Meghan Markle, Prince Harry Urged To End $25M Spotify Deal After Statement On Misinformation

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry are sharing their thoughts on the rising misinformation regarding the coronavirus pandemic on Spotify.

Shortly after the likes of Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Nils Lofgren urged Spotify to remove their music catalogs due to inaccuracies about COVID-19, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex called on the streamer to address the "serious harms" of misinformation featured on the platform.

Prince Harry and Markle — who signed a reported $25 million multi-year podcast deal with Spotify in 2020 — first reached out to Spotify to express "concerns" about "the all-too-real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform" in April 2021, a spokesperson for the couple's foundation Archewell said Sunday.

"Since the inception of Archewell, we have worked to address the real-time global misinformation crisis. Hundreds of millions of people are affected by the serious harms of rampant mis- and disinformation every day," the statement, obtained by People, began.

"Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of COVID-19 misinformation on its platform," the statement added. "We have continued to express our concerns to Spotify to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis. We look to Spotify to meet this moment and are committed to continuing our work together as it does."

Prince Harry and Markle released the statement after royal fans and social media users called them out for moving forward with their podcast project with Spotify amid the streamer's partnership with Joe Rogan, who has been accused of spreading false information about the ongoing pandemic and vaccine efficacy via the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.

Fans continued to urge the duke and duchess to end their partnership with Spotify following the release of their statement.

"I wish they'd stepped up and pulled their contract," one Twitter user commented.

"They don't really care, it's all about the money," another wrote.

"Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and the Sussexes couldn't be further apart. Two legends. The other two wannabe legends. Just bandwagon jumping," a third netizen claimed.

"Expressed concerns? What does that even mean? They need to act rather than just issue silly word salad. Quit Spotify if you really care about misinformation," a fourth user insisted.

Others praised Prince Harry and Markle for taking a stand.

"Meghan Markle and Prince Harry using their voices to speak about COVID-19 misinformation on Spotify is definitely important. Glad that the two did!" one person tweeted.

"They always lead with compassion," another added.

"Happy the Duke and Duchess of Sussex held Spotify to account. Working relationships mean compromise. Hopefully, other platforms follow suit," another user commented.

"This is why I like and respect them so much. Harry called Rogan out before, they believe in vaccines and vaccine equity, and they, more than anyone else, know how destructive misinformation is," a fourth fan wrote.

Prince Harry and Markle's call to action comes about after Young and Mitchell each removed their music catalogs from Spotify.

Alongside Mitchell's statement on her website that she would be removing her music, the singer also linked to an open letter to Spotify in her post, which was signed by doctors and medical professionals. The letter claimed that the "Joe Rogan Experience" — Spotify's top podcast — promotes "baseless conspiracy theories and has a concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the COVID-19 pandemic."

Young also shared a letter on his website calling out Rogan's podcast. He wrote, in part, "Most of the listeners hearing the unfactual, misleading and false COVID information on Spotify are 24 years old, impressionable and easy to swing to the wrong side of the truth."

Spotify has not released a statement addressing Markle and Prince Harry's call to action.