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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been named among the biggest Tinsel Town losers of the year by industry bible, The Hollywood Reporter.
The magazine published its 2023 review celebrating those who triumphed and noting those who failed to hit the mark.
Among the 11 chosen as having struggled were the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who were mocked for their ‘whiny Netflix documentary, a whiny biography (Spare — even the title is a pouty gripe ) and inert podcast.’
Meghan’s podcast, Archetypes, was dropped by Spotify in June after just one season.
Spotify’s head of podcast innovation and monetization, Bill Simmons, labeled the couple ‘grifters’ after their $20million, multi-year deal ended.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, pictured in New York City on October 10, have been named among Hollywood’s biggest losers of 2023
Meghan Markle’s podcast was dropped by Spotify after only one season
The magazine said the couple had ‘fled a life of ceremonial public service to cash in their celebrity status in the States’ – but failed to ignite.
‘The Harry and Meghan brand swelled into a sanctimonious bubble just begging to be popped — and South Park was the pin,’ the authors said.
In March, South Park ridiculed the couple with an episode entitled ‘World-Wide Privacy Tour’, which skewered the pair for claiming to find media intrusion too intense, and then seeking the spotlight.
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The magazine concluded: ‘Still, all the scorn and mockery beats otherwise having to attend 200-plus official royal family engagements a year, which sounds hellish.’
The couple were joined on the ‘loser’ list by Marvel movies, the Scream franchise, troubled actor Ezra Miller and Disney.
Harry’s ‘whiny’ memoir, Spare, was cited by The Hollywood Reporter as one reason for the couple’s ‘loser’ status
The Duke and Duchess were skewered in a March episode of South Park
‘Who wants to bet Bob Iger wishes he stayed retired? Disney got pummeled in 2023,’ the magazine said.
Elon Musk was also on the loser list, citing his tumultuous leadership of X – which has seen its value plummet in a year from the $44 billion he paid for it to $19 million, according to internal documents.
‘Call the hellscape what you want, Elon Musk’s management of the social network — one that’s long served as a critical promotional vehicle for studios and talent — has been so disastrous it’s resulted in articles speculating that the otherwise phenomenally successful businessman must be intentionally crashing the bus, because nobody could be this smart and dumb at the same time,’ the magazine said.
‘From alienating advertisers (U.S. revenue is down 55 percent since he took over in 2022) and turning off users, to retweeting antisemites, Musk has proved you can’t be a grown-up social media boss and play the impulsive Twitter troll, you have to choose your role — and it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.’
Top of the winners list was Taylor Swift, accompanied by Barbie creators Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig and actor’s union chief Fran Drescher.
Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan was also declared a winner, along with the Las Vegas Sphere entertainment venue, and ‘Silver Foxes’ – with the magazine noting 57-year-old Patrick Dempsey’s naming as People’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive’, and the resurgence of Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
