Welcome to “The Scoop” — the ultimate back-to-the-office water cooler cheat sheet, your go-to source for all things everyone really wants to know! Get the latest on everything from the political swamp maneuvering in D.C. and Hollywood drama to jaw-dropping small-town shenanigans from Paula Froelich. Subscribe to her newsletter here.
(NewsNation) — Pity poor Meghan Markle. On what is supposed to be the spring of her new career — her Netflix show “With Love, Meghan” premieres mid-March, and her merchandising line, “As Ever,” is set to debut later this year — she’s still facing rumors that, well, everything is a mess.
The New York Post wrote this week that she was dropped by her agency, WME — something both Markle and WME deny. But there is a kernel of truth.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, speak during the Global Citizen festival, Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah) 
FILE – Meghan Markle and Prince Harry pose for pictures after visiting the observatory in One World Trade in New York, Sept. 23, 2021. The Duchess of Sussex will receive a nominal £1 payment for invasion of privacy plus undisclosed damages for copyright infringement under an agreement that ends her long-running dispute with Britain’s Mail on Sunday over the tabloid’s publication of a letter she wrote to her father. The terms were reported on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, 10 days after Associated Newspapers Ltd., publisher of the Mail on Sunday, decided to forego further appeals and published a statement acknowledging that the U.S.-born duchess, formerly known as Meghan Markle, had won her lawsuit.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) 
FILE – Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, appear at Global Citizen Live in Central Park on Sept. 25, 2021, in New York. The couple will receive the President’s Award during the 53rd NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 26. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) 
FILE – Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, arrives at the Invictus Games venue in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, April 15, 2022. Meghan will be in New York Tuesday, May 16, 2023, along with Black Voters Matter co-founder LaTosha Brown, to receive the Ms. Foundation’s Women of Vision Award, as the nation’s oldest women’s foundation marks its 50th anniversary. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File) 
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA – AUGUST 15: Britain’s Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attends the ‘Responsible Digital Future’ forum at EAN University in Bogota, Colombia on August 15, 2024. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle land in Colombia to join Marquez in discussions with women and youth on combating discrimination and cyberbullying. (Photo by Juancho Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images) 
FILE – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at United Nations headquarters, July 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) 
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s wife, speaks during a forum on Afro women and power alongside Colombian Vice President Francia Marquez in Cali, Colombia, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) 
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle after their wedding. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images)
The paper also wrote: “She has had no meetings with the agency’s uber powerbroker Ari Emanuel since January last year — though she is believed to have met with her day-to-day agents.”
Meghan Markle tantrum
Markle apparently had one of her famous tantrums during a meeting a year ago with Emanuel and her team of agents, and no one had plans ready. This led to a dispute, and “Ari was done with her,” the insider told the Post, adding Markle, 43, was let go because she was “too demanding” and “difficult to work with.”
Readers of this column will know that the spark of truth comes from not only Markle being prone to outbursts but also that Emanuel has refused her calls for a while now.
Issues for Meghan Markle
The bigger issue for Markle is threefold.
- The news leaking is not a show of strength for her — in fact, it shows she is on the ropes at an agency that signed her on as a client in 2023 after her big money deals with Spotify ($20 million), Netflix ($100 million) and Penguin Random House ($20 million) were made. This means that until they can do more deals, they don’t make any money off of Markle. And with her reputation in the dumps and people wary of working with her, it seems unlikely they would keep her on as a client if “With Love, Meghan” and “As Ever” flop.
- Her extravagant entertaining show where she shows people how to use edible flowers (that usually run over $20 for a small bunch) comes at a time when egg prices are soaring and many Americans can’t afford the basics.
- Before she was with WME, she was represented by United Talent Agency, whom she fired for WME. However, I’m told she also reached out to the other Hollywood mega agency, CAA, which reps Joe Biden, the Obamas and the top tier of Hollywood actors and actresses … and they passed outright.
”They were not interested. At all,” my insider said. Meaning if WME doesn’t work out, Meghan may be up a creek when it comes to representation, a death knell for any wannabe actress/entertainer/businesswoman in Los Angeles.
Netflix is said to be releasing all episodes of “With Love, Meghan” all at once — not a good sign as it looks like they fear people won’t make it appointment TV and tune in every week.
As they say, time will tell.