Meghan Markle's half-sister Samantha appeals after losing $75k defamation lawsuit over Oprah interview
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Meghan Markle’s half-sister Samantha is appealing after a Florida judge dismissed her defamation lawsuit against the Duchess of Sussex.
Samantha previously filed a $75,000 lawsuit against the duchess claiming her statements in the infamous 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview caused her emotional distress.
However, in March, Florida Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell dismissed the lawsuit against Meghan, ruling Samantha had "failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation."
Meghan Markle’s half-sister has filed an appeal
During the dismissal of the lawsuit last month, Judge Honeywell also dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled. Nevertheless, Samantha's attorneys filed an appeal in the court last week.
Per RadarOnline, the appeal stated, "Notice is hereby given that the Plaintiff, Samantha M. Markle, by and through her undersigned counsel, appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from the Order Granting Defendants, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, Motion to Dismiss entered by the Honorable Charlene Edwards Honeywell on March 12, 2024.”
Previously, Samantha claimed Meghan's statements in the interview were humiliating to her and sought $75,000 in damages over the comments. She claimed that Meghan’s comments on the Oprah Winfrey interview implied that she grew up as an only child.
Samantha also highlighted Meghan’s claim regarding her half-sister’s change in surname. The ‘Suits’ alum claimed in the interview that Samantha changed her surname back to Markle after Meghan’s high-profile relationship with Prince Harry began.
Samantha further alleged that statements made by the duchess in her Netflix special brought her "humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale."
Judge Honeywell presided over the ruling and dismissed Samantha’s claims saying the Duchess of Sussex's statement could not be categorized as defamatory as they are "substantially true based on judicially noticed evidence.”
Thus she ruled Meghan’s statements are "not capable of being considered defamatory."
The judge also highlighted Samantha’s reported failure to "plausibly allege” the remarks “are defamatory in the first place."
The Florida judge also defended Meghan’s statements regarding the lack of bond between the half-sisters, as she said Meghan was “merely opining” that she and Samantha were not close. The estranged half-sisters have a common father - Thomas Markle.
On Samantha’s claims that the royal has "implied that [Samantha] was a liar and a fame-seeker,” Judge Honeywell opined it was an "improper mischaracterization" of Meghan's statements.
The Florida judge appeared to have supported Meghan’s statement that Samantha changed her surname from her married name Rasmussen to Markle once Meghan started dating Prince Harry, noting "the gist was true."
Honeywell wrote, "That Plaintiff used one last name and then the name Markle soon after reports of Defendant's relationship with Prince Harry were published is substantially true, based on the exhibits in the record, of which the Court has taken judicial notice.”
Samantha wanted to get help from Kate Middleton
After Judge Honeywell dismissed her lawsuit in March, Samantha’s attorney Peter Ticktin appeared on ‘Dan Wootton Outspoken’ to claim that they wanted to seek help from Kate, Princess of Wales.
Ticktin claimed, "I felt that Princess Catherine might have some very important light to shed on what had occurred because obviously something is really, really wrong between these two," per The List.
He also suggested that Kate might be able to confirm rumors about Meghan’s behavior towards her palace staff. Only a few days later, however, the princess announced her cancer diagnosis which caused Samantha to get online heat.
