PR experts have questioned the timing of the release Meghan MarkleIt is Netflix cooking show and says it should be postponed amid wildfires Los Angeles.
The Duchess of Sussex’s long-awaited lifestyle series, With Love, Meghan, is set to premiere on Wednesday, January 15.
The first trailer showed Meghan, 43, cooking in a Montecito kitchen, picking produce from her garden and chatting with her very famous pals.
The new series is part of the Sussexes’ $100 million (£80 million) deal with the streaming giant, but it is set against the grim backdrop of the fires that ravaged Los Angeles.
So far, 16 people have died along with the US president Joe Biden making the terrifying prediction that the death toll will rise further in the underworld which he compared to a “war zone”.
Harry, 40, and Meghan were seen this week in the city helping distribute food parcels to survivors after traveling 90 miles from their $29 million Montecito mansion.
But despite their commendable efforts, donating to the cause from their Archewell Foundation and opening their luxury home to displaced friends and loved ones, many experts believe Netflix should push back the release date of Meghan’s show.
The Duchess of Sussex’s long-awaited lifestyle series, With Love, Meghan, is set to premiere on Wednesday, January 15.
The Duchess, 43, calls the series creating “wonders in every moment” as she shares her tips and tricks for living well.
With Love, Meghan is set to premiere on Netflix on Wednesday at 8am UK time.
Meghan Markle was seen comforting victims and first responders at an evacuation center on Friday amid the ongoing fires in Los Angeles.
Flames engulf a structure as the Eaton Fire burns in Pasadena on January 7
They suggest releasing it now could appear “insensitive” and “tone-deaf” and provoke a backlash against the royal couple.
British brand and culture expert Nick Ede highlighted the decision to cancel or delay dozens of Hollywood premieres and awards shows.
He told MailOnline: ‘I think Netflix bosses will have to make some big decisions, including whether to air With Love, Meghan next week.
“With the show being so focused on California life, Los Angeles and Montecito, offering a glimpse into an ambitious and inspiring life, I suspect it will be pulled from its current schedule and delayed for at least a few months.”
The PR guru said it would be a “positive move” for Meghan and Netflix “as releasing it during such a tragic and difficult time would come across as insensitive and tone-deaf”.
“A show like Meghan’s is not time sensitive, so that means it can air later. We know how important community is to Meghan and Harry and the last thing they would want is a backlash due to the broadcast of the show while they are currently doing everything possible to support those in need at this time,” he said.
Phil Dampier, the author of Royally Suited: Harry and Meghan In Their Own Words, echoed Mr Ede’s warning by saying that “the timing of Meghan’s Netflix show could hardly be worse as hundreds of people lost their homes in the terrible fires.
“The last thing people are interested in is a program where they invite friends over to eat canapes or arrange flowers when the city is in flames and people have lost everything,” he said at MailOnline.
With Love, Meghan, which is set to arrive on Netflix on January 15, promises to “elevate the ordinary” and invites viewers to “create wonder in every moment.”
Meghan Markle speaks with Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, center, and Doug Goodwin, whose home was destroyed by the Eaton Fire, in Altadena.
Flames near Mandeville Canyon on January 11
“Harry and Meghan did the right thing by saying they would help their friends and put them up in their own home, but the problem is they can’t really win. Some will say this is just a public relations approach.
“I think it would be wise for Netflix to pull the series and bring it back this summer when things are a little better, but the devastation is so severe that it will take years, if not decades, to rebuild some communities.
“Harry and Meghan will live in close proximity to destruction for a very long time and recovery will require people coming together for many years.
“It’s not Meghan’s fault, of course, but I don’t see this show as a success in the current climate.
“Some critics have criticized it before and now it seems totally inappropriate. She had a lot on her plate and had been planning for months, if not a few years, so it’s very unfortunate for her.
“It was the last roll of the dice as far as Netflix is concerned and if it doesn’t work out, I don’t see them wanting any more shows from them. She wasn’t lucky, but her problems aren’t nothing compared to those who suffered in the fires.
Mr Dampier thinks Netflix “will probably want to continue the series, but Meghan would be wise to ask them to postpone it”.
“It seems so bad for her to move forward and no one will look at her in Los Angeles,” he said.
Royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams said the series “must be postponed” or risks showing the Sussexes as “disconnected”.
Meghan and Harry pictured with other volunteers after helping victims of the Los Angeles wildfires
One of the Duchess’s first guests is longtime friend (and American Riviera Orchard jam recipient) Mindy Kaling.
He said: “Progressing now would be crazy because the mood has darkened. These horrific fires are among America’s worst natural disasters.
“If the series continued, it would show that the Sussexes were totally disconnected. Obviously they had no idea this was going to happen, but it’s essential for their image that they avoid such terrible optics.
“Five days later (after the series launched), Donald Trump becomes president. No one is more controversial, and this marks the most remarkable political comeback in American history.
“The mood among Sussex supporters will be somber and I doubt many would have felt receptive to the pabulum that is being offered while she cooks for the luvvies at the moment.”
Mr Fitzwilliams said a lot was riding on the success of Meghan’s new series after the failure of the couple’s recent Polo series.
But while he says their contract with Netflix may be on the line, “this is really an immediate postponement decision on Netflix’s part.”
“As the reasons are obvious, this should be done now and this would be an opportunity for Meghan to issue a statement explaining why, which everyone would understand,” he said.
“It is not difficult to imagine the consequences for their reputation in America and the truly dreadful consequences if they do not do so.”
Former BBC royal correspondent Michael Cole, who now runs his own PR company, said the timing was crucial and “precisely not the right time for Meghan to launch her new cooking show “.
The Duchess of Sussex pictured in the trailer for her lifestyle cooking show
Prince Harry was also spotted speaking to Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo, who described the couple as “great people” with “great personalities.”
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry stood alongside the embattled California governor’s wife as they served meals to survivors of the Los Angeles wildfires.
He told MailOnline: ‘Right next door to the multi-million dollar residence where the show was recorded, there are thousands of people without a kitchen or the house in which it was the heart of their home.
“The biggest disaster to hit Los Angeles, short of an earthquake along the notoriously unstable San Andreas Fault, shook the city far more than the usual tremors that are part of life in Southern California.
“Whether personally affected or not, all Angelenos are feeling the impact of the disaster and will not be interested in yet another celebrity cooking show, even if it demonstrates the culinary skills, ingenuity and overall good looks of a royal duchess.”
Mr Cole said Meghan and Harry helping wildfire survivors was “a good decision” and he was “sure they were motivated by feelings of common humanity, genuinely wanting to do something to help, even if they offered nothing but sympathy and encouragement.”
“An even more effective move would be to announce, in light of the disaster that deprived so many people of everything they cherished, that the cooking show’s launch would be postponed so that the attention of California and of the nation is focused solely on providing relief and renewed hope, because it’s not just the stars and the rich who have lost their homes,” he said.
“If the launch goes ahead as planned, it will open Meghan up to at least the accusation of insensitivity and that is an accusation she has had to combat in the past, not always successfully.
“The Sussexes have had no shortage of PR advisers since moving to California and I am sure they will have urged Meghan to wait.”
MailOnline has contacted Harry and Meghan’s representatives for comment.
Netflix declined to comment when approached by MailOnline.