On September 12, the Hollywood Reporter published an incredibly bizarre “Rambling Reporter” piece called “Why Hollywood Keeps Quitting on Harry and Meghan.” This was not the first time THR launched a broadside against the Sussexes, but this piece was particularly strange and bile-filled. Unnamed sources insisted that the Duchess of Sussex was a hellish boss who ran around the office, screaming at people and creating low morale. THR wrote that Meghan has a “reported penchant for noisy tantrums and angry 5 a.m. emails [which] has earned her the in-house moniker ‘Duchess Difficult.’” One source told THR: “She’s absolutely relentless. She marches around like a dictator in high heels, fuming and barking orders. I’ve watched her reduce grown men to tears.” A day later, the NY Post picked up the story, and then last week, the Mail ran a version of the story too.
As I was covering this stuff, I said once again that these are the kinds of stories which need pushback. The British media throws sh-t at the wall on a daily basis – I understand why the Sussexes give the silent treatment to outlets like the Mail and the Sun. But THR is a trade paper and their “reporting” mimicked those British smears in an American accent. It needed to be dealt with, and dealt with in a smarter way than “ignoring it and hoping it goes away.” Some people yelled at me for suggesting that the Sussexes need to be more proactive about these kinds of things, but I maintain: they need to fight back especially because it involves their business. These crazy conspiracies about who “ordered” THR’s story and why H&M should continue to be silent weren’t working either – that’s absolutely the wrong way to deal with it. And finally, the Sussexes have done something. They authorized their former and current staffers to speak to Us Weekly. Some highlights:
Ben Browning, their former head of content: He says his experience at the company and with Meghan and Harry in general “was positive and supportive… we all continue to be friends. The narratives we’ve seen suggesting the contrary are untrue.” Onetime chief of staff Catherine St-Laurent tells Us she and the couple have also “remained close” and says, “The time I spent working with Prince Harry and Meghan was incredibly meaningful to me.”
Josh Kettler spoke to Us: While Josh Kettler’s August departure as Harry’s chief of staff sparked more negative press, he says he was “warmly welcomed” by both Harry and Meghan and the Archewell team during his stint. “They are dedicated and hardworking,” he tells Us of the pair. “It was impressive to witness.”
Ashley Hansen, Archewell global press secretary: “When I told them [I needed surgery], I was met with the kind of concern and care a parent would express if it were their own child. I was asked what I needed, how and if they could help, and told to take as much time as I needed.” Hansen says Harry and Meghan sent flowers and care packages, “but most profoundly to me, Meghan would personally reach out to my husband daily to make sure that we both were OK and had support. It meant so much to him and even more to me. You don’t realize how much that kind of kindness and thought means until you need it.”
Growing pains: There’s little doubt the company — which employs a small team of roughly 16 full-time employees and is comprised of the Archewell Foundation (their charitable nonprofit), a production side (which deals with audio work like podcasts and their Netflix deal) and communications (Markle’s new lifestyle brand is a separate entity) — has had some growing pains. “Archewell is not unlike a start-up; it’s relatively young,” says Hansen, adding, “Two things can be equally true: you can be a great leader and still have turnover. No boss or company is immune to that.”
An anonymous staffer: “People leave at any company — they get new opportunities, change their careers or feel their role isn’t the right fit. They also sometimes get let go. Those decisions are part of doing business.” The current anonymous staffer says colleagues have been “dumbfounded by the claims… It’s clear where this type of commentary is coming from. It’s likely made up from someone who’s disgruntled.” Browning tells Us the narrative is “simply a predictable attempt at creating intrigue through sewing false conflict.”
The office culture is positive. “This is the first company I’ve worked [where I] liked every person,” says the source. “Harry and Meghan picked the best of the best from every field and watered the seeds for them to flourish. We have an enormous microscope on us. But good things are happening.”
Acts of kindness from the Sussexes: “When I adopted my dog, the next day, I had a luxury brand leash and new collar on my doorstep,” says the former staffer, who adds that parents-to-be are given brand-new gifts and top-notch secondhand stuff from the couple themselves “like unused car seats and baby items they no longer need.” During the Colombia trip, the duke and duchess texted a team leader to take everyone out for drinks. “They want to take care of us,” the current employee says. “Meghan will do things like, ‘You mentioned on the call your skin is bothering you, I put together a kit for you.’” And during team visits to the couple’s Montecito home, no one departs empty-handed. “Whenever staff goes to their house, they leave with a basket with fresh flowers, fresh fruit, fresh eggs,” the staffer says.
Meghan is not tantrum-prone: As for rumors of Meghan’s penchant for tantrums, the current staffer says they have “never” heard her yell, explaining that the duchess “gives clear direction and is solution-oriented.” And those reports of firing off demanding emails at 5 a.m.? Meghan’s official email signature reads: “My working day may not be your working day. Please do not feel obliged to reply to this email outside your normal working hours.”
Mandana Dayani speaks: “Part of the profound injustice of having to speak publicly on this in light of these endless and damaging narratives is that so much of the kindness, mentorship, and support that Prince Harry and Meghan share with others happens quietly behind closed doors,” says Mandana Dayani, who served as the president of Archewell for 18 months in 2021 and 2022. “I’ll never forget sitting on the floor in their kitchen while Meghan was feeding Princess Lily and cold-calling a dozen senators — their reactions were unbelievable — to ask them to advocate for paid leave.” Dayani and Meghan traveled to Uvalde, Texas, after the tragic 2022 school shooting. “For hours, [Meghan] sat in a room with grieving families, going one by one to each person — hugging them and crying with them,” she recalls to Us, noting that Meghan has since kept in touch with the families affected by the tragedy.
I said before that I wish the Sussexes had pushed back in one of the other trade papers, but I get the strategy now. They wanted a softer focus and space to share their staffers’ first-hand accounts of what it’s actually like to work at Archewell. I also wonder if People Magazine was offered this rebuttal first and they declined, because Us Weekly still wouldn’t have been my first choice for this? In any case, bookmark this story or screenshot it for the receipts. People are going on the record: Meghan is a lovely boss, they’re nice to their team, she’s not marching around the office making men cry. Case closed. It’s like pulling teeth to get the Sussexes to push back on these racist and sexist smears. This should have happened years ago.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, cover courtesy of Us.