Meghan Markle’s half-sister Samantha has filed an appeal after a judge dismissed her defamation lawsuit, Radar reports.
Last month, Florida Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell dismissed the $75,000 lawsuit against Meghan Markle’s half-sister Samantha on the grounds that Samantha had “failed to identify any statements that could support a claim for defamation,” according to the report by Radar.
Samantha claimed Meghan’s statements brought her ‘humiliation’ and ‘shame.’
Meghan Markle’s half-sister Samantha filed the lawsuit over statements made in Meghan and Prince Harry’s explosive 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Samantha claimed that Meghan’s comments implied that she grew up as an only child.
Meghan also claimed that Samantha changed her surname back to Markle after her high-profile relationship with Prince Harry began. She was seeking $75,000 in damages over the remarks.
Meghan and Prince Harry’s infamous 2021 Oprah interview is at the center of Samantha’s lawsuit.
While Judge Honeywell dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it could not be refiled, Samantha’s attorneys filed an appeal on her behalf last week.
“Notice is hereby given that the Plaintiff, Samantha M. Markle, by and through her undersigned counsel, appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from the Order Granting Defendants, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, Motion to Dismiss entered by the Honorable Charlene Edwards Honeywell on March 12, 2024,” the appeal stated.
Samantha claimed Meghan’s statements implied she grew up as an only child.
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Samantha further claimed that her half-sister made statements in a Netflix special that brought her “humiliation, shame and hatred on a worldwide scale.”
Judge Honeywell disagreed, ruling the Duchess of Sussex’s statement could not be considered defamatory because they’re “substantially true based on judicially noticed evidence” and “not capable of being considered defamatory.”
Meghan and Samantha share the same biological father, Thomas Markle.
The Florida judge further argued that Samantha failed to “plausibly allege that they are defamatory in the first place.”
On statements Meghan made about her childhood, the judge said she was “merely opining” that she and Samantha were not close. Samantha and Meghan share the same father, Thomas Markle.
The judge also hit back at Samantha’s claims that her famous half-sister “implied that [she] was a liar and a fame-seeker” as an “improper mischaracterization” of Meghan’s statements.
Judge Honeywell seemingly supported Meghan’s claims that Samantha changed her last name from Rasmussen, her married name, back to Markle after she started dating Harry, noting “the gist was true.”
“That Plaintiff used one last name and then the name Markle soon after reports of Defendant’s relationship with Prince Harry were published is substantially true, based on the exhibits in the record, of which the Court has taken judicial notice,” Honeywell wrote.