Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s short-lived podcast venture and their split from Spotify prompted a heated response from company exec, podcaster and sports journalist Bill Simmons. According to Deadline, Simmons was furious on his podcast on Thursday after the news broke, lashing out at the former royal couple.
“The f-cking grifters. That’s the podcast we shoulda launched with them,” Simmons said. “I gotta 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.”
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The comments obviously filtered to social media and then went viral and injected some sour grapes into the Sussexes’ departure. The couple made headlines by signing a $20 million deal through their Archewell production company. It was the latest exclusive push for Spotify, following the company’s acquisition of Simmons’ The Ringer for $200 million and the high-profile acquisition of Joe Rogan’s podcast.
Simmons still operates The Ringer and acts as Spotify’s Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization. So that anger toward the couple makes more sense given Simmons’ connection to Spotify, on top of an already established dislike of the prince.
“Shoot this guy to the sun,” Simmons wrote on The Big Lead back in January 2022. “I’m so tired of this guy. What does he bring to the table? He just whines about sh-t and keeps giving interviews. Who gives a sh-t? Who cares about your life? You weren’t even the favorite son. … You live in f-ing Montecito and you just sell documentaries and podcasts and nobody cares what you have to say about anything unless you talk about the royal family and you just complain about them.”
Simmons added that he was embarrassed to share a media home on Spotify with the couple. He didn’t share it for long and the couple only produced one series, Archetypes. Markle hosted and it ran for 12 episodes on top of high listenership, praise, and a People’s Choice Award.
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