Meghan Markle’s legal team went to court Wednesday, attempting to convince a judge to toss a defamation case filed by her sister Samantha Markle, and the arguments left the judge scratching her head but deciding in Meghan’s favor.
Samantha Markle sued her half-sister Meghan of “defamation and injurious falsehood” following the couple’s high-profile tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. In a filing submitted in March last year, Samantha claimed Meghan was spreading lies about her in both the Oprah interview and a 2020 bio, Finding Freedom. Samantha claimed that Meghan made “demonstrably false and malicious statements” to a “worldwide audience” and defamed her to cover up her false rags to riches narrative.
Samantha’s lawyer Peter Ticktin told the court that Meghan used Finding Freedom to “affirm this false narrative that she supposedly lived this rags to riches thing”.
Samantha said her half-sister lied when she allegedly said she was an only child, causing her humiliation and shame. Meghan’s lawyers said their client never said she was an only child, She told Winfrey grew up as an only child.
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According to Samantha, Meghan lied about her upbringing, and when she got caught in lies, she turned Samantha into a sacrificial lamb and attacked her to cover up her own alleged misdeeds.
Samantha pointed to what she says in Meghan’s rags-to-riches narrative, growing up in poverty when she had a middle-class background. Their dad, Thomas, paid for all sorts of things for Meghan, including elite private schools, tuition at Northwestern as well as dance and acting classes, Samantha said.
Meghan’s lawyers asked the judge to boot the case, calling the claims “offensive” and “inappropriate.” She merely stated her impressions about her life growing up, Meghan’s lawyers said.
Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell said she was struggling to see how Meghan’s statements were defamatory. She took the case under advisement. Samantha is demanding at least $75,000 in damages.
