When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle landed a gig with Spotify, the New York Post reported that it was worth some $25 million. With only a 13-episode podcast and nothing more, it seems as though things didn’t actually work out as planned — but will the Duke and Duchess of Sussex actually have to return any of the money they were paid?
Following their departure from Spotify, The List caught up with entertainment law attorney Camron Dowlatshahi, a partner at Los Angeles-based Mills Sadat Dowlat LLP, for a fresh perspective on the situation. “I would need to see the contract, but there are likely benchmarks for payment that call for a certain amount of payment for partial performance. If not, they can argue that the full amount won’t have to be paid back because some work has been completed. So, if Spotify gets all the money back, it will be unjustly enriched by the partial performance of the Sussexes,” Dowlatshahi explained, adding, “I doubt the Sussexes received the full $20 million and spent it all, so no — I don’t anticipate they will be desperate to enter into any deal to cover the payment back.”
We may never actually know the terms of Harry and Meghan’s Spotify deal, but it sounds like things should have all been sorted out based on the initial contract.
Post source: The List
