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Taylor Swift has declined an invitation to appear on Meghan Markle’s now canceled Spotify podcast.
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According to the Wall Street Journal, the invitation was personally extended by Meghan.
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It comes after Spotify and the Sussexes’ production company said they had ‘agreed to go their separate ways’.
Taylor Swift turned down the chance to appear on Meghan Markle’s Spotify podcast, despite the Duchess of Sussex personally extending the invitation, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
The claim was part of a widely reported feature about her and Prince Harry’s attempts to break into Hollywood after stepping back from royal life.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the report said Meghan worked with Spotify’s Gimlet unit to compile a list of potential guests for her podcast after she and Prince Harry signed a deal with the streaming service. worth around $20 million in 2020.
The report says Meghan wrote a personal letter inviting the “Midnights” singer to come on her podcast, but Swift declined through a rep.
Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Swift did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.
“Archetypes” debuted in August 2022 and featured a number of high-profile guests such as Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, and Paris Hilton. Over 12 episodes, Meghan and her guests discussed some of the stereotypes women face.
After its debut, “Archetypes” quickly rose to the top of Spotify charts in the US, Canada, UK and Australia.
But Spotify and Archewell, the Sussexes’ production company, later announced they had “mutually agreed to go their separate ways” in a joint statement.
“The podcast will no longer be produced at Spotify as we are mutually parting ways,” a representative from Archewell Audio told Insider. It is not yet known if there are any plans to continue producing the show for another platform.
Since then, speculation has swirled as to why the Sussexes and Spotify ended their partnership, although the news came amid a downturn in the tech and media sectors, as well as layoffs. at Spotify earlier this year.
Spotify said its second round of job cuts in June was part of a “strategic realignment” of its podcast division.
It was also reported that the Sussexes were not producing enough content for the audio streaming service. A day after the announcement, the company’s head of innovation and podcast monetization called the couple “scammers” on his podcast.
Read the original Insider article