According to the Daily Mail, Meghan Markle filmed a cooking show at one of California’s largest cannabis farms. However, insiders told Page Six that this was not the case.
Meghan Markle is on a quest to become Hollywood’s new lifestyle queen, with her American Riviera Orchard brand. Her latest move to achieve that ambition is to shoot a cooking show for Netflix.
On May 1, a source from the Daily Mail said that the Duchess of Sussex and a crew of about 50 people are filming the show.
GettyAccording to sources, Meghan has so far avoided filming at the $14 million Montecito mansion where she lives with her husband and children. Instead, she borrowed a smaller but still spacious 4,000-square-foot house, about 2 miles away, as the first filming location. The owners of the $5 million house are philanthropist couple Tom and Sherrie Cipolla. The second filming location is Farmlane – the Van Wingerden family’s cannabis farm in the coastal town of Carpinteria, California.
The Van Wingerdens are known as the largest legal marijuana suppliers in the area. Farmlane owners David and Cindy Van Wingerden turned the flower farm into a cannabis mecca in 2015.
In California, the production and distribution of marijuana is legal. However, the Van Wingerdens’ operations and other marijuana farms have angered neighbors because of the foul odors that pollute the air.
According to the Daily Mail , Carpinteria residents filed 2,340 odor complaints between mid-2018 and 2022. In September 2023, households in the area filed a class-action lawsuit against two marijuana farms (unrelated to Van Wingerden’s business), claiming their property values were severely damaged by the sewer-like odor.
Residents are subjected to a strong marijuana odor almost daily, the lawsuit says. Their homes and clothing are severely tainted by the odor. Some also experience respiratory problems, headaches and nausea.
While the Daily Mail questioned how Meghan would deal with the stench of choosing a cannabis farm as her cooking location, Page Six ‘s own source denied the information.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed that the show was not filmed in or near any cannabis farms. The source added that the filming was taking place at a private residence and that any other names given were false.
Meghan’s representatives have not yet responded to the news. However, it has once again made her a topic of discussion on social media.
Netizens commented: “Maybe she should make magic mushrooms to make delicious soup”, “At some point, she has to stop craving attention. It’s like they’re sitting around planning to do bold things to get public recognition and that’s not appropriate at all”, “Harry seems to love this”, “Why did she need to use 2 locations to film?”, “Of course they chose controversial locations to film to get these guys more attention”, “If that’s true, the Netflix show should be listed as Meghan’s failure”, “The viewership ratings are definitely not high”, “I pay Netflix to watch something relaxing, kind, educational or entertaining. Why waste money on them?”…
Before Meghan, Prince Harry also had trouble with drug use in the past.
He claimed in his memoir Spare (2023) that cannabis helped heal the wounds caused by the death of his mother, Princess Diana. He also admitted to using cocaine and hallucinogenic mushrooms.
Because of this, the American Heritage Foundation filed a lawsuit demanding that the visa application of King Charles’ youngest son be made public, to see if he was truthful when answering questions about drug use.
There is no word yet on whether Meghan has any cannabis products listed at American Riviera Orchard. According to cannabis business website MJBizDaily , many celebrities have lent their names to various cannabis products, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow (Meghan’s neighbor), Seth Rogan, Mike Tyson, Jay-Z, Bella Thorne, and Justin Bieber…
