Meghan Markle's 'talent' has been questioned by an industry exec, and Hollywood is in uproar over the comments made about the Duchess.
- The Duchess of Sussex had a well-known podcast that ran for 12 episodes in 2022.
- It has recently been announced that the podcast, Archetypes, will no longer be working with Spotify and a second season has been axed.
- In other royal news, Prince William hailed as 'down to earth' after launching huge new project.
In a recent statement, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle shared disappointing news with fans as they revealed that there would not be a second season to the Duchess of Sussex's Spotify podcast, Archetypes. The Sussexes and streaming giant declared, "Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together".
The podcast was a success and ran for 12 episodes between August and November 2022. The contract between the Duchess and the music platform was reportedly worth around $25 million and Meghan Markle won a prestigious Gracie award for best 'Entertainment Podcast Host.'
However, despite the success, recent comments made by United Talent Agency (UTA) CEO, Jeremy Zimmer, have slammed the Duchess and suggested that she was not good at being a podcast host and lacked 'talent.'
"Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent," Zimmer told Semafor at the marketing festival in the South of France. "And, you know, just because you’re famous doesn’t make you great at something," he said.
These comments have caused a huge backlash in Hollywood as execs have criticized the CEO for his comments about the Duchess.
Per Variety, one source in the industry called his comments 'mind-blowing'. One A-list talent manager said it was a major faux pas and commented, "As an agent, you never publicly discuss your own talent or anyone else’s." A top agent from a competitor of UTA said the quote from Zimmer was, “a shocking display of bad taste. Who wants to sign with someone who trashes people like that in public?” Another top dealmaker said, "I don’t care who it is, decorum is decorum. I feel for the staff."
The controversial comments may have divided Hollywood, but the Duke and Duchess of Sussex may still be about to come out on top as a new media deal with Netflix rather than Spotify is reportedly in the works.
In May it was announced that Meghan and Harry had plans for a feature-length film about Palace life and the couple was 'keen' to work with Netflix again. In addition to this, it was also revealed that Meghan Markle is set for an epic Netflix return as Suits is going to return to the streaming platform in the US. So the royal couple may soon be producing more content in the near future.
