A wave of criticism directed at the Duchess of Sussex after the collapse of her podcast deal with Spotify has gathered pace, with a leading Hollywood agent labeling Meghan “untalented”.
Jeremy Zimmer, chief executive of the United Talent Agency (UTA), reportedly made the comments during a discussion on podcasting, and the role of celebrities, at an advertising festival in Cannes, France, according to a report by the Semafor website.
An interview apparently turned to Meghan, and the termination of the $20m deal she and her husband Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, signed with Spotify for their Archewell company in 2020 to produce podcasts highlighting and elevating diverse perspectives and voices.
“Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent,” Zimmer is quoted as saying.
“And, you know, just because you’re famous doesn’t make you great at something.”
Last week, Bill Simmons, founder of the Ringer podcast network that he sold to Spotify in 2020 for $196m, accused the Sussexes of being “grifters” in a profanity-laden speech on his own podcast.
The Guardian has reached out to Zimmer, and Archewell representatives, for comment.
Spotify scrapped the deal for the podcast Archetypes after only 12 episodes were made, featuring Meghan in conversation with friends and celebrities, including Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, and Trevor Noah.
According to Semafor’s report, Zimmer’s comments, referring to the House of Windsor, the reigning British royal house that provides Prince Harry’s surname when he is not using his titles, “reflect the new conventional wisdom in podcasting.
Out are A-list celebrities and big-budget audio narratives. The new audio talent is endemic to the medium, and has more in common with talk radio or daytime television personalities than with Windsors [sic]”.
