(NewsNation) — A spokesperson for Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, tells NewsNation that no one from her team or Netflix invited country singer Dolly Parton to appear on her show “With Love, Meghan” despite reports saying the contrary.
NewsNation has reached out to Parton’s team for comment.
According to celebrity commentator Kinsey Schofield, Parton’s team was “livid” at the request for her to appear on the show.
“They don’t want to risk Dolly’s reputation, Q score and her popularity by associating with Meghan Markle,” Schofield alleged during a podcast appearance. “They knew that this ask was just to give Meghan Markle credibility in this lifestyle space, a space that Dolly does have a lot of credibility in.”
Meghan’s lifestyle series “With Love, Meghan” was released on Netflix in March and was immediately renewed for a second season despite being slammed by critics.
‘With Love, Meghan’ on Netflix Top 10 less than a week
As NewsNation’s Paula Froelich reported in March, “With Love, Meghan” peaked at No. 5 on Netflix’s Top 10 list, lasting six days. Netflix said the show was renewed for a second season, but one insider said the extra episodes had already been shot, paid for and scheduled to debut in the fall.
Meghan’s show has a 39% like rate on Rotten Tomatoes. An insider told Froelich, “It’s necessary for a second season because Netflix has sunk so much money into As Ever — and she can promote the products in the second season she couldn’t promote in this one due to all the trademark hassle.”
In the first six days, 526,000 households watched the eight-part series, according to data from Samba TV. The Daily Mail reported that Netflix bosses were “worried” about the poor reviews, especially since they are a business partner in her lifestyle brand.
“Netflix bosses are all worried now because they have invested a lot in the product line,” the insider said. “They don’t know when and how to roll it all out.”
Meghan’s podcast also slammed by critics
Meghan’s podcast, which made it to number two on Apple podcast charts but quickly fell to number 19, was also slammed by critics.
According to Livemint, “[Confessions of a Female Founder] received just one star in The Times. Writer James Marriott mentioned in his review the show called it ‘vapid lessons in self-love’ by Meghan.”
The Guardian’s Rachel Aroesti said the “sycophantic interview podcast is stomach-turning.” Chris Bennon from the Telegraph didn’t approve of the podcast and said it was an “inane stream of mindless aphorisms.”