PRINCE Harry and “fake” Meghan Markle have been branded “brain-dead” by Tucker Carlson over their Spotify deal amid the platform’s anti-vax controversy.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have come under pressure to ditch their reported $25million mega-deal with streaming giant after it was accused of hosting anti-jab content by US comedian Joe Rogan.
Despite releasing little more than 35 minutes of content for Spotify so far after signing up more than a year ago, the couple have stuck with the deal – prompting a tirade of backlash.
Fox News talk show host Tucker Carlson took a swipe at the pair, labeling them “grifters” in a furious rant.
“That annoying fake duchess from LA and her brain-dead husband threatened to walk if Spotify refused to muzzle Joe Rogan. But they’re not going anywhere,” he said.
“These two grifters have a $25million podcast deal with Spotify for essentially no work.
“So far, we believe they have produced just over 30 minutes of content. That means these two have been paid about a million dollars for each minute of talking they’ve done. That’s a good gig. It’s too good to leave.”
TV host Greg Gutfeld also waded in, branding Harry and Meghan “a bunch of deadbeats” while speaking on The Five.
And retired New York judge Jeanine Pirro blasted them as “pathetic” and “irrelevant”, adding: “In America, nobody cares what you think.”
Spotify has come under fire for hosting anti-jab content by Rogan – piling pressure on Harry and Meghan to quit.
Read our Meghan and Harry live blog for the latest updates
In a statement, Meghan and Harry insisted they were committed to continuing the partnership with the tech giant “to ensure changes to its platform are made to help address this public health crisis”.
But public relations expert Anthony Burr believes the megabucks deal is now a “disaster” and the Sussexes should look at the situation “very carefully” to protect their brand’s image.
Mr Burr told The Sun Online: “It’s a bit of a disaster right now. You’ve got this coming out when people are looking.
“If it’s not working or they don’t like the deal with Spotify, this is the time they can step out and say ‘right, I don’t like the content you’re producing’.
“Using the anti-vax stuff as an excuse would be the way out if they want out.”
Meghan and Harry said they had spoken with Spotify to raise their concerns.
They said in a statement they have long worked to “address the real-time global misinformation crisis,” adding: “Last April, our co-founders began expressing concerns to our partners at Spotify about the all too real consequences of Covid misinformation on its platform.
“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.”
Spotify previously said it bans “false or dangerous deceptive content about Covid-19, which may cause offline harm and/or pose a direct threat to public health.”
Joe Rogan was accused of spreading life-threatening lies about Covid and vaccines – which have been proven to be safe and effective against the virus.
The 54-year-old has since vowed to “do his best” to try and balance out his controversial opinions.
