Meghan and Prince Harry were reportedly fired by Spotify as the streaming platform and the Sussexes’ audio production company, Archewell Audio, released a joint statement stating that Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season.
Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season, as the audio company begins to make changes and revamp its output, it has been confirmed.
The streaming giant and the Sussexes’s audio production company Archewell Audio released a joint statement on Thursday night saying they have ‘mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together’.
Meghan and Harry reportedly signed a £15million ($20million) deal with Spotify for the project in late 2020 but insiders close to the audio giant claim the royal couple did not meet the productivity benchmark required to receive the full payout, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The move to ditch the Duchess of Sussex’s show, which explores the ‘labels that try to hold women back’, follows discussions months ago about renewing it for a second series.
The determined Duchess, however, is still planning to create more podcasts and find a new home for her series, that has previously featured her friend and tennis star Serena Williams, pop sensation Mariah Carey and South African comedian Trevor Noah.
The axing of the show comes after sources close to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claimed the pair would stop making tell-all Netflix documentaries, publishing memoirs and sitting down for interviews that bash the Royal Family, as they have ‘nothing left to say’.
Spotify was said to have carried out conversations for a second series of Archetypes last year following the end of the first season, but talks later stalled.
The talent agency that recently signed Meghan, WME, told the Wall Street Journal: ‘The team behind Archetypes remain proud of the podcast they created at Spotify. Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform.’
The podcast reached the top of Spotify’s charts in the week it premiered.
Spotify, Archwell and WME have been contacted by MailOnline.
It comes as Spotify announced it would be laying off around 200 staff members – around 2 per cent of their workforce – who work within their podcast teams. It cited difficulties in making podcasts profitable, despite its popularity among listeners.
PR guru Mark Borkowski said that Meghan and Prince Harry’s brand is collapsing as Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast Archetypes will not be renewed for a second season as the Sussexes and Spotify parted ways.