Spotify executive Bill Simmons calls Harry and Meghan ‘frauds’

(CNN) — Spotify executive and popular podcaster Bill Simmons lashed out at Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, calling them “scammers” after their multi-year partnership with Spotify ended on Friday.

“I wish I could have been in the ‘Leave Spotify’ negotiations with Meghan and Harry,” Simmons said on his self-titled podcast on Friday.

“‘The F**king Grifters’ [Los j*****s estafadores]. That’s the podcast we should start with them. I should get drunk one night and tell Harry the Zoom story I had and try to pitch him a podcast idea. This is one of my best stories… drink them. Fraudsters.”

A partnership between the pair’s production company, Archewell Audio, and Spotify included several shows, but ultimately produced only one series and a Christmas special.

Her “Archetypes” series, which she describes as “exploring, deconstructing and upending the labels women try to leave behind,” featured Meghan’s interviews with celebrity guests including Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton and Trevor. Noah.

Archewell Audio and Spotify have announced that they have “mutually agreed to part ways”, two weeks after the streaming audio company said it was cutting 200 jobs at its podcast unit, or 2% of its global workforce, in a “strategic restructuring”.

CNN has reached out to both Archewell and Spotify for comment on Simmons’ comments.

Simmons previously criticized Harry on a January 2023 episode of her podcast, saying she was “too embarrassed” to share Spotify with him.

“What does he do? That’s one thing, what’s your talent? Why are we listening to you? So you’re born into the royal family and then you’re out… you live in Montecito, you sell documentaries. Podcasts and you’re talking about the royal family, and if you complain about them Besides, nobody cares what you have to say about anything.”

Spotify acquired Simmons’ sports and culture platform “The Ringer” with more than 30 podcasts in 2020 for more than $200 million. Forbes reported At the time.

Since then, he has become head of podcast discovery and monetization at Spotify, where he also hosts several podcasts, including “The Rewatchables.”

— CNN’s Max Foster contributed to this report.