Meghan Markle’s first solo podcast series will launch on Spotify within months.
A spokesperson from Meghan and husband Prince Harry’s podcast studio, Archewell Audio, confirmed the production on Thursday (US time), saying former senior royals had resolved their concerns over Spotify’s role in spreading COVID misinformation.
The podcast is part of a reported $36 million deal with the streaming service, but has been delayed by several months.
Thursday’s announcement came after Meghan and Harry urged Spotify earlier this year to make changes to prevent “serious harms” from virus misinformation being spread on the platform.
According to the spokesperson, there have been “encouraging conversations” with Spotify executives since the Sussexes’ callout in January.
“We are excited to announce that we are continuing production of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex’s, ground-breaking first podcast series, set to launch this summer,” they said.
“We are encouraged by ongoing conversations we’ve had with Spotify on this shared goal and have been working closely with their team – as well as their senior leadership.”
More details for the series will be released soon, with June set as a likely date for the podcast’s release.
Harry and Meghan signed their lucrative deal Spotify in late 2020, but it has so far resulted in only a single one-off episode — a holiday special in December 2020.
Late last year, Britain’s Sun newspaper reported that Spotify had given Archewell Audio a “gentle nudge” to get working.
“Spotify were delighted when they signed the couple, but the lack of content has mystified them,” a source told the publication.
“Particularly as they seem to have no problem producing content for other platforms.”
In January, the royals joined the chorus of concerned celebrities on COVID-19 misinformation amid a growing outcry against another Spotify podcaster, Joe Rogan.
“We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis,” an Archewell Foundation representative said at the time.
“We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does.”
However, Meghan and Harry did not name The Joe Rogan Experience host among their concerns.
At the height of the protests, prominent musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removed their music from Spotify.
