Why Did Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Original Netflix Docuseries Director Quit?
Although Liz Garbus is a fantastic director, whose work includes 2012’s Love, Marilyn, 2015’s What Happened, Miss Simone? and 2020’s Ariana Grande concert film Excuse Me, I Love You, she wasn’t actually the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first choice.
The Sussexes reportedly originally hired Oscar-nominated director Garrett Bradley – who was behind the critically acclaimed Netflix series about tennis prodigy Naomi Osaka – for their docuseries first; but according to reports, "not long into the process, trouble started brewing," due to the fact that Bradley wanted to film the Sussexes at home, and they weren’t "comfortable" with that idea.
Meghan Says There Were 'Creative Differences'
"Garrett wanted Harry and Meghan to film at home, and they were not comfortable doing that," an insider told the New York Post, adding that Garett, pictured above, and the Sussexes had a "falling out" over her creative vision. "There were a few sticky moments between them, and Garrett left the project. Harry and Meghan’s own production company captured as much footage as they could before Liz Garbus was hired."
We already knew that there were some "creative differences" surrounding the project, which Meghan explained in her cover-interview with Variety last month, but despite some of the setbacks, she and Prince Harry now appear to be happy with the way things have panned out. Even if, according to other reports, they wanted to wait a little bit longer for it to air.
READ MORE: Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Are Reportedly 'Frantically Asking Netflix' Not To Release Show Before Christmas After The Queen's Death
Meghan Trusts New Director To Tell Their Story
Garbus was an immediate excellent second choice for the Sussexes, as the celebrated director was reportedly going to work on Meghan's series Pearl before it got scrapped. Meghan has made it very clear that she "trusts" Garbus with telling their story, even if it isn’t necessarily the way she would have imagined telling it!
"It’s nice to be able to trust someone with our story – a seasoned director whose work I’ve long admired – even if it means it may not be the way we would have told it," Meghan told Variety in an interview that was published last month. "But that’s not why we’re telling it. We’re trusting our story to someone else, and that means it will go through their lens."
Despite trusting Garbus and their team, the Sussexes still reportedly wanted more time to film and edit some of the existing footage, as they were reportedly "panicked" about some of the content coming out following the late Queen Elizabeth II's death. "Harry and Meghan are having second thoughts on their own story, on their own project," a Netflix source previously told Page Six. “Harry and Meghan are panicked about trying to tone down even the most basic language. But it’s their story, from their own mouths."
When Will Prince Harry And Meghan Markle's Docuseries Be Released?
After months of speculation, we finally have a release date for the docuseries! It *will* be released this year – despite the Sussexes wanting it to be released next year – and is currently set to premiere on December 8th! Let's count down the days together!
READ MORE: Meghan Markle Reportedly Has Had A 'Dramatic Change Of Heart' And Wants To Keep Her Royal Titles Now