Can You Remove an Abusive or Spam Podcast Review? What Actually Works
You cannot delete a review yourself, but Apple will remove reviews that break its rules. The exact Podcasts Connect request, field by field, plus Spotify.
By Don karlos Fru ยท Published 2026-11-02
QUICK ANSWERYou cannot delete a review yourself, and Apple will not remove a review just because it is negative. Apple does remove reviews that break its rules, such as hate speech, personal attacks, abuse, and spam. To ask, use the Podcasts Connect contact form, choose the topic Customer Review Removal Request, and give your show title, your Apple Podcasts ID, the store country where the review sits, the review date, and the reviewer name. Spotify is different. It uses star ratings with no written reviews, so there is no review text to report there.
First, know which reviews qualify
Podgagement, which tracks podcast reviews across countries for creators, draws the line clearly in its help pages. A removal request is for reviews with hate, abuse, bullying, and similar violations. It does not apply to reviews you simply do not like or disagree with. A one star review from a listener who genuinely heard your show and hated it stays, on every platform, and arguing against it wastes the one request that might have worked on a real violation.
Reviews that can qualify read differently. Slurs and hate speech. Threats. A personal attack on a host that says nothing about the show. Spam text selling something unrelated. A review of a different podcast pasted onto yours by mistake or by malice. If the review is about the show and merely harsh, it is protected opinion. If it breaks the platform rules, it is a removal candidate.
Editorial image from this article.The Apple Podcasts removal request, field by field
Apple Podcasts has no report button on a review today. The old iTunes report a concern link is gone from the podcast pages, so the request goes through the Apple Podcasts team directly. Podgagement documents the working route, and it runs through the Podcasts Connect contact page.
Step 1. Write down the review date and the reviewer name exactly as shown. You will need both, and spelling matters.
Step 2. Open the Podcasts Connect contact page and enter your name and email. Use the email in your podcast feed or the one you used to submit the show to Apple, so the team can match you to the show.
Step 3. Set the topic to Customer Review Removal Request. This topic routes the message to the right queue.
Step 4. Enter your podcast title and your Apple Podcasts ID number. Then enter the country or region of the store where the review appears. Reviews live in one store at a time, and a review in the German store is not visible in the United States store.
Step 5. Put the review date in the date field, and the reviewer name in the customer name field.
Step 6. Explain the reason in plain words. Name the rule the review breaks and quote the line that breaks it. Attach a screenshot of the review or a shareable review link if you have one.
Then wait. Apple decides, and the review stays up while it does. File one clear request per review rather than a thread of follow ups.
Spotify has no written reviews to remove
Spotify ratings are stars only. A listener gives your show one to five stars and writes nothing, so there is no abusive text to report and no removal process to run. A low star average from real listeners is feedback, not a policy case.
What Spotify does have is comments on episodes, and those are yours to manage. Comments appear inside Spotify for Creators, where the show owner controls the comment space on their own episodes. Treat comment moderation as a routine part of publishing, the same way you would treat comments on your own website.
The other review platforms, briefly
Castbox allows comment reporting inside the app. Its report options cover unwanted commercial content and spam, sexually explicit material, hate speech and graphic violence, and harassment or bullying, per Podgagement's summary of the feature.
Podchaser takes removal requests by email. If a review violates the Podchaser terms of service, send the review URL and your explanation to the Podchaser contact address listed in its help guidance. Keep the email factual, with the review quoted and the term it breaks named.
What to do while you wait, and after
Do not reply in anger anywhere the review is visible, and do not ask friends to flood the page with counter reviews in a single day. A sudden block of five star reviews right after a bad one reads as manipulation to every platform and to every listener who sees it.
The durable fix is a steady flow of real reviews from real listeners. Ask on the show, once, in plain words. Ask again in your email newsletter, where the people who open every message are the listeners most likely to write something true. A review page that grows a few honest entries a month buries one bad review where it belongs, and no removal request is needed for the math to work.
PODSUBS NEXT STEPReviews live on platforms you do not control, under rules you do not set. Your email list is the opposite. Claim your show on PodSubs, free for podcasters and listeners, turn your happiest listeners into subscribers you own, and ask them for honest reviews from a channel that is actually yours.
Claim or find your podcast at PodSubs.com
Frequently asked questions
Can I delete a bad review of my podcast myself?
No. No major podcast platform gives the creator a delete button for reviews. On Apple Podcasts you can request a removal through the Podcasts Connect contact form, and Apple decides. On Spotify there are no written reviews at all, only star ratings.
Will Apple remove a one star review if I ask?
Not for being one star. Apple removes reviews that break its rules, including hate speech, abuse, bullying, threats, and spam. An honest negative opinion from a real listener stays, even when it is unfair.
What details does Apple need for a review removal request?
The topic Customer Review Removal Request on the Podcasts Connect contact form, your podcast title, your Apple Podcasts ID, the store country where the review appears, the review date, the reviewer name, and a clear explanation. A screenshot or a link to the review helps.
A review attacked me personally and said nothing about the show. Does that qualify?
That is exactly the kind of review the removal process exists for. Personal attacks, hate, and abuse are rule violations, not criticism of the podcast. Quote the attacking line in your request and name the rule it breaks.
How do I handle abusive comments on Spotify instead?
Spotify has star ratings rather than written reviews, so there is no review text to report. Episode comments are managed inside Spotify for Creators by the show owner, who controls the comment space on their own episodes.