(Page Six) Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were branded “lazy” and “f–king grifters” by Spotify employees Friday after the podcasting network canned their $20 million deal.
Bill Simmons, the sportscaster who is also 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.”
His attack deepened the couple’s crisis as sources said they were “lazy” compared to the Obamas, who also had a Spotify contract.
The collapse of the deal piles financial pressure on the Sussexes as exorbitant bills for their Montecito, Calif. lifestyle mount.
Their sprawling Tuscan-style estate, bought for $14.7 million in June 2020, has a hefty mortgage.
Annual property taxes alone cost $144,427 and there is staffing and maintenance on top.
Enlarge Image![Meghan Markle podcasting]()
Meghan Markle produced just 12 episodes of “Archetypes.”Spotify
Meghan Markle produced just 12 episodes of “Archetypes.”![Meghan Markle "Archetypes" podcast cover]()
Markle and her husband’s deal with Spotify could have netted them $20M but the failure to produce enough material means it is over with them getting far less.
Markle and her husband’s deal with Spotify could have netted them $20M but the failure to produce enough material means it is over with them getting far less.The bill for the couple’s private security detail is believed to be about $2 million a year,there are legal fees from Harry’s unending battles with the British press — and they have to keep their Archewell company afloat without Spotify’s cash.
“They’re not broke,” stressed a source.
“But they’re going to have to keep spending their money, instead of banking it.”
Enlarge Image![Michelle and Barack Obama at the White House in 2023]()
Sources pointed out that, unlike the Sussexes, the Obamas had delivered multiple successful podcasts for Spotify. Their deal was not renewed either.AP
Sources pointed out that, unlike the Sussexes, the Obamas had delivered multiple successful podcasts for Spotify. Their deal was not renewed either.![Bill Simmons]()
Spotify’s Bill Simmons is also one of its most senior executives. He called the couple”f–king grifters” and revealed he had tried to help Harry shape a podcast – with no success.Getty Images
Spotify’s Bill Simmons is also one of its most senior executives. He called the couple”f–king grifters” and revealed he had tried to help Harry shape a podcast – with no success.The Sussexes’ Spotify deal was signed in 2020 but delivered just 13 hours of programming in two and half years — 12 episodes of Markle’s “Archetypes” podcast, and a one-off holiday special.
They will not be paid anything close to the full amount they could have earned under the deal.
Sources pointedly contrasted the Sussexes’ failed deal with the Obamas’ similar deal, which ended last year.
E![Meghan Markle Prince Harry Archie Montbatten-Windsor Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor]()
The bills for their lifestyle include the upkeep of their $14M Montecito home, where they are bringing up Archie and Lilibet, and staff.Alexi Lubomirski / Duke and Duchess of Sussex
The bills for their lifestyle include the upkeep of their $14M Montecito home, where they are bringing up Archie and Lilibet, and staff.![Meghan and Harry's Montecito home]()
The couple’s lavish lifestyle in Montecito means they need to keep earning. A friend acknowledged they are not saving any cash – and have a hefty mortgage.
The couple’s lavish lifestyle in Montecito means they need to keep earning. A friend acknowledged they are not saving any cash – and have a hefty mortgage.![Meghan Harry Oprah Winfrey]()
Their explosive Oprah Winfrey interview appeared to be the start of a lucrative new life for the couple, but now their tentpole Spotify deal has collapsed.ZUMAPRESS.com
Their explosive Oprah Winfrey interview appeared to be the start of a lucrative new life for the couple, but now their tentpole Spotify deal has collapsed.“Although ‘Archetypes’ did well and got a couple of awards, when you go into a deal like this, to have just one series over that course of time is not great,” a source close to the Sussexes’ deal said.
“To put that into context, the Obamas and their production company, Higher Ground, delivered multiple new series.”
Simmons told how he had been called in to help Harry — unsuccessfully — saying, “I gotta get drunk one night and tell the story of this Zoom I had with Harry to try to help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.”
He added, “I wish I had been involved in the ‘Meghan and Harry leave Spotify’ negotiation. That’s a podcast we should’ve launched with them.”
Another industry insider added, “Spotify wants to focus on people who drive strong audiences, like Alex Cooper, Dax Shepard and Emma Chamberlain. There are a lot of great creators who are very eager.
“Meghan and Harry are the outlier on all of this, I think they have come off as being lazy and difficult.”
In a statement, both Spotify and Archewell said they “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.”
Losing Spotify is a dramatic change in fortunes for the pair since they quit being full-time royals, pleaded for privacy and launched their new American lives with an explosive Oprah Winfrey interview trashing Harry’s family in 2021.
But since signing deals with Netflix and Spotify, the couple’s popularity appears to have plunged and they have been plagued by staff turnover.
Last month, the two were mocked for claiming they were pursued at “high speed” for hours by “highly aggressive” paparazzi in a “near catastrophic car chase” through the streets of New York, at one point swapping their SUV for a cab — whose driver contradicted the account, leading to more public derision.
The now appear entirely estranged from the royal family.
Saturday will mark the first Trooping the Colour celebration since Queen Elizabeth’s death and the first of King Charles’ reign — but, as a non-working royal, Prince Harry is not invited to the military ceremony.
The Sussexes signed an estimated $100 million, five-year deal with Netflix back in September 2020 and hired former Disney+ exec Chanel Pysnik the next year.
She served as an executive producer on their Netflix docu-series “Harry and Meghan,” which was a global hit.
But so far, the only other show the couple has coming out is “Heart of Invictus,” which was filmed while they were at the Invictus Games, for wounded service personnel, in The Hague last year.
Page Six has been told it’s still slated to stream in August, a month before Harry and Markle fly to Germany for this year’s Invictus Games.
It is unclear if this time they will be accompanied by documentary crews.
A Netflix source said they remain “very valued” partners with the company, and the decision is “business as usual.”
