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Prince Harry And Meghan Markle’s Archewell Weighs In On Spotify, Claims Concerns Over Alleged Misinformation

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Archewell Productions has issued a statement on the current controversy over Spotify and alleged misinformation the platform is disseminating on Covid-19 issues.

The couple’s Archewell Productions claimed they have expressed their concerns about misinformation to Spotify as far back as last April, and asked for action. Today’s statement did not mention podcaster Joe Rogan, whose show on the service has been at the heart of recent attention, or specifically what constituted the alleged misinformation that raised the Archewell concerns.

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Musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell last week asked to withdraw from the streaming service because of its association with Rogan, whose talk show sometimes offers guests with alternative views on the pandemic and vaccinations. Today, they were joined in withdrawal land by Bruce Springsteen guitarist Nils Lofgren, with more musicians reportedly pondering an exit.

Harry and wife Meghan have a deal worth a reported $25 million to make podcasts for Spotify, although they have only released one bit of audio so far. Rogan has a reported $100 million deal to license his podcast to the streamer.

A statement attributed to an Archewell spokesperson gave the couple’s position on the current controversy. .

“Since the inception of Archewell, we have worked to address the real-time global misinformation crisis,” said the statement. “Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day.

“Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform. We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis. We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does.”

Archewell Productions was founded in 2020 to produce programming that “uplifts and entertains audiences by embracing a shared humanity and building community through similar experiences, powerful narratives, and universal values,” according to the company.

The company scored two announced projects with Netflix: Heart of Invictus, a docu-series executive produced by Prince Harry in partnership with The Invictus Games Foundation, and Pearl, an animated adventure series executive produced by Markle.

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