Tina Brown blames intense U.K. backlash for the reversal, while filmmaker Neil Sean calls reports of the Netflix casting “total fabrication.”
ByBernadette Giacomazzo
August 23, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Meghan Markle reportedly entered advanced talks for a role written for her in season three of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, which would mark her biggest acting comeback since leaving Suits in 2017.
- Tina Brown says the production withdrew Markle’s casting after intense U.K. backlash, while filmmaker Neil Sean insists the role “was never on” and calls the story a “total fabrication.”
- Netflix has neither confirmed Markle’s involvement nor officially greenlit a third season, though she reportedly filmed a cameo as herself in Amazon’s Close Personal Friends.
Meghan Markle’s reported return to scripted television has hit a major snag—if it was ever happening at all. One day after reports claimed the Duchess of Sussex was in advanced talks to join Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, a new report says the potential casting has been withdrawn amid backlash in the U.K. Meanwhile, media correspondent and filmmaker Neil Sean says the entire story was “total fabrication” from the start.
According to The Guardian, former Vanity Fair and New Yorker editor Tina Brown said Saturday that she had been told Markle would no longer be joining the Netflix crime series. “I learned this morning that the casting of Meghan Markle in season 3 of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen has been withdrawn,” Brown wrote. “The backlash in the UK was so intense, it became untenable to go forward.”
Sean quickly challenged that account. Responding to Brown on social media, he wrote, “It was never on—I know #guyritchie total fabrication that you and the rest of the Media decided to run with.” Sean also tagged Deadline while calling the story “ridiculous.” His account directly conflicts with reporting from multiple outlets that Markle had been discussing a role in the series.
Those reports emerged on Friday, August 21, when The Hollywood Reporter said Markle was in “advanced discussions” to appear in an unannounced third season of The Gentlemen. The outlet reported that a part was being written for her, although the number of episodes remained unclear, and that Markle had met Ritchie through mutual acquaintances.
Variety subsequently reported that discussions had taken place. Netflix has not confirmed the casting, and a third season of the series has yet to receive an official green light.
Markle and Prince Harry are reportedly preparing to move back to Britain with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, six years after stepping away from the British royal family and relocating to California.
A part in The Gentlemen would have marked Markle’s most significant return to acting since leaving Suits in 2017 as her relationship with Harry moved toward marriage. She played Rachel Zane for seven seasons before becoming a working royal.
More recently, Markle reportedly filmed a cameo as herself in the Amazon comedy Close Personal Friends, starring Brie Larson and Jack Quaid.
Markle and Harry have remained connected to Hollywood since moving to the U.S., including through their Netflix partnership, which produced Harry & Meghan and With Love, Meghan.
