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BACKGRID
Meghan Marklehas been spotted for the first time following thetermination of her Spotify deal.
On Thursday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s production company Archewell Audio and Spotify released ajoint statementannouncing they had “mutually agreed to part ways.”
A day later, Meghan, 41, was photographed near her California home on a phone call, marking the first time she had been seen since the deal was terminated.
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Spotify was the home of Meghan’sArchetypespodcast, whichdebuted as the number-one podcastin the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada on Spotify’sinternational chartsduring its release in August.
Its ending comes amid a June 5 announcement from Spotify that stated that the company was cutting approximately200 employees, 2% of Spotify’s workforce, as they “recently embarked on the next phase of our podcast strategy.” A source close to the situation previously told PEOPLE there’s no connection between the recent layoffs and Spotifyparting ways with Meghan and Prince Harry.
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During thefinal episode, Meghan expressed that the podcast was an outlet that made her “feel seen.”
“I don’t know what I’d been expecting, but what’s come out of it for me has been illuminating. And also ironic. Because while this format is only audio and each week I use my voice, you can hear my thoughts without any visual, I feel seen,” she said.
Added Meghan: “I had never considered that in using my voice, that I would feel seen. But I do. And so much of the feedback throughout the season from women is that they feel seen as well. As we heard today, that men see our experience differently now, too. They see us. They see us more clearly.”
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After the news of Meghan and Harry parting ways with Spotify was made public, Spotify executive Bill Simmons gave his reaction.
Referring to the couple as “f—ing grifters” on Friday’s edition ofThe Bills Simmons Podcast, he stated, “I wish I had been involved in the ‘Megan and Harry leave Spotify’ negotiation. … That’s the podcast we should have launched with them. 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."
source: people.com
