Bill Simmons calls Prince Harry, Meghan Markle ‘f–king grifters’ after Spotify split

Bill Simmons has shared plenty of stories as a sportswriter and podcaster, but apparently “one of my best” remains untold — and involves a tie to the royal family.

In an episode of “The Bills Simmons Podcast” released Friday, the titular host revealed that he once met with Prince Harry to discuss podcast ideas and expressed frustration over Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Archewell media company and “Archetypes” podcast that won’t be renewed for a second season — calling them “f–king grifters” for an approximately $20 million deal that resulted in 12 podcast episodes, according to The Big Lead.

“I wish I had been involved in the ‘Megan and Harry leave Spotify’ negotiation,” Simmons, the founder of The Ringer and the head of Spotify’s global sports strategy, said. “… That’s a podcast we should’ve launched with them. 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 Post’s Erin Keller confirmed Thursday that the inaugural season of “Archetypes” wouldn’t be followed by a second, though Spotify and Archewell Audio said that everyone “mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we made together.”

They signed the deal back in 2020, and the first episode of “Archetypes” — described in the introduction as a podcast where “Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex dives into the labels that try to hold women back” — launched in August 2022 with a Serena Williams episode. 

Eleven more, including shows with Mariah Carey and Trevor Noah, followed, with the season finale released in November.

It also wasn’t the first time that Simmons has criticized Prince Harry, according to Awful Announcing. 

In a January 2023 episode of his podcast, Simmons said that “I’m so tired of this guy” and later added that “it’s so embarrassing that he’s on our platform.”

“I can’t stand him,” Simmons said, according to the outlet. “So tired. I’m so embarrassed that I f–king have to share Spotify with him. The guy sucks.”