A top Spotify podcast executive has called Prince Harry and Meghan Markle “f***ing grifters” after they produced just one 13-episode series of a podcast for the company and then parted ways.
The end of the pair’s reported $20 million deal was announced Thursday night, three years after signing.
Spotify and the Sussexes’ audio production company Archewell Audio have released a joint statement saying they have “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we have created together.”
Bill Simmons, Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization at Spotify, denounced the pair in an episode of his own podcast on Friday.
“The damn crooks. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them,” he said.
“I have 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.’
Bill Simmons (left), who sold his podcast and sports journalism company The Ringer to Spotify for $200 million in 2020, now works as Spotify’s head of podcast innovation. On Friday, he described the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (right) as ‘bastards’ after parting ways with the company
Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season
Simmons, a sports writer, founded the sports and pop culture website and podcast network The Ringer and sold it to Spotify for $200 million in 2020.
He then joined Spotify and has long been critical of the pair.
Last January, he sued Prince Harry, saying it was “embarrassing” to be affiliated with the same company.
“Shoot this man at the sun,” he said, according to the sports website The great leadership.
“I am so tired of this man. What does he bring to the table? He just whines about s*** and keeps giving interviews.
‘Who cares if***? Who cares about your life?
“You weren’t even the favorite son. You live in f****** Montecito and you just sell documentaries and podcasts and nobody cares what you have to say unless you talk about the royal family and just complain about it.”
Spotify recently laid off staff and scaled back talent from big names to focus on the creator economy.
The streaming giant announced it would be laying off about 200 staff — about two percent of its workforce — who work within its podcast teams. It cited difficulties in making podcasts profitable despite its popularity among listeners.
Markle’s Spotify podcast, Archetypes, will not be renewed for a second season.
The move to cancel the Duchess of Sussex’s show, which explores the ‘labels that try to stop women’, follows discussions months ago about renewing for a second series.
Insiders close to the audio giant claim the royal couple failed to meet the productivity benchmark required to receive the full payout, the Wall Street Journal reported.
However, Markle still plans to create more podcasts and find a new home for her series, which previously featured her friend and tennis star Serena Williams, pop sensation. Mary Carey and South African comedian Trevor Noah.
Archetypes was launched last August and explores the ‘labels that try to stop women’. The Duke and Duchess reportedly signed the deal for $20 million but will not receive the full payout as it failed the productivity benchmark
Meghan concluded her 12th episode in the Archetypes podcast series with a provocative poetry about survival
The show’s cancellation comes after sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed the couple would stop making feature-length Netflix documentaries, publishing memoirs and attending interviews about the royal family, saying they’d have “nothing left to do”. have to say’.
The talent agency that recently signed Meghan, WME, told the Wall Street Journal, “The team behind Archetypes continues to be proud of the podcast they created at Spotify.
“Meghan will continue to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform.”
The podcast reached the top of Spotify’s charts the week it premiered.
Meghan concluded her 13th and final Archetypes episode with a defiant poetry about survival, but made no mention of a possible second series.
Closing the show, which featured men for the first time, she quoted the Greek post-war poet Dinos Christianopoulos saying, “What didn’t you do to bury me?” But you forgot I was a seed.’
Discussions are underway to publish more content from Archwell — the production company owned by the royal couple — the Wall Street Journal reported.
There are also suggestions that Meghan could soon be looking to bring back her wellness and lifestyle blog The Tig, in an effort to rival Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website, which is reportedly worth $250 million.
It comes amid reports that the pair will stop making documentaries and tell-all books because they have ‘nothing left to say’
The royal couple has racked up millions since moving to California. Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, was part of a $20 million book deal
Since officially leaving the royal family and moving to California in 2020, the Duke and Duchess have taken a number of different avenues to generate income.
This includes Prince Harry’s bombshell memoir Spare, which he made as part of a $20 million deal with Penguin Books.
The pair also teamed up with Netflix to produce the Harry And Meghan docu-series, with the streaming giant reportedly paying the pair $100 million for the six-episode series.