Breaking Down Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Spotify Controversy
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a multi-million-dollar contract with the platform in late 2020.
Spotify got into a big controversy last week by keeping the controversial podcast The Joe Rogan Experience on its platform after the eponymous host's continuous false claims about COVID-19 and vaccines. In response, artists like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell have asked for their music to be removed from the platform. Now, even Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have decided to speak out about the situation.
In December 2020, the couple signed an exclusive $30 million contract with Spotify for the production of content through their organization Archewell. Following the outcry of support for Young and Mitchell, the Sussex decided to issue an official statement to position themselves alongside the singers and publicly express their concerns about the misinformation that may be being disseminated on the streaming platform.
An Archewell spokesperson said in a statement, “Last April, our co-founders began voicing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on their platform. We continue to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes are made to their platform to help address this public health crisis. We look forward to Spotify responding to this moment and are committed to continuing our work together."
After losing more than $2 billion in market value from the controversies, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced that the company will put real changes into practice to fight fake news. Last month, the company said it removed 20,000 assorted podcast episodes for violating content guidelines.
