Andy Cohen has come forward to support Meghan Markle amidst speculation that she didn’t conduct her own interviews for her Spotify podcast, Archetypes, which has recently been discontinued. The host, aged 55, who was featured on the podcast in 2022, addressed the ‘baseless rumours’ during a conversation with Us Weekly.
“I have definitely [been interviewed by Markle]. This rumour is absurd,” he stated to the publication. “The essence of her podcast is dialogued with individuals. It’s unthinkable that she didn’t conduct the interviews.”
The rumour mill started churning when PodNews alleged that some of Meghan’s interviews on her podcast were carried out by staff members and her voice was edited into the podcast to give the impression that she was conducting the interviews.
Cohen further added that Meghan was “extensively researched”, “well-briefed” and “insightful” during their conversation in which they discussed his Housewives franchise, a topic that had previously piqued Meghan’s interest when she was on his talk show prior to her marriage to Prince Harry.
“She’s not going to join the Beverly Hills housewives, folks. She’s Meghan Markle,” Cohen pointed out during their chat. Bravo had determined that Meghan wasn’t a good fit for the show in the early 2010s, a decision Cohen later described as the “greatest oversight in the show’s 13-year history.”
However, Meghan expressed that she was not aware of the rumour. The termination of Meghan and Prince Harry’s $30 million agreement with Spotify was mutually decided, as per a statement that mentioned they were proud of the series they produced together.
Archetypes, which only lasted for 12 episodes, featured interviews with celebrities such as Serena Williams, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton, Mindy Kaling, Trevor Noah, and Judd Apatow. The podcast was awarded a top podcast prize at the People’s Choice Awards in December of the previous year.
Meghan mentioned at that time, “It has been a labour of love to immerse myself in the process, writing and creating late into the night, and engaging in deep, meaningful conversations with my diverse and inspiring guests.”
A spokeswoman for Archewell divulged to The Wall Street Journal that Meghan plans to “continue developing more content for the Archetypes audience on a different platform”.
The discontinuation of the Sussexes’ Spotify deal, which originally was to produce several series, but resulted in just one, follows Spotify’s announcement of eliminating 200 jobs in the podcast division due to a “strategic realignment”.
