If Harry and Meghan have the connections they purport to have, they could be working quietly from the sidelines, calling people for donations, working with the Red Cross to see what is needed, sourcing supplies. It isn't appropriate at this stage for them to be taking what seems to be the "royal" approach--offering high profile sympathy and increasing awareness of an issue. This is a crisis situation and a crisis response is needed, not weak words to victims and survivors. But, California operates to a large extent within the cult of celebrity, so I guess politicians don't mind courting them when it suits their own purposes.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Family, News and Events 10: August 2024 -
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OP
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"Breaking news" even, for the DM
. I am not quite sure what the logic is? As bad as the fire is, this is a local problem. And as the Duchess is not the Queen of California and I imagine the show is pre-recorded what is the use of delaying it? Not that I think the Duchess herself will have been deciding this, it must have been a Netflix decision.
Healthy Sceptic
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So they can add content about the wildfires?"Breaking news" even
I am not quite sure what the logic is? As bad as the fire is, this is a local problem. And as the Duchess is not the Queen of California and I imagine the show is pre-recorded what is the use of delaying it?
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What an odd decision of the company. As if all their viewers live in California. With this logic they can suspend most of their releases as unfortunately there is a catastrophy happening at some part of the world very often. California is not the center of the world. Is it known if this the only release they will postpone or will they do cancel some others too?
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I wonder if they were simply unhappy with how the trailer was received and this presented an opportunity to do some more editing or add some new footage.
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I wouldn't be surprised if she is the one advocating for a belated launch. She clearly cares about being seen as caring about the wildfires, so this decision supports that."Breaking news" even, for the DM
I am not quite sure what the logic is? As bad as the fire is, this is a local problem. And as the Duchess is not the Queen of California and I imagine the show is pre-recorded what is the use of delaying it? Not that I think the Duchess herself will have been deciding this, it must have been a Netflix decision.
Alisa
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Smart decision. It would seem toned deaf to air at time like this.
I think the logic is that maybe some of her guests, people who worked on the series and places that were filmed could have been affected by the fire. Makes sense that there are more concerning problems in the area than launching a new series.
The fire may be in California but here in the USA it is affecting everyone. To assume that this is just a local problem is frankly a bit of an insult.
The fire may be in California but here in the USA it is affecting everyone. To assume that this is just a local problem is frankly a bit of an insult.
TBF I think it makes sense, there is no harm in delaying (and being cynical delaying it will only get more attention for the show not less) and it means no one can accuse her of being tone deaf when views of wonderful California are shown while LA burns.
I don’t really know what to say but I don’t think many people here and it could be because they are not in the US realize the absolute devastation that is happening. The LA philharmonic has canceled their shows. Is it because they got bad reviews? There is talk of not having the upcoming awards shows and donating that $ that would have been spent to host it. Is it because they are afraid of poor ratings? I get people really don’t care for her but you can dislike her and you can also say someone has done something good without joining team Meghan
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I think some residents are able to go back to some burn sites. Celebrities like Paris Hilton and Mel Gibson have shared videos of their properties in the aftermath. I have also seen people going back to look for their pets. You all are taking snippets from some articles that are not always accurate and are running with it. I would also assume that if they have a charitable organization, they are probably given reasonable access to see the scope of the damage or the scope of need of those affected. I refuse to believe that these officials are giving them preferential treatment just because of their titles.
The examples you mentioned are all live events. Meghan’s show is in the can already.
Not sure if you saw my post above but there could be people who were on the show, worked on the show etc who lost everything. IMO its not the right time to launch that kind of lifestyle series when your neighboring city is burning to the ground. Just think it would be a bit cold hearted. As for the other live performances I think they have been postponed also out of respect for the people who work and perform. They certainly are able to go to some other city or state but since this is a huge humanitarian issue where people have lost lives and everything the wise decision was to postpone so people could try and get their lives back. Has nothing to do with shows already filmed or a live performance. Its putting people first who are affected.
Netflix has nine other shows premiering this week. None of these has been cancelled. This also includes other "lifestyle series," such as The Roshans, Young Famous & African, and WAGS to Riches.
The only difference I see is Meghan's participation and bad advanced buzz.
Kalnel I see it more as it not being the appropriate time to launch a California lifestyle series whereas you don't think that's the reason. We will have to agree to disagree. Supposedly the series will air the beginning of March. You hear bad buzz I hear good buzz. Guess we are getting differing info.
I can't imagine it would matter, since the show isn't set in Los Angeles. It takes place in Montecito, almost 100 miles away.
Between the negative buzz -- I haven't seen a single positive story about it -- and the negative response she's getting for her "drop in" to the middle of the fire, she's smart to hold the series. No one has anything good to say about her right now. Maybe things will improve by March. (Not likely, but we'll see.)
But I don't see any "humanitarian" angle to canceling the premiere.
Between the negative buzz -- I haven't seen a single positive story about it -- and the negative response she's getting for her "drop in" to the middle of the fire, she's smart to hold the series. No one has anything good to say about her right now. Maybe things will improve by March. (Not likely, but we'll see.)
But I don't see any "humanitarian" angle to canceling the premiere.
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Yep. There have been lots of examples of shows or episodes that have been postponed in the wake of a tragedy, (e.g., episodes about school shootings that get yanked in the days or weeks right after actual school shootings). But, unless she's named one of her recipies "Firestarter Cake" or something, there's nothing about Meghan's show (filmed in Santa Barbara County) that would be insensitive in the wake of the LA fires.
When the show launches, I'm sure she wants to be able to post lots of promo and clips on her IG. She didn't dust it off this month for nothing! I think she (wisely) realizes that even if there's nothing about the show itself that would be insensitive, doing a full-out promotional blitz for it right now would look tone-deaf and not be well-received. Of course, she and Netflix could still release the show this week with little or no promotion (kind of like Polo). But I'm pretty sure she was really looking forward to all the promotion.
I agree. This will also give them a chance to re-set the marketing campaign. I read someplace that she wanted a whole new marketing team assigned to the show, so maybe she wants to re-start with them.
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I’m not getting my information from articles. I’m getting my information from local officials. They are constantly having press conferences about the fires.
Yes some residents that live in, or around Pacific Palisades (like Paris Hilton) have been able to view their property. Unlike Altadena, officials in Palisades set up a parameter on Saturday and were escorting residents in. Some waited up to 8 hours. On the news yesterday, they interviewed a woman who had been waiting for two days. So even though Palisades residents have been able to see their homes, it’s a slow process. And I believe officials said they are going to start restricting access for Palisades residents today.
Residents of Altadena (where Harry and Meghan were) have not been given the same amount of access. Last night there was a community press conference and many residents were asking when they would be allowed to check on their homes.
Here is an article from today’s press conference where they specifically discuss why residents are not being allowed into the evacuated areas.
‘It's for your own good.' Why some fire-affected residents can't return home yet
Los Angeles County officials explain why fire-evacuated residents may not be cleared to return to their homes even if there is no fire in their neighborhoods.
www.nbclosangeles.com
Over the last few days they’ve been doing systematic grid searches in the leveled neighborhoods. At least 16 people are missing. They’ve already found a number of fire victims. So the area is still an active emergency zone. That’s one of the reasons I don’t think Harry and Meghan should have been there.
After a natural disaster, it’s advised that people stay away unless they’re part of the community, or legitimately need to be there. For instance if they’re a government official, first responder, or aid worker. I mean, even Presidents wait a few days before visiting disaster zones. They don’t want to take up resources from the affected community, or get in the way while rescue operations are still ongoing.
Harry and Meghan aren’t elected officials, or aid workers. They’re private citizens and should not have been given access to areas not even residents are allowed.
Any help the Sussexes can give, can be done without seeing the impacted areas. They don’t need to tour destroyed homes to make a difference. All of the celebs who have donated and volunteered in the last few days have shown that.
Maybe its just insensitive to launch a California lifestyle show at this time. As for the other Netflix shows you listed not sure if they were filmed in California or if they feature people from the area. It's a no win situation. She postpones the show and people are upset because whatever reason. If she didn't do that and it aired this week she'd be accused of being tone deaf or not reading the room. [.....]
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Alisa
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I don't think you are aware of the magnitude of what has happened and it's impact.
It would simply be dumb and stupid to air a lifestyle show now. Also Meghan was born and raised in Los Angeles, it makes sense that she would want to be involved helping and providing aid than focusing on her lifestyle show and the publicity surrounding that.
Thank you soapstar.I’m not getting my information from articles. I’m getting my information from local officials. They are constantly having press conferences about the fires.
Yes some residents that live in, or around Pacific Palisades (like Paris Hilton) have been able to view their property. Unlike Altadena, officials in Palisades set up a parameter on Saturday and were escorting residents in. Some waited up to 8 hours. On the news yesterday, they interviewed a woman who had been waiting for two days. So even though Palisades residents have been able to see their homes, it’s a slow process. And I believe officials said they are going to start restricting access for Palisades residents today.
Residents of Altadena (where Harry and Meghan were) have not been given the same amount of access. Last night there was a community press conference and many residents were asking when they would be allowed to check on their homes.
Here is an article from today’s press conference where they specifically discuss why residents are not being allowed into the evacuated areas.
‘It's for your own good.' Why some fire-affected residents can't return home yet
Los Angeles County officials explain why fire-evacuated residents may not be cleared to return to their homes even if there is no fire in their neighborhoods.
Over the last few days they’ve been doing systematic grid searches in the leveled neighborhoods. At least 16 people are missing. They’ve already found a number of fire victims. So the area is still an active emergency zone. That’s one of the reasons I don’t think Harry and Meghan should have been there.
After a natural disaster, it’s advised that people stay away unless they’re part of the community, or legitimately need to be there. For instance if they’re a government official, first responder, or aid worker. I mean, even Presidents wait a few days before visiting disaster zones. They don’t want to take up resources from the affected community, or get in the way while rescue operations are still ongoing.
Harry and Meghan aren’t elected officials, or aid workers. They’re private citizens and should not have been given access to areas not even residents are allowed.
Any help the Sussexes can give, can be done without seeing the impacted areas. They don’t need to tour destroyed homes to make a difference. All of the celebs who have donated and volunteered in the last few days have shown that.
I'm well aware of the "magnitude of what has happened."
And I'd point out that with the magnitude of the crisis, she's not going to get any positive media attention by promoting the show right now and her potential audience won't be paying attention anyway. Deciding to postpone the premiere was a smart move, but not necessarily a humanitarian one.
We can agree on the reaction she would receive one way or the other -- all negative. That's not a function of my not liking her; that's from her past performance. She's burnt a lot of bridges.
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Lee-Z
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In this case i would say it is exactly *because* the target audience isn't just local Montecito and her brand is very much 'Southern California style', it is a wise decision to postpone (regardless of who took the decision).
If it were just for Montecito, the audience would understand what it was about, just like in other parts of California (i assume) life continues somewhat regular at the moment, kids go to school, people go to work.
But for me, living at the other side of the world, California is burning, huge fires everywhere, and i have no idea what Montecito being 100km away means, it is still South California maybe a fire could start there too...
if a new show would premiere celebrating Southern Californian lifestyle as iff nothing happened (because the show was recorded ages ago), it would most definitely feel tonedeaf
It's always difficult to know what to do under these sorts of circumstances. After the recent floods in Valencia, matches involving the local football teams were postponed. However, matches elsewhere in Spain went ahead, and some players and managers said openly that they felt that that was inappropriate. Whatever you do, someone will say it was the wrong decision.
The statement quoted by Tommy100 suggests that the idea to delay the release of the show came from Meghan and that Netflix then agreed to it.
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