Drug addiction, an overdose death and a foray into Scientology set Stephanie Wittels Wachs on the unlikely path of teaming up with a member of the British royal family.
Last month, it was revealed that Meghan Markle had signed with Lemonada Media, a female-led company, to host a show after cutting ties with Spotify after just one season of the Archetypes podcast.
Stephanie Wittels Wachs, 43, launched the podcasting company in 2019 with co-founder Jessica Cordova Kramer, which now produces shows about sex, grief and LGBTQ issues to help “make life less sucky.”
Speaking to DailyMail.com, a Hollywood insider and friend said: “Stephanie didn’t set out to become a media mogul and certainly didn’t expect to do business with royals .”
But it was the overdose death of Wachs’ comedian brother in 2015, aged 30, that sparked her podcasting project and eventually led her to work with the Duchess of Sussex, who would relaunch Archetypes and host an unspecified broadcast.
The Duchess of Sussex has signed with Lemonada Media, a female-run company, to host an unspecified show. Stephanie Wittels Wachs (left) launched the podcasting company in 2019 with co-founder Jessica Cordova Kramer and won a Webby Award for Online Excellence last year.
Wachs’ brother, Harris Wittels, was a successful comedian and Parks and Recreation writer who died in 2015 of a heroin overdose. Brother and sister are pictured together
That brother was Harris Wittels who was “discovered” by comedian Sarah Silverman in his early twenties.
He then counted household names like Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari among his colleagues when he signed on as co-executive producer and writer on the NBC hit Parks and Recreation.
He is also the author of Humblebrag: The Art of False Modesty.
“The guy was such a talented joke writer – as well as being a superstar on Twitter – that he continued to work at an extremely high professional level despite his substance abuse issues,” a source told DailyMail.com.
“Parks just wouldn’t have been the same without his writing, and everyone knew it. »
A year after his death, Wachs – who was then a high school teacher in Houston, Texas – told DailyMail.com that learning of his brother’s death was “the worst day of my life.” Stephanie and Harris are pictured at her wedding
Wittels has also spoken about his addiction, describing his drug use and stints in rehab on podcasts, even admitting to going to Los Angeles’ Skid Row to buy heroin at 2 a.m.
He died of a heroin overdose on February 19, 2015 at the age of 30 after a two-year struggle.
“Stephanie was a housewife in Texas when her brother died after a long, semi-public battle with drugs,” the source said. ‘Harris’ sudden and shocking death caused Stephanie to turn her entire life upside down.
“She decided to dedicate her time to creating and distributing uplifting podcast content.”
Lemonada was founded four years after Harris’ death, after Wachs teamed up with Kramer, whose brother Stefano also died of an overdose.
Lemonada’s slogan is “making lemonade out of lemons, one podcast at a time.”
“That in itself was a tribute to his late brother because he was passionate about the medium of podcasting and made tons of hilarious podcast appearances that endure,” the insider said.
A year after his brother’s death, Wachs – who was then a high school teacher in Houston, Texas – told DailyMail.com that learning of his brother’s death was “the worst day of my life.”
She said that after her third stint in rehab, “it was very clear to us that (death) was a possibility.”
“We have been living in this hell for a long time. When I saw the number on my phone, I knew what was going on, but I don’t think you’re ever ready to get that call,” Wachs said.
The Hollywood insider said they couldn’t help but think Scientology led to Wittels’ downfall.
“What is utterly bizarre about this whole situation is that shortly before his death, Harris went to war with Scientology by publicly recounting his strange, recruitment-oriented encounters on as many podcasts as he could,” the source said.
“Stephanie was a housewife in Texas when her brother died of a heroin overdose after a long, semi-public battle with drugs,” a source told DailyMail.com. ‘Harris’ sudden and shocking death caused Stephanie to turn her entire life upside down’
Harris Wittels counted household names like Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari among his colleagues when he signed on as one of the top writers on NBC’s hit series Parks and Recreation.
Wachs’ brother, Harris Wittels, was “discovered” by comedian Sarah Silverman in his early twenties. Silverman now has a podcast with Lemonada
In an episode of the “You Made It Weird” podcast, recorded just months before his death, he opened up about his foray into Scientology for a girl he was dating — but said he ultimately backed out.
“I was always a little weird about this Scientology thing with this girl I liked. And I couldn’t deal with this inner turmoil and instead of thinking about it, I could take a pill and relax and be fine,” Wittels said.
He admitted it was the stress of dating a Scientologist that led him to use hard drugs, including opioids and eventually heroin.
Wittels goes on to say that the girl he was dating and his father pushed him to enter Scientology rehab. He initially refused, but a few months later he entered the Church program.
“They lock you up for three months and inject you with niacin,” he said.
Wittels said he went to Promises in Malibu and paid $57,000 for 30 days of treatment, and got clean.
But it was short-lived.
Our source said: “There was always this nagging suspicion among his group of surviving friends that Harris’ strange experience with Scientology led to his death, like a chain of dominoes toppling over.”
Jessica Cordova Kramer (left) and Stephanie Wittels Wachs founded Lemonada in 2019
Lemonada’s slogan is “making lemonade out of lemons, one podcast at a time.”
Besides Meghan Markle, Lemonada works with a multitude of celebrities, from Sarah Silverman to Julia Louis-Dreyfus and have big backers, including Stephanie Hannon, who served as technology director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
“I am proud to now be able to announce that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting,” Meghan said in a statement last month. “Being able to support a woman-founded business with a slate of thought-provoking and highly entertaining podcasts is a fantastic way to kick off 2024.”
There are no details yet on what Markle’s new show with Lemonada will be — just that she will be the host.
Wachs said in a 2022 interview that they realized that “people are struggling and feeling really alone.” Lemonada’s mission was born. Our desire is to make difficult things easier.
One of Lemonada’s most popular shows is Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, which spent 29 consecutive days at the top of the Apple Podcast charts.
In the podcast, she sits down with Jane Fonda, Carol Burnett, Amy Tan, Diane von Furstenberg, Isabel Allende and Fran Lebowitz “to learn how to live a full, meaningful life.”