Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex who’s married to Prince Harry, just saw her planned Netflix animated series get the “undesirable royal flush.”
That’s according to Deadline, which reported on Sunday that Netflix was recalibrating “after a precipitous stock drop incurred after a drop in subscribers” and that the royal couple was “not immune to a wave of cutbacks going on.” The company has reportedly lost half its value since January.
The online entertainment news outlet reported, “Netflix has quietly dropped Pearl, the working title of an animated series that was created by Meghan Markle through Archewell Productions, the shingle the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry set up at Netflix in fall of 2020 to create scripted series, docuseries, documentaries, features and children’s programming.”
Last summer, it was announced that the 40-year-old was teaming up with David Furnish to create “Pearl” for Netflix.
Furnish, who is married to Elton John, was the executive producer on the series that was to center on the adventures of a 12-year-old girl inspired by influential women throughout history.
“Like many girls her age, our heroine Pearl is on a journey of self-discovery as she tries to overcome life’s daily challenges,” Markle said last year when the project was announced. “I’m thrilled that Archewell Productions, partnered with the powerhouse platform of Netflix and these incredible producers, will together bring you this new animated series, which celebrates extraordinary women throughout history. David Furnish and I have been eager to bring this special series to light, and I am delighted we are able to announce it today.”
Well, that light just went out.
Archewell Productions has an upcoming documentary “Heart of Invictus,” still in production, which focuses on Harry’s Invictus Games and its athletes, Fox News noted, adding that Markle is also set to premiere her Spotify podcast, “Archetypes,” this summer.
As for Netflix, which signed Barack and Michelle Obama to a very lucrative deal, the resounding theme seen online centered around the “go woke, go broke” theory… here’s a sampling of those responses from Twitter:
BREAKING REPORT: Netflix Dumps Meghan Markle’s “WOKE” ANIMATED SERIES About a 12-Year-Old Feminist as Streamer’s Stock Plummets…
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) May 1, 2022
I have a feeling Netflix is about to see a correction. Less woke garbage and more stuff the quality of Ozark and Narcos mixed with the always popular true-crime stuff. They overplayed their hand. https://t.co/tcvgjK4DSO
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) May 1, 2022
Netflix is another woke company that will go down in flames I canceled that subscription a long time ago 👍
— Daniel Sanchez (@Sanchez_Dan1969) May 1, 2022
How terrible was it for NETFLIX to say “Yeah, we can’t air this.”?
— SlothLover81 (@SlothLover64) May 1, 2022
Keep it com’in, I love it, and cancelled my subscription over a year ago and explained why, they wanted to give me a 100 bucks to come back.
— Christopher Pope (@chrispope281) May 1, 2022
— Dennisv 🤠 (@ontopic_nl) May 1, 2022
— 🤡 #PennywisePoundfoolish 🇨🇦❌ (@HansSmit2) May 1, 2022
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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