Spotify Cutting 200 Jobs, Combining Gimlet And Parcast In “Fundamental Pivot” Of Podcast Operations

Meghan Markle sent Taylor Swift a handwritten invitation to appear on her now cancelled podcast but the pop superstar declined the offer.

Malia and Sasha Obama are enjoying their summer holidays in Greece. The sisters were spotted enjoying themselves alongside their parents, Barack and Michelle, as the family took in some of the country’s most famous sites.Malia and Sasha Obama look cool for a birthday party in Los AngelesBarack Obama admits his dream job was to play in the NBASasha Obama enjoys life after college and leaves a party in West HollywoodThe family was photographed in Athens, as they walked along the ruins of the Acropolis.

Kim Kardashian says she still has “imposter syndrome”, despite the global success of her multi-million dollar shapewear brand Skims. Kardashian, 42, revealed the brand, founded in 2019, has exceeded “everything that I ever imagined”. Celebrities such as Bella Hadid and Michelle Obama have also shared the imposter syndrome obstacles they have faced.

Trevor Noah has his sights set on the world of podcasting.

Netflix may be about to part ways from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, according to the claims of one royal commentator.

Trevor Noah is moving into podcasting.

First Lady of the United States. Michelle Obama took to social media to share a dedication to her husband, praising him for his exceptional fatherhood.

On Friday some bombshell news dropped about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Or should we say there was a bombshell about being “dropped”?

Charna Flam Bill Simmons, the Ringer founder and head of podcast innovation and monetization at Spotify, recently ridiculed Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on his podcast, labeling the couple as “fucking grifters” Simmons’ comment follows the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Thursday announcement that their production company, Archewell, had severed ties with the audio company. The pair inked a $20 million deal with Spotify in 2020. “‘The Fucking Grifters.’ That’s the podcast we shoulda launched with them,” said Simmons on his self-titled podcast. “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.”

was more of a casual fling than a long-term romance. was not renewed by the audio streamer for a second season, and Spotify and Archewell have confirmed their mutual decision to part ways. At least the breakup seems mostly amicable. According to , part of the reason for the split was Archewell's “low output of content,” as Spotify usually requires more regularly released series or episodes for its exclusive deals.

The Sussexes have separated from Spotify, Deadline has confirmed.

Colman Domingo stars in the trailer for AMC’s upcoming travel series ”You Are Here.” As host of the show, Domingo shares personal and national stories as he takes viewers through four American cities: Savannah, Philadelphia, New York and Chicago. The first two episodes premiere on June 19 at 7 p.m. Domingo is an award-winning actor, writer and director. He has directed episodes of “Fear of the Walking Dead” and starred in the 2021 “Candyman.” “You Are Here” is produced by Domingo’s Edith Production and ZeroPointZero, and it was created in partnership with Johnnie Walker. Watch the trailer below.

Justina Machado stars in The Horror of Dolores Roach, the new series on Amazon’s Prime Video dropping July 7. A trailer for the eight-episode series was released (which you can see above) and it previews the capabilities of Dolores Roach’s “magic hands.”

Spotify laid off some 6% of its 6,600-strong workforce.As the streaming platform gears up to scale down its internal operations, redundancies are now officially reaching 2% of its entire workforce — a staggering number considering how recent the investment took place.In a blog post on the streaming platform, Spotify’s head of podcast business Sahar Elhabashi wrote, “We are expanding our partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimized for each show and creator.”“This fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better,” Elhabashi continued.“However, doing so requires adapting … As a result, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to make a strategic realignment of our group and reduce our global podcast vertical and other functions by approximately 200 people, or 2% of Spotify’s workforce.”The cuts prove that the company is failing to see the results it had hoped for in the podcast arena — despite pumping billions of dollars into having Markle and Joe Rogan’s podcasts on its platform.However, Markle’s “Archetypes” podcast has struggled to remain at the top since its debut in August 2022 as by November, the podcast slid down to number 22 in the charts.For his part, Rogan’s podcast suffered a series of controversies ranging from Covid-19 vaccine misinformation to being accused of using racial slurs and making antisemitic comments.In 2021, it was reported that Meghan and Harry received a cool $25 million from Spotify for singing on the dotted line for a lucrative audio deal.More recently, Markle was honored at the 48th annual Gracie Awards where she picked up a gong for her podcast — though she was not

When Ellen Pompeo sees Katherine Heigl before our photo shoot, she offers a greeting worthy of Barbra Streisand. “Hello, gorgeous!” Pompeo exclaims, giving Heigl a hug. And suddenly, it’s like no time has passed since “Grey’s Anatomy” premiered as a midseason replacement in 2005 — after ABC executives considered not airing the show at all — in the time slot after “Desperate Housewives.” Ultimately, these two women somehow not only surpassed the ladies of Wisteria Lane, they redefined pop culture. Throughout this reunion, we seriously take you back to the first days of TV’s longest running primetime medical drama. As “Grey’s Anatomy” became an overnight sensation, Pompeo and Heigl were launched into the stratosphere of fame together, for better and for worse. On the plus side, the Shonda Rhimes-created series revolutionized television, with women and actors of color leading the show. Yet the sudden, sometimes toxic attention — as well as spending those long days and nights on the infamously grueling set during the early years — taught both of them hard-won lessons. “If you cannot stand up for yourself in this industry, very few people will stand up for you,” Heigl says to Pompeo. “So you’d better learn how to, and you’d better be OK with them not liking you for it. ”

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Spotify is undertaking a “strategic realignment” of its podcast division, laying off about 200 staffers. Sahar Elhabashi, Spotify’s VP, head of podcast business, announced the job cuts in a memo to employees Monday that was shared publicly. The 200 employees represents about 2% of the audio streamer’s worldwide workforce. The layoffs come after Spotify cut 6% of its total headcount earlier this year and saw the exit of Dawn Ostroff, chief content and advertising business officer, who had previously headed Spotify’s podcast business “We are expanding our partnership efforts with leading podcasters from across the globe with a tailored approach optimized for each show and creator,” Elhabashi wrote. “This fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better. However, doing so requires adapting; over the past few months, our senior leadership team has worked closely with HR to determine the optimal organization for this next chapter. As a result, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to make a strategic realignment of our group and reduce our global podcast vertical and other functions by approximately 200 people, or 2% of Spotify’s workforce.”

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Zack Snyder revealed at the start of 2023 that his Netflix space epic “Rebel Moon” would be split into two movies. But Snyder is actually making four movies, sort of. In a Vanity Fair first look at “Rebel Moon,” Snyder announced that each “Rebel Moon” movie is getting two separate cuts. One cut is a movie that “anyone can enjoy and watch,” and one cut will be more explicit and strictly for adults. “I think for fans of mine and people who are ready to take a deeper, harder dive, that’ll be fun for them,” Snyder said of the harder cuts. “Rebel Moon” was written as one movie, but Netflix became hesitant after Snyder delivered a 172-page draft. At that length, “Rebel Moon” would’ve clocked around three hours.

Sasha Obama just graduated with her Bachelors from USC, and she is enjoying her life now that she’s free from finals, books, and hallways. The youngest daughter of Barack and Michelle Obama was recently spotted leaving a house party in West Hollywood.Sasha did not look prepared to take the photo, but it looks like she is having fun as a young educated woman.

Angry residents of a West Lothian village who say they are cut off due to a lack of buses are calling on the council to step in and help.

Spotify is laying off 200 workers from its podcast division, or about 2% of its total global workforce, the company disclosed in a memo disclosed publicly Monday. Spotify VP and podcast head Sahar Elhabashi wrote that the cuts are part of a strategic shift to expand partnership efforts “with a tailored approach.”“This fundamental pivot from a more uniform proposition will allow us to support the creator community better,” Elhabashi wrote.