Meghan Markle Wants Samantha Markle’s Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s interview with Oprah Winfrey and CBS begat so many things. Oprah’s quote about being silenT or being silenCED. A clumsy racism denial from Prince William. The shocking revelation that Peter Brady is a successful patio furniture designer. But that interview also left the door open for some future trash to tumble in, and by that, I mean a whole year after the interview aired, a lawsuit that was filed by Meghan Markle’s half-sister/full-headache Samantha Markle. Samantha felt that her good name had been besmirched by her famous younger sister, and so Samantha put her lawyers to work. Well, Meghan has also got her lawyers on it, and those lawyers have asked that Samantha’s little lawsuit be filed in the nearest paper shredder.
Usually, Samantha doesn’t need a reason to start shit with her sister; quite often she just pops up out of nowhere when Meghan’s name is trending for any old reason. But in this specific situation, Samantha did have a somewhat valid reason to get litigious. During Meghan’s interview with Oprah, Oprah brought up Samantha’s version of a tell-all book, The Diary of Princess Pushy’s Sister, which probably did better as a drink coaster than a celebrity memoir, considering it wasn’t exactly what one would call a best seller. Meghan explained that the tell-all couldn’t technically tell much, because she hasn’t had a relationship with her half-sister in decades, and that Samantha wasn’t even really around when Meghan was a kid (Samantha was 17 when Meghan was born).
Samantha fired back, saying that Meghan’s comments made Samantha look like a shameless liar and a leech who would sell out her own family for a quick check. Meghan doesn’t even want to entertain the idea of debating Samantha in court, so she’s asked for the lawsuit to be thrown out. Meghan has also more than implied that Samantha’s lawsuit would be a massively petty waste of courtroom resources. via E! News:
Meghan’s team argued in court documents that Samantha is asking a court to adjudicate whether she and Meghan “had ever ‘been close,’ how many times the two ‘crossed paths’ as adults and whether Meghan’s feelings that she ‘grew up as an only child’ are ‘true’ or false.'”
“We do not empanel juries to rule on whether two people are ‘close,’ or whether one genuinely feels that they ‘grew up as an only child,'” the court documents stated. “Courts are not equipped to adjudicate the legitimacy of a person’s feelings about their childhood and relationships. Nor should they be.”
I don’t know much about the law, but I will say that if I was assigned to a jury on a trial in which the main arguments are “Are too!” vs. “Nuh uh, are not!“, I’d fake a violent case of food poisoning. And I might be generous with my estimation of what the opening and closing arguments of this case may be. Because Meghan’s lawyers say that Samantha doesn’t even technically have a claim against Meghan.
Meghan and her attorneys later argued that Samantha’s complaint “does not state a claim for defamation or injurious falsehood.” They asked the court to dismiss the case and have Meghan receive attorney’s fees and costs in connection with the case.
So far, no decision has yet been made about Samantha’s lawsuit. But if a judge decides that Samantha does have a case against Meghan Markle, then Samantha better start saving her pennies. Because a trial is expensive! And Meghan isn’t one to settle. She’ll roll up her sleeves and square off in court. Nobody should act shocked if there’s suddenly a Reddit user named /u/PushysSister, asking the /r/memorabilia community how much they think a vintage Humphrey Yogart staff shirt with genuine Duchess pit stains might go for on eBay.
Pic: INSTARimages