Meghan Markle Working With Dior? Both Parties Address the Rumors

Those Meghan Markle/Dior rumors seem to be DOA. Rumors surfaced last week that the Duchess of Sussex and the French fashion house were set to collaborate. However, both parties have now spoken out to deny the rumors. Markle's team denied the report to The Telegraph, as did Dior's team. Dior also spoke with Women's Wear Daily, going as far to say it had not even had recent contact with the former Suits actress.

The initial rumor claimed a plan to reinvent Markle's public image was underway, following the news that her Spotify podcast was dropped, Daily Mail reported. Ari Emanuel, the head of talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME), was said to be personally involved in the now-debunked project.

"We knew the Spotify announcement was coming," an anonymous source at WME told The Daily Mail. "It might be a shock to everyone else, but we've been working on the rebranding of Meghan for weeks. Ari is the best in the business when it comes to corporate deals and making money. He's excited to be representing Meghan and has thrown all his energy into it. The offers have been pouring in, including from other podcast platforms."

After signing a $20 million deal with Spotify in 2020, the Sussexes provided only 13 hours of content in two and a half years, 12 episodes of Markle's Archetypes podcast, and one special during the holidays. 

The deal's end was exacerbated by Spotify's head of podcast innovation and monetization Bill Simmons, who described the couple as "f— grifters." Despite the drama, reputation crisis expert Eric Schiffer told the outlet Markle's team would take advantage of it. 

"These guys were already on a war footing because they knew the Spotify announcement was coming," he said. "Ari will have a strategic and tactical battle plan in place to link her with sophisticated brand partners like Dior. This is an opportunity to distance Meghan from the negativity of the past."

The rumors of Markle collaborating with Dior did make sense when originally presented, as she has long been a fan, even wearing the designer for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee service. She also carried a monogrammed Lady Dior bag during a Global Citizen concert in New York two years ago. With a nod to Diana's pre-marriage nickname, the bag pays tribute to her husband Prince Harry's mother, Princess Diana, who became known as "Lady Di."

Prince Harry appears to be a Dior fan as well, wearing a custom-made suit to the King Charles' coronation. Schiffer, chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, thinks Markle is ready to move on from past grievances.

"Meghan will focus on the positive and all the things which made her so appealing to millennials and Gens X and Z in the first place," he told The Daily Mail. "She will go back to an image of a strong, successful woman who built her own career and will focus on serious women's issues, but also things that are fun and aspirational, like couture fashion."