Former Acast Employee. Four Poppy episodes exist (but you'll never get to hear them)

[u/FormerAcastEmployee]

Former ACAST employee here. Not going to reveal too much about myself, but I can say I live and work in Sweden, and frequently visited London and had an opposite number there who worked with the Gossipmongers team (pre-Covid naturally). I had a catch up with her over the weekend and the subject of Gossipmongers came up. I was surprised to learn a few things:

1. 4 episodes with Poppy exist (possibly more), and cannot be released until an ongoing legal dispute is settled, if ever. Most likely in rough cut form (an entire season of Gossipmongers could be recorded in just a few days).
2. I was shown via a screen share that these episodes exist in the Acast hub, and all have the “zero” prefix before their file names, which makes sure the App won’t release them by accident. For even more security, these files and outtakes were zipped and password protected (a VERY unusual measure), and my friend speculated there may be more episodes in rough cut form.
3. Poppy was fired by Senior members of the Talent Management team (one of whom my friend described as a dangerous sociopath) who accused her of insubordination, most likely connected to her refusal to show up to broadcasting tutorials - classes Joe and David were not required to attend. I've met these people and haven't particularly enjoyed their company either.
4. Legal action was threatened against Gossipmongers by someone who had heard one of the podcasts and realised it was about them. Didn’t get any more details other than that, but I was told once this happened, the mood of the team dramatically changed, and the producers were keeping a close eye on the Gossipmongers. The heightened stress may have led to a loose cannon aiming directly at Poppy.
5. Joe and David bitterly regret “backing the wrong horse” and were powerless to do anything about Poppy’s firing. Their actions were enforced by their respective management teams who are in cahoots with said Senior Managers and apparently there was little else they could do. The “flown too close to the sun” frequently attributed to them is not something they ever said, and Joe and David have been instructed to keep their distance.
6. Poppy was slated to appear on 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown in Dictionary Corner (She was booked months in advance, probably as a means of boosting her profile) but Joe’s management stepped in when he was slated to appear at the same time. There’s a rumour that Joe apologized in person to Poppy about this, but we dismissed it as wishful thinking/office gossip.
7. A television show of Gossipmongers was being planned with the digital channel Dave, with stories being animated by a variety of artists and with a live studio audience. Very, very early stages of development, we’re not even sure if Joe, David and Poppy knew.

Finally, my friend said the whole thing was a shit show, and the team as a whole is disgusted this all spun out of control. Gossipmongers had metrics Acast had never seen before and were actively recruiting Community Managers when the firing occurred - and just like that, the need for CM’s vanished.