Prince Harry's 2021 Oprah Winfrey Interview Leaves Spotify Bosses 'Horrified' 2 Years Later
Jun. 23 2023, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Prince Harry "horrified" top executives at Spotify after he confessed to Oprah Winfrey that he frivolously signed media deals because he was strapped for cash after leaving the U.K., RadarOnline.com has learned.
Harry's admission was one of several bombshells that he and his wife, Meghan Markle, dropped during their infamous 2021 interview with Oprah in Montecito, California.
After last week's joint announcement that Spotify and the Sussexes had mutually agreed to part ways, an insider claimed Harry's remarks to the talk show legend soured his reputation at the streaming platform.
Harry was candid, to say the least when he told Oprah that working with Spotify and Netflix was "never part of the plan." The Duke elaborated that the media deals were "suggested" for financial "security" amid his dramatic — and costly — exit from his full-time Royal duties.
"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," Harry said at the time.
Two years later and it appears Harry's words still stung Spotify bosses. Daily Mail Diary Editor Richard Eden claimed the Duke's remarks were insulting and "horrified" executives, who, at the time, had just entered a $20 million deal with Harry and Meghan.
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"It takes an awful lot of work [to produce a podcast]. It's serious work, it's planning," Eden explained. "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," the editor continued as it was implied that the couple's content lacked substance.
Eden wasn't alone in believing Harry's podcast pursuit was a haphazard venture at best.
An insider claimed that while meeting with various producers and production houses, Harry pitched bizarre ideas for potential podcast themes. One included the Duke interviewing none other than Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Harry planned to speak to the ex-president and alleged war criminal about childhood trauma — and how it shaped their adulthood.
The pitch never came to fruition and when all was said and done, Harry did not host his own podcast.
The couple's Spotify deal resulted in a single 13-episode season of Archetypes, a podcast hosted by Meghan that aimed to discuss stereotypes with celebrity pals.