Prince Harry and Meghan Markle slammed by Spotify exec after streaming giant axes Archetypes podcast
17 June 2023, 09:10 | Updated: 19 June 2023, 11:22
A top Spotify podcast executive has accused Harry and Meghan of being "f***ing grifters" after they only produced one podcast series before parting ways with the streaming giant.
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The couple had initially signed a three-year deal to produce content for Spotify, with Meghan hosting the first series called Archetypes.
But after they "parted ways" with the streaming giant, Bill Simmons, who is Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetisation, was quick to hit out at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
"The f***ing grifters. That's the podcast we should have launched with them," he said in the latest episode of his own podcast on Friday.
"I've got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It's one of my best stories."
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Meghan's Spotify podcast was axed earlier in the week after it failed to meet targets.
Her Archetypes series, which focused on "labels that try to hold women back", will not get a second season.
A joint statement from Spotify and Archewell Audio, which is Meghan and Prince Harry's production firm, said the two were "proud of the series we made together" but they had "mutually agreed to part ways".
The Sussexes had reportedly signed a $20m deal with the streaming giant in 2020, and the show featured Mariah Carey and Serena Williams.
Read more: Why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were 'snubbed' from Trooping the Colour invite list
It comes as Harry and Meghan are also understood to have not been invited to the King's first Trooping the Colour this weekend.
They will instead remain in the US with their children, Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two.
Both Buckingham Palace, and a rep for the couple, have declined to comment on the reports.
