New blow to Harry and Meghan as TV boss quits

WHEN the Duchess of Sussex was interviewed on the red carpet at a showbusiness event in Los angeles last November, she declared that she and Prince harry had ‘ so many exciting things on the slate’ to announce.

‘things that make people feel — I was going to say “good”, but it’s more than that — things that make people feel something, right?’ Meghan gushed.

Unfortunately, the most powerful feeling for one key member of their team was, I hear, a desire to quit.

the manager of archewell Productions, the company that harry and Meghan set up in 2020 amid great fanfare to make television programmes and films, has exited, stage left.

Bennett Levine, who was promoted to manager of archewell in 2022, left the company this month. When he was taken on as co-ordinator for the business in 2021, his appointment was hailed by the Sussexes’ most outspoken cheerleader,

Omid Scobie, as a sign that archewell was ‘a hive of activity that continues to grow’.

Levine confirms his departure in a message to contacts on social media. ‘I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position at Cinetic Media,’ he says of his new job at an american film financing and distribution company.

a source tells me: ‘It’s a blow to archewell. there’s no doubt about that.’

Levine’s surprise exit comes amid rumours that Netflix may not renew its deal with archewell. the U.S. streaming giant paid the Sussexes a rumoured £80 million in 2020 as part of a deal that ends in 2025.

Levine worked on the tawdry documentary series, harry & Meghan, which archewell coproduced with Netflix and which was released in 2022.

rumours that the Californiabased couple may be preparing for the end of their Netflix deal were fuelled by their trip to Jamaica last week for the film premiere of Bob Marley: One Love, as guests of Brian robbins, boss of Netflix’s streaming rival Paramount Pictures.

archewell Productions declined to comment.