ROYALS'It Was Humiliating': Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Spotify Failure 'Put a Fire Under Both of Them to Keep Moving Forward'
Oct. 15 2023, Published 5:00 a.m. ET
After Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's failed Spotify venture, the two are trying to carve out a new path in Hollywood.
“The Sussexes haven’t talked about it publicly,” the insider dished. “But it was humiliating for them both.”
“The Spotify failure put a fire under both of them to keep moving forward," the source added.
The pair moved to the U.S. in 2020.
As OK! previously reported, the pair, who left the royal family and moved to the U.S. in 2020, were let go by the company in June.
"We have made the difficult but necessary decision to make a strategic realignment of our group and reduce our global podcast vertical and other functions by approximately 200 people, or 2% of Spotify’s workforce," the company's head of podcast business Sahar Elhabashi said in a statement.
Despite the bump in the road, the duo, who live in California, are planning a comeback, especially after Meghan, 42, signed with talent agency WME.
"They were basically fired by Spotify, which is embarrassing, but Harry and Meghan are now fighting back by telling their side of the story," a source dished. "Yes, they’ve made mistakes, but they have big plans for their next endeavor."
Meghan Markle signed with a talent agency this year.
After the two stopped working with Spotify, executive Bill Simmons slammed the pair.
"I wish I was involved in the Meghan and Harry [leaving] Spotify negotiation. 'The f****** grifters.' That’s the podcast we should of launched with them," he joked on the Friday, June 16, episode of his podcast. "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."
The duo might be in talks with Amazon's Audible after their Spotify failure.
Simmons then went on about how Harry didn't bring any original ideas to the table.
“Shoot this guy to the sun,” he fumed. “I’m so tired of this guy. What does he bring to the table? He just whines about s--- and keeps giving interviews. Who gives a s---? Who cares about your life? You weren’t even the favorite son."
"You live in f------ 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," he added.
- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry 'Fighting Back to Tell Their Side of the Story' After Duo Was Dropped by Spotify
- Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Left 'Humiliated' After Their 'Laughable' Ideas Were Shut Down by Spotify
- Will Meghan Markle Relaunch 'Archetypes'? Duchess of Sussex in Talks With Spotify's Rival
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Spotify's CEO, Daniel Ek, also hinted at why the former royals got the boot.
"We thought new innovation was needed to happen here," Ek said on BBC. "We thought we could come in and offer a great experience that both makes consumers very happy and allows new creators new avenues."
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The former royals are trying to make a comeback.
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Meghan and Harry, 39, could be getting the last laugh, as they might be speaking to Amazon-owned brand Audible.
"Harry and Meghan are retooling, retrenching and preparing to change course in their efforts to establish themselves and their production company Archewell as serious players across multi-media platforms," an insider said. "Expect them to come out swinging in the new year."
Star spoke to the source.
