Samantha Markle Files To Amend Lawsuit Against Meghan Markle Due To Her 'Malicious, Hurtful And Damaging Lies'
Samantha Markle has amended her defamation lawsuit against her half-sister, Meghan Markle. Although the case was initially thrown out, the author is committed to pursuing justice. Samantha claimed the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix documentary was "malicious, hurtful" and helped to spread "damaging lies."
As The Royal Observer previously reported, Samantha boasted about her opportunity to alter her case and represent it to the court. "It is unfortunate to see that the press has chosen to wrongly report on the Judge's ruling as a total win by Meghan," Samantha's lawyer Jamie A. Sasson said in a statement.
"Upon reviewing the order, it is made very clear that the entire case was not tossed out, but in fact, the Judge is allowing Samantha the ability to amend her complaint within a 14-day period," Sasson continued.
The shift in Samantha's case focused on Meghan's televised interview with Oprah Winfrey. "This upcoming amendment will address certain legal issues that are related to our claims for defamation as it specifically relates to the Oprah interview on CBS," the author's legal rep shared.
"We vehemently oppose the narrative that the press has decided to spin in Meghan's favor and look forward to presenting an even stronger argument for the defamation and losses that our Client has had to endure," he added.
Aside from Samantha narrowing the scope of her exposition, she was bothered by Meghan identifying as an only child, and took offense to the release of Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Royal Family — a book written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
The Duchess of Sussex didn't write the biography, but Samantha believed she "contributed false information [about Samantha] to the book through her agent and press secretary."
Meghan's dialogue with Winfrey and the book forced her to be "seen as an opportunist trying to cash in on her sister's success and fame."
"[It] caused irreparable prejudice, injury and harm to [Samantha's] reputation, as well as anxiety and emotional distress," court documents read. "She has received hate mail, ongoing negative press, and was stalked by one of [Meghan's] fans."
Samantha's team believes the projects were damaging to her image, but the court sided seemed to have initially sided with Meghan.
"Here, a reasonable listener would not think that [Meghan] was suggesting that she has no half-siblings, that [Samantha] does not actually exist, or that [Samantha] is not related to her," the official ruling declared.
"As a reasonable listener would understand it, [Meghan] merely expresses an opinion about her childhood and her relationship with her half-siblings," the document explained.
Samantha's amended case was reported by The Daily Beast.
