If you were unfamiliar with Bill Simmons before now, consider yourself blessed. He’s mainly known as a sports columnist and sports-site guy, with a real focus on the NBA. He founded the Ringer, which he then sold to Spotify, and now he works at Spotify. A lot of dudes used to like him for his analysis and humor, but I’m not sure he’s still that guy. I remember he used to make a lot of sexist jokes about women athletes… then he became a father to a daughter, and suddenly sh-t got real. He also got fired from ESPN for what was described as his profound disrespect for coworkers and executives. TL;DR: he’s an obnoxious, sexist loud-mouth from Boston. Anyway, Simmons decided to chime in on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex ending their contract with Spotify.
Bill Simmons, who sold The Ringer to Spotify in 2020 and has risen through the tech company’s executive ranks, derided Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on his podcast Friday as “f–king grifters.”
The Sussexes and Spotify confirmed Thursday they have parted ways after signing a deal reportedly worth $20 million three years ago for their production company, Archewell. The pact was part of Spotify’s surge in spending on podcasting, a push including the roughly $200 million Ringer acquisition. More recently, the audio giant has scaled back and laid off staff, consolidating divisions and emphasizing the creator economy instead of big-ticket talent, though it still has Joe Rogan and a few other notable hosts on its podcast roster.
Simmons, who still runs the Ringer and is also Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization at Spotify, made the comments on his eponymous podcast.
“The f-cking grifters. That’s the podcast we shoulda launched with them,” he said. “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.”
Simmons did not hold his tongue about the royal couple even during the time they were under contract with Spotify. Last January, he blasted Prince Harry, saying it was “embarrassing” to be affiliated with the same company.
“Shoot this guy to the sun,” Simmons groused, according to the Big Lead post. “I’m so tired of this guy. What does he bring to the table? He just whines about sh-t and keeps giving interviews. Who gives a sh-t? Who cares about your life? You weren’t even the favorite son. … You live in f-cking 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.”
Now, as with all things related to Meghan and Harry, I think there are some good-faith criticisms to be made about various things they do and what they’re involved in. The problem is that even minor or objective criticisms can be drowned out by the sea of hatred, racism and misogyny that crops up whenever they breathe. Like, if I’m being honest, I would also say that M&H could have done so much more with the platform they were given with Spotify. I think they should have produced multiple podcast series in the past two and a half years. But Bill Simmons just f–king hates them and he enjoys hating them. It makes him feel good to disparage them the way he disparages female athletes. It makes him feel big and manly to mock a veteran who speaks about mental health and abuse. And that says more about Bill Simmons than Prince Harry.
Bill Simmons absolutely HATES Prince Harry
We need to know what Harry said to Bill on that Zoom pic.twitter.com/lsxNoSPaCU
— The r/BillSimmons Podcast (@rBillSimmonsPod) June 16, 2023
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- New York City, NY – Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, seen during the red carpet arrivals at the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Ripple of Hope Gala held at the New York Midtown Hilton Hotel. Pictured: Meghan Markle, Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 6 DECEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- San Francisco, CA – Prince Harry, ‘chief impact officer’ at coaching platform BetterUp, appears onstage with BetterUp co-founder and CEO Alexi Robichaux at the ‘BetterUp Uplift’ two-day event at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, CA. Harry and Alexi spoke for 40 minutes onstage at the event. They discussed children, International Women’s Day and their respective careers. BetterUp is based in San Francisco. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 8 MARCH 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Bill Simmons arrives at the Lakers playoff game at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Pictured: Bill Simmons BACKGRID USA 24 APRIL 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Bill Simmons arrives at the Lakers playoff game at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Pictured: Bill Simmons BACKGRID USA 24 APRIL 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- New York, NY – Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and her mother Doria Ragland depart The Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awards at Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 16 MAY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: Fernando Ramales / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince Harry arrives at the High Court, Rolls Building. Several high-profile people, including Prince Harry, have taken legal action against Mirror Group Newspapers over alleged unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 6 JUNE 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince Harry leaves the High Court, Rolls Building. Several high-profile people, including Prince Harry, have taken legal action against Mirror Group Newspapers over alleged unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 6 JUNE 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, leaves the Rolls Building at the High Court in London where he testified against Mirror Group Newspapers in the phone hacking case. Pictured: Prince Harry BACKGRID USA 6 JUNE 2023 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
What a loser!
This BS guy is astonishingly unprofessional and Spotify should dump him immediately. He is angry that Netflix and the publisher of Spare both made a HUGE amount of money off of Harry and Meghan while Spotify did not. It seems that he worked with them directly, and I believe there is reason to now assume it was he who may in fact be the real reason they produced so little content.
@Cara exactly what I’m thinking! ✔️
@Cara – that absolutely tracks. This Bill person must be a ‘blite’ businessman with pablum for brains. You don’t bad mouth your talent, on blast like that because any future talent prospects would think twice before signing with anything this Bill-guy would be involved in! Who knows if he is going to spout off at other talent hires!
Didn’t know Bill Simmons was behind the Ringer until reading this. But have to agree he’s incredibly unprofessional. Sounds like his willing unprofessionalism stems from his racism. Also, he may be irritated by WGA strike. From Noam Scheiber, NYT 2020, (Sports Media Giant Bill Simmons Finds Himself Playing Defense): “The Ringer Union, which is affiliated with the Writers Guild of America, East and represents about 65 employees, noted in a June 1 Twitter post that the outlet had no black editors or staff writers covering the National Basketball Association or the National Football League.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/business/media/bill-simmons-the-ringer-black-employees.html
I used to watch a lot of espn and espn shows- ages ago- and he was a joke to his colleagues back then. No one has ever taken him seriously. He is a mediocre white man who fails upward, like so many others. And now perhaps he has money invested in a failing platform and sees a black woman and her husband- who people love to hate.
No one ever thought he was interesting- except the white men bosses at espn.
Incredibly unprofessional – he needs to be fired.
This is why I cancelled my Spotify account over a year ago. This and Joe Rogan
He wants to appeal to bots and derangers. Horrible man.
He’s from Boston… explains a lot.
Bossy: Ha ha, doesn’t it? Some hilariously call people from Massachusetts “M*ssholes” but it’s guys like Bill Simmons who put the “*sshole” in “M*sshole”, seriously. I’m super-sorry H & M keep being attractive targets to scummy people like this.
He is part of the new breed of toxic bell end.
Let’s see what he does the first time someone insults his daughter. Sadly, it will happen because there are plenty of other nasty creatures, just like him.
Spotify got rid of more than Harry and Meg. Does he hate those people too. Or does he just need to say their names to make himself relevant? He is nothing more than an a**hole with nothing better to do than hate.
@susanCollins, let’s face it Susan, this man child is just a mouth on legs and not a very intelligent mouth at that. Maybe he just wanted Harry and Megan to spout the kind of sht that he comes out with and, like a lot of these people use the names “Harry and Megan”to get his name out there. Harry has more gumption in his little finger than him or his idiot friends. So yeah, let him swim in his own bile, he won’t be afloat for long
And maybe they had all kinds of ideas for podcasts and Spotify shot them down. They don’t seem that interested in any sort of inspiring content or they would still have Meghan’s podcast and the Obamas. They want people like Rogan. This tool (with his appropriate initials) and Rogan can both have Spotify and stow it somewhere appropriate.
This. Spotify wants to be the epicenter of bro culture.
I saw a tweet from a pidcadt oriducer refr H&M had a lot of ideas they weren’t able to implement on Spotify so there’s that. They do seem to move at a glacial pace on projects and not push their work more, which a lot of fans of theirs grouse about as well. I liked Archetypes, wanted more content like it. This Simmons guy is nasty and didn’t say this crap about any of the other artists who left Spotify, even those who were very vocal about it.
Nobody knows who you are, Bill. This seething-with-jealousy tirade just makes you sound like a bunny-boiler.
First time I’ve ever heard of this man in my life is due to this rant. And I imagine that’s the point. He needs attention and clicks, and expects the whole planet of people who never GAF about him in the past to tune into his MAGA-lite regurgitation sputum talk show to hear him talk about people more successful than he is, who are targets now because racism is alive and well the world over. Not surprised he’s from Boston, and I don’t care if someone comments “not all Bostoners….” I’m simply not surprised.
Begs the question, who gives a sh*t what HE has to say? When you’re actually unknown yourself and have a podcast, you look really desperate when you say about someone actually famous, who gives a sh*t what he says.
The Ringer is one of the most downloaded podcasts ever. He is incredibly famous in the sports community. If you don’t follow sports he may be unknown to you but that doesn’t mean no one has ever heard of him. He is also a senior executive at Spotify, which makes his comments incredibly unprofessional and inappropriate.
He’s really big in the sports space and the podcast space. He was one of the most popular sports writers at ESPN for decades before his split with ESPN, and then he built Grantland which was one of the earliest major pop culture sites in the 2000s, then built the Ringer which is its pop culture successor which had a huge podcast side that got acquired by Spotify several years back.
Bill Simmons is kind of a jerk but he is influential in this space. As to Maga-lite, in the past he has been a bit of a Boston Bro, but the Ringer and Grantland before has always been really great at hiring diverse talent and he has always kept positive relationships with them which I think carries weight here.
I think this story comes off as him being bitter the deal under-performed ( because the podcast business of Spotify) is in real trouble and an a#$hole in his language. I’m not surprised about that, he has always been hella petty.
I was around in the early 2000s and was very active online. I was into pop culture and have never heard of Grantland. Unless it was only sports it couldn’t have been that successful.
Thank-you, Sunny for providing a very good primer on Bill Simmons.
I never thought I’d see his name on Celebitchy or that I’d be in a position to give my own info dump on the history of Bill Simmons.
I started reading his colums back in 2003/2004. I’ve followed him since then to Grantland and The Ringer. He is very well known to many people. He’s not a nobody. He’s not just a Spotify exec. He’s not unaccomplished.
After orchestrating his own firing from ESPN and removal from Grantland (in part due to his dislike of the NFL’s handling of Ray Rice’s domestic violance, more likely due to his dislike of the NFL’s punishing Tom Brady for deflategate), he started The Ringer a year or so later (presumably after his non-compete clause ran out), and hired a number of his former Grantland collegues. Spotify purchased The Ringer a few years ago for in excess of $100 million. Many of those people continue to work for The Ringer.
Bill has been very savy and has timed his career moves perfectly from the early days of the internet, the intersection of pop culture and sports, and getting in very early on podcasting.
His HBO show thoug was a dud. I’m sure HBO might have lobbied a criticism that he was also a grifter given what they likely paid him. However, given that HBO was also an early investor in The Ringer, and likely made their money back and then some from the $100 million spotify deal, they’re probably pretty happy overall.
I definitely think Bill is a doofus and you could mine his old Page 2 ESPN content and find alot of columns that have aged incredibly poorly. He walks a thin line now politically in his podcasts. He skewers Trump, but I’m sure he’d align himself to the right fiscally.
Bill comes from tremendous privilege (he went to Choate and grew up with his mother and wealthy stepfather in Greenwich). But I do give him credit for his work accomplishments (I loved Grantland and still listen to a number of podcasts on The Ringer network) , apparent commitment to diversity within The Ringer (his anti-union stance is gross and I can’t abide by that), and having seemingly changed for the better from his Page 2 ESPN days (whether he has or hasn’t behind closed doors is to be determined).
I disagree with Bill’s rant against H&M. It was honestly baffling (not out of the blue though, he ranted about Harry earliier this year). Depsite coming from immense wealth and privilege, Bill seems to have a chip on his shoulder about work ethic and the privilege of others. It’s weird and makes him look like an idiot.
I do agree that H&M’s podcast output was quite light and perhaps Spotify did’t find it to be as lucrative as they thought hen the deal was signed. But Bill doesn’t own Spotify. He doesn’t seem to even work there beyond his title. H&M’s deal didn’t affect him directly. He already got his Spotify payday. He should, as they say, shut up and stick to sports.
Never did I see the day when I’d write a disertation on Bill Simmons.
Thanks to you all for writing such a clear eyed overview. It does seem he’s influential and since a lot of his current professional power (and money) is tied up in Spotify he’s obviously not going to be too happy about the shape it’s in. And he’s lashing out. I definitely think he likes the Rogan type shows and I do agree Meghan and Harry should’ve done more content given the size of their contract. But they’re obviously not a good fit, same with the Obamas, if they’re leaning in to Rogan, sports, etc. I think his lashing out and language may impact people wanting to sign there. No big name wants to be called out like that especially when they produced a popular and award worthy show. Spotify’s problems are way bigger than Harry and Meghan.
@LaDeeDa – well I absolutely know nothing about this Bill-guy but perhaps know a little about well-to-do doofi (plural of dufus j/k) like him. Anybody can have a good work ethic if they are having fun with the assets or such that come from Mommy and Daddy’s connections/cash (see Elon Musk) but the proof-in-the pudding is in the day-to-day and making prudent decisions in a business. And the ‘business decision’ to spout off at his talent is a doozy!
He, IMHO, seems to have fell a-backwards into success just based on his personality and other people hired doing the “grunt work ” . I don’t know anything about this doofus but if he was born on 3rd base, it’s a different standard entirely. He could not touch someone the likes of Tyler Perry who (with I’m sure regular help from his friends, business associates, etc) built a media empire.
Bill Simmons is one of the biggest online sports voices and I’ve been reading his words and listening to his podcasts for a long while. However, Bill Simmons weighing in on the BRF is as absurd–and should be taken as lightly–as, say, Prince Harry weighing in on the Boston Celtics.
Posted this in another article, but it’s probably more relevant here:
Bill Simmons calling them “fu*king grifters” says to me that he’s bitter the Sussexes are moving to greener pastures thanks to WME. And he knows Spotify fu*ked up.
Also, Simmons’ Zoom story about helping Harry with something related to their deals. I put this together with the “lazy and difficult” smear and I conclude that Simmons and Spotify expected different material from H&M than they got. I strongly suspect the low output was due to the Sussexes refusing to go with certain garbage ideas Simmons suggested. They were probably asked to do tacky, cheesy, cheap or salacious crap, and refused. And here we are now.
That’s my 2 cents.
Interesting point.
This sounds about right to me, all around. Simmons sounds ticked at them and its probably because H&M refused to do some of the things Spotify and/or Simmons wanted them to do.
Simmons runs a rather large podcast network and personally hosts at least four podcasts a week (the network itself creates dozens of casts a week focusing mostly in the sports and entertainment fields). I think he’s very much of the mind that volume is a key to growing and maintaining an audience. While Archetypes was very high quality and the episodes were extremely popular, the H&M partnership with Spotify did only produce 12 podcasts in three years. I’m sure that bruised Simmons’ large ego and he has visions of how he could have better spent the money Spotify paid H&M.
I think this is a good take. I do think the Sussex deal under-performed for Spotify and it was probably a challenge to work with their team because they had a very clear vision but sometimes business deals just don’t work out.
And Spotify has been struggling with the podcast business. They spent the last 5-7 investing, particularly around acquisition for huge sums and it has been a bit of a mess. The recently gutted/fired a ton of people working on the podcast side and they absolutely gutted podcast giants/former investment darlings such as Gimlet media.
It really is fascinating to watch how this business model is playing out.
Exactly Dutch. The Ringer’s podcasts are built on watching a television series/sporting event and then commenting on it. Right now I’m listening to a Ringer podcast where they are talking about David Tennant’s Doctor Who seasons (15 years after they aired). This isn’t high quality. I think H & M want to do high quality podcasts like Serial (time consuming to produce, high quality, and ten episodes).
Did Bill ask Harry to invite Uncle Andy for a weekly podcast as he does with his own Uncle Sal?
That’s the thing. Harry and Meghan weren’t going to go on weekly and talk about sports or television programs, so producing quantity wasn’t going to happen. And they would have known that when Dawn Ostroff made the deal. But she has since left (after the Obamas left) and it’s clear there was a difference in philosophy about what the podcasts would be about.
Simmons comes off as very bitter than the couple with a massive heat score wanted a better deal and now he’s going to lose money.
Anyone that knows Bill Simmons from his ESPN days isn’t shocked by this, he’s always been a jackass. That being said this is not the behavior of an executive that is happy that someone’s gone. I’ve been a manager for a decade and a director level manager for 3 years, I have never reacted this way when a partnership that I didn’t find fruitful finally ended or an employee that I really didn’t like left. You weren’t going to hear me downgrade them AT ALL. Please other people take them on and get them off of my plate. This is the reaction of someone who is salty. Salty that their ideas weren’t immediately welcomed as the best thing ever, and salty that someone knows they’re worth and was willing to walk away if you weren’t going to give them what they wanted.
Bill Simmons doesn’t like paying writers. He had a very poor understanding of George Floyd. Not to mention “This isn’t open mic night.” This guy is seriously problematic and I’m sort of amused that he dares to refer to H&M (who want to be paid accordingly for a very successful podcast) as grifters considering his past!
https://awfulannouncing.com/ringer/staffers-at-the-ringer-coordinate-a-social-media-campaign-in-support-of-the-ringer-union.html
Would other big names want to sign to Spotify if an executive comes out and says stuff like this about them? Is this just bad business if nothing else? If I am an Obama or whoever do I really want to sign to a company that will trash talk me later, I would say no thanks.
I wish I could find her quote but Brene Brown (who’s also leaving) made some comment that unless you were in with the sports podcasters, Spotify was a terrible place.
This was my first thought. If I was considering signing with Spotify, this would turn me away. It’s extraordinarily unprofessional and gross. It’s toxic boss energy for sure, and I’m surprised Spotify hasn’t come down on him for making them look like asses.
All the big names are leaving Spotify.
If this asshole is an example of the caliber of executives at Spotify, then it’s no wonder that Spotify isn’t doing very well. Good on Harry and Megan for moving on!
I understand Spotify’s Rogan deal now. Simmons must represent the type of leadership at the company. Spotify wants to be the Parlar of podcasts. Totally normal.
When it was announced that H&M had a deal with Spotify I was very excited. Now, I am thrilled they walked away. Spotify is going downhill fast and a bunch of artists and podcasters are leaving. Just look at what happened this weekend with Joe Roagan and Musk. Thank God, Harry and Meghan left.
Honestly, I left when Neil Young did! I only had a free account and wasn’t streaming a ton of stuff but I was getting into the idea. I can’t say I’ve missed it and now I just have the radio on at home.
Same @SarahCS. I left when Neil Young did and never looked back.
I agree with Kaiser that, on the information we have, it does appear that more content could have been produced – but also agree with @Equality that we do not know what the reasons for that were (e.g. content not being approved by Spotify). Nevertheless, I disagree with the term “grifters”, to me, that implies taking advantage of someone, and usually involves a power imbalance, e.g. a mail order scam. He is positioning this as if Spotify, with its resources and experienced lawyers at its disposal, was tricked/grifted when negotiating the terms of the contract. I’m sure I read in the original US article, that the contract would have likely included some sort of clause regarding the amount of content published, so the full value of the contract is unlikely to have been realised. In which case – Spotify would have paid an amount commensurate to the content that the Sussexes put out – so, again, I’m not sure how that translates to Spotify having been “grifted”. TDLR: if Simmons had said he was disappointed with the amount of content that went out, I would have no comment to make. The random positioning of a multinational company as a victim of bilateral contractual negotiations verges on the ridiculous.
Spotify got an award winning podcast that was consistently rated in the top ten around the world. They already said that the Sussexes didn’t produce enough content to fulfill the full contract so where is the “grift”? It’s not like Spotify paid for something they didn’t get. How unprofessional to bitch about the end of a business deal. They can cry harder after the Sussexes end up on Audible or Apple.
Or Audible and Apple. 🤞🏽😁
+1 to all this.
Yiiikes how embarrassing. This is very Piers Morgan “she stood me up for a drink, therefore she is evil” type unhinged ranting.
Yes! That’s what this reminds me of, I couldn’t put my finger on it. Big Piers energy (tiny Piers energy more like).
As someone mentioned above, it was clear from the WSJ article that they did not reach the contract benchmarks and therefore would not have received the full $20m. As the chief of monetization BS most definitely knows that but is misrepresenting it on his own effing Spotify podcast? I hope Harry sues him for defamation.
Look at this douchebag insulting people like he’s not in a competitive business. No wonder Spotify is losing money if this is their “management “.
Bill Simmons is proof these men never actually get cancelled for face consequences. I forgot this douche existed until now, only to find out he’s an exec at spotify.
Get Bent, Bill.
So true. Cancelled is not reality for these wyt guys. They truly hate being asked to consider what comes out of their mouths, even though they still have money coming in. Also: cheap and easy headlines. I wouldn’t read any of the articles, so this is the first time seeing him or reading more, no surprises.
Same
I was like Bill Simmons, name sounds familiar (and was trying to remember if the name was associated with the Bar Stool Sports gross sports dude-bro crew or that other Boston-y gross sports dude-bro crew. Don’t recall many details because I have tried to jettison those slimy misogynist guys from my brain whenever I hear about them)
And then I was like, hang on, it’s not just someone with the same name, it’s the same dude? And he’s been in positions of power in sports media and media in general for years after whatever went on? And at Spotify? Oh, okay, Joe Rogan having a platform there makes so much more sense now. Yuck to the whole lot of them.
I doubt that spotify will be very pleased with this guy for trying to insult one of their partners for only doing interviews and podcast while being an executive for …checks notes…. innovation and monetization of podcasts.. Since Spotify is restructuring the podcast part of the business maybe this guy who probably got his job as part of the ringer deal is being shuffled to the side and his wittle ego does not handle it very well.
Yes, I was wondering about this. He’s in charge of what Spotify is downsizing. So, he must not have been successful at Innovation and Monetization. Is he blaming H&M for his own failures?
Sure sounds like it to me.
I think we have a winner! Once I saw this guy’s job title…the department experiencing significant layoffs, I realized that he was likely part of the problem.
I mean…his own podcast art doesn’t even mention Spotify, so you can tell that this one does not have any business acumen.
These guys always fail up.
People expect so much from Meghan and Harry, I am glad they’re doing things at their own pace.
Meghan was pregnant twice, since they moved to California and just maybe she was focus on her family planning.
Now, she is working with an Agency, let’s wait and see where it goes from here.
I agree. Some people expect Harry & Meghan to produce content like Tyler Perry produces TV shows and movies even though he is a veteran in the industry who has been doing it for 20+ years. Yes, Meghan was in the entertainment industry prior to Harry but she wasn’t producing content outside of her lifestyle and travel blog. Both came into those deals with a huge learning curve.
I personally think Harry & Meghan accepted the deals initially because they were financially vulnerable and needed to get stable after stepping back from being full-time royals and establishing their lives in California. Some people work their craft and form connections within the industry for years before getting the deals that Harry and Meghan got from Netflix and Spotify, so the expectation that they will churn out content on the fly is just simply unfair to them.
It sounds like he might be trying to use Harry and Meghan as a shield. If he’s that high up in the executive ranks, there’s probably some pressure coming at him for whatever part he may have played in the contraction of podcasting at the company. So basically, strike out before anyone strikes at you.
I do remember being a little surprised that content hadn’t come out about six months before Archetypes, but that one was so successful. And they had so much going on in their personal lives that it’s on surprising they didn’t have time for every little thing.
Knowing other podcasters have left as well and coupled with these comments, I’m inclined to believe the exit was more amicable on the Sussex side than on Spotify’s. I’m sure content output was an issue. The Obama’s also had many ideas rejected before their final output and then they also left Spotify for Audible/Apple. I also would not be surprised if WME got them a better deal that would allow them to develop their own projects they way they want elsewhere. And tbh Spotify is having some problems with their podcast arm so the exit seems timely.
Apparently the best way for middle aged white people to get some attention is to speak some shit about Meghan and Harry.
I would have loved if they had produced more podcasts yes, but 1) they are not the only ones leaving 2) Spotify has a History of throwing money to content creators and then not supporting them and 3) ever since they hired Joe Rogan, they have been behaving like Joe Rogan.
As for this Zoom, Harry obviously had his ideas and Bill Simmons did not like them . Maybe it is as simple as the plataform not wanting to go forward with they pitched, bzt of course Bill Simmons wants to make it all about himself.
Methinks if he does speak about his Zoom, it will be a situation like that Rebel Wilson anedocte or like the audio that would supposedely exonerate Kang, meaning it would only confirm Simmons is the idiot.
Well said! here here. This simmons dude sounds like a bitter betty. All that vitriol comes off like someone who is jealous of H&M’s success and basically he sounds like someone who is an envious clout chaser. Perhaps simmons is indulging in too much dmt like his hero joe rogan?
A woman who worked with Harry and Meghan said that she enjoyed working with them and that they had a lot ideas that they couldn’t get approved. Bill Simmons anger is that another WME client has left Spotify. Joe Budden said in an episode that Bill Simmons was a terrible person. I believe Spotify wanted to keep Harry and Meghan but they chose to leave and that’s where Bill Simmons’ anger comes from.
Good luck to Spotify getting any new WME clients after this fiasco. Deeper pockets do exist.
Yes good luck Spotify with WME in the future. Simmons’ little temper tantrum will cost Spotify in money and reputation. I’m surprised that they haven’t engaged in damage control. They look like petulant kids.
“In a recent statement to the Wall Street Journal, Meghan’s WME agent told the outlet that Archetypes may not entirely be over and done with. “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 statement said.”
I saw that as well. I’ve also heard that it wasn’t just happening with the Sussexes. They did it to the Obamas and others as well. Lots of ideas shot down.
And, while I’m no podcast expert, I’d imagine if I was signing incredibly high profile people like the Obamas and the Sussexes, I wouldn’t expect them to churn out material year round. I’d expect high quality limited series.
But if this is the type of jackass that are Spotify executives, it’s no wonder high profile people are jumping ship.
Like you say, quality over quantity. And I think that Spotify is looking for mass appeal and dumbed-down content like Rogan and not inspiring stuff like H&M or B&M would produce. I bet H&M edit and re-edit thoroughly also since every little thing they say and do is micro-analyzed over and over.
Ultimately its down to money. The biggest revenue makers are rarely inspiration programming, look at the movies, there is a reason why hollywood keeps churning out Marvel crap over and over again, its because it sells. Year after year, film festivals showcases high quality but obscure films that barely reach an audience.
Podcasts like Archetype, and even the Obamas, reach huge audiences in the first episodes but rarely sustain them because millions and millions of people will not be tuning in week after week, to listen about feminism or even how various famous people overcame adversity. I think that for Obama, Spotify was not happy that Barack only ever did 1 podcast. Maybe that was the issue for H&M, they wanted Harry to be on it too, since he is the “draw” so to say, like Barack is.
All really good points. And I would add, we all know given the vitriol and hostility exhibited by simmons that there had to be provisions in the contract that allowed for the allotted number of episodes that Meghan produced because I promise you, if that contract was violated/reneged on even in the slightest by Meghan and Harry, spotify would be taking that ish to court to sue H&M asap. So my feelings on that are that simmons should be taking his anger out on his company attorneys for getting them in a less than lucrative contract on spotify’s side of the house. Don’t hate Meghan and Harry because they are smarter than spotify and because they have better lawyers who helped them secure a more lucrative contract that fit their best interest. #donthatetheplayerhatethegamemyg
He’s racist who dances around the edges of saying the n-word. He’s bitchy, whiny, know-it-all and below mid in every way. I wish I didn’t root for the same teams as he does because he’s an absolute tool and embarrassment.
It says so much that he would declare that he was “embarrassed” to be on the same platform as Harry, a decorated war veteran. A veteran who started an international multi-sport event for wounded veterans in Invictus Games who is a mental health advocate. Instead of calling out Joe Rohan who is an anti-vaxxer, misinformation spreader, misogynist and racist since they’re cut from the same cloth.
That guy is a stool and a tool.
Imagine that there are royal reporters slipping into Simmons’ DMs as we speak, trying to get him to spill more. Hopefully, Spotify shuts that down bc he is coming across as hella unprofessional. Not a good look for Spotify to be so salty about failed contract negotiations. Not a good look at all.
No doubt. He’s practically begging for people to pay him to talk. He’s a liability and Spotify should fire him.
I ‘m glad that Harry and Meghan are no longer with Spotify. Joe Rogan spent yesterday bullying someone who made a free Covid vaccine.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Bill eventually gets sacked. Spotify is laying people off left and right,
Meghan gave them a #1 podcast, could they have done more podcast maybe, but the Sussexes take there time to make sure what they put out is Quality not Quantity especially knowing that everything they do or don’t do gets talked about. Plus they have 2 small children and working on multiple fronts, and Harry has a 9-5 job with better up and his work with Invictus and travalyst. There is only so many hours in the day. They don’t of the luxury of putting out some random podcast they is the same as every other podcast you hear out there. No one knows how long they had been talking with Spotify with other ideas for more podcast. Right now it doesn’t matter, a lot of famous ppl are leaving Spotify.
I’m a huge sports fan and I’ve read BS since his days on espn page 2. Early on he had a unique way of tying sports and pop culture together that was fresh and interesting to read. Grantland was incredible, and when he left espn I was so sad. However, the best writers from Grantland have not stuck with him, and I’d say the same about the best podcasters who helped initially build The Ringer. I’ve also heard absolutely awful shit about pay and how he treats people. The people I trust in sports media can’t stand him and sports media is a totally toxic environment so I absolutely trust that he’s trash.
It’s funny that he’s popping off about H/M. He’s had big failed media deals too where he didn’t deliver and the deal dissolved or the idea just didn’t work. Pretty sure the Ringer had some sort of HBO deal with a show that was an epic failure.
He also wouldn’t be a good one for what H/M want to do. H/M are very earnest people who truly believe in doing good, that is not Bill Simmons’ vibe.
Yeah, having him and Harry do a zoom pitch meeting does not seem like a productive pairing.
His HBO show and the Ringer were launched at the same time, but, other than Simmons, I don’t think there was a lot of crossover. The talk show was a huge failure, but his production company has helped create some good documentaries for HBO.
This guy is a jerk. But, the one thing that anyone working in Hollywood knows, it is difficult to pitch and sell good content. And I can’t imagine how hard it is to do when you’ve never done it before. Meghan any Harry are truly perusing new careers here. And I guess in these next years we will see if this is the right arena or if they head in another direction – which would also be fine. It must be so much pressure, the money, the deals, and this being their first time on this side of the industry.
I don’t know anything about the podcast world, but I did some work developing projects for a film production company. We produced TV shows, film and commercials. It’s hard to get funding, it’s hard to produce good content (although much easier to produce crap) and it’s hard to sell that content. Most projects never get produced and, of those produced, most never sell.
So, it’s not surprising to me that H&M haven’t churned out massive content, even if they hadn’t had the added pressure of relocating their lives, having children, and trying to build a whole new life and path for themselves. What surprised me was that Spotify actually expected them to achieve whatever goal was in that $20 million. To me, it sounds like they just wanted to lock up H&M so no one else would get them and they’d worry about goals later.
So far, the content H&M have produced has been successful – I hope the association with WME can help them to focus their many ambitions and become even more successful.
After I read this article, I won’t remember who this guy is or what he said but I’ll still know who H&M are.
Very good point. I’d never heard of this guy before, being in the UK and additionally not being any kind of sport fan. So what the average non-American person takes away from his rant is, ‘practically unknown man from Spotify insults H&M because they didn’t want to carry on working with him.’
He’s basically managed to make himself look like an unprofessional, bitter idiot on a global stage while simultaneously tarnishing the name of the company that employs him.
I signed up to Spotify for Meghan’s Archetypes and kept it on afterwards. I’ve cancelled that now and will stick with my Audible & Apple subscriptions until I find out where Archetypes season 2 will be. I bet I’m not the only one.
I loved Grantland, too, but the kind of content Simmons now oversees is gross. H&M were smart to walk away from Spotify.
Me too, and I used to read him from the Page 2 days when his misogyny wasn’t as obvious. But the more famous he got, the more he leaned in to Sports Guy Douchebaggery, so I stopped reading. Discovered the great writing at Deadspin (now Defector) and never looked back.
I used to listen to his Rewatchables podcast and stopped when it was bought by Spotify. I didn’t know much about the guy outside of that. I didn’t even know he was a sports guy. The Rwatchables is about movies. He’s an a$$ on that podcast as well but he has other hosts that keep him from being unbearable. Since he signed his big contract with Spotify the show has gotten awful and I haven’t listened to it in well over a year. After this I will keep doing what I’ve been doing – not listening to his trash podcasts.
As a Black sports fan I’ve already known of and hated Bill Simmons for years. He’s very emblamatic of the worst of Boston sports fans and media; loud and racist af (If you need a primer on Boston sports fans just look up the interviews the late great Bill Russell gave about how racist fans there were to him even though he was not only their franchise’s most iconic player but one of the most revered in NBA history).
As for the Spotify deal: from what I’ve seen about this this weekend i think it’s more likely that Archewell didn’t release more content because of creative differences with Spotify. The good thing about these exclusive deals with Spotify and Netflix is that you get more capital upfront but the problem is that if you don’t produce exactly what they want you are screwed because you can’t sell the content to outside vendors. It erases competition and puts limits on what creatives can output which is why we’ve seen people like the Obamas and Kenya Barris walk away from their respective deals with Spotify and Netflix. I have a feeling that if Archewell does resign with Netflix that WME will make sure it’s non exclusive and more like a First Look deal instead of an Overall Deal.
Lol. I wound up seated next to Bill Simmons at a wedding a few years ago. I had no idea who he was & Mr. Bathory was cracking up because Simmons was real salty about no one caring that he was there.
Total asshole by all accounts, so this tracks.
Well, just deleted Spotify. I realize that has no impact on this situation whatsoever but will keep me from downloading in the future…..(have many other choices, Spotify!)
I did the same. Hey a petty win is a win, lol.
I put this in another thread, but thinking of losing all my playlists made me want to cry, but I researched and found soundiiz. It goes into your Spotify account and transfers all your songs and playlists to a new music account. I’m transferring them to both Apple Music and Amazon music because I’m not sure which service will be best for me. The soundiiz costs $4 a month or something, but I’ll do this once and cancel.
Kcat: not sure if you’ll see this, but thank you! That’s exactly what I want.
No surprise that a virtually unknown white man is jealous and loud when Harry and Meghan enter his space and outdid him and bounced when they weren’t respected and appreciated. Men like him have an issue with those they think don’t belong in their spaces excel and show that they are better at the role than they are. This random podcaster is angry because Harry didn’t want to take his opinion about what Harry’s podcast should be. An actual stranger trying to dictate what Harry should speak about on his podcast when he has to use Harry and Meghan’s name for relevance for his own podcast. Most don’t even know who he is and is only being spoken about now because he decided to attack Harry and Meghan. I still don’t know who he is and his opinion matters as much today for me as much as it did a year ago. He doesn’t even know what a grifter is, but he will be one way before Harry and Meghan will.
fwiw, Lainey has I think an even-handed assessment of the matter, that acknowledges Bill Simmons’s fuckery but also that Sussexes did not appear to put in the work necessary for that contract (again: we don’t know what happened behind the scenes, but the *optics* suggest that the output was lacking) https://www.laineygossip.com/can-prince-harry-meghan-markle-back-up-celebrity-with-quality-work-spotify-cuts-ties-with-archewell-audio/74273
I just read Lainey’s article too – as you say, even-handed from all appearances.
I’m not saying Meghan/Archewell doesn’t have any room for improvement, but I think Archetypes was a lot better than Lainey is giving them credit for. But, that said, it’s possible that what Meghan was going for doesn’t match the typical podcast vibe which is more loose, freeform, chatty vibes. Lainey says over produced, I say well researched and presented.
But maybe podcast was the wrong medium for Archetypes. Honestly, I think Meghan could EASILY turn it into a Netflix show. That way Meghan and her guests are on camera together and they can intersperse it with the history of the Archetype they are discussing.
But I will agree they have the conundrum where people are intensely interested in THEM and want to SEE them. And it is unclear if whatever project they do where they aren’t front and center will do well. But I think that is why she has signed with WME to help them work that out.
I agree wholeheartedly. I think Lainey’s personal preferences for podcast style got mixed a bit too much into her review. It’s like that old adage goes — (paraphrasing) What doesn’t work for you may work for the next person. I do really appreciate in a HUGE way the very balanced way that Lainey wrote about Meghan and Harry. You can tell that the criticism that she divulges is really coming from a good place. boy oh boy could these gossip columnists learn a thing from Lainey and Kaiser’s blogs. There is a way to be respectful, kind and still offer constructive criticism.
Lainey’s right about H&M’s relative inexperience with producing (especially Harry), but maybe people forgot that Meghan was developing the animated series, Pearl, for Netflix. Netflix decided to cut it along with 2 other children’s programs, but that doesn’t mean Meghan hadn’t been doing work. And it was never clear that Archetypes was going to be picked up for a second season. In the podcast, it seemed that Meghan was interested to continue and that she had more potential episodes lined up, but if Spotify didn’t want them, then what was she supposed to do about it? Again, this doesn’t mean she wasn’t doing work.
I think this is only a fair assessment if you assume that H&M were focusing only on podcasting honestly. But they aren’t. Others have mentioned too that there were stories of Meghan wanting to do certain things and Spotify not thinking they were profitable enough. Ultimately unless Lainey is in on the deal, we don’t know what went down.
The fact is that projects and deals like this fall through like this a lot, but it’s always going to be scrutinized more with Harry and Meghan in ways other people’s failed deals – like, dare I say, Simmons’ past ones – aren’t.
Also, it makes me chuckle when people like Lainey put forth this argument: “Can they focus on actual quality of their work, please?” Like, ok, clearly Simmons from Spotify is displeased, but this podcast still broke records and won awards. Parting ways with Spotify (which all big names are) and their executive making some ill-advised comments in the public sphere doesn’t mean Harry and Meghan are using a prop of celebrity image with nothing behind it. But, it’ll get Lainey some clicks, so there’s that, I imagine.
Actually, Lainey has been very reticent about reporting on H&M and the royals in general – she’s avoided hundreds and hundreds of opportunities for clicks. But she’s very clued into the business of Hollywood and publicity – this is right in her wheelhouse.
I don’t agree, and unless she was there, she doesn’t know why the Spotify deal didn’t work. (Shrug)
Agree @C. Lainey’s article felt off. I personally don’t believe she listened to every single episode in their entirety. (she may have just stopped at Mimi’s/Mariah’s). I might be wrong, but this is the last article Lainey herself wrote about Archetypes, until now?
https://www.laineygossip.com/meghan-markle-unpacks-term-diva-with-ultimate-diva-mariah-carey-second-episode-archetypes-podcast/71601
I love/loved Archetypes. There were so many things discussed that helped me as an individual see things differently. Quality work.
I will laugh at the extra ordinarily higher expectations placed on H&M. The Spotify deal was not announced until December 2020. Due to Covid, Gimlet was backlogged on production prior to the Sussexes deal. So much of just us regular people’s lives were shutdown. Hollywood was at a deadstill. (We still have ATT cable and I’ll still laugh about the repetitiveness of their programming through Covid). Podcasting went through a number of the same problems with quality work Archewell was not in complete charge of the work put out. That’s on Gimlet/Spotify. Most likely, Spotify wanted them to do things that compromised their personal beliefs. The Obamas were put in the same situation.
There is no way someone can convince me that Meghan didn’t have enough ideas or willingness to put out content. She embraces the hit the ground running work ethic. I’m pretty sure that by the time most of us have just started on our 2nd cup of coffee, Meghan has already run 5 miles, made breakfast for her family, replied to every email/text sent to her and has the day’s dinner meals half done.
I’m calling BS on BS’s “Zoom call” with Harry.
I personally thought Archetypes ended on a very high note.
I personally enjoyed Archetypes, but I understand where Lainey’s criticism is coming from. 12 is not a lot to show for three years is also fair, no matter how popular.
I would argue that the match between the Sussexes and Spotify (and potentially the Sussexes and podcasting) was not a great fit. The main players in this company seem to be white, middle-aged men with a techy, libertarian outlook on life. There is a reason why so many artists bailed on or criticized Spotify in 2022 due to Joe Rogan, and the latter went nowhere.
Harry had an argument with JR Moehringer over a retort (not included in Spare) hat he wanted published to show he wasn’t dumb…he’s a stubborn weasel, but if things make sense to him, he can change his mind. What Bill Simmons was telling Harry didn’t make sense to him.
I wouldn’t want to do business with someone who radiates aggressive male, testosterone-driven, hateful, malignant narcissism either. Seems H&M have dodged a bullet.
Loser.
https://deadspin.com/bill-simmons-is-a-fucking-embarrassment-1822032693
If he’s the head of innovation and monetization of podcasts it’s obvious he’s not doing a good job. My goodness, the way these two are used for deflection & projection by others is insane.
DM is making it seem like he’s the president of Spotify and he fired them. Blowhard
I remember being a little nervous for them because their Spotify content was delayed; however, it was happening for clearly very good reasons. The Spotify deal was announced in the Summer and around that time, or not long before, Meghan had a miscarriage. Also, that Fall, either September or October, Harry requested a delay in one of his court proceedings until the New Year, for personal reasons. Meghan would have been newly pregnant around then. Additionally, I remember hearing that, after a lLilibet was born, Meghan was on maternity leave. Right there, miscarriage, pregnancy and new baby, to me fully explain why their Spotify content was delayed. However, I was nervous for them because I wasn’t sure that Spotify actually cared about the well-being of their podcasters. Well, now we know that they don’t.
I did not have time to read through all the comments, so this may have been said before. But, I feel defensive toward Harry and Meghan when anyone says they should have produced more for Spotify in the last two years. I’m with those who are awed by all they accomplished. Meghan has had to try to heal from serious mental health challenges while losing a baby and having another, spending time with her two babies, moving three times, purchasing a huge new place, and setting up a new foundation. Harry has had to deal with his mental health issues while realizing he must leave his birth family and home country to protect his wife and children. He has written a huge book, They have dealt with lawsuits aimed at protecting themselves from the criminal media.
They produced the docuseries. Meghan created a very high value podcast. How many people coud have done all of this in the space of three years? While being bombarded every day with more hate than the world has ever seen directed at any single person/couple?
I’m awed by their strength.
💯
Unfortunately, big companies like Spotify and Apple care more about quantity over quality because it’s easier to make more money churning out material. That’s honestly why I was skeptical of the Spotify deal. The only grifters here seem to be Spotify and the execs that thought they could use H&M’s names to bring more traffic and users to their platform. The Sussexes would do so much better putting their content on their own website and where people can go directly to. Instead of being paid secondhand for the traffic you bring on other platforms, then being shitted on for not churning out dumbed down, Joe Rogan-esque content, they should build their own platform. That why they won’t have to be tied to contractual agreements and creative limitations. The Archewell website already needs some improvement, so why not build and add spaces/tabs for podcast (Archewell audio), shows (Archewell production), philanthropy/charity work (Archewell foundation) and then a separate tab for news. Improve the newsletter system and create an Archewell account on social media so that people who don’t follow as closely can be updated on what’s happening. Just look at how much money Meghan made from ad revenues that were on her website.
I saw a tweet from a podcast producer that H&M had a lot of good ideas that Spotify wasn’t interested in so there’s that. This guy is nasty. Did he speak like this about other talent that left Spotify, some very vocal about why they did? I really liked Archetypes and want more content like that. Like Kaiser said, they could have put more out there and seem to move at a glacial pace with their work and not amplifying it enough, which even a lot of Squaddies call out. At the same time they have unique challenges and an industrial level of hate and scrutiny no one else in their position dies. We don’t k is what else they had in the world. I felt like the Sussexes were getting real momentum and starting to hit their stride when Elizabeth’s death put the brakes on it and sucked them back down into UK drama. They were starting to gain it back then NY happened now it’s all lawsuits, schadenfreude, and tabloid rumors dominating, which is so frustrating. I liked how Harry promoted Spare, glad he was at the Warrior Games and want more of that. Give us a positive hint of what’s on the horizon, how they’ll work going forward. I love when they have work and projects going on.
Yikes so many typos. Thoughts were faster than my fingers. Anyway, said we don’t know what else they had in the works at the time of Spotify ending. Also they did so much besides a podcast in the past 3 years and only so much can do at once. Also, before this Simmons guy, who really doesn’t like Harry, I’d assumed they negotiated in good faith and couldn’t agree on terms, but now makes you wonder if the Sussexes weren’t feeling it and Spotify wanted them to just churn out content on the daily, which doesn’t seem like what they ever intended..
My loathing for Bill Simmons is a long nurtured thing. This is right on brand for him.
Harry and Meghan are two compassionate human beings dealing with an unfathomable amount of unjustified hate. The fact that they have accomplished so much within the past 3 years is amazing. We can easily criticize but maybe we should ask ourselves, could we handle it as gracefully and with dignity as they are.
I also would have liked to see more content. I think Lainey has some really good points.
I have said this before and I will say it again, why wasn’t Amal Clooney on there? She has been fighting for women’s and girl’s rights for decades and has been involved in many lawsuits about genocide, etc. I am always surprised when I hear her in full lawyer mode, she is very intelligent and well spoken and doesn’t get enough credit for her career outside of being Mrs. George Clooney. She also has very interesting stories about experiencing racism and sexism as she became a lawyer.
Maybe they will do a joint podcast on audible. I would love that!!
The fact that one of their executives wants to go on record saying something like this kind of shows their decline in that area. Simmons is entitled to whatever opinion he wants, but these kinds of personal opinions on business deals at major companies making their way to mainstream news always strikes me as gauche.
No matter. I am sure WME will make sure Archetypes ends up in a more profitable place. And I kind of think Simmons wouldn’t be this annoyed unless that was the case.
I hope their new reps have an announcement to make about a new, huge deal this week because though others are leaving Spotify, the Sussexes are the only ones everyone is talking about. They need some good big news to counteract this story because one podcast with 12 episodes in the almost 3 years they’ve been with Spotify… even as an avid Sussex supporter it sounds like too few episodes done for that timespan. But they are repped by the best in the business so I am sure a bunch of new deals and ventures are on the horizon.
I hope so too because if they truly want to put the royal drama behind them and move forward, they need to start producing the goods that show they can pivot. They have a deep well of experiences and interactions that can be a starting point for so much, whether it be their charities and the issues behind that or mental health, woman’s issues etc.Obviously Meghan signed Ruth WME for a reason, so hope they start showing what that is.
The Obama’s only released 15 hours of content for Spotify before they left. So not much more than Meghan. Let’s not get sucked into the tabloid narrative.
Honestly only listened to 3 episodes of Michelle Obama’s podcast even though I liked her book and the Netflix special of Becoming. That’s what I remember too, that she had one podcast and he did something with Bruce Springsteen. No one at Spotify denigrated them like this, or anyone else who left or pulled their content. I think Harry wouldn’t do a podcast in future, doesn’t seem his thing tbh, but have to take WME’s statement that Meghan is creating content for the Archetypes audience, although that may not be in podcast form. This nasty statement calling them grifters is one of the few times I wish they’d call someone out directly and respond immediately.
I don’t think Harry and Meghan are grifters.
I do think spotify went out and signed some big ticket deals with people like Harry & Meghan and the Obamas who are thoughtful about the content and aren’t going to turn out a daily podcast. That’s come back to bite spotify with the downturn in the podcast market and it’s convenient to blame the Sussexes for spotify’s finances, but they knew who they were signing.
This man doesn’t need to insult them, yes they didn’t do much for Spotify so the deal is off! They wouldn’t be the first though, he needs to back off
Parrots. Everybody parrots.
The podcast was very highly rated its whole run.
Now they are grifters? If they didn’t deliver what they were paid for, that would have been an easy breach of contract lawsuit.
All of this!💯
I knew the Spotify deal would be iffy. Then it was leaked they are doing their own thing. That’s the only way it would work.
I have to pick my words but the Spotify people aren’t entertainers. That’s why bill Simmons is head or decision marker in monetization. Really! Those are the type of decisions spotify makes. If they hired Shane Dawson(troll from youtube) that would make sense. Someone who knows about monetization.
I don’t know who the guy is. When I read this, I immediately thought how incredibly unprofessional. Wow, does he understand that this reflects on the company?
There are plenty of valid critiques to lob at Archewell and everything else, and whether you feel as though Meghan was a talented podcast professional is subjective, but grifter is…not the term I’d use. They didn’t swindle anybody. They had a name, a reputation, and a service, and Spotify determined that service was worth something to them. I can see arguing that they overinflated their worth, but grifting is…something entirely different lol. If Spotify didn’t push for more or overpaid, that’s their own financial misstep.
Exactly. There was no grifting. But these kind of deals are specifically structured with ideas shaped prior to signing, productivity benchmarks, etc. Spotify or any major company isn’t forking over millions without some pretty clear structures and contracts prior to execution. I think two things are true: Spotify is doing some restructuring and H&M didn’t deliver as quickly or as much as Spotify wanted. It won’t be a career killer for either of them it just is what it is.
As I read Simmons comments-he tried to pitch ideas to Harry on a zoom call-I assume Harry did not like his ideas and presented his own ideas which made Simmons mad-Spotify wants overbearing, loud blowhards whether what they are saying is correct or not-Meghan and Harry appear to be meticulous in working on projects to check facts and not dispense info for the sake of giving info-being an asshole is what this platform is about-Harry and Meghan want to do content which interests them and that is factual-I don’t know what type of streaming platform would suitable for the way they work on projects-maybe some of the posters on this site has some ideas.
So he threw bags of money at the Sussexes and is angry at them for catching them?
I don’t know what he is so pissy about. Meghan delivered an award winning podcast with big name talent. It is not her fault that a free platform that handed out free content didn’t turn a profit.
I mean I can understand him failing to monetize because Spotify wanted free publicity as a top shelf platform but he just blew that out of the water with his bellyaching and lack of professionalism.
PS-if they did not deliver enough content for the money-then Spotify won’t have to pay them the whole amount-true or false-Simmons trying to push Harry and Meghan to do topics they are not comfortable with was always going to fail-since Harry and Meghan prefer doing topics that are based in facts to be explored further I hope there is a platform for them to do this type podcasting-everybody is not loud mouthed with vomit spewing out of their mouths-this platform Spotify seems to like toxic males with toxic personalities.