Meghan Markle's Hollywood Dreams Take Another Brutal Blow With Latest Project Disaster

Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex have faced a number of setbacks recently. In early January 2025, the trailer dropped for Meghan's Netflix show "With Love, Meghan," but its release has been postponed until early March because of the fires in LA. Then there was the Vanity Fair cover story in which Meghan and Harry's post royal life was brutally skewered. Now, just a couple of weeks later, the reboot of Meghan's podcast "Archetypes" with Lemonada Media is reportedly being put on hold as well, seemingly also in connection with the fires.

It could be worse; her projects could be canceled entirely, but that seems like a slim silver lining. Markle especially seems to be working to reinvent herself, at least to some extent, with these new projects (her podcast is something she's done before). So to have them delayed can't feel good. Even if the reason for the delay is for a good cause (a continued focus on the fire recovery in Los Angeles), it doesn't help that the production on the first "Archetypes" season was reportedly full of problems, many of them having to do with Meghan herself. Having those reports swirling at the same time that the podcast gets delayed is certainly not helping with any Hollywood rebrand that Markle might be working on or hoping for.

Some of the behind the scenes issues for Meghan Markle's podcast "Archetypes" reportedly included indecision on episodes and some staffers leaving after just a few episodes and going into therapy, according to Vanity Fair. These reports came after Bill Simmons, a former Spotify executive, referred to Meghan and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex as "f****** grifters," via Spotify. Then there was the September 2024 article from The Hollywood Reporter which included anecdotes about bad behavior from Meghan, which apparently led to her being referred to by some staffers as "Duchess Difficult."

"Archetypes" did reach the top of the Spotify charts when it debuted in 2022; however, Meghan's first episode was ripped by critics. And by June 2023, it was confirmed that Meghan and Spotify were no longer in business together. Despite any production drama, Meghan apparently still wanted to keep her podcast going, and in February 2024, she announced that the podcast was set to find a new home at Lemonada Media, a female founded streaming service. Perhaps with the new platform and the knowledge from the first season, things will go more smoothly in production? We'll have to wait until the next season actually comes out.

There's not yet any public info about what guests Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex will be speaking with in her second season of "Archetypes," nor if the format will remain the same. But some fans are still excited. A January 2025 Instagram post from the streaming service, before the Los Angeles fires started, teased new content from Meghan (and their other podcasters), and plenty of commenters seemed stoked for Meghan's return to the airwaves.

However, she also has plenty of critics online. In response to the announcement of her podcast postponement, one person wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): "What new episodes? Whom did she interview? Or rather, whom did she plunk in the studio while she talked about herself? There are no new episodes." Another said, "Should delay permanently."

It may be that when Netflix's "With Love, Meghan" and the new season of "Archetypes" do come out, we'll see that Meghan Markle's Hollywood reputation isn't totally tarnished. Harry and Meghan are in need of some good news as they continue to be a couple that people either love or love to hate.