Are Meghan Markle's As Ever Products Actually Sold Out?
Many of the 44-year-old With Love, Meghan star's products, including jam, candles, wine, chocolate bars, and flower petal sprinkles, are reportedly being kept in storage rooms at Netflix's Hollywood campus. And according to sources, there is absolutely no shortage, with employees allegedly helping themselves to the products willy-nilly.
"Apparently, there are two storage rooms packed with As Ever product. They're literally just giving it away to employees – one (staffer) walked out with 10 products for free," an insider reportedly told Page Six. A second source stated: "There's so much overstock."
However, Page Six also reports that the bulk of the As Ever inventory was moved to another warehouse "long ago" and is no longer being stored at Netflix HQ. The items currently on-site are reportedly intended for promotional purposes, gifting, and sampling, with staffers allegedly permitted to take home "freebies."
Meghan Markle Previously Slammed As A 'Fraud' Amid Claims Her Lifestyle Brand Is 'Not Legitimate'
The reports come amid mounting criticism of the mom-of-two's lifestyle brand – previously called American Riviera Orchard, if you remember – which has been constant since it launched. Last year, business experts Phillip Millar, a Canadian lawyer, and Camille Moore, a marketing executive, discussed As Ever on The Art of the Brand podcast, and seriously questioned its success and authenticity…
According to the Daily Mail, after calling Meghan's business "not sustainable," Millar said: "I'm agitated by her so much because it is a deliberate misrepresentation of what she is because she thinks she can pretend to be that while actually being this and sucker people into buying her stuff, and every step of the way, she's failing because it's not legitimate." Ouch!
"Nothing about her brand was good from the start, to a distinguishing eye," Millar continued, before accusing Meghan of being a "fraud," and saying she was using "opportunities to advance herself."
Fan Comments
Some of the former Suits actress's fans who genuinely wanted to get their hands on the items before they sold out seemed upset by the reports of the excess stock, while many others wasted no time in criticizing her and the lifestyle brand.
"They told us it was sold out," noted one fan on Instagram. "The only reason any of her products sold was for people to see how bad it was and yes it was bad," slammed a second, as a third said it was "not surprising" that the stock hadn't actually sold out. The same person added: "It was always cheap rubbish – and scary that they were not transparent about the ingredients and where it was actually made."
"I heard that she never made the jams herself, just bought some jams and then stuck her label on them," wrote a fourth dubious Instagram user, as a fifth jokingly asked: "The Trader Joe's repackaged items?" A sixth chimed in: "Her jam tastes disgusting and it's expensive. My jam is better than her. I felt scammed by her!"
"I don't think I would even want it for free. Clearly I couldn't resell it on the internet," quipped a seventh, while an eighth concurred: "I still wouldn't take it."