Meghan Markle's hoped-for return to acting has hit a wall, according to a new report claiming her casting in Guy Ritchie's Netflix series The Gentlemen has been pulled following a wave of criticism in the UK.
Word of the Duchess of Sussex's potential involvement in the crime-comedy series first surfaced earlier this week, with multiple outlets reporting she was in early — and later "advanced" — talks to join a possible third season. The role was said to have been written specifically for her, with the season expected to film in the UK.
But by the weekend, the tone had shifted. Veteran journalist Tina Brown wrote on her Substack that the casting had been scrapped entirely. Tina wrote, “I learned this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season 3 of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn. The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward. This does not bode well for Meghan’s acting comeback in the UK.”
Representatives for Meghan and WME, the agency that represents both her and Guy, have not responded to requests for comment from outlets covering the story. Tina, for her part, has said she stands by her reporting.
The report comes just days after Meghan and Prince Harry announced they plan to move their family back to the UK, while keeping their Montecito home. Brown has reported that the prospect of this acting role was a meaningful factor in that decision.
It's also worth noting the practical wrinkle here: even without any withdrawal, Meghan wouldn't have appeared in The Gentlemen's next season, which is already filmed and set to premiere soon. Her reported role was tied to a third season that Netflix has not yet greenlit.
As of this writing, the ‘dropped’ storyline traces back to a single source — Tina's Substack column — and hasn't been confirmed on the record by Meghan's camp, Guy's team, or Netflix. Given how quickly this story has moved, and how contested Meghan's UK press coverage tends to be, it's worth treating the details as developing rather than settled.
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