Meghan Markle Reportedly Struggling To Land Big Names For Her Podcast: 'No One Has Picked Up'

Meghan Markle's podcast is reportedly struggling to gain traction, with sources claiming her outreach to A-list guests has been met with silence.

Since the release of the first episode, the Duchess's podcast, "Confessions of a Female Founder," has also been met with negative reviews.

Meanwhile, Meghan Markle recently opened up about the real reason why she changed her lifestyle brand's name from American Riviera Orchard to As Ever.

Meghan is reportedly struggling to attract top-tier guests for her new podcast despite an ambitious mission to have "honest conversations with women who've built from the ground up, faced challenges, and kept going."

According to insiders who spoke to Radar Online, Meghan's outreach to A-list stars like Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Hailey Bieber has been met with silence.

"She's dialed all the big names, but no one's picked up, and the absence of high-profile guests in the lineup is raising eyebrows," the source said.

"There's no Taylor Swift. No Beyoncé. Not even a Hailey Bieber," the insider continued. "And when you're pitching female empowerment, that's a problem. It speaks volumes about her pulling power. She's not happy about her lack of appeal."

With big-name celebrities reportedly turning down invitations, Meghan is now expected to shift her podcast lineup toward personal friends, influencers, and emerging entrepreneurs, as she also works to build momentum for her lifestyle brand, As Ever.

Meghan's podcast "Confessions of a Female Founder," produced by Lemonade, kicked off with Bumble's Whitney Wolfe Herd.

It was then followed by Girls Who Code founder Reshma Saujani, with the most recent guest being Kadi Lee, Meghan's friend and business partner.

In the debut episode, Meghan opened up about a serious health scare post-childbirth and shared nostalgic childhood photos on Instagram.

The Duchess of Sussex also hinted at her past royal life, referencing her reluctance to step into the spotlight after Archie's birth.

On the latest episode of Meghan's podcast, she opened up about the branding confusion surrounding her lifestyle venture.

Originally introduced as American Riviera Orchard in March of last year, the mother of two admitted the name eventually felt like a "word salad."

Speaking with her guest and friend, Kadi Lee, Meghan revealed she had actually secured the name As Ever back in 2022.

However, as the project evolved and a major partner, Netflix, came on board, the original naming structure no longer made sense.

"I had secured As Ever as a name in 2022, and then as everything started to evolve last year, and bringing in a partner the size that it was, and it was just so interesting," Meghan said, per the Daily Mail.

"I like American Riviera as an umbrella,' and then be able to have verticals beneath it. And maybe have the 'Orchard' really small. But when that's not feasible… suddenly it became this word salad. I didn't love that so much," she added.

Since its release, Meghan's podcast has been met with negative reviews from several critics.

The Times of London's columnist James Marriott slammed the podcast as "Meghan's vapid lessons in self-love," while a writer for the Guardian noted that it was "stomach-turning" and "sycophantic."

Further slamming the new project was Telegraph's TV critic Chris Bennion. He claimed it was an "inane stream of mindless aphorisms" with "no confessions or secrets."

Similar words were used to describe Meghan's cooking show, which debuted on Netflix early last month.

An outlet reviewed it as "a Montecito ego trip not worth taking," while another slammed it as "a ghastly artifact of a particular cultural era that recently met its apocalypse," per the Daily Mail.

The show was also called an "exercise in narcissism, filled with extravagant brunches, celebrity pals, and business plugs."

Former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Tina Brown recently called Meghan "desperate for attention" for launching multiple businesses within a short period.

"Her problem is just that she is so ADD. She just never stops making announcements and never really follows through," the former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief said on the Mixed Signals for Semafor Media podcast last Friday, per the Daily Mail.

The 71-year-old went on to suggest Meghan is "devoid of self-confidence" as a further explanation for the duchess' multiple new business ventures.

"She's always trying to be a sort of instant Beyoncé or instant Michelle Obama without the background that has built those people - you know, those very, very strong structures on which they stand. So that's really been her problem," Brown added about the Duchess of Sussex.