Meghan Markle’s Archetypes podcast will not be renewed for a second season after being axed by Spotify.
The streaming giant and Meghan and Prince Harry’s audio production company Archewell Audio released a joint statement on Thursday night, June15, saying they have ‘mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.’
Meghan and her husband Harry reportedly signed a $20 million deal with Spotify for the project in late 2020 but insiders close to the audio giant claim that 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 Duchess, however, is still planning to create more podcasts and find a new home for her series, which 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 carry out conversations for a second series of Archetypes earlier on the year following the end of the first season, but conversations later stalled.
The talent agency that recently signed Meghan, WME, told the WSJ: ‘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.’
