Meghan Markle's Camp Claims Netflix Used Her for 'The Gentlemen' Promotion
A friend of the Duchess of Sussex alleges the streaming giant leveraged rumors of her potential casting to boost viewership for the show's second season.
Netflix allegedly used rumors about Meghan Markle potentially joining the cast of Guy Ritchie’s “The Gentlemen” to promote the show’s second season, according to a friend of the Duchess of Sussex.
“Some people in her camp feel she was used to help promote season two, because they knew it wasn’t as good as the first season and had already commissioned a third,” the friend told The Telegraph. “It’s the oldest marketing trick in the book: get a big name to read a script, then leak that you’re ‘in conversation’ with them when, in reality, nothing is particularly far along.”
The source added that the situation left “a bit of a sour taste in the Sussex camp’s mouth,” concluding that “Netflix got what it wanted: huge viewing figures for season two and a lot of publicity.”
Page Six has reached out to representatives for both Netflix and Markle for comment.
Earlier in the summer, Deadline reported that Markle was in talks for Season 3 of “The Gentlemen,” with Netflix executive Manda Levin offering a cryptic response when questioned about the speculation at the Edinburgh TV Festival in August. “All bets are off,” Levin stated.
However, a report from Page Six stated that Markle had never received a formal offer and had only engaged in one conversation with the series’ casting director. An insider suggested that Markle and Prince Harry believed the association would be beneficial at the time. Another source indicated that while there was no formal offer, Ritchie himself had expressed interest in Markle joining the cast.
Markle is widely known for her role as Rachel Zane in the legal drama “Suits,” a role she held for seven seasons between 2011 and 2018. She also appeared in films such as “Remember Me” and “Horrible Bosses.”
Last year, it was reported that Markle would be acting in the film “Close Personal Friends,” alongside Brie Larson, Lily Collins, Jack Quaid, and Henry Golding. Markle had paused her acting career after her engagement to Prince Harry in 2017.