Prince Harry’s bizarre alleged Spotify podcast pitch revealed

Prince Harry never produced a podcast during his three-year Spotify deal – and a new claim about what he wanted to do may explain why. Photo / Getty Images

Prince Harry allegedly wanted to interview Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, reports news.com.au.

Last week, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made headlines after they cut ties with Spotify after only producing one podcast during their three-year deal, which is estimated to be worth around $41 million.

Following the couple’s announcement via their foundation Archewell, Spotify executive and podcaster Bill Simmons dubbed the pair “f**king grifters”, and alleged that he was brought in to help Harry with ideas for his possible podcast.

“I gotta get drunk one night and tell the story of this Zoom I had with Harry to try to help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.”

The statement had people wondering what on earth the royal had in mind.

Now, Bloomberg reporter Ashley Carman has chatted to “people with knowledge of the situation,” and they have revealed the kind of ideas Harry was tossing up for a podcast.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and President Donald J. Trump at a meeting in 2017. Photo / AP

Harry allegedly wanted to interview “controversial guests” - such as Russian president Vladimir Putin, former US President Donald Trump and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg - about their early formative years and how their childhood experiences made them the people they are today, according to anonymous sources.

The unnamed insider also reports that Harry’s brainstormed topics for the show included fatherhood, climate change and religion, the latter of which he hoped to discuss with Pope Francis.

Those tasked with helping the Prince bring his ideas for the podcast to life found the interview proposition “questionable” considering how tricky it would be to organise a controversial figure like Putin to sit down and discuss childhood trauma with Harry, reports Carman.

Prince Harry’s podcast never came to light. The only thing that the couple produced via their three-year Spotify deal was Meghan’s 12-episode Archetypes series, which explored the “labels that try to hold women back” and featured interviews with the likes of Trevor Noah, Mariah Carey, Mindy Kaling and Serena Williams.

Meghan's Archetypes podcast. Photo / Spotify

The cancellation of the Sussexes’ arrangement with Spotify was declared in a joint statement last week, in which both parties stated that they had “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together”.

With just one series seeing the light of day, Archewell media company allegedly didn’t produce enough content to receive the Spotify deal’s full payout, according to New York Post.