Meghan Markle held hands with Netflix boss Ted Sarandos’ wife as the Sussexes attended a star-studded party in Montecito this weekend.
The Duchess of Sussex, 44, appeared close with Nicole Avant as the pair and their husbands posed for photos at the Beef Season Two Tastemaker event in California on Friday night.
Meghan Markle donned an olive green dress with brown sandals while Nicole, 58, wore a black and white floral gown.
Other famous faces at the party included Orlando Bloom, Katy Perry, Justin Trudeau, Riverdale star Charles Melton and British actress Carey Mulligan. Melton and Mulligan both star in the popular Netflix drama Beef.
Meghan Markle and Harry’s appearance at the event came after Sarandos quietly unfollowed the Duchess and her lifestyle company As Ever on Instagram – around the same time her brand was purged by the streamer, the Daily Mail revealed last month.
Netflix’s boss was one of the first big names to follow Meghan when she returned to social media at the start of 2025.
In March last year, her lifestyle business’s Instagram account launched, first as American Riviera Orchard and then As Ever, which Sarandos added to his list of around 450 accounts he follows.
But he unfollowed both Meghan and As Ever around February time – as did his creative chief, Bela Bajaria.
Both have been extremely positive about Meghan previously, with Sarandos calling her ‘the rock star’ as recently as last spring.
Sarandos’ wife Nicole does still follow Meghan on Instagram – but not As Ever. A Netflix source previously told the Daily Mail: ‘Nicole and Meghan are still friends.’
Sarandos has been Co-CEO of Netflix since 2020, after being promoted from Chief Content Officer. He has been with Netflix since March 2000.
Last month, a friend and former Suits co-star of the Duchess insisted Meghan will return to acting after the unravelling of her exclusive deal with the streaming giant.
Veteran actor Eric Roberts said he believes a Hollywood comeback by the former TV star will ‘blow everybody’s mind’.
‘She will come back,’ Julia Roberts’ brother said, speaking on the red carpet at a charity gala in March alongside his casting director and manager wife Eliza.
‘It is time. And Meghan needs to come back to work. I feel like her whole family will support it, and she is amazing,’ Eliza added.
Roberts, 69, who played shady billionaire Charles Forstman on the legal drama, developed a friendship with Markle while shooting the hit USA Network show.
‘Meghan is a star,’ added Eliza. ‘From the second you see her, she just has star quality. It doesn’t matter. It was always going to happen.’
Eric Roberts was definitive in his opinion about Markle’s potential comeback.
‘I think she’s going to be fantastic and blow everybody’s mind,’ he said.