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I'm starting to feel bad for the erstwhile royals of the American Riviera. The "second season" of Meghan Markle's Netflix show, "With Love, Meghan," debuted last week and hasn't hit the streamer's top ten list — either in America or globally. And, according to FlixPatrol, which measures views and popularity of TV shows, she didn't even hit the top 100. Making matters worse, Markle's product line, As Ever, is also stumbling. There are still $30 bottles of rose wine available, as well as almost all other products with the exception of the limited edition of $14 orange marmalade in "keepsake packaging." It's bad news for Markle and her partnership with the streamer — the only cash flow she has left. She technically signed a "new deal" with Netflix. Unlike the $100 million she got during the last deal, this one is a "first look" deal, which means the streamer will get first pass at ideas she and Harry have. |
Americans fascinated by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's royal ties But sadly, the only thing Americans seem to be interested in with the couple is their tenuous ties to the royal family, which have been severed. Prince Harry is attempting to rectify this and see his father in a week and half — but nothing has been set in stone, and his brother, the future king, Prince William, will have nothing to do with him. Meanwhile, Meghan has been posting more pics of her kids, Archie and Lili, on her Instagram (to be fair — the back of their heads, showing their bright red hair), and detractors accuse her of doing so to gin up interest in her products and up her Q rating, to almost no avail. "At this point, they have no more gossip left about the current royal family. All they have left that anyone would care about is their children — specifically what they look like — and of course, Harry's mother, Princess Diana," my royal insider said. In fact, the pair are said to be shopping a Princess Diana documentary to debut in two years on the 30th anniversary of her death. A macabre project that would just add to the many docs about Diana that have already been done. Markle has also shut down her ShopMy site, where she used her Duchess title to sell clothing and link to outfits she wore — and collect a percentage of sales. "That was just tacky as hell," my royal insider added. "It was absolutely trading off her title for cash… it's a good thing it's down." As for Harry — he had two major staffers quit in one week. The first was JJ Chalmers — a British war hero who lost part of his right arm and two fingers on his left hand — left his role at Invictus as a trustee (he will remain an ambassador). The second blow came this week when Sally Davey, the chief executive of Harry's travel company, Travalyst, quit after just two years at the helm of the sustainable travel company. The news comes at a bad time for the couple who have lost over 25 staffers in the years since they moved to the United States. |
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's charity troubles In August I reported about the grumbles across Invictus — in which soldiers were leaving the charity after saying they felt used as PR pawns. Meanwhile, he has also had trouble with his and Markle's homegrown charity, Archewell. As I exclusively reported earlier this year, Archewell was found to have given over $50,000 to an anti-Israel activist (upon learning from me about the allegation, Archewell immediately cut ties with the group), and now, there's massive trouble afoot with his other beloved cause, African parks. Last month, it was announced that an investigation led by Cherie Blair, wife of the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, found that a charity Prince Harry is connected to admitted its rangers commit human rights abuses against those in the Republic of Congo indigenous communities, according to reports. He left Sentebelae, the other charity he started, after a public dustup with its new leader, Sophie Chaundaka. Harry is also said to be stung that he and Meghan were passed over by Time magazine for its 100 list of philanthropists — the magazine instead awarded the honor to Harry's nemeses, brother Prince William and Princess Catherine. Prince Harry 'desperately lonely' in California And now, Harry is left with… not much to do. As I reported earlier this summer, the ginger-haired prince is "desperately lonely" in California, friends say. "Harry doesn't really have any real friends in the area except for Nacho (Figueras) and Nacho travels constantly for polo matches," one friend said. "He is still very close with the 'band of brothers' who were at his wedding — particularly Guy Pelley and Mark Dyer, but… they live in England and the time zones are so different it's very hard to talk regularly. And again, there is no one for him to hang out with (in person) besides Nacho when he is in town or Meghan and the children. He spends a lot of his time chilling with his bodyguards."
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Want to take your spouse and two kids to see "The Wizard of Oz" at The Sphere in Las Vegas? You better start saving your pennies now. One Vegas insider who did buy tickets for himself and his wife, showed me his receipt: a whopping $288 for two tickets. "What the hell is going on?" My insider fumed. "It's not even an hour-and-a-half-long movie. If I wanted to take my kids, it would have cost almost $600, and that's before I got to the concession stand! A damn movie would set me back $700 if I threw in popcorn and a drink!" Tickets to the movie start at $114 (for seats where views are obstructed). According to the LA Times, "There's a lot of financial pressure on "Oz's" girl from Kansas. |
Adapting "Oz" to the Sphere's dimensions took about $100 million Adapting the film to Sphere's stunning dimensions took about $100 million. Although the arena seats 17,600 when full, "Oz" showings only offer a slice of the middle section, roughly a third of its capacity. A trimmed 70-minute edit of the movie is playing two to three times a day, nearly every day, through the end of March 2026, with a ticket price that currently starts at $114." As my source noted, "Vegas is in a lot of trouble right now — very few tourists are coming right now, numbers are down across the board, and not a lot of locals can afford that pricing. This is just sheer greed." A rep for the Sphere didn't return emails. |
The Sphere isn't the only Vegas venue with high prices But the Sphere isn't the only venue with high prices. Last month, the Daily Mail revealed the Bellagio Hotel was charging guests an outrageous $25 "plate fee" for room service. And the city is struggling. According to the Daily Mail, "Harry Reid International Airport - Las Vegas's main airport, located just a few miles south of the Strip - has now experienced six consecutive months of decreasing passenger traffic." |
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Country superstar Zac Brown wasn't kidding when he said he was "going into debt" in order to play the Sphere in Las Vegas this December. Brown, who sells out stadiums across the country, told Us Weekly, "Just going into debt to make it happen… It's a big moment in time and it's like, for us, I want to be among the names of the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones and the bands that take that lifelong career impact fan journey to be able to do that. This is our statement to try to step into that." And I'm told the debt is in the millions. My Las Vegas insider said, "Zac is fronting between $6 million - $8 million to perform there — the Sphere doesn't chip in a lot except for certain bands, but this is ridiculous."
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Zac Brown likely to recoup costs The good news is, Brown is expected to add more shows and will likely recoup the money and make between $1-2 million due to demand, my source said, but added, "It's still ridiculous. This is the Zac Brown Band. The Sphere paid U2 $15 million for their show and are in negotiations with No Doubt, where (frontwoman) Gwen Stefani is asking for a $1 million per show guarantee. No Doubt! Please. It's not 2002." "It's a diss on major country music artists. Kenny Chesney played this spring and he also didn't get a lot of monetary support." Brown so far has five shows listed for the Sphere, with demand so high that tickets are hovering around $2,000 for "good" seats, and standing room is starting at $397. |
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The buzz in radio this summer has all been about Howard Stern — and whether he's being dropped by SiriusXM. Stern's five-year contract is up with the company, and industry insiders say no way will it resign him for the same five-year, $100 million a year deal. But Sirius still wants him… just not at the current price. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Greenstein, President and Chief Content Officer and SiriusXM, spoke at a Bank of America conference on Wednesday and said he wanted Stern to stay at Sirius but added the deal would have to "make sense." "So Howard, for all these years and right up until now, is as important a content, single piece of content as we've had from the sense of being a lightning rod to get awareness for the service and publicity and all of that. He's the best interviewer out there, period, bar none. And we've always had a series, as all of you know, of renewals. With any talent at that level, you're always going to have an extended period of negotiations. We've been pretty lucky all these years. We'd love them to stay. It certainly has to make sense, but we feel pretty good that we've done this before, and we'll see where it goes," Greenstein said. "I think he's been core to our platform for over 20 years. So I'm confident we'll get to the right place," CEO and director Jennifer Witz added. Translation? Stern will have to accept a "major" pay cut if he is to stay, my sources said, with one adding: "That kind of money ($500 million) doesn't make sense anymore with his numbers."
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Howard Stern eclipsed by younger podcasters Stern has been eclipsed in numbers by younger podcasters like "Call Her Daddy" host Alex Cooper, who signed a multi-year deal with Sirius for $125 million last year. Meanwhile, Travis and Jason Kelce's podcast, "New Heights," was picked up for a three-year deal by Amazon's Wondery for $100 million. While Cooper's and the Kelce brothers' deals are eye-popping and have bigger numbers than Stern's, neither podcaster is getting $100 million per year. Even Joe Rogan, who regularly leads all podcast rankings, doesn't make $100 million a year in his current deal. Rogan signed on with Spotify last year for an undisclosed "multi-year" deal worth $250 million. "If Howard wants to stay, he's going to have to take a major pay cut," my source said.
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