UTA CEO after Spotify deal bust

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The downfall of Meghan Markle’s podcast continues.

United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer admitted that he wasn’t surprised about Spotify’s breakup with Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan Markle, 41.

“Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent,” Zimmer told Semafor during the Cannes Lions advertising festival.

“And, you know, just because you’re famous doesn’t make you great at something.”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex inked an agreement with the audio giant back in December 2020, estimated to be worth a whopping $20 million.

They told The Post in a joint statement that they have “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.”


The Duke and Duchess of Sussex inked an agreement with Spotify back in December 2020, estimated to be worth a whopping $20 million.
Spotify

Spotify and Harry and Markle’s Archewell production company spectacularly ended their partnership last month after the couple released just one podcast series, titled “Archetypes.”

A source previously told The Post that the Archewell media company launched by Harry and Meghan didn’t produce enough content to receive the full payout of the $20 million deal they agreed to in 2020.

These remarks from Zimmer, whose business focuses a lot on audio platforms, show the shift in the podcasting industry, with A-list celebrity hosts and big-budget podcast on the ousts while personalities similar to those on the radio or talk shows are on the rise.


Jeremy Zimmer
United Talent Agency CEO Jeremy Zimmer admitted that he wasn’t surprised about Spotify’s breakup with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Vianney Tisseau/Variety via Getty Images

The comments come shortly after a royal expert said Spotify executives were likely “horrified” by comments Prince Harry made to Oprah Winfrey after he signed a multimillion dollar deal with the company.

Speaking about Spotify and a separate arrangement with Netflix during the sit-down with Winfrey, Harry downplayed their significance, saying they were “never part of the plan.”

“That was suggested by somebody else by the point of where my family literally cut me off financially, and I had to afford security for us,” he added, implying that he was forced to sign the deals out of desperation.


archetypes meghan markle
“Archetypes” — which premiered in August last year — was the only project to come out of the Spotify deal and featured just 12 episodes.

During a discussion on Palace Confidential, Daily Mail’s Diary Editor Richard Eden said Spotify execs were likely unimpressed by those remarks.

“It takes an awful lot of work [to produce a podcast]. It’s serious work, it’s planning,” Eden said. “You can’t just turn up and, ‘Oh, what shall we do today?’”

“That’s shown by … you know … I had to listen to these podcasts for the program so frankly, I’m not surprised it’s coming to an end,” he added.


Meghan Markle new Spotify podcast Archetypes
A source previously told The Post that the Archewell media company launched by Harry and Meghan didn’t produce enough content to receive the full payout of the $20 million deal they agreed to in 2020.
Spotify

Sportswriter and podcaster Bill Simmons also slammed the couple in the wake of the fractured deal, saying he once met with Harry about podcast ideas and calling the pair “f – – king grifters” in a recent episode of his own audio show.

Meanwhile, a report recently alleged that Markle’s interviews for her “Archetypes” podcast were not conducted by her.

Podnews reported that some of the show’s interviews were done by members of the duchess’s staff — and audio of her voice asking the questions was clipped in later.

Since the royal couple’s deal with Spotify began 2½ years ago, “Archetypes” — which premiered in August last year — was the only project to come out of the deal and featured just 12 episodes.

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