It seems another chapter in the rollercoaster career of Meghan Markle has closed, with the Daily Mail reporting that the former actress has withdrawn applications to trademark the Archetypes podcast name.
Markle had previously released one series of the podcast on the Spotify platform – billed as an attempt to “examine and subject the labels that seek to limit women” and including interviews with guests including Serena Williams, Paris Hilton and Mariah Carey – as part of a reported $29-37million deal signed with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex back in 2020.
The deal was officially terminated this June, when a spokesman for the couple’s production company announced that Markle “was continuing to develop more content for the Archetypes audience on another platform,” and indeed applications were lodged with the US Patent and Trademark Office to protect the podcast’s name at that time.
It seems this plan has now been abandoned, with this application withdrawn according to the Daily Mail.
Although the decision to terminate the relationship with Spotify was described in June as “mutual”, the platform’s boss Bill Simmons went on to publicly slam the pair’s efforts, calling them both “f***ing grifters” on a podcast, and telling listeners: “I have got to 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 … F**k them.”
A more successful venture for the couple was the recent Invictus Games, which closed last weekend in Dusseldorf, Germany.