Rita Panahi: Harry and Meghan’s lies are the real misinformation crisis

If Harry and Meghan really want to tackle misinformation they should start by cancelling themselves, not Spotify, for the countless lies they’ve told.

The ginger and whinger have weighed in with their unsolicited advice on the Joe Rogan Spotify saga.

Days after Spotify responded to Neil Young’s ill-advised ultimatum, that it’s him or Rogan, by pulling the ageing rocker’s entire catalogue off their site, the formerly royal couple put out one of their painfully earnest statements.

At least Young, after failing to engineer Rogan’s cancelling, had the decency to cancel himself from Spotify.

But Harry and Meghan will keep collecting their cheques from the world’s biggest audio streaming subscription service while whining about the platform’s content.

The pair who fled the UK to escape the glare of the media spotlight made sure everyone knew how concerned they are about “misinformation” in the modern era.

“Since the inception of Archewell, we have worked to address the real-time global misinformation crisis,” the Sussexes said in a statement.

“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.”

If Harry and Meghan really want to tackle misinformation they’d start by cancelling themselves for the many half-truths and straight out lies they told during their tell-all interview with Oprah last year.

Prince Harry and Meghan will continue their million dollar deal with Spotify. Picture: Getty Images.

There were so many untruths uttered by the perpetually aggrieved pair that media outlets from the BBC to the Daily Mail did extensive fact-checks and clarifications in the aftermath of the interview.

It looks like Spotify is becoming spooked by the high profile criticism and on Monday announced it will add a content advisory note to podcasts discussing Covid-19.

“To our knowledge, this content advisory is the first of its kind by a major podcast platform,” Spotify said in a statement.

It’s worth noting that many topics that were considered taboo or ‘disinformation’ since the pandemic began have become widely accepted from the lab leak theory to the reality of Covid vaccines becoming mandated.

Spotify would do well to remember that Rogan was hugely successful with an enormous reach before he accepted their $100 million offer.

In short, Spotify needs Rogan a lot more than Rogan needs them.

The world’s most listened to podcaster, with around 200 million monthly listeners, would still be the world’s most listened to podcaster on another platform.

If Spotify want to cut some fat then perhaps they should look at the enormous sums of money they are transferring to the Sussexes despite their meagre output.

After signing a reported $30 million deal the world’s most privileged victims have managed to produce only one podcast for Spotify, a 33-minute holiday special back in December 2020.

Spotify should tear up their contact, not because they have spoken out against the company, but because they have done nothing to earn their gargantuan pay cheque.