Prince Harry and Meghan Markle remain committed to Spotify despite COVID-19 criticism

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have no plans to cut ties with Spotify, despite claims that the streaming platform tolerates the spread of COVID-19 misinformation.

A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said the couple first reached out to the company in April 2021 to raise “concerns” about “the all-too-real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform” in the global misinformation crisis in Real Time” since they started the Archewell Foundation.

“Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious damage caused by rampant misinformation and disinformation every day,” the official said in a statement released on Twitter by Finding Freedom co-writer Omid Scobie.

“We have continued to raise our concerns with Spotify to ensure changes are made to its platform to help address this public health crisis. We expect Spotify to manage this moment and commit to continue our collaboration,” the spokesperson added.

The Duke of Sussex previously blamed the vaccine for “mass misinformation” because people were reluctant to get the bite. He had lashed out at social media platforms and news sites for “peddling lies” and called online misinformation a “global humanitarian problem”. In an interview with Dax Shepard last year, he also called out Joe Rogan for his stance on the COVID-19 vaccine.

Regardless of their stance against misinformation about the pandemic, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex want to continue working with Spotify. They must honor their multi-year deal, reportedly worth £18million, to produce original content under Archewell Audio.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have only released one episode so far in December 2020. Fans wondered if they haven’t released new content due to their stance against misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. One commented on Scobie’s post: “I KNEW IT! !! I’ve been thinking recently that maybe this has something to do with them not releasing another podcast. They were there the whole time.” Another wrote, “So that’s the excuse they will use to part ways with Spotify after not producing anything good enough in over a year. Use someone else’s fight. I understand.”