Megan, Duchess of Sussex, is being sued by her sister, renewing a years-long court battle over comments Meghan made that Samantha Markle has said defamed her.
“Meghan knew what she was doing, and how to do it,” court papers appealing a dismissal of the suit say, according to The Sun. “She destroyed Samantha publicly and on a global scale.”
The case focuses on comments Meghan made in a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey and in the 2022 series “Harry & Meghan.”
In March, the suit was tossed out, saying that Markle did not prove she was defamed.
But Markle filed an appeal this month with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to Newsweek.
One comment focused upon in the suit came from Meghan when she told Winfrey, “I grew up as an only child, which everyone who grew up around me knows, and I wished I had siblings.”
Markle’s claim says that was a deliberate lie that undercut Markle’s ability to sell her memoir.
Samantha Markle is once again trying to sue Meghan for defamation https://t.co/pbmTILGpHF pic.twitter.com/wszQIe1oqM
— Kaiser@Celebitchy (@KaiseratCB) August 6, 2024
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Markle also targeted a comment from Megan in the Netflix series in which she said, “I don’t remember seeing her [Samantha] when I was a kid at my dad’s house.”
The intent of that comment court papers said, was to discredit Markle’s claims she was part of her sister’s life as a child.
“Meghan is responsible for the statements. Meghan either said the defamatory statements, or she published the statements said by others. Meghan intentionally chose the order and structure of the statements, as well as the orator of the statements,” the appeal noted.
“It cannot be disputed that Meghan, at all times, knew the truth, could have easily discovered the truth, or in spite of knowing the falsity, said or published the statements at action. Meghan set out to, and did, harm her half-sister, Samantha,” the appeal stated.
“Meghan made these false claims, which are now believed to be true by the public, making it appear that Samantha is a fame-seeking stranger to Meghan,” Jamie Alan Sasson, Markle’s attorney, said, according to Fox News.
Court papers said that due to “defamation through implication,” Markle, “faces daily harassment and threats, both online and in real life.”
“Once respected in her small Florida community, Samantha now fears for her safety daily, already having had to move more than once due to the very real threats of violence,” the appeal said.
Meghan, the papers said, “has made it so Samantha cannot work, or even enjoy the most mundane of activities, like going to the grocery store without constant harassment.”
“All of which stems from the defamatory implications about Samantha which Meghan placed in the world for the sole purpose of destroying her disabled half-sister,” the appeal said.
