Prince Harry wanted to interview Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump about their upbringing in a Spotify podcast, reports have claimed. The Duke of Sussex is said to have shocked producers with the controversial idea to ask them about their childhoods and how they became the men they are today. The revelations come after Harry and his wife Meghan Markle had their deal with the streaming giant axed after just one podcast series from the Duchess of Sussex.
Bloomberg reports that Harry spoke with “multiple producers and production houses” over podcast ideas but “mostly stuck by his own” idea to interview the figures.
The Duke wanted to chat to Russian President Vladimir Putin, former US President Donald Trump as well as media mogul Mark Zuckerberg.
It was also reported that he hoped to speak to Pope Francis about religion.
The pitch was said to have “struck” people as “questionable at best” as most of the men have rarely given interviews or spoken on their upbringing.
Following their departure from the Royal Family in March 2020, Harry and Meghan signed a lucrative deal with Spotify but after just one season of Meghan’s Archetypes podcast, the deal was cancelled.
In a joint statement with Spotify, the couple’s company Archewell said: “Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.”
However, it wasn’t all amicable as just a day later, Head of Podcast Innovation and Monetization at Spotify, Bill Simmons branded the couple “f***ing grifters”.
In a foul-mouthed rant, the boss said: “That’s the podcast we should have launched with them. I’ve got to get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.”
In another blow to the couple US official rejected their application to trademark Archetypes.Â
The couple submitted an application to get exclusive rights to ‘Archetypes’, but the US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected their claims on the basis of a “likelihood of confusion” with an existing brand.
Harry and Meghan sought to claim rights to Archetypes in areas such as “downloadable audio recordings and podcasts” and in anything that fell into the category of “cultural treatment of women and stereotypes facing women”.
But the application was turned down due to an existing trademark by Arizonian firm Archetypes LLC.
