Senior executives at Netflix reportedly warned its CEO, Ted Sarandos, against working with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Despite these warnings, Mr Sarandos pushed forward with a $100 million deal, believing it would be successful.

Details of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s deal with Netflix have emerged in recent days after a number of damaging claims appeared in a piece by Hollywood Bible, Variety. Speaking on an explosive episode of the Daily Expresso show, host JJ Anisiobi, revealed that all 10 of Sarandos’s chiefs of staff advised him that the enormous deal was not a good investment. Mr Sarandos was reportedly even warned not to “not work with this woman”.

Speaking on the show, Mr Anisiobi explained: “Sarandos was warned in advance, ‘don’t do this deal’. But he’s the top dog. And he said, ‘No, this is going to be great.’ And they released a documentary, Harry and Meghan, and it was super successful, right? The most-watched documentary on Netflix ever.

Mr Sarandos was reportedly urged not to work with the couple (Image: Getty)

“‘And Sarandos is thinking, ‘See, this is why I’m the boss. I told all you people it’s going to be great.’ And then every project after that has been pitiful. It’s been pitiful. People aren’t watching. People don’t care about Meghan Markle as a brand. People don’t care about her cooking shows with her rich Hollywood mates.

“Netflix, the senior staff, none of them wanted this to happen, but Sarandos pushed ahead regardless. And now he has egg on his face. I’m happy he’s at least woken up to this and has now pulled the plug officially, but he was warned and went ahead with it anyway.”

The comments come after it was reported that Mr Sarandos and his creative chief, Bela Bajaria, have unfollowed both Meghan and her lifestyle company, As Ever, on Instagram.

A source in the Daily Mail wrote: “Ted let them stay over at his while their place was being renovated. They were very close.” He was part of the team which agreed to sign them to that $100 (£75m) million deal in September 2020, after their ‘freedom flight’ to the US following Megxit.

The source added: “…She didn’t care to take the advice offered by the Netflix head of consumer products, Josh Simon. After he left Netflix last year to take a new role elsewhere, the writing was on the wall.”

Prince Harry and Meghan’s relationship with Netflix has been explored (Image: Getty)

The latest details of Harry and Meghan’s fallout with Netflix come after Variety reported that Sarandos recently said he would not take a call with the Duchess unless a lawyer was on the line. A Netflix spokesperson said it was “absolutely inaccurate” that Sarandos made the comment.

The article follows the announcement that Netflix had cut ties with Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As Ever, to allow the Duchess to “continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently”.

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Despite Variety’s look at the couple’s relationship with the streaming giant, Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said at the Next on Netflix press event: “We still have a relationship with them (Harry and Meghan).

“We have movies in development with them. We have an amazing doc with them. They have things in development on the TV and film side. Deals come and go all the time, and we don’t renew so many deals, those just don’t get as much press for obvious reasons. There’s no juicy story there.”