Meghan Markle accused of copying British author’s book series for her scrapped Netflix show 'Pearl'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Meghan Markle is facing accusations of copyright infringement from a British author who claims the Duchess of Sussex's feminist animated Netflix series 'Pearl' bore “striking similarities” to her own work.
Mel Elliott, a 51-year-old children's author and illustrator from Hastings, said she was “disappointed and confused” by the announcement of 'Pearl' in 2021, The Daily Mail reported.
Meghan Markle under fire as British author accuses her of lifting storyline for 'Pearl'
The animated series was part of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s $100 million deal with Netflix and was meant to follow a young girl who finds inspiration from influential women in history. Meghan was set to executive produce the show alongside David Furnish.
But Elliott claims the premise closely mirrored her own 'Pearl Power series', books she began publishing in 2014, centering on a young British girl who embodies feminist ideals. By the time 'Pearl' was announced, Elliott had published three books in the series and had already begun adapting the concept into an animated show, complete with historical female figures, including tennis legend Billie Jean King.
“Meghan is a feminist who sticks up for other women,” Elliott said. “So I was disappointed and confused to see how similar Netflix's proposed show 'Pearl' was to my own Pearl Power, who had been created seven years earlier. Of course, I can't know if anyone on her team had seen it and been inspired by it, but the similarities were too great for me to ignore.”
Elliott reflected on the situation, saying, “The world of arts and media are very competitive and I'm afraid it's quite common for powerful to people to rip off the work of less well-known creatives - although I'm not saying that's what happened here.”
She continued, “What saddened me most is that, having brought the similarities between my Pearl and Meghan's Pearl to the attention of Netflix and Archewell, my objection was never acknowledged - neither Netflix nor Archewell responded to me when I would have loved to have contributed and collaborated.”
Meghan Markle’s production company ignored legal warnings before Netflix pulled the plug on 'Pearl'
In July 2021, Elliott’s legal team sent a letter to Archewell, Meghan’s production company, outlining the similarities between the two 'Pearl' projects and warning of a possible copyright infringement or unfair competition.
Elliott followed up with two personal letters, but received no response from either Archewell or Netflix.
The letter stated, “The similarities between your proposed animation series and my client’s work appear to be too many and too striking to be mere coincidence.”
Despite the show’s splashy announcement and top-tier production team, 'Pearl' was cancelled less than a year later in May 2022. Netflix cited broader cost-cutting efforts and a shift away from animation projects at the time.
Elliot shared her mixed feelings about Meghan’s shelved show, saying, “I am glad that Meghan's 'Pearl' show was dropped, and I hope that I had something to do with it but what I really wanted was for it to have gone ahead, and for me to have been acknowledged or invited to work as a collaborator on the series. Pearl was my dream project and now, annoyingly, if I reprise my own creation, it's going to look like I have copied the idea from someone else.”
Elliott isn't alone in raising concerns about similarities between Meghan’s projects and existing content. Earlier this year, Pamela Anderson fans accused Meghan of copying 'Pamela’s Cooking with Love' concept for her own upcoming show, 'With Love'. The show's producer, Jesse Fawcett, dismissed the claims, calling it a compliment that the concept had resonated.
In another instance, the mayor of a town in Majorca claimed Meghan's As Ever lifestyle brand logo resembled the town’s historic coat of arms. And in March, her new podcast 'Confessions of a Female Founder' shared its name with a preexisting podcast by entrepreneur Kady Meite—though Meite herself declined to criticize Markle, saying it was likely a coincidence.
