BREAKING NEWS: Meghan Markle dealt fresh Hollywood blow after documentary flop
The Duchess of Sussex has failed to wow audiences with her new Hollywood venture.
Meghan Markle has suffered another embarrassing blow to her future in Hollywood (Image: Getty)
Meghan Markle has suffered another devastating blow to her future in Hollywood as she braces for the backlash from her new documentary. Despite being one of the world’s most famous women, Meghan’s latest onscreen project has received a lacklustre response. The Duchess of Sussex recently produced a documentary about the Girl Scout Cookie industry, but it failed to make waves at the box office.
Directed by Alysa Nahimas, Cookie Queens follows four tenacious American Girl Scouts in their attempt to become the top Girl Scout Cookie seller. Months after its world debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January, it officially launched in theatres on August 7.
The Duchess of Sussex teamed up with director Alysa Nahmias for her new documentary (Image: Roadside Attractions via Getty Images)
But the documentary failed to win over viewers and was even outperformed by a cat compilation video. It was beaten by CatVideoFest 2026, which pocketed £421,334 despite airing on 191 fewer screens than the Cookie Queens.
Since its release, the show has received a wave of negative comments from critics and viewers alike. One viewer claimed the TV special was “staged as it is sweet”, while a Variety reviewer found it to be “too much of a reality-show ramble”.
The film, made by Archewell Productions, reportedly took home just £500 per cinema screening. Now, a PR expert has revealed to The Daily Mail that her poor public reputation is her biggest downfall.
PR professional Rebecca May told the outlet: “Meghan doesn’t have a visibility problem… but she does have a perception problem. If you are trying to build something wholesome, warm and aspirational, but there is still so much noise and division around your personal brand, it is difficult for people to separate the two.
“Hollywood is used to dealing with high-profile personalities, but there comes a point where too much noise around someone becomes a brand risk. You don’t want the person attached to a project constantly becoming a bigger story than the project itself.
“This can run the risk of the person becoming the story and the project losing control of its own narrative.” Since the Duke and Duchess first stepped foot into the world of Hollywood six years ago, they have battled countless issues in the industry’s ruthless nature.
In 2025, Netflix had a stake in her lifestyle and cookery brand As Ever and helped launch the corresponding Netflix series, which aired for two series and an additional holiday special. But earlier this year, it was announced that the brand had cut ties with Netflix, leaving Meghan to take complete control of the company.
The latest film development comes months after it was announced that the couple were involved in another Netflix film, an adaptation of the romance novel The Wedding Date by best-selling author Jasmine Guillory. The book was published in 2018 and became the first in a six-book series.
It is being adapted by screenwriter Tracy Oliver, who was behind the 2017 movie Girls Trip, and the couple are producing the movie alongside Ms Ryerson. The doting parents’ other major media deal with Spotify came to an end in 2023 after one series of their podcast Archetypes, with one of the streaming giant’s executives later branding them “grifters”.
