Apple has signed a deal for a podcast focusing on pop culture icons Siegfried & Roy, reports Deadline. This will be one of Apple's first exclusive, original podcast offerings.
The Siegfried & Roy podcast will be exclusive to the Apple Podcasts app, and it comes as Apple is making a push into original podcast content. Apple recently announced plans to allow podcasters to collect subscription fees, and rumors last year suggested Apple was looking to buy exclusive podcast content to better compete with Spotify.
Apple already has The Zane Lowe Podcast Series and podcasts dedicated to original TV shows like "For All Mankind" but so far Apple's exclusive podcast offerings fall far behind competitors. Apple also recently inked a deal for "The Line," which is a true crime podcast and Apple TV+ series paring. Apple is planning a six-part non-fiction podcast and a four-part limited documentary TV show.
Siegfried & Roy is an audio-only experience and will not have an accompanying TV show. The Siegfried & Roy podcast was created by filmmaker Steven Leckhart, known for "Challenger: The Final Flight," and "What's My Name: Muhammad Ali."
Siegfried & Roy, for those unfamiliar, were a pair of magicians and entertainers who worked with white lions and tigers, putting on a show at the Mirage Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
In 2003, Roy Horn was attacked by a white tiger named Montecore, with the tiger biting his neck and severing Horn's spine. He was seriously and permanently injured, suffering a stroke and impaired motor and verbal abilities. Horn claimed at the time that Montecore had been trying to save his life dragging him off the stage where he was performing, but other trainers claimed that Horn had mishandled the tiger. The Mirage show was ultimately shut down, and the two retired.
The podcast series will provide an in-depth look at Siegfried & Roy, deconstructing "the illusions they created, the empire they constructed, and what really happened on the night that a tiger ended their reign."
