The PR woman organising Meghan Markle’s comic-con-style appearance at an Australian ‘ultimate girls’ weekend’ has run into major financially difficulties after her PR agency went bust with a giant $500,000 tax bill, it was reported today.
Gemma O’Neill has been busily promoting a three-day event in Sydney where women pay £1,705 for a ‘VIP experience’ including a picture with the Duchess of Sussex over dinner.
Meghan, 44, is the headline guest at the inaugural ‘Her Best Life Retreat’, a seaside weekend organised by the events company Besties, founded by radio host Jackie O Henderson and her close friend Ms O’Neill.
But today it was reported in Australia that the talent agency owned by Gemma has collapsed owing more than half a million Australian dollars, mainly to the taxman.
She says she cannot pay her debts due to a lack of savings and her ‘low income’.
Administrators were said to have been appointed after O’Neill’s talent management business, Gemmie Agency, went into voluntary liquidation in November.
The firm owes $543,548 to the Australian Taxation Office, with another $3,300 owed to small business Jack Lawrence Accountants and Advisors, reports news.com.au.
Fans can buy ‘VIP experience’ tickets for £1,705 ($3,199) that includes a ‘group table photo with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex ‘ and the chance to hear her interviewed on stage during a two-night stay in a 5-star Sydney hotel
Organiser Gemma O’Neill (pictured hosting an episode of the Her Best Life podcast) has reportedly informed administrators she cannot make the repayment contributions on the $500,000 she owes due to limited income and a lack of savings
Just last month, on February 20, O’Neill reportedly informed the administrators she couldn’t make any repayment contributions, noting she has no available personal savings, limited income, and had failed to refinance her beachside apartment in Sydney.
On the same day her star client Jackie O, a well known broadcaster in Australia, had a public row with her KIIS FM radio partner, Kyle Sandilands, which led to to the duo being taken off air and their $100million contracts were torn up.
Around a fortnight later Gemma and Jackie announced that Meghan Markle would headline their £1,400 ‘girls’ weekend’, where the former Suits star would deliver a gala dinner speech and pose for photos with paying VIP guests.
Up to 300 guests will be welcomed to the three-day luxury retreat in Sydney from April 17 to 19, during her trip to the country with the Duke of Sussex.
The deal was brokered by the ‘third wheel’ in her marriage to Prince Harry, Markus Anderson, who is a close friend of Gemma O’Neill’s.
Last night administrators from Grant Thornton Australia said in a creditors’ statement that the debts incurred by O’Neill’s agency were in stark contrast to a seven‑figure commission paid by an unnamed ‘key client’ between October 2023 and March 2024, according to news.com.au.
O’Neill reportedly is due to respond to the creditors report by today, Tuesday March 17.
The Daily Mail has asked her to comment.
On the same day Gemma reportedly informed the administrators she couldn’t make any repayment contributions, February 20, her client and friend Jackie O was involved in a public spat Down Under.
She had fought with her KIIS FM radio partner, Kyle Sandilands, in an argument about her being ‘away with the fairies’, which later saw the duo taken off the airwaves permanently and their $100million contracts torn up.
The Kyle and Jackie O Show was officially axed 11 days later in a dramatic announcement by the radio station’s owner, ARN Media.
Jackie O has now launched a wrongful termination suit against ARN, after she told executives she couldn’t ‘continue to work with Mr Kyle Sandilands’ following his harsh on‑air comments.
Gemma O’Neill’s (left) firm owes over $500,000-plus to the Australian taxman. She is pictured with her client Jackie O, who has recently left her hit radio show
The friends launched their business, Besties Australia Pty Ltd in October 2022, later hosting Gwyneth Paltrow at a ‘Besties’ event that drew a smaller than expected crowd
The exclusive event costs thousands of pounds for the weekend – and includes some time with Meghan at a gala dinner
Markus Anderson helped set up Meghan’s blind date with Harry in 2018 – and eight years on he helped set up her appearance at an Australian ‘ultimate girls’ weekend’ where women will pay for a photo with her
The duo’s joint venture, Besties Australia Pty Ltd, is also mentioned in the creditor’s report after it was revealed that a loan of $18,143 was made to the event business.
Besties Australia was registered by O’Neill in October 2022 in her role as director/secretary.
However, the report states O’Neill did not disclose any loans to related parties to GTA’s administrators.
‘The director (O’Neill) advised that this balance was incorrectly recorded by the Company’s former accountant and the transactions in the loan account were in respect of costs incurred by the Company, and not by Besties Australia,’ the report states.
The Daily Mail has contacted GTA’s appointed liquidator John McInerney for comment.
It comes just days after Besties Australia announced it will host Meghan Markle at an exclusive three-day retreat in Sydney’s eastern suburbs next month.
Tickets to the retreat, which takes place from April 17 to 19 to coincide with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s trip Down Under, retail for around $3,000 for one person.
The duo launched their business, Besties Australia Pty Ltd, in October 2022, later hosting Gwyneth Paltrow at a ‘Besties’ event that drew a smaller-than-expected crowd.
Just as Meghan’s As Ever deal with Netflix ended, it emerged her close friend Markus Anderson has been credited with helping her secure the gig Down Under next month.
Fans can buy ‘VIP experience’ tickets for £1,705 ($3,199) that includes a ‘group table photo with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex‘ and the chance to hear her interviewed on stage during a two-night stay in a 5-star Sydney hotel.
A gift bag will also be handed out – and there is speculation it could contain As Ever staples such as jam, flower sprinkles and candles.
Ms O’Neill said that Markus reached out to her to suggest Meghan as their guest of honour. She said Mr Anderson is ‘the bee’s knees and a top-notch human’ so despite Gemma’s initial reluctance she had agreed because Markus ‘wouldn’t be so close with someone who wasn’t also the same’.
Although the booking appears to have not been agreed by the Duchess of Sussex directly. ‘All of my dealings with Meghan’s team have been so lovely, they’re so delightful’, Gemma added.
It is not known if Meghan is being remunerated but experts have predicted that Meghan will attend as a ‘paid celebrity’. One royal source likened the appearance to the former Duchess of York. ‘She’s basically Fergie,’ they said.
Few can have had more impact on Meghan’s life than handsome Canadian Markus Anderson, because it was him who organised her blind date with Prince Harry. And it was him who reached out to the Australians behind ‘Her Best Life Retreat’ while he was at her Montecito mansion.
Gemma O’Neill said she initially considered rejecting his idea to have Meghan meet 300 women gathering for a weekend focused on connection, wellbeing and personal development, because she didn’t consider herself worthy.
She said: ‘Markus messaged me because he was at Meghan’s house. Markus is also very close friends to Meghan and has been for many years, long before she was married, and they have a beautiful friendship too’.
And she has concluded that Markus is a ‘top-notch human’, so Meghan must be too. ‘I’ve always felt protective that my friend Markus is the bee’s knees, he’s a top-notch human. The first person to be there, check on you. I knew that Markus wouldn’t be so close or best friends with someone who wasn’t also the same’, she said.
Along with access to Meghan, the chance to ask her questions and a photo with her, paying guests have been promised the ‘ultimate girls’ weekend’ in a brand new 5-star hotel.
As well as hearing the Duchess of Sussex speak in the ballroom of the InterContinental, there will be a DJ, disco and the chance to lounge by the pool with cocktails overlooking Coogee Beach.
Inside the hotel there will be the chance to meditate, try sound healing and discuss women’s psychology.
Ms O’Neill said ‘there’s no one more shocked than me’ that Meghan would headline the event and host a Q&A session for guests, and admitted she almost turned her down because ‘I felt like I didn’t deserve her’.
Before deciding the audience of 300 women did.
‘She’s risen above everything and I have so much respect for that’, she said.
‘Early bird’ tickets to the retreat with Meghan start at $2,699 Australian dollars, while the VIP experience costs $3,199 per person.
‘Join us for an intimate luxury weekend by the ocean designed to bring women together for powerful conversations, relaxation, laughter and unforgettable experiences,’ the event website states.
‘The highlight of the weekend will be an in-person conversation and gala dinner with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. An intimate gala like no other.
‘This is your chance to step away from everyday life and spend a weekend focusing on connection, growth, joy and celebration.
‘Come by yourself, come with your best friend, or bring a whole group of your favourite women.’
Markus was there with Meghan on the July 2016 holiday to London when she met Harry for the first time.
He set up their blind date at the city’s Soho House at 76 Dean Street and was in the tight circle who helped keep their nascent love affair secret as they courted in Toronto while she filmed Suits.
In 2018 Markus organised her hen do and was front and centre at the royal wedding in Windsor.
Megxit in 2020 led to a reshuffle in her inner circle including the jettisoning of her ‘BFF’ Jessica Mulroney.
Some feared Markus had gone the same way when he did not appear at all on With Love, Meghan, where she hosted friends at a TV mansion.
Not only did Gemma O’Neill reveal that Markus helped broker the deal, she inadvertently also told the world that Meghan and Mr Anderson are close.
