Many celebrities might prefer to draw a discreet veil over a much-mocked podcast that saw them derided as “grifters,” even if it did make them a load of cash.
Meghan Markle, however, is doubling down on her audio canon, re-releasing Archetypes, the podcast she first recorded as part of a big-bucks deal for Spotify, on a new platform, Lemonada.
She will also make a new podcast for the female-focused network, which says it has “a mission to make life suck less.”
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Despite Meghan being dropped by Spotify after the 12-episode Archetypes was released to widespread mockery, Meghan insists the series was a huge success and recently included mention of it in her bio on her new website (on which the new Lemonada announcement was also made), which praised Archetypes as “a record-breaking podcast” that “topped the charts as the Number 1 podcast in 47 countries.”
While it is true that the early episodes headed global podcast charts, listeners soon grew tired of it, with the tenth episode charting at 22 on Spotify’s U.S. rankings, as pundits called out its repetitiveness.
Meghan also boasts that the show won awards “after its first season,” though the show wasn’t actually commissioned for a second season, with just 12 episodes emerging from their rumored $20 million contract with Spotify.
After the couple were dropped by Spotify, one of the company’s executives, Bill Simmons, a successful podcaster in his own right, said on his self-titled podcast. “I gotta 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.” He also joked, “‘The Fucking Grifters.’ That’s the podcast we shoulda launched with them.”
Kelly Osbourne described Prince Harry as a prince who dressed as a Nazi and is now “trying to come back as the pope,” and ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said the couple were only interesting when “insulting their family.”
British newspapers gave the show savage reviews. On IMDB it gets 3/10 stars on 4,000 reviews.
Lemonada’s CEO and co-founder, Jessica Cordova Kramer said: “We are beyond honored that Meghan has trusted us to help democratize access to Archetypes, and that so many more people around the world will have access to the series soon. Meghan’s talent as host, creator and conversationalist is unparalleled and we are thrilled to co-create a new series with her that fosters her approach to creating art that matters.”
Meghan said: “I’m proud to now be able to share that I am joining the brilliant team at Lemonada to continue my love of podcasting.”
Lemonada’s biggest hit so far has been, Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, which was named the 2023 Show of the Year by Apple.
