Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle have been blasted as “f****** grifters” by a Spotify chief after the £18m Archetypes podcast was axed.
The couple were dropped from the streaming giant this week following reports they did not meet “productivity requirements”.
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After only producing 13 episodes in 31 months, Meghan’s show, where she discussed “labels that try to hold women back”, was not renewed.
Both Harry, 38, and Meghan, 41, have now been blasted for signing the multi-million pound deal and ditching after making just one series.
Bill Simmons, Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization at Spotify, slammed the Sussexes’ in is own podcast.
On Friday, the sportswriter said: “The f***ing grifters. That’s the podcast we should have launched with them.
“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.”
Spotify and the couple’s company Archewell released a joint statement on Thursday claiming that the deal was ended by “mutual agreement”.
A spokesman for Archewell Productions said: “The team behind Archetypes remain proud of the podcast they created at Spotify.”
Meghan revealed she had signed the podcast deal in December 2020 following the pair’s departure from the Firm.
It took a further 18 months before the Archetypes series was launched in August 2022.
The podcast previously sparked controversy after Meghan claimed baby Archie had to be saved from a fire when they were on a royal tour of Africa.
Meghan also told listeners she quit an $800-an-episode job as a briefcase model on American game show Deal or No Deal because she felt “objectified”.
Another episode slammed the Austin Powers comedy films and action movie Kill Bill for their representation of Asian women.
Being ditched by Spotify is the latest shattering loss for the couple, who are set to stop fronting tell-all documentaries and books following their Netflix series and Harry’s memoir Spare.
Meghan’s animated series Pearl, which she was working on with Sir Elton John’s producer husband David Furnish, was ditched by Netflix last year.
The show was canned as part of cutbacks amid a collapse in Netflix subscribers.
It’s understood Harry and Meghan have banked an estimated £118million from multi-media deals since leaving the Royal Family.
The Duchess is now said to be working on a podcast for another platform.