Last week, Spotify and Archewell Audio, the company of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, announced in a joint statement that they were ending a $20 million contract signed in 2020. This contract was for the production of a podcast, Archetypes, hosted by Meghan, and in which the Duchess of Sussex chatted with celebrities. But after just 12 episodes, the pair chose to call it quits. A decision that did not please Bill Simmons, the director of innovation and podcast monetization at Spotify, notes the Guardian.
In his own podcast, the founder of podcast network Ringer, who sold his company to Spotify in 2020, expressed his bitterness towards Harry and Meghan. . ‘The Fucking Scammers’ is the podcast we should have started with them,” Bill Simmons said.
“I have to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try to help him with a podcast idea,” Bill Simmons further tackled. “That’s one of my best stories…Fuck them.” The scammers. »
In their joint statement, Spotify and Arcehwell Audio said they had “mutually agreed to part ways and [were] proud of the series […] made together”. But sources close to Spotify say the princely couple had failed to meet the productivity target required to receive the full payment under the deal. The likes of Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, and Trevor Noah had featured on the Archetypes podcast, which topped the charts in multiple countries.