Meghan Markle wins court fight with her half-sister Samantha
Meghan Markle wins lawsuit with her half-sister: Florida court rejects claims the Duchess of Sussex spread ‘demonstrably false and malicious lies’ about Samantha in Oprah interview and biography Finding Freedom
A US court has dismissed a libel suit against Meghan Markle by her half-sister Samantha Markle, it was revealed today.
The Duchess of Sussex was accused of spreading “demonstrably false and malicious lies” to a “global audience” in the royal couple’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
But a Florida judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying the former Suits actress “expressed an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-brother” and that a statement of pure opinion “could not be proven false.”
Samantha Markle alleged that her younger half-sister slandered her when she and Harry spoke to Oprah in 2021. A Florida judge has dismissed her case
Samantha and Meghan’s relationship has been tense for years, but became public after Meghan and Harry’s engagement and wedding
Samantha also alleged that the Duchess defamed her by giving information to an unauthorized biography called Finding Freedom. The judge said it was not Meghan’s book, so she could not be held liable for its contents
In court documents seen by the PA’s new office, U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell wrote, “As a reasonable listener would understand, the defendant is merely expressing an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings.”
“The Court thus finds that Defendant’s statement is not objectively verifiable or subject to empirical evidence… Plaintiff cannot plausibly refute Defendant’s opinion of her own childhood.”
Samantha Markle filed the defamation suit against her younger sister in March 2022, alleging that the Duchess defamed her by giving information to an unauthorized biography called Finding Freedom and discussing their relationship with Winfrey on live TV.
Judge Honeywell also ruled that the Duchess could not be held liable for the contents of the book because she had not published it.