Meghan Markle Wins The Court Appeal In Her Privacy Case Against The Mail On Sunday
After fighting with the Mail on Sunday (aka The Daily Mail’s sister publication) for two years, a judge declared Meghan Markle the winner of her privacy lawsuit against them, and there will not be a trial. After Meghan won her summary judgment against the Mail on Sunday in February, they applied for permission to appeal the decision. Well, I hope Prince Harry’s arms are close to a bottle of champagne and a corkscrew, because he and Meghan have reason to celebrate. That appeal was effectively shut down.
This mess started after The Daily Mail decided to make things even more of a toxic waste dump between Meghan and her father, Thomas Markle, by publishing what was meant to be a private letter sent from Meghan to him. Thomas gave the letter to The Daily Mail and they published pieces of it. Meghan threatened to take legal action, then she followed through with that threat and sued the Mail on Sunday. At one point, it looked like Thomas would be testifying against his own daughter in court, but a trial was narrowly avoided by Meghan getting pregnant. A summary judgment was made, which means the judge ruled in favor of one of the parties (Meghan, in this case) without the whole thing going to trial.
Earlier today, the Court of Appeals in London ruled in favor of Meghan, which means Meghan’s lawsuit will officially not move to trial. It also means Meghan gets to walk away with bragging rights, which she did! Boy did she ever. Meghan released a statement right after the court’s decision was announced, and she dragged the Mail on Sunday, as well as all exploitative tabloids, for treating her personal life as public entertainment. Honestly, I might actually read that book she wrote, if the wordplay is anywhere near as entertaining as this statement is. via People magazine:
“This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what’s right. While this win is precedent setting, what matters most is that we are now collectively brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that conditions people to be cruel, and profits from the lies and pain that they create. From day one, I have treated this lawsuit as an important measure of right versus wrong. The defendant has treated it as a game with no rules. The longer they dragged it out, the more they could twist facts and manipulate the public (even during the appeal itself), making a straightforward case extraordinarily convoluted in order to generate more headlines and sell more newspapers – a model that rewards chaos above truth. In the nearly three years since this began, I have been patient in the face of deception, intimidation, and calculated attacks.
Today, the courts ruled in my favor – again – cementing that The Mail on Sunday, owned by Lord Jonathan Rothermere, has broken the law. The courts have held the defendant to account, and my hope is that we all begin to do the same. Because as far removed as it may seem from your personal life, it’s not. Tomorrow it could be you. These harmful practices don’t happen once in a blue moon – they are a daily fail that divide us, and we all deserve better.”
As a fan of not-subtle shade, I truly appreciate Meghan’s use of “ruled in my favor – again.” We love a sore winner! And that little jab about that certain tabloid being a “daily fail,” well – I know Harry and Meghan don’t do social media, but she just proved right there she can hate with the best of them on Twitter. Now I want to see Meghan’s new career as a reply troll on Twitter, hissing stuff like, “The Daily Fail strikes again” and “More like TMZzzzzzzzz.”
People magazine points out that Meghan and the Mail on Sunday aren’t totally done. The case will return to the High Court from whence it came, where stuffy British people in those weird crusty powdered wigs will decide damages. I hope they at least award Meghan enough to treat herself to a nice meal at Sizzler.
Pic: Wenn.com