Meghan Markle is ‘not a great’ talent, UTA CEO says after Spotify podcast goes bust
The CEO of United Talent Agency blasted Meghan Markle as untalented after Spotify put the kibosh on the Duchess of Sussex’s podcast.
“Turns out Meghan Markle was not a great audio talent, or necessarily any kind of talent,” Jeremy Zimmer told Semafor at the 2023 Cannes Lions advertising festival last week.
“And, you know, just because you’re famous doesn’t make you great at something,” he added.
Zimmer, who co-founded UTA in 1991, has represented major stars throughout his career including Mariah Carey, Bryan Cranston, DJ Khaled, Chelsea Handler and Kevin Hart.
The entertainment industry exec’s harsh words come shortly after The Post reported that Spotify cut ties with Markle, 41, and her husband, Prince Harry, because they could not deliver on expected numbers.
A source confirmed that Markle’s podcast, “Archetypes,” won’t be returning for a second season despite topping the charts last year and that the couple didn’t produce enough content to receive their full multimillion-dollar payout. They had signed a $20 million-plus deal with the streaming giant in 2020.
Markle and Harry’s production company, Archewell Audio, said in a joint statement with Spotify that they had “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series [they] made together.”
The first (and only) season of the former “Suits” actress’s podcast was comprised of just 12 episodes in which she interviewed guests like Serena Williams, Mariah Carey and Paris Hilton.
It’s understood that Markle, who signed for representation with Hollywood agency WME in April, has her eyes set on another streaming service.
“Meghan is continuing to develop more content for the ‘Archetypes’ audience on another platform,” an Archewell Productions spokeswoman previously told the Wall Street Journal.
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Amid the news of the ex-royals’ Spotify exit, sources claimed that Markle faked some of the interviews on her podcast.
Podnews alleged that some of the show’s conversations were done by members of her staff and that the audio of her voice asking the questions was apparently edited into the episodes after.
However, Andy Cohen, who appeared as a guest on “Archetypes” in November 2022, called the claims “insane” and confirmed that Markle had interviewed him on the podcast.
Meanwhile, another source claimed last week that Harry, 38, had pitched several outlandish concepts to Spotify that never came to fruition, including a series in which he would interview the likes of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin about their childhood traumas.
