Singer Taylor Swift turned down Meghan Markle’s personal request to appear as a guest on her now-cancelled podcast Archetypes. When they stepped down as working members of the royal family in January 2020, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle soon found other roles that kept them busy. Through their podcast production company, Archewell Audio, they brokered a deal with Spotify, through which Markle launched her own podcast series, Archetypes. The first episode was released in August 2023, but the podcast series was axed after just one season, despite high-profile guest stars such as tennis legend Serena Williams and pop icon Mariah Carey. But, even with her vast connections, Markle was unable to secure Taylor Swift who declined her invitation to appear on the podcast after she had sent her a hand-written letter. According to the Wall Street Journal, singer Swift turned Markle’s personal request down to appear on Archetypes via a representative, for unknown reasons. In the podcast series, Markled discussed the history of negative stereotypes used to label women with her celebrity guests. It won the top podcast award at the People’s Choice Awards, but despite this, it was cancelled by Spotify in June after airing 12 episodes. The cancellation comes as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have reportedly struggled to come good on the $20 million Spotify deal, leading to its collapse. Bill Simmons, Spotify’s head of podcast innovation and monetisation, called the pair "f**king grifters”. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Prosecutors have rested their sexual assault case against Kevin Spacey in a London courtroom after four men testified against the two-time Oscar winner

Adam Devine said, 'Like they used to make movies or like in a world where the two richest men in the world just duke it out'

Ginger Zee hosted an informative segment on 'GMA', informing viewers about how they can cut their Christmas trees from national protected forests at a low cost

Gary Neville is joining Dragons' Den. The former footballer and businessman is right back in the limelight after signing up to the programme as a guest dragon for the upcoming series. It’s a surprise, but then again should it be? He’s been speaking an awful lot of business mumbo jumbo recently, talking like someone addicted to the ‘grindset’ and describing his “mini-retirements” that the rest of us would call holidays. Neville has entered into a number of different ventures since returning from football in 2011. He co-owns Salford City football club, as well as a hotel and a hospitality company. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Fashion designer and entrepreneur Emma Grede will also join the series as a guest dragon, alongside regulars Steven Bartlett, Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman and Sara Davies. Speaking about joining the programme, Neville said: “I am excited to join the Dragons, and to meet the entrepreneurs brave enough to face us in the Den. "I hope my personal journey shows that you can take the experiences you’ve had in one part of your career and use them to do something entirely different and make it a success." "Business is all about managing people and managing yourself and I’m looking forward to sharing my experience to help the entrepreneurs we’ll meet in the Den reach their potential,” the 48-year-old went on to say. Look out for Neville on the programme next year. It comes after Neville claimed weird things have been happening to him since he started criticising the Conservatives a couple of years ago, then led by Boris Johnson. The football pundit told The Guardian about all the things that happened to him during this period and even revealed that he had freedom of information requests put in against him. “While he was prime minister, I felt we were in real danger. All my life, I’ve been in teams where you look after one another. This lot don’t think that way. They’re in it for themselves and on the take,” he said. "It’s damaging our country, our integrity, our international standing. We’re a laughing stock. Johnson has got to be expelled from British politics for good. So do all his cronies who enabled him. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

A mother was left fuming after her daughter was rejected for her school choir. Writing on Mumsnet, the mother said the choir was "harsh" and that children should be allowed to participate regardless of their ability. She explained her daughter told her she was "sad about how she is a bad singer and she doesn't want to see her music teacher as she is too embarrassed" after an unsuccessful audition with the choir. "I do think rejecting a year 7 into something they are interested in trying is harsh, especially when it's hard enough for year 7s," she added. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter "When kids are all singing in a group they do sound the same anyway! Obviously maybe solos could be kept for the particularly talented but I'm honestly just a bit sad and even annoyed," she said. But responding in the comments, people didn't exactly sympathise with the mother. "Auditions are to pick the best singers," one said. "Sorry but it's a life lesson. She can't be good at everything." Another wrote: "Rejection is a part of life, and it's a very valuable lesson. We can't always get what we want because we want it. "This is when we learn to accept defeat or decide to try again. Your daughter could take vocal lessons or practice on her own until auditions come around again." And a third said: "Of course you can’t be in a choir if you can’t sing." Mumsnet mums can be pretty blunt... Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Treat Williams, 71, died in an unfortunate motorcycle accident on Monday, June 12, 2023 near Dorset, Vermont

Oliver Anthony, a conservative figure and singer from Farmville, Virginia, faced right-wing backlash for allegedly faking his accent

Ginger Zee reported the impact of the fire that engulfed Yellowknife in Canada right after the Maui wildfires in Hawaii

Years after the movie grew into a cult smash, writer Chuck Palahniuk has admitted he isn’t a “big fan” of the was the film adaptation of his ‘Fight Club’ book ended.

The schedule listed several weeks of reruns, with 'Jeopardy! Masters' in the lead, kicking the summer off on Tuesday, July 25

'I feel like things change when love gets more involved in your life. I have definitely discovered more within myself as a woman,' said Halle Bailey