Disappointing Outcome: Meghan Markle's Podcast Fails to Impress, Gets Dropped by Spotify

Meghan Markle’s podcast deal with Spotify has come to an end, resulting in her missing out on a significant portion of the $20 million agreement. The cancellation of Meghan Markle’s podcast series comes amidst cost-cutting measures at Spotify and a decline in public support for the attention-seeking royal couple.

In a joint statement, Spotify and Meghan and Prince Harry’s media company, Archewell, announced their mutual decision to part ways, expressing pride in the series they had created together. An Archewell spokesperson mentioned that Meghan is currently working on developing more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform.

Back in late 2020, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry signed a $20 million deal with Spotify, but only managed to release a single podcast called ‘Archetypes.’ Marketed by Spotify as a platform to challenge and break the labels that restrict women, ‘Archetypes’ featured interviews conducted by Markle with accomplished women such as Mariah Carey and Serena Williams, discussing the obstacles they faced throughout their careers. The podcast consisted of 12 episodes, with the last one airing nine months ago. Unfortunately, it appears that Markle did not fulfill the content requirements outlined in her contract with Spotify, resulting in her not receiving the full $20 million payout.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry tied the knot in 2018, and two years later, they stepped down from their royal duties and relocated to California while retaining their titles. Since their move to the US, the couple has embarked on various media projects, but many of them have not been successful. Netflix, for instance, dropped Markle’s animated series ‘Pearl’ last year due to financial losses and criticism regarding their production of numerous “woke” content. ‘Pearl’ was a story about a 12-year-old girl finding inspiration from influential women throughout history.

Furthermore, a Netflix documentary about Harry and Meghan’s marriage received negative reviews from both viewers and critics. In fact, 44% of British viewers expressed their belief that Harry should lose his royal title after watching the series. This recent announcement from Spotify and Archewell follows Spotify’s announcement just two weeks ago that they would be laying off 200 employees from their podcast division.