Meghan Markle has received a major boost in her ongoing legal dispute with her estranged half sister, Samantha Markle.
Samantha, 60, had sued the Duchess of Sussex, 44, in federal court in Florida for allegedly making “demonstrably false and malicious statements” about her to a world audience during a sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Following the $75,000 suit’s dismissal by a federal judge last year, Samantha again brought her libel case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Jacksonville Tuesday, where the case was handed to a panel of three judges.
However, in a disappointing setback for Samantha, the judges cast major doubt on her appeal and pressed her lawyer, Peter Ticktin, on whether it addressed the original ruling by Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell.
“It seems to me that everything you argue about is beside the point,” Chief US Circuit Judge William Pryor said of the appeal.
“Because when the district court rules… you have to knock down in your opening brief every basis for the district court’s ruling and you didn’t even touch this.”
In response, Samantha’s legal team argued that the “cumulative effect” of Meghan’s remarks in the 2021 interview amounted to defamation by implication and had damaged her reputation.
“The whole purpose was to destroy Samantha Markle,” Ticktin told the judging panel. “They knew to use words like ‘disinformation’ or ‘racist troll.’ It caused death threats. It caused her sister to be hated in the community.”
“If somebody had a manual on how you hurt somebody and escape the liability of having a claim against you for defamation, this is the case,” he went on. “It’s a smorgasbord of every single kind of way of avoiding liability, all mixed in one. And the whole purpose was to actually destroy Samantha Markle.”
While no verdict has been handed down for the latest appeal, Judge Pryor’s comments signal that Samantha’s legal bid isn’t in a strong spot.
Prior to her 2023 filing, Samantha had filed her libel lawsuit against Meghan in late 2022 — two years after the Sussexes quit royal life and moved to the US.
At the time, Meghan’s legal team had dismissed her half sister’s claims, saying they would “give it [the case] the minimum attention necessary, which is all it deserves.”
Their estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr. — who earlier this year moved to the Philippines — said in March 2022 that he was willing to testify in Samantha’s case.
Samantha suffered a major blow the following year after a Florida judge dismissed her lawsuit against the As Ever founder, saying Meghan’s remarks were opinions and “not capable of being proved false.”
“As a reasonable listener would understand it, Defendant merely expresses an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings,” US District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell wrote in her order.
Samantha also wanted the former actress to take back allegations she made against the royal family, in addition to claims that she and their father sold stories to the British tabloids.
Samantha claimed the comments subjected her to “humiliation and hatred” — prompting the “Suits” alum’s lawyer, Michael Kump, to say that Samantha had no grounds to sue for defamation.
Kump added that the former working royal has a right to voice opinions “and even criticize” under the First Amendment.
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