The Daily Mail’s latest critique of Meghan Markle’s Hollywood career is a masterclass in selective reporting. While the article presents a narrative of failure and decline, a closer examination of the facts tells a rather different story.

The Cookie Queens “Flop”

The article gleefully reports that Cookie Queens underperformed at the box office and was beaten by CatVideoFest 2026. What it conveniently omits is that the documentary received positive reviews from critics at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter gave it a 70/100, while IndieWire awarded it 67/100. Critics praised the director’s portrayal of the young characters as “natural, energetic, and charismatic”.

A niche documentary about Girl Scout cookies was never going to be a blockbuster. Comparing it to CatVideoFest—a beloved franchise with a built-in fanbase—is like comparing apples to oranges. The film’s critical reception at a prestigious festival like Sundance is a far more meaningful metric than its opening weekend gross.

The Netflix “Downgrade” Narrative

The article frames the shift from an exclusive deal to a first-look agreement as a failure. Yet Netflix explicitly extended its creative partnership with Archewell Productions through a multiyear, first-look deal for all film and television projects. This mirrors the exact same move Netflix made with the Obamas’ Higher Ground production company. If it’s a “downgrade” for the Sussexes, it’s a “downgrade” for a former US president and first lady as well.

Furthermore, when the As Ever brand partnership ended, both Netflix and As Ever issued statements making clear this was always the plan—the streaming giant was only part of the initial launch phase, and Meghan was “always intended” to take the brand independent. A Netflix spokesperson stated: “As it was always intended, Meghan will continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently”. This is not a rejection—it’s a graduation.

The Emmy Nomination

Perhaps most glaringly omitted from the article’s doom-and-gloom narrative: Meghan’s Netflix lifestyle series With Love, Meghan received a Daytime Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Lifestyle Program category. This is her first-ever Emmy nomination. Whatever one thinks of the show, an Emmy nomination represents industry recognition—not failure.

The Bigger Picture

The Sussexes continue to produce content for Netflix, including a film adaptation of The Wedding Date and a war film based on an Afghanistan memoir. They have multiple projects in development. Their production company, Archewell Productions, remains active and partnered with one of the world’s largest streamers.

The Daily Mail’s narrative of “failure” relies on ignoring critical acclaim, misrepresenting business transitions as rejections, and omitting major achievements like Emmy nominations. It’s not that Meghan “can’t crack Hollywood”. It’s that the tabloids can’t seem to crack a fair, balanced story about her.

There is a second article.

The Daily Mail has published yet another obituary for Meghan Markle’s Hollywood career, this time gleefully reporting that Cookie Queens “bombed” at the box office and was panned by critics. But a closer reading of the article itself reveals a far more complicated—and far less catastrophic—story than the headline suggests.

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The Rotten Tomatoes Contradiction

The article leads with harsh quotes from Variety and the San Francisco Chronicle, painting a picture of critical disaster. Yet buried deep in the piece, almost as an afterthought, is this: the film has a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 49 reviews.

That’s not a flop. That’s strong critical consensus. The article can quote Owen Gleiberman’s dismissal all it wants, but it conveniently ignores that dozens of other critics disagreed. The Boston Globe, for instance, praised the film for “surprising honesty and more than a little bite.” The Mail includes that quote but quickly moves on—because it doesn’t fit the narrative.

And let’s not forget: the film received support from the Sundance Documentary Fund and screened at Sundance itself. The Sundance Institute doesn’t fund just anything. That alone is a credential most documentary filmmakers would kill for.

The Box Office “Disaster”

The article is desperate to frame a £250,000 opening weekend as an embarrassment. It compares the film unfavourably to CatVideoFest 2026, which made more money on fewer screens.

This is a fundamentally dishonest comparison. CatVideoFest is a beloved annual franchise with over a decade of built-in audience goodwill—it’s essentially a greatest-hits compilation for cat lovers. Cookie Queens is a 91-minute documentary about Girl Scout cookies, a niche subject with a niche audience. No one at Archewell Productions expected Barbie numbers. The distributor, Roadside Attractions, explicitly told Deadline that the film “performed well with groups of current and former Girl Scouts” and that they believe it has “a long life ahead.”

A documentary doesn’t need to top the box office to be successful. It needs to find its audience. By that measure, the film appears to have done exactly that.

The “Staged” Criticism

One critic called the film “as staged as it is sweet.” The article presents this as damning, but what does “staged” even mean in the context of a documentary? All documentaries are constructed. They’re edited, shaped, and curated. The accusation of being “staged” is a subjective aesthetic judgment, not an objective flaw. The film follows young girls navigating a high-pressure sales competition; of course there are moments that feel produced. That’s called filmmaking.

The Promotion Paradox

The article notes that there “appears to have been limited promotion ahead of its release.” Yet Meghan attended a screening in July, posing with the director and the scouts. If the film had been heavily promoted, the Mail would have written about “Meghan’s desperate PR push.” Because it wasn’t, the Mail writes about abandonment. Meghan cannot win this game—and that’s exactly the point.

The Real Story

The real story here is not that a niche documentary underperformed at the box office. It’s that the Daily Mail continues to manufacture “blows” and “setbacks” out of perfectly ordinary career milestones. A documentary with a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score, Sundance backing, and a distributor who’s happy with its performance is not a failure. It’s a modest success.

But modest success doesn’t sell papers. Catastrophe does. And so the Mail will keep cherry-picking the harshest quotes, ignoring the positive ones, and comparing apples to oranges at the box office—all to convince you that Meghan Markle is losing, when in truth she’s simply building a career in the most competitive industry on earth, one project at a time.