Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, was reportedly left reeling after Netflix abruptly canceled her lifestyle and cooking series, With Love, Meghan, in May 2025, just months after its March premiere. The show, a cornerstone of her and Prince Harry’s $100 million deal with the streaming giant, aimed to showcase Meghan’s domestic side through cooking, gardening, and hosting tips, filmed at a Montecito estate. Despite high expectations and a swift greenlight for a second season, the series faced scathing reviews, accusations of inauthenticity, and lackluster viewership, prompting Netflix to pull the plug. Social media buzz, including a YouTube video titled “Meghan Markle SNAPS After Netflix PULLS THE PLUG on Her Cooking Show!” and X posts, claimed Meghan was “furious” over the decision, marking a significant setback for her post-royal rebrand as a lifestyle guru.

The Vision Behind With Love, Meghan

Launched on March 4, 2025, With Love, Meghan was pitched as an eight-episode celebration of everyday joy, blending practical how-tos with candid conversations. Filmed at an $8 million Montecito farmhouse owned by philanthropists Tom and Sherrie Cipolla, rather than Meghan’s $14.65 million home, the show featured guests like Mindy Kaling, Delfina Figueras, Vicky Tsai, and Alice Waters. Meghan shared recipes like her grandmother Jeanette’s banana pudding with berries and lemon, alongside tips for flower arranging and hosting. The series tied into her lifestyle brand, As Ever, launched on April 2, 2025, with products like raspberry conserve (£10.52), herbal teas (£9.30), and shortbread cookie mix (£10.52), which sold out in under an hour.

Meghan positioned the show as a natural extension of her pre-royal blog, The Tig, which she shuttered in 2017. In a New York Times interview, she emphasized her lifelong work ethic, noting she held jobs from age 13 and loved connecting her “home life and work” through As Ever and the series. She defended her choice not to film at home, citing her children, Archie and Lilibet, and the need to protect their “safe haven” from an 80-person crew. The show’s aesthetic—sunlit kitchens, lush gardens, and Meghan’s warm hosting—was meant to evoke Martha Stewart or Ina Garten, but critics and viewers found it lacking authenticity and relatability.

The Critical and Public Backlash

With Love, Meghan debuted to a firestorm of criticism. The New York Post branded it an “exercise in narcissism,” while BuzzFeed mocked a pasta recipe, with X users quipping, “Netflix paid a lot of money just to let us know Meghan doesn’t know how to cook pasta.” Celebrity chef Jameson Stocks, who claimed he declined to work on the show, called it “forced and fake” and “painful to watch,” sparking a feud when Netflix allegedly sent him a legal warning for his remarks, a claim the streamer denied. Stocks doubled down, saying, “I don’t think she can cook and I don’t think she should be teaching people to cook either,” and criticized the show’s rented setting as “artificial.”

Social media piled on. X posts highlighted a “Le Creuset controversy,” where viewers criticized Meghan’s use of high-end cookware as unrelatable, prompting her to retort to the New York Times, “This is a thing, in 2025? Don’t they know my life hasn’t always been like this?” The BBC’s Have I Got News for You ridiculed her, mocking her claim that lemon tart is a British Mother’s Day tradition and joking she merely “bought pretzels and put them in a plastic bag.” Comedian Phil Wang questioned her beekeeping authenticity, saying she looked “repulsed” holding honeycomb.

Martha Stewart, a lifestyle icon, offered a lukewarm response, telling Access Hollywood she hadn’t seen the show but was “curious” to see “how she does,” a comment some interpreted as shade. Online comparisons to Pamela Anderson’s Cooking with Love and accusations of copying Anderson’s format added to the scrutiny, though no legal action followed. The show’s viewership figures were not publicly disclosed, but X posts claimed it failed to crack Netflix’s Top 10, unlike Harry’s Polo docuseries, which also underperformed.

Netflix’s Decision to Cancel

The cancellation rumor, amplified by the YouTube video and X posts, aligns with reports of Netflix’s dissatisfaction. Sources like the Daily Mail and New York Post suggested the streamer was wary of further investing in Meghan and Harry’s projects after Polo’s flop and earlier struggles with their 2022 docuseries Harry & Meghan and Meghan’s canceled animated series Pearl, which faced plagiarism claims from author Mel Elliott over similarities to her Pearl Power books.

X posts from early 2025, including one from @TheFakeDuchess claiming Netflix scrapped plans to use California wildfires to promote the show, hinted at tensions. Another from @RoyalDailyTea in May 2025 declared the show a failure alongside Meghan’s podcast Confessions of a Female Founder and As Ever’s “stale” sales, reflecting a narrative of declining momentum. While Netflix greenlit a second season in March, filmed before the first premiered, the lack of an official release date by May 2025 and reports of poor performance fueled speculation that the streamer quietly axed it amid broader content cuts, a tactic used with Pearl in 2022 when subscriber numbers dropped.

No official statement from Netflix or Meghan confirms the cancellation, but the YouTube video’s claim that Meghan “snapped” suggests frustration. An insider told Geo.tv that Meghan felt “betrayed” by Netflix’s lack of support, especially after the legal warning controversy with Stocks, which Netflix denied issuing. The streamer’s decision may reflect financial pragmatism—With Love, Meghan’s high production costs, including the rented estate and celebrity guests, likely outweighed its return, especially with critics like Stocks calling it a missed opportunity to show Meghan’s “human side.”

Why the Show Failed

Several factors doomed With Love, Meghan. First, its polished aesthetic clashed with audience expectations of authenticity. Filming in a rented farmhouse, not Meghan’s home, created a sense of detachment, with Stocks noting it felt “as artificial as the cooking.” Viewers wanted the relatability of Meghan’s Grenfell Tower community kitchen work, not a staged Montecito idyll. Second, the timing was off. Launched amid economic struggles and California wildfires, the show’s luxury branding—Le Creuset pans, £10.52 jams—felt tone-deaf, echoing criticism of the Sussexes as out-of-touch elites.

Third, Meghan’s lack of culinary credentials hurt credibility. Unlike Stewart or Garten, she had no established expertise, and gaffes like the pasta recipe invited mockery. X users and critics, including BuzzFeed’s Meg Sullivan, saw it as a vanity project, with one post joking, “Netflix paid for Meghan’s cooking lessons.” Finally, the Sussexes’ broader Netflix deal faced scrutiny. With only five projects delivered since 2020—Harry & Meghan, Live to Lead, Heart of Invictus, Polo, and With Love, Meghan—and Pearl’s cancellation, Netflix may be reevaluating the $100 million investment, especially after Spotify’s 2023 split with the couple, where a director called them “f****** grifters.”

Meghan’s Reaction and Fallout

The YouTube video’s claim that Meghan “snapped” lacks direct evidence but aligns with reports of her disappointment. Her April 2 Instagram post, “We’re live! Come shop the As Ever collection I’ve poured so much love into,” showed enthusiasm, and her New York Times defense of the show—“I need to work, and I love to work”—reflected personal investment. The cancellation, if true, is a blow to her rebrand from royal to lifestyle mogul, especially after As Ever’s initial sell-out success waned, with X posts noting “tumbleweeds” in her online store.

Meghan’s supporters argue she’s unfairly targeted. Fans on X praised her warmth and creativity, with one writing, “Meghan’s show was joyful—haters just can’t handle her shine.” Her defenders, including Business Insider’s reporter who lived like Meghan for a weekend, saw the show as less about cooking prowess and more about finding joy, not a “trad wife” agenda as critics claimed. Yet the backlash, amplified by Stocks’ feud and media like the Daily Mail, has painted her as inauthentic, a narrative she’s struggled to shake since leaving the royal family.

Implications for the Sussexes and Netflix

The cancellation, if confirmed, strains Meghan and Harry’s Netflix deal. With Polo’s poor reception and no new projects announced, the couple faces pressure to deliver value. Harry’s upcoming memoir update and Meghan’s potential pivot to podcasts or philanthropy, like her Grenfell work, could shift focus, but their Hollywood ventures are at a crossroads. Netflix, facing subscriber scrutiny, may prioritize proven hits over risky celebrity ventures, especially after defending Meghan against Stocks’ criticism.

For Meghan, the setback is personal but not fatal. Her resilience—evident in launching As Ever amid royal family tensions and public scrutiny—suggests she’ll pivot. Her April 23 TIME100 summit appearance, announcing Stewart as a season two guest, showed defiance, but the cancellation may push her toward more authentic projects, like community-driven initiatives. Her Mother’s Day tribute to herself, per the Daily Mail, as a “juggling” mom, hints at a focus on relatability.

A Recipe Gone Wrong

With Love, Meghan was meant to be Meghan’s triumphant rebrand, but its cancellation—whether due to viewership, criticism, or Netflix’s strategic cuts—marks a bitter defeat. The show’s failure to connect, compounded by perceptions of inauthenticity and unrelatable luxury, turned a labor of love into a cautionary tale. As Meghan navigates this setback, her next move will test her ability to rise above the noise and prove her critics wrong, one recipe at a time.