series, “Pearl,” was canceled in 2021 before production began.
Executives thought kids wouldn’t care that a dutchess produced the series, the WSJ reported.
This comes after Meghan parted ways with Spotify earlier this month.
The Duchess of Sussex’s animated Netflix series, “Pearl,” was dropped because executives thought children wouldn’t care about the project, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Madonna Recovering in Hospital After Being Found Unresponsive
Meghan Markle announced in July 2021 that she would executive produce a series following the adventures of a 12-year-old girl who is inspired by influential women throughout history. But the project was dropped in May 2022 amid the streaming site’s cutbacks, Deadline reported at the time.
But there was more to the story. Netflix executives decided that “few children would care if the show they were watching had been produced by a duchess,” according to the Journal.
The publication reported that the show was developed with the help of the filmmaker David Furnish while Meghan was still a working royal.
This comes after Spotify announced earlier this month that it had parted ways with Meghan and Prince Harry, as Meghan’s podcast, “Archetypes,” was not renewed for a second season.
Bill Simmons, Spotify’s head of podcast innovation and monetization, criticized the couple on his podcast, “The Ringer.” Simmons said he wished he had been involved with the couple’s leave negotiation and called them “grifters.”
Meghan and Harry announced deals with Netflix and Spotify after stepping back from the royal family in 2020. The couple’s first Netflix project, a docuseries titled “Harry & Meghan,” was released last December.
A Netflix spokesperson told the Journal that it valued its partnership with Meghan and Prince Harry’s company, Archewell, and that it planned to work together on future projects.
“New companies often make changes in their start up phase, both with people and strategy, and we are no exception. We’re more equipped, focused and energized than ever before,” an Archewell spokesperson told the Journal.
The spokesperson added that Archewell had recently hired a new head of scripted content, Tracy Ryerson.
Representatives for the Duchess of Sussex, Archewell, and Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
