EXCLUSIVE: Inside Meghan Markle's 'Last-Ditch' Battle to Save Showbiz and Business 'Career' — 'She Has an A-List Plan!'
Meghan Markle's business ventures have been buried in controversy and setbacks.
Feb. 28 2025, Published 11:38 a.m. ET
Meghan Markle has been scrambling around over the last few weeks to build a new team of A-list pals after being snubbed by the Hollywood elite.
She has been networking hard assembling her dream squad of pals, ensuring she garners elite celebrity support as she unveils her much-anticipated Netflix show and lifestyle brand to the world, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Copyright rows have hit Markle's lifestyle brand.
An insider told us: "The days of cozying up to power couples, who ultimately left her feeling snubbed, are firmly behind her.
"Enter the 'girl bosses': think Mindy Kaling, Jessica Alba, and Kerry Washington, who are now stepping into pivotal roles within her all-female inner circle.
"Meghan knows that connections are the key to influence.
"With a flurry of public appearances and a surge in social media buzz ahead of her new cookery show, With Love, Meghan, debuting on Netflix, she is tapping into her network and she needs their support and reach to make sure the brand is a success.
"She's eager to surround herself with as many supportive friends as possible. The women she’s surrounding herself with are all exceptional in their own right and incredibly well-connected.
"While Meghan is mindful not to come off as if she's leveraging these friendships for clout, it's hard to deny her squad is bound to expand."
Markle is setting herself up to run a Goop-style site – sparking accusations she's a Paltrow copycat.
Sources also told us Markle is now trying to forge relationships with a new circle of powerful pals after former friends including David and Victoria Beckham, Tom Cruise and George and Amal Clooney have melted away from her friendship circle.
Meanwhile, her previous attempts to bond with Hollywood duos such as Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden, as well as Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk, have fizzled out without much success.
She is pinning her hopes on her show and lifestyle firm As Ever being a big hit with the help of her powerful new friends after last week's hasty rebrand of the enterprise.
Prince Harry and Markle have also been hit by rumors they have secretly divorced.
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Markle was forced to rename her American Riviera Orchard lifestyle firm after being told she couldn’t trademark the term – and RadarOnline.com had the inside story on how that is only the tip of the iceberg of her business launch.
Attorneys at the US Patent and Trademark Office told the duchess she couldn’t legally own rights to the term as it was a geographical area, so she was forced into a hasty rebrand of her firm and it will now be known As Ever, she revealed on Instagram.
It has been a sticky beginning for a venture has so far produced just a few pots of jam for her Montecito pals.
Markle has promised full-scale production is not long off but revealed none of the dozens of fruit farmers, jam producers and industrial food plants within 100 miles of Montecito, California, claim any knowledge of the duchess' product.
The As Ever launch came just two weeks before the release of her Netflix show With Love, Meghan after it was delayed from its original January launch date due to the L.A. wildfires.
