Prince Harry was hoping to interview Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, and Mark Zuckerberg about their upbringing and childhood traumas on a Spotify podcast, it has been revealed.
According to Bloomberg, Harry discussed his ideas for possible shows with multiple producers and production companies, telling them how he wanted to speak to the controversial figures about how they became the men they are today.
He also reportedly wanted to speak to Pope Francis about religion with execs left scratching their heads.
This comes after Harry who didn’t end up producing any solo podcasts – and his wife Meghan had their £ 15 million Spotify deal axed.
The streaming giant and the Sussexes’ production company Archewell Audio released a joint statement last Thursday, announcing that they had ‘mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together’.
Following a week of bombshells, in which Meghan Markle was accused of faking interviews and Spotify executive Bill Simmons’ called the Sussexes ‘f*****g grifters’, Prince Harry’s extraordinary podcast pitches have now emerged.
The Duke of Sussex, who insiders claimed earlier this month would stop tell-all interviews that bash the Royal Family as he and Meghan have ‘nothing left to say’, also had plans for a show centred on fatherhood.
He is said to have pitched an idea to discuss societal conversations each episode, touching on climate change and religion. Harry wanted to interview Pope Francis for the latter, it is reported.
Sadly, the Sussexes’ three-year deal with Soptify came crashing down without one of the duke’s ideas coming to fruition.
Meghan had her Archetypes podcast axed as Spotify begins to make changes and revamp its output.
Harry and Meghan 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.