Grifters meaning explained as Spotify executive Bill Simmons lashes out at Harry and Meghan amid podcast fallout

American podcaster Bill Simmons slammed Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, calling them "grifters," after it was announced that the Sussexes and the audio company has parted ways. While appearing on June 16's episode of his own podcast, The Ringer, the 53-year-old remarked about the duo ending their $25 million deal.

The comments came at around 19 minutes into the show, when the episode's guest Joe House described the Spotify executive as a person who is engaged in "a lot of business deals." To this, Simmons responded:

"I do? I wish I'd been involved in the Meghan and Harry leave Spotify negotiation. The f***ing grifters. That's the podcast that we should've launched with them."

According to Collins Dictionary, a Grifter is a person who "swindles another out of money."

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a three-year podcast deal to produce content for the streaming platform, Spotify. However, Markle conducted only one podcast series - interviewing the likes of Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton, Serena Williams, etc.

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Bill Simmons wishes he was involved in the exit of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from the multi-million dollar deal

While further criticizing the pair about parting ways from Spotify, Bill Simmons revealed he once had a call with Prince Harry.

“I wish I had been involved in the ‘Meghan and Harry leave Spotify’ negotiation. The F**king Grifters. That’s the podcast we shoulda launched with them. I gotta get drunk one night and tell the story of the Zoom I had with Harry to try and help him with a podcast idea. It’s one of my best stories.”

The Ringer was sold to Spotify for $196 million in 2020, resulting in Simmons obtaining a leadership position at Spotify.

This is not the first time that Bill Simmons has criticized the couple on his podcast. In January 2022, the executive said that he was "so tired" of Prince Harry.

“Shoot this guy to the sun. What does he bring to the table? He just whines about s**t and keeps giving interviews. Who gives a s**t? Who cares about your life? You weren’t even the favorite son.”

He also added that people listen to the Duke of Sussex because he "just complain(s)" about the Royal Family.

“You live in f**king Montecito and you just sell documentaries and podcasts and nobody cares what you have to say about anything unless you talk about the royal family and you just complain about them."

Both the deal with Simmons and the one with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was part of Spotify's move into podcasts. The latter signed a contract with the audio company in 2020 via their production company Archewell.

The company's emphasis on content and advertising decreased following the resignation of former chief content and advertising business officer, Dawn Ostroff, in January 2023. Additionally, the company recently announced plans to lay off 200 employees due to a strategic realignment in early June.