It appears that the value and talent that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle once possessed may now be considered worthless, according to a Hollywood executive. Since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped down from their royal duties and relocated to America, they have secured numerous multi-million dollar deals from companies to produce content on their platform. However, it seems that the perceived potential value turned out to be false in the eyes of Hollywood higher-ups.
Chief executive of the United Talent Agency, Jeremy Zimmer made comments about the Duchess of Sussex after the $20 million podcast deal between Archewell Audio and Spotify wasn’t renewed. According to Semafor, Zimmer claimed that Markle lacked talent and that her fame did not equate to proficiency in any specific area.
“Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent. And, you know, just because you’re famous doesn’t make you great at something.”
This is not the first time that Markle has faced criticism from media executives. After the cancellation of the Archetypes podcast, Bill Simmons, Spotify’s Executive and Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization, referred to both Harry and Meghan as “grifters” since they failed to meet the “productivity requirements” of their podcast deal with Spotify, which required both to produce a show each.
Meanwhile, Netflix told the royal duo that they would not receive the full £81 million ($103 million) as stated in their contract unless they could develop additional shows that could attract viewers. This comes after the Harry & Meghan documentary became a success on the platform back in Dec. 2022.
Archewell Audio released a statement two weeks ago regarding the end of its Spotify deal. The statement claimed that both companies agreed to part ways mutually and were proud of the production of the podcast series that came from it. The exclusive deal with the audio streaming giant began in 2020, and Archetypes was released two years later in Aug. 2022 and can be still streamed to this day on Spotify.