Meghan labelled ‘not an awesome expertise’ by high Hollywood agent after Spotify podcast deal collapse
A number one Hollywood agent has reportedly added to criticism of the Duchess of Sussex after her Spotify podcast deal was axed – describing her as “not a great talent”.
United Talent Agency (UTA) chief govt Jeremy Zimmer made the feedback about Meghan throughout a dialogue on podcasting on the Cannes Lions promoting pageant in France, in accordance with a report by the Semafor news web site.
It comes after Spotify govt Bill Simmons, founding father of the Ringer podcast community that was purchased by the streaming service, labelled Meghan and Prince Harry “f****** grifters” following the announcement they had been being dropped for reportedly not creating sufficient content material.
Meghan’s podcast Archetypes, which aimed to “investigate, dissect, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back”, featured visitors together with Paris Hilton, Mindy Kaling, Mariah Carey and Serena Williams.
However, solely 12 episodes had been made following the signing of the 2020 deal, reported to be price $20m (£15m).
“Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent,” Mr Zimmer was quoted as saying by Semafor. “And, you know, just because you’re famous doesn’t make you great at something.”
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UTA has represented stars together with Harrison Ford, Paris Hilton, Michael Douglas, Michaela Coel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Paul Rudd, Lizzo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Susan Sarandon.
Semafor media reporter Max Tani gave his opinion on Zimmer’s feedback in his article, saying they “reflect the new conventional wisdom in podcasting” – that “A-list celebrities and big-budget audio narratives” are out, whereas “new audio talent is endemic to the medium, and has more in common with talk radio or daytime television personalities than with Windsors”.
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The duchess’s podcast was dropped earlier this month. In a joint assertion from Harry and Meghan’s Archewell media firm and Spotify, the businesses introduced they’d “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together”, in accordance with the New York Post.
“Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform,” an Archewell Productions spokeswoman informed the Wall Street Journal.
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Along with Spotify, Harry and Meghan additionally signed offers with Netflix, which launched an eponymous documentary sequence about them final yr, and Penguin Random House, the writer of the prince’s controversial memoir, Spare.
Sky News has contacted Archewell and UTA for remark.