Meghan Markle desperately tried to put a positive spin on Netflix dropping her and Prince Harry from a pricey, exclusive deal by comparing the couple to the Obamas, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Duchess of Sussex claimed their new first-look deal is similar to what Barack and Michelle Obama have, and that it will suit her and the Duke of Sussex just fine as they move forward with their latest project ideas.
Markle’s Curious Obamas Comparison
The Obama’s production company has put out plenty of successful projects for Netflix, unlike the Sussexes.
“My husband and I were in an overall deal with Netflix, and then not just similar to Higher Ground in the Obamas’ deal, once that had come to its term, the extension of it, which was such an incredible sign of the strength of our partnership, was now being in a first-look deal,” Markle told the audience at the Fortune Most Powerful Women summit in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, October 14.
The Obama’s Higher Ground production company went from an exclusive partnership with Netflix in 2024 to a multiyear first-look deal. But unlike the Sussexes, the former first couple’s company has had a wildly successful relationship with the streaming service.
The president and former first lady’s production company won a Best Documentary Feature Oscar in 2020 for American Factory, which aired on the platform. Higher Ground has also released the Julia Roberts apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind, the critically acclaimed film Rustin, and the Emmy Award-winning documentary Our Great National Parks, narrated by Barack.
‘Exciting’ Downgraded Deal
Markle claimed her downgraded Netflix deal is ‘exciting.’
Markle attempted to glam up her disastrous Netflix failures by making it seem like she and Harry now have even bigger opportunities on the horizon with their scaled-back deal.
The former Suits star called it “exciting, because it gives us flexibility to go to our partners first, and then at the same time, to be able to shop content that might not be the right fit for Netflix, but has a home somewhere else.”
Markle cryptically continued: “So for our non-scripted team and our scripted team, we’ve been doing a lot of content development that can meet different rooms.”
Her comparison to the Obamas was met with ridicule online.
“She couldn’t resist name-dropping the Obamas when talking about her much-downgraded ‘first-look’ Netflix deal. Clearly, she knows the deal’s a dud, so she tossed in the Obama name clout to prop it up,” one person sneered on X.
A second snarked: “Comparing Archewell to the Obamas’ Higher Ground is like comparing a school play to a Spielberg production.” A third user called Markle’s comparison “nauseating.”
No Succes Outside of Royal Tell-Alls
Harry and Marke had no succes on Netflix outside of their scandalous tell-all docuseries about the royal family..
The former royal couple had initial success with Netflix thanks to their 2022 tell-all docuseries, Harry & Meghan, where they dished about how miserable they were within the confines of the British royal family following their 2018 wedding.
However, the duo proved that their only draw was spilling dirt on Harry’s famous relatives, as everything else they tried fell flat.
The prince’s 2023 docuseries Heart of Invictus fell flat, while his December 2024 docuseries Polo was an even bigger bomb. It took in 500,000 viewers in the first half of 2025, ranking it at a dismal 3,436 among Netflix’s content.
Markle’s Netflix Bombs
Markle’s ‘With Love, Meghan’ lifestyle series was widely mocked for being completely unoriginal.
Markle’s content fared slightly better than her husband’s, but was far from successful.
Her lifestyle and cooking series, With Love, Meghan, barely cracked the top 10 during its first few days of release in March and received brutal reviews.
It proved to be a bomb with audiences, ranking in 383rd place of Netflix content viewed in the first half of 2024.
The show’s second season was merely a continuation, filmed simultaneously and assembled with material not used in the original eight episodes.
With Love, Meghan Season 2 didn’t make the top 10 after its episodes were released in August, barely generating any interest among viewers.
When Netflix announced the duo’s reduction to a first-look in August, it mentioned With Love, Meghan would have a holiday special by the end of the year, but no other future projects were in the pipeline.
