Spotify fires barbs on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after recent termination of podcast deal

Spotify recently dropped Meghan Markle’s podcast on its platform, citing its failure to meet the productivity benchmark. Now, Page Six have reported Spotify employees as labelling Meghan and Prince Harry as “lazy” and “f**king grifters” over the matter.

Bill Simmons, who is head of Spotify’s international sports content, said on his own podcast, “’The f**king grifters.’ That’s the podcast we shoulda launched with them.”

The termination of deal by Spotify comes amid reports of financial crunch being faced by Meghan and Harry. As per reports, the bill for the couple’s private security detail amounts to about $2 million a year. Added to that is the cost being incurred by Harry over his legal tussles.

“They’re not broke. But they’re going to have to keep spending their money, instead of banking it,” said a source quoted by Page Six.

Meghan’s podcast “Archetypes with Meghan” on Spotify was launched in August 2022 and featured several high-profile guests which included the likes of Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, Mindy Kaling and Paris Hilton. It won the top podcast award at the People’s Choice Awards.

Meghan had called Archetypes “a labor of love” and highlighted that the platform allowed her to “dig my hands into the process, sitting up late at night in bed, working on the writing and creative.”

“And I loved digging deep into a meaningful conversation with my diverse and inspiring guests, laughing and learning with them,” she added.

The Spotify deal was signed in 2020 but delivered just 13 hours of programming in two and half years.

Meanwhile, the rift between Meghan-Harry and the royal family in Britain continues. As per reports, Prince Harry hasn’t been invited for the upcoming Trooping the Colour celebration by the royal family.