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Harry and Megan dubbed "fucking grifters" by Spotify exec and podcaster

1000 replies

Qbish · 17/06/2023 09:29

No great surprise there... Would love to hear his story about Zooming Prince Harry, I can only imagine his frustration with the whining ninny!

Leading Spotify figure lashes out at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after end of podcast deal | The Independent

Leading Spotify figure lashes out at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Sussexes inked three-year $25m deal with audio company but produced just one series of content

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/spotify-harry-meghan-podcast-deal-end-b2359279.html

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17
MamoruHisaishi · 17/06/2023 13:43

SirQuintusAureliusMaximus · 17/06/2023 13:31

@oakleaffy

Those podcasts were absolutely dire- Markle's breathy, highly produced voice interrupting the more interesting guests at every turn, right. {'Right' being a Markle word that she uses a lot}

There's a very funny article in The Times on this today (Saturday) - Harry and Meghan’s podcast revealed their painful pointlessnessAs the Sussexes’ $20m Spotify deal comes to an end, James Marriott asks if they have anything left to sell.

Harry and Meghan’s podcast revealed their painful pointlessness (thetimes.co.uk)

Here are a some of the bits I enjoyed:

"Archetypes, you may have forgotten, was a motivational interview show aimed at helping women “to be our authentic selves”, whatever that means. And it was the distilled essence of purest Californian banality. A great big smiley, bland motivational nothing. Even the unintentional hilarity of the self-regarding celebrity speak (Meghan always telling her guests things like “I want to hold a space for you as a guest to define yourself”) could not sustain public interest."

...

"The podcast revealed their pointlessness more painfully than any of their other ventures. At least Harry’s cringeorama memoir was about something. Archetypes generated a few astonished initial reviews. But after that, nothing. No headlines. No news stories. Not even much Twitter mockery.

Nobody cared."

...

" For Harry and Meghan this is a worrying sign. Meghan’s most (only?) profitable media enterprise is endlessly retailing her story about leaving the royal family. Last year’s Netflix documentary milked that tale to within an inch of its life. There is nothing more to be said.

The failure of Archetypes shows that whenever she tries to talk about anything else, virtually nobody is interested. Even the roster of high-profile guests (Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, etc) couldn’t save the podcast. Meghan has a remarkable ability to take fascinating people and cover them in meaningless gush (“You’re choosing liberation and newness. I love that so much”, etc) until they are not interesting at all. The opposite of good interviewing technique."

I think that last bit is particularly astutely observed. Interviewing people for media is a skill. Broadcast journalists train to do it. There is no reason why anyone would think they can just do it, any more than you'd think you could be a trapeze artist without any training.

There’s a reason that Meghan never made it big in Hollywood. She doesn’t actually have the star power and charisma that her supporters thinks she has. Otherwise, Hollywood would have have seen it and given her a chance, even before she met Harry.

Howsimplywonderful · 17/06/2023 13:44

Harry is no longer being spoon-fed and mollycoddled, Meghan is now delivering her own lines, speaking in her own voice.

Spotify executives didn’t sign up to the never complain, never explain mantra.

willWillSmithsmith · 17/06/2023 13:44

Livinghappy · 17/06/2023 13:18

@Elior I don't think Kate will have much focus on MM now.

I think Kate does look stunning, Sophie too...just proves what RF backing can do for you! Even Camilla looks so much better these days.

Tbf to MM formal outfits and ceremonies may not have been her thing, I imagine it's like dressing for wedding & christening but on constant basis.

I’m sure it must be tedious to keep going to openings and live within the confines of the RF but H&M could have left and still remain very popular if they’d had any sense and played their cards (which was an amazing hand) differently. If you keep spouting poison and emitting negative vibes it’s just going to turn people off you.

BoohooWoohoo · 17/06/2023 13:46

I googled how much Netflix paid Shonda Rhimes and results suggest $150m plus performance bonuses for a 5 year exclusivity deal. (Her old contract was $100m plus bonuses over 5 years) Can they really have paid $100m for the Sussexes? I am not surprised that the person who signed them up isn't working at NF any more.

SideBob · 17/06/2023 13:47

I wish they did just stay in the RF full time. People are really revelling in their misfortune but it would've been great if it could have all been avoided.

I don't mean to be rude because I do like them, but it's a shame because they don't have much else to offer. Unless Meghan goes back to being an actress but it will be highly controversial so it's a barrier to any success.

JeandeServiette · 17/06/2023 13:48

Howsimplywonderful · 17/06/2023 13:33

@JeandeServiette

I’m sure he sits at the top table though and it sounds like he was asked to work with Harry

WME must be pulling their hair out, and who wants to work with reputed lazy, difficult, self absorbed whingers

(perhaps Tyler Perry?)

Ha. Quite.

You can just imagine how much dislike of H&M is going on behind the scenes at Netflix and Spotify.

SirQuintusAureliusMaximus · 17/06/2023 13:48

It is kind of sad because the rivalry between the wives keeps the brothers estranged for even longer.

I highly doubt it's the women. Harry has sold out his family, it's likely the RF don't want to get close to them to get sold out again. The estrangement between the brothers is of Harry's own making.

quite. it's crazy to suggest there is rivalry between them as a cause of estrangemnet. The media are well known for 'setting up' apparent rivalry that doesn't exist in real life because they write articles comparing women, Meghan
& kate, ex-wife and new gf and so on.

The cause of estrangement is the appalling things Harry has said, the intimate secrets he has sold for money, details of private disputes that should have stayed private. & it looks like Meghan & Kate fell out anyway because she isn't very nice. My guess is that Kate doesn't like Meghan because she (rightly) perceives her as being responsible for causing her husband who she loves pain by destroying a previously close and working fraternal relationship.

JeandeServiette · 17/06/2023 13:50

I wish they did just stay in the RF full time. People are really revelling in their misfortune but it would've been great if it could have all been avoided.
I think hubris is so innate in them, something like this was inevitable.

justasking111 · 17/06/2023 13:55

When you plunge headlong into every social media pool you can get eviscerated.

You need to be a Pro and step lightly dipping a toe in

Original poster
Qbish · 17/06/2023 14:01

Italiangirlinlondon · 17/06/2023 12:51

Maybe some confusion here. He was the one who signed them and worked with them, so that’s where his comment comes from . Head is Spotify podcast content is his main gig.

Show quote history

No he isn't. The execs who signed H&M have been sacked.

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mayorofcasterbridge · 17/06/2023 14:02

ProfessorXtra · 17/06/2023 10:28

I have really mixed feelings on this.

It was unprofessional. I didn’t like the hint that he knows more and will spill it when drunk at a later period. I think whatever happened should have remained private.

However, I don’t have sympathy for H&M as they also ignored others privacy and also kept dropping hints about how they had more to tell.

Why? They have no such compunction.

It was a matter of time, that's all. M & H richly deserve this.

Elior · 17/06/2023 14:06

SirQuintusAureliusMaximus · 17/06/2023 13:48

It is kind of sad because the rivalry between the wives keeps the brothers estranged for even longer.

I highly doubt it's the women. Harry has sold out his family, it's likely the RF don't want to get close to them to get sold out again. The estrangement between the brothers is of Harry's own making.

quite. it's crazy to suggest there is rivalry between them as a cause of estrangemnet. The media are well known for 'setting up' apparent rivalry that doesn't exist in real life because they write articles comparing women, Meghan
& kate, ex-wife and new gf and so on.

The cause of estrangement is the appalling things Harry has said, the intimate secrets he has sold for money, details of private disputes that should have stayed private. & it looks like Meghan & Kate fell out anyway because she isn't very nice. My guess is that Kate doesn't like Meghan because she (rightly) perceives her as being responsible for causing her husband who she loves pain by destroying a previously close and working fraternal relationship.

It is a dynamic process. The media may initially create these situations but then real and perceived rivalries do arise from it; some of which have been publicized. Neither side is above having the odd dig or subtly retaliating. It is an oversimplification to think that all women would be best friends or at least supportive of their differences were it not for the divisions fueled by the patriarchy.

TouchingNoses · 17/06/2023 14:15

I think Harry's problem is that for his entire life before he left the Royal Family everything was arranged for him and he literally did what he was told to do. His life has been choreographed for him. He says so himself in his own book. Even stuff like the army - he had the most senior army officials organising roles for him, for example - suggesting he become an Apache pilot and then even organising training at Sandringham.

He has never really had to organise his own life or work or really graft to be taken seriously- he had an idea (like Invictus) and his palace staff would do all the groundwork to make it happen, connect him to the right people etc. It is all in his own book. A phone call was made by one of his staff and he had a meeting with the guy who had put on the London Olympics.

If he did a podcast as a working Royal he would have literally had a team of people arrange it all for him, he would just turn up and be Prince Harry.

He doesn't have that anymore and he is floundering - lurching from one project to another but nothing of substance.

Original poster
Qbish · 17/06/2023 14:15

Elior · 17/06/2023 12:52

She never had the respect or gravitas of a heavyweight actress to make a Glenda Jackson style full-time crossover into another public facing role. Even at it's height, her acting career was always about playing a hot supporting girlfriend role.

The most telling indication that she was too lightweight for the podcast she aspired to put out was right there in the name. She used a Jungian term which she badly misunderstood due to lack of relevant knowledge but she went there anyway (even though she would have been advised that it was nonsense). She thought a new image and powerful friends would mask the shortcomings but it never worked.

Meghan doesn't think that Meghan has any shortcomings. So of course she can't recognise them!

And, to a PP, please don't women-blame for this situation! It is not the wives' fault. It is clear from Spare that Harry was a bitter brother blamer long before he met Meghan. Also cannot stand his father, and thinks his mother was some kind of saint.

The only difference is that with Meghan he has dared to bare all. In the words of Pretty Woman: Big mistake. Big. Huge.

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PollyThePixie · 17/06/2023 14:19

Elior · 17/06/2023 13:10

It's still all so combative between the Cambridges and the Sussexes.

She does a Backgrid pap stroll on the morning of Trooping The Colour because she wants to show that she is queen bee who will effortlessly win the main tabloid headlines in jeans with a constipated expression over dolled up Kate and the kids.

Meanwhile, Kate brings it back in a green outfit to cancel out the relevance of that Westminster Abbey confrontation where Meghan stole the show in a green formal outfit just when things were about to blow up publicly.

Show quote history

Kate was in green today because of her role in the Irish Guards.

Tophy124 · 17/06/2023 14:20

Hilarious. Finally someone has called them out. Why should this guy not talk shit about them? Celebrities have stories told about them all the time, especially if their work ethic is poor, and this guy clearly cannot stand them and finds them lazy.

They have freedom to speak about their family, this guy has freedom to speak about them after actually working with them. The weird Harry defenders on here are bizarre. The guy has never worked hard in his life and they are grifters (as are most of the royals)

Stalkedbyzombies · 17/06/2023 14:24

My DS: What would happen if one of those aircraft fell onto the balcony during the flypast?
Me: Harry and Meghan would become king and queen!
😀

LadyMuckingabout · 17/06/2023 14:29

Surely this bloke is speaking “his truth” ?!

Newtt · 17/06/2023 14:30

Stalkedbyzombies · 17/06/2023 14:24

My DS: What would happen if one of those aircraft fell onto the balcony during the flypast?
Me: Harry and Meghan would become king and queen!
😀

I wonder how may Brits would suddenly become republicans?

ArcaneWireless · 17/06/2023 14:33

Everyone has their truth.

I wonder if Oprah is up for interviewing this chap.

Howsimplywonderful · 17/06/2023 14:33

I’d say everyone will be buying him drinks looking for the gossip. He’ll never have to put his hand in his pocket in a bar again

Original poster
Qbish · 17/06/2023 14:36

And btw I was a HUGE fan of Princess Diana. I was devastated when she died. But she was a human, like the rest of us. A deeply damaging childhood, followed by entering the world stage at age 18, etc etc. But Harry can only see some kind of shining saint, which completely skews his world view, because she and Meghan can do no wrong and are not to blame for any action or its consequences. So his father, brother, and Camilla have to bear the brunt.

And Harry has always been done to, according to him. Nothing is ever his fault.

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Original poster
Qbish · 17/06/2023 14:40

I wonder if it has ever occurred to H&M that selling out your family, leaking their comments, writing about private meetings, has an effect on whether celebs want to deal with you?

That moment in the Neflix docu (which was in the trailer cos I refuse to watch it 😅) where they get excited because Beyonce has just texted her, luckily when the cameras are rolling - SO CRINGE!!! And then "It's my brother!" when William supposedly texts, luckily also when the cameras are rolling - they don't give privacy to anyone else. And now no-one can trust them in private.

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Roselilly36 · 17/06/2023 14:48

Oh gawd, not another book, Hollywood truths!

Robinni · 17/06/2023 14:56

MamoruHisaishi · 17/06/2023 13:38

when all else fails, blame the royals again. Harry and Meghan making a mess of things has nothing to do with Kate and her popularity. There’s no machinations there to undermine Meghan, as kate has undergone the same press intrusion and criticism that Meghan experienced, even worse in some aspects as she was stalked and chased by the paparazzi and topless photos were taken of her. And the press continues to criticise her, maybe not to the same extent as they did before, but the main difference between her and Meghan is she keeps her head down and doesn’t feed the press attention. Meghan could have been all those things you say she is, but the problem was she wasn’t willing to be a team player, she didn’t want to be second best to the future Queen despite marrying the 6th in line to the throne. It’s not about the royal family feeling threatened that she would overshadow Kate due to her star power. As it’s been proven when the Sussexes left the royal family, they don’t actually have the star power and charisma they thought they had, as it was their connection to the royal family that gave them their status. Meghan and Harry need the royal family more than the royal family needs them.

Show quote history

@MamoruHisaishi

I wasn’t blaming the royals.

I said they are highly incentivised to keep their PR positive.

A more glamorous/engaging Princess than the future Queen would have been damaging.

Harry and Meghan making a mess of things has nothing to do with Kate and her popularity.

Agree with this; they screwed up all on their own because they didn’t handle the heat well at all. And her family was disastrous for her. Kate kept her head down as you say and her family is decent which helps.

The problem was Meghan wasn’t willing to be a team player, she didn’t want to be second best to the future Queen despite marrying the 6th in line to the throne.

100% agree with this, she didn’t understand the hierarchy, that she would need to defer to more senior members and play her part in order to keep the show on the road. She had and continues to have her own agenda to be Queen Bee and it isn’t working out so well for her.

Meghan and Harry need the royal family more than the royal family needs them.

Yup.

I still maintain the press are dodgy and this privacy arrangement the royals has with them facilitates a distorted narrative.

The press can’t report on them objectively or they lose all their exclusives.

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