Hollywood A-Listers Toast at Waldorf Astoria Rooftop Party Post-Emmys, But Meghan and Harry Are Not in Attendance

 

 

The glamorous and powerful of Hollywood gathered over ginger margaritas and spicy tuna bites on the rooftop of the Waldorf Astoria following the Emmy Awards on Sunday night. A-listers like Kevin Costner, Brie Larson, and Javier Bardem mingled with influential figures such as Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav, along with rising stars like Eve Hewson, daughter of Bono.

 

The event, hosted by WME talent agency, was overseen by its powerful head, Ari Emanuel, who outshone everyone present—not just in influence but also in earnings, reportedly making $65 million last year.

 

Notably absent was Meghan, the Duchess of Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍, one of Emanuel’s most high-profile clients, who signed with him in April 2023. Her absence came just days after a harsh critique from The Hollywood Reporter, which labeled her “Duchess Difficult.” Neither she nor her husband, Prince Harry, attended the event, and neither was nominated for an Emmy.

 

Meghan hasn’t appeared in a TV show since the controversial Harry & Meghan documentary in 2022, while Harry’s recent documentary on the Invictus Games garnered some of the lowest ratings for Netflix this year.

 

 

Whether they didn’t get a welcome or declined to go, their participation at the occasion would have caused the couple to show up basically hopeful directly following the article which discussed her functioning works on, saying she was ‘simply horrendous’, ‘a despot in high heels’ and had ‘made developed men cry’.

 

Nonetheless, for reasons unknown, the pair remained at home.

 

It is important on the off chance that you work in television and don’t go to the Emmys. Individuals notice and judge which rung of the stepping stool you are on in like manner.

 

One senior figure, who has watched Harry and Meghan’s advancement in Hollywood with interest, said for this present week that they appear to be harvesting the sort of ‘fun at others’ expense with additional toxin’ at which the amusement business succeeds.

 

He adds: ‘It was inevitable before the business Press began making efforts. It’s difficult to come by anybody with a good word to say for their film and TV believability.’

 

The article in The Hollywood Journalist was distributed on September 12. Headed: Why Hollywood Continues To stop on Harry and Meghan, it was apparently about their head of staff, Josh Kettler, leaving after just three months, as first uncovered in this paper by Richard Eden in his journal pages.

 

It referenced their sad record in clinging to set up with those leaving including Toya Holness, their worldwide press secretary until 2022, Christine Weil Schirmer, who quit as Harry and Meghan’s PR head in 2021 and Keleigh Thomas Morgan of Daylight Sachs who quit taking care of the couple around a similar time. Other people who have left incorporate Catherine St-Laurent, when top of the Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍es’ foundation Archewell, Archewell COO Mandana Dayani; content boss Ben Sautéing and advertising boss Fara Taylor.

 

A source guaranteed to the ­Hollywood Correspondent: ‘Everybody’s scared of Meghan. She puts down individuals, she doesn’t take exhortation. They’re both unfortunate choice ­makers, they adjust their perspectives much of the time. Harry is an incredibly, enchanting individual — no airs by any means — except for he’s especially an empowering influence. What’s more, she’s simply awful.’

 

Another source said: ‘She’s ­absolutely tireless. She walks around like a despot in high heels, raging and yapping orders. I’ve watched her diminish developed men to tears.’

 

The frightening charges – portrayed by a source near the couple as ‘mistaken’ and ‘uneven’ – review the commotion in 2018 about whether Meghan had tormented staff at Buckingham Castle. There was an examination after objections and concerns were raised, however its outcomes have never been disclosed.

 

 

Meghan strenuously denied the ­allegations and denounced them as part of a ­’calculated smear campaign’.

 

In all, the Hollywood Reporter article was just the kind of ­unflattering ‘hit piece’ which you might expect the talent agency WME to have strangled at birth for their client, Meghan. One senior Hollywood publicist tells me: ‘First of all, everyone industry-wide, EVERYONE reads The Hollywood Reporter. It’s really striking that WME did not stop this running.’

 

She adds: ‘WME normally – you would think – would have been threatening and denying access to other stars. Was this done here?

 

‘The only thing the Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍es could rally with was ‘no comment at this time’ from a spokesman.’

 

And perhaps even worse it came only weeks after another take-down in an industry publication.

 

That was part of a feature about the ‘worst deals’ of the ‘peak TV period’ which ran on the Hollywood news website, Puck. Again, the site – run by former Hollywood Reporter editor Matt Belloni and with a quarter of a million subscribers – is a must-read in the industry.

 

Harry and Meghan’s reported $100 million Netflix deal (which runs out next September) was mentioned in the same breath as Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who signed a mega-deal with Amazon in 2019 that has yet to yield a single minute of ­television drama.

 

Published on August 20, it woundingly misspelled Archewell as ‘Archwell’.

 

Of Harry and Meghan it notes: ‘The streamer is not expected to renew its five-year, $100 million deal signed in 2020 . . . Meghan’s passion project, the animated kids show Pearl, had already been canceled’.

 

A senior producer says: ‘I don’t think mainstream Hollywood ever took them seriously. From day one Archewell felt to most industry onlookers more like a brand ­building exercise than a genuine production operation. Netflix were handing out vanity deals like candy at the time and so everybody just shrugged their shoulders and assumed their company wouldn’t get much done despite the generous backing.

 

‘But even Harry and Meghan ­naysayers would have been shocked at how little they’ve ­actually achieved.’

 

‘And in the more austere climate of the industry in 2024 when thousands of people have lost jobs and the entertainment industry economy is struggling, there’s now a genuine dislike and distrust towards them by some.’

 

All of which might make their handlers feel a little nervous about the fate of that cookery show which will embrace Meghan’s love of ‘gardening’, ‘entertaining’ and ‘friendship’ alongside recipes. It is as yet untitled.

 

 

The show will mark a significant moment for Meghan as it’s also going to launch her lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard (ARO). The brand was announced in April but so far there are no products and no announced partners. As with their efforts in TV production, it seems to be moving with glacial slowness.

 

All that has happened so far is that lawyers acting for the ­Duchess have sought to trademark the name and a logo for dozens of uses – and not been approved on various grounds.

 

Not, perhaps, the most promising start.

 

Netflix is understood to have offered to run the ARO brand for Meghan, which makes sense as it has huge experience of global marketing and merchandising. And Netflix boss Ted Sarandos, in London this week for the Royal Television Society conference, is a voice on her side. He said of Meghan: ‘I’ve been out with a lot of famous people before – the way that people react to Meghan is otherworldly.’

 

What are we to expect from Meghan’s cookery offering? The episodes are being directed by veteran Michael Steed, who worked with the revered chef Anthony Bourdain.

 

The show-runner with overall responsibility for it is yoga enthusiast Leah Hariton, who previously made Selena + Chef in 2020 featuring actress Selena Gomez. The shows are being produced for Netflix by The Intellectual Property Corporation, an off-shoot of Sony Pictures Television.

 

Archewell’s head of unscripted content, Chanel Pysnik, will be one of the executive producers, as will Meghan. Unusually, none of this information has been lodged with the production website IMDB, which is what you would expect to happen as standard.

 

It’s a very Meghan way of working – she likes to keep everything she can secret until the last possible moment.

 

Her working practices, according to a source with direct knowledge, are a little unorthodox. I’m told there is little separation between different projects and different arms of Archewell, so those involved in TV production can find themselves talking about charity work and vice versa.

 

Along with the desire for secrecy about projects, there is a passionate engagement with the manner and timing of any announcements. There are no offices – the couple take meetings at home, both often barefoot.

 

 

There was at one point an office in Malibu but the lease expired during the pandemic. And yes, the source says that decision-making is ‘a problem’ for them.

 

For the cookery show, which will be accompanied by a cookbook, I hear Meghan is taking advice from model Chrissy Teigen, who’s made cookery shows and released cookbooks herself in the past.

 

She and Meghan seem to have become close – she was given some of the early batch of ARO jam that went to famous friends.

 

Others on Meghan’s side include Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner and comedian and TV host Ellen de Generes, probably one of her closest remaining friends in Hollywood. Another is make-up magnate Victoria Jackson, whose brand she plugged for free by wearing it at the ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) awards in July, where Harry won an award for his work with military veterans via the Invictus Games Foundation.

 

Meghan allowed her make-up artist and Ms Jackson to post on Instagram about it.

 

Television maker Tyler Perry, guardian to little girl Lillibet, likewise stays on side.

 

However, a few remarkable companions might have fallen away. The Clooneys, who went to their 2018 wedding, and facilitated the couple in Lake Como the late spring later, appear to have less association with them these days.

 

Harry and Meghan were not seen at the Clooneys’ yearly helpful honors in New York. They have additionally not been spotted at any gatherings tossed by their neighbor Oprah, who led that meeting with the Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍es back in 2021.

 

The Obamas haven’t been envisioned with them for quite a long time – Harry and Michelle Obama were once close however the Sus𝓈ℯ𝓍es were not visitors at Barack’s ritzy 60th birthday celebration party on Martha’s Grape plantation in the late spring of 2021.

 

Music maker David Cultivate was once discussed as a ‘mentor’ for Harry, and his significant other Katherine McPhee was at school with Meghan.

 

They had various twofold dates in 2020 yet aren’t seen out with them any more and the couple weren’t among the talking heads on the Harry and Meghan narrative in 2022.

 

At the ESPY grants in August, Meghan wore a Staud dress, planned by Ari Emanuel’s better half Sarah Staudinger. It was a shrewd piece of blandishment, yet obviously what she actually needs currently is a hit.