Meghan Markle wins defamation case filed by her half-sister
Entertainment
‘We are pleased with the court’s ruling dismissing the case’
(Web Desk) - US District Attorney Judge Charlene Honeywell wrote that Samantha's allegations “suggest” that she “disagrees” with Meghan’s “opinions"
Meghan Markle has obtained a court victory in a defamation case brought forward by her half- sister Samantha Markle.
US District Attorney Judge Charlene Honeywell has dismissed with prejudice the case — in which Samantha, 59, claimed Meghan, 42, defamed her in multiple interviews, including her CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey — in court documents filed Tuesday and obtained by PEOPLE.
The Florida judge said in the filing that the motion to dismiss the case was granted after Samantha failed to produce statements that supported her defamation claim.
In the filing, Honeywell wrote that the allegations “suggest” that Samantha “disagrees” with Meghan’s “opinions rather than statements of fact.”
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, Meghan’s attorney, Michael J Kump, said: “We are pleased with the court’s ruling dismissing the case.”
Samantha, who is half-sister to Meghan through their father Thomas Markle, will not be able to refile the lawsuit since it was dismissed with prejudice.
The author had been seeking $75,000 from the Duchess of Sussex for defamation.
Honeywell previously ruled in March, 2023 that Samantha would not be able to sue the Duchess of Sussex for defamation over claims made in Meghan’s unauthorized biography Finding Freedom and during her interview with Winfrey.
Samantha claimed in her original filing that the Duchess of Sussex made defamatory statements during her interview with Winfrey when she said she "grew up as an only child.
She said in the documents that she and Meghan "were close during childhood" but drifted after Meghan started dating Prince Harry.
