Meghan Markle's Archetypes podcast has come under fire from American celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, who described the show as "hilarious" during an interview on Kinsey Schofield's YouTube channel. Hilton questioned the Duchess of Sussex's claim to be a "champion of women," pointing out that the overwhelming majority of her guests were "rich and famous."
"Why are you doing this thing about women, yet we're only hearing the voices of the rich and famous?" Hilton asked, expressing his skepticism about the podcast's mission. Schofield agreed, admitting that the podcast was "a struggle" to listen to.
The criticism of Meghan's podcast comes as the Duchess prepares to relaunch the series in partnership with Lemonada Media, following the end of her multi-year deal with Spotify. Despite the backlash, Hilton believes that Meghan's new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard, will be very successful due to the ongoing interest in the British Royal Family.
"They're invested in the British Royal Family as a real life soap opera," Hilton explained, suggesting that even people who don't like Harry and Meghan will still be drawn to their ventures. Schofield initially appeared shocked at Hilton's response but then conceded that there are "a lot of sheep out there who want that hand cream."
The controversy surrounding Meghan's podcast is not the only setback the Duchess has faced recently. It was revealed that an A-list designer, British fashion designer Julien Macdonald, had refused to work with her, expressing his unequivocal favoritism for the Princess of Wales over Meghan at the Fragrance Foundation Awards in London.
Despite these challenges, Hilton believes that both Meghan and Prince Harry will continue to have money thrown at them by Hollywood, even if they get dropped by Spotify or other platforms. "They don't even have to try. They will work in Hollywood because Hollywood, like the rest of the world, is full of sheep. They will want to align themselves with the British Royal Family," he said.
Hilton noted that even though Harry is no longer a senior working royal, he is still the son of the King and the brother of the future king, which means that money will always be thrown his way and his wife's way. "Even if they continue to be dropped by Spotify, or dropped by Netflix after their new projects fail to garner much viewership," he added.
Archetypes, which released its first episodes on Spotify in August 2022, featured high-profile guests such as tennis ace Serena Williams, singer Mariah Carey, and Crazy Rich Asians actor Constance Wu. The show reached number one on the company's podcast charts in 47 countries and even won a Gracie Award, which celebrates outstanding programming and women in news and entertainment.
In February, Meghan announced that she was joining the "brilliant" team at Lemonada to continue her love of podcasting, expressing her eagerness to share the new dynamic podcast and re-release Archetypes to a wider audience. However, in April, it was reported that the release date of the new podcast had been pushed back to 2025 to allow Meghan to focus on her Netflix series about cooking, gardening, and friendship.
