Bill Simmons, who is Spotify’s chief podcast monetizer and innovation officer, is not happy about the departure of Harry and Megan, who ended their contract with Spotify after several years and a $20 million deal. The company executive has called to the Dukes of Sussex “swindlers” after they stated that during these years they have only made 12 episodes.
“I have to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try to help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories… fuck them scammers”Simmons has stated in an episode of his podcast.
Harry and Megan, in particular, signed a $20 million deal with Spotify in 2020 to run a program called Archetypes, where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex talked with celebrities like Oprah Winfrey or Mariah Carey. The podcast, which became one of the most listened to on the platform, has had 12 episodes since then, an insufficient amount to fulfill the contract.
Spotify may not pay the 20 million contract to Harry and Megan
In fact, and as stated The Wall Street Journal, the company has failed to pay the full amount of the settlement for the low number of episodes. Archewell Audio, the producer of Harry and Megan, have not mentioned anything in this regard beyond a statement issued with Spotify in which they detailed that they have “mutually agreed to separate”.
Simmons, however, went further than to criticize Harry and Megan’s breach of contract. Spotify executive lashed out at Prince Harry claiming that the only interesting thing he has to say is about criticizing the royal family. “You live in fucking Montecito and you only sell documentaries and podcasts and nobody cares what you have to say about anything unless you talk about the royal family and just complain about them,” he said.
Harry and Megan’s contract it was a way to jumpstart the podcast division of the company, who also relied on celebrities like Joe Rogan to generate exclusive content on the platform. Spotify, however, confirmed a few months ago that it had made some mistakes after spending $1 billion on celebrity deals for podcast shows. He also said that they were going to review the collaborations to put an end to those that did not work.