Air Canada walks back new seat selection policy change after backlash
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
An executive at Spotify called Prince Harry and Megan “grifters” the day after the news dropped that the pair’s podcast “Archetypes” would no longer be on the streaming platform.
Bill Simmons, head of podcast innovation and monetization at Spotify, made the comments during the latest episode of his own podcast, “The Ringer.”
He and guest Joe House were discussing NBA trade deals when, around 19 minutes in, House began to segue into a question by describing Simmons as a person who does “a lot of business deals, a lot of negotiations.”
“I do? I wish I had been involved in the Meghan-and-Harry-leave-Spotify negotiation,” Simmons replied. “The f---ing grifters — that’s the podcast we should’ve launched with them.”
“Archetypes” premiered last August to immediate success, topping the Spotify charts in seven countries including Canada and winning the top podcast award at the People’s Choice awards last year.
Spotify and Archewell Audio, the production company founded by Harry and Meghan, said in a joint statement on Friday that the decision for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to part ways with Spotify was a mutual one.
In the June 16 episode of his podcast, Simmons went on to say that he should “get drunk one night and tell the story of this Zoom I had with Harry to try to help him with a podcast idea.
“It’s one of my best stories,” he said.
The “Archetypes” podcast was hosted by Meghan, and featured guests such as Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, Mariah Carey, Mindy Kaling and Serena Williams, among others. It’s unclear why the podcast was pulled from Spotify, or if it could continue elsewhere, but the news comes amid a layoff of 200 Spotify employees.
Archewell Audio landed a multi-year deal to create podcasts for Spotify in 2020. The “Archetypes” podcast was the only project that the production company had launched for Spotify thus far.
Following the split with Spotify, the Duke and Duchess will not receive the full US$20 million payout of the Spotify deal now, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Air Canada has paused a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares just days after implementing it.
An ongoing municipal strike, court battles and revolt by half of council has prompted the province to oust the mayor and council in Black River-Matheson.
Three officers on a U.S. Marshals Task Force serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and five other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said.
A Calgary elementary school principal has been charged with possession of child pornography, authorities announced Monday.
The Vancouver Island Health Authority is downplaying what staff describe as a cockroach infestation in a medical unit of Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
Toronto police say 12 people are facing a combined 102 charges in connection with an investigation into a major credit fraud scheme.
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Britney Spears and her father Jamie Spears will avoid what could have been a long, ugly and revealing trial with a settlement of the lingering issues in the court conservatorship that controlled her life and financial decisions for nearly 14 years.
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Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
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The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
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When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.