In late March, the judge dismissed Samantha Grant/Markle’s defamation lawsuit against her half-sister, the Duchess of Sussex. Samantha’s lawsuit was full of the kind of stupid and unhinged conspiracies you find on Deranger sites and on royalist Twitter. Samantha was really trying to sue Meghan for… what Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote in Finding Freedom. While the judge dismissed the bulk of the case, the judge also gave Samantha and her lawyers a 14-day extension to refile without all of the lies and misinformation. Samantha quickly announced that she would do so. Crash-cut to Thursday, and Samantha refiled, this time using Netflix’s Harry and Meghan docuseries as evidence of “defamation.” In that series, Samantha’s own daughter Ashleigh was featured in interviews, describing her friendship with her aunt Meghan and describing her estrangement from Samantha.
Samantha Markle accused her half-sister, the Duchess of Sussex, of wielding her six-episode Netflix miniseries as a weapon to spread “malicious, hurtful, and damaging lies” about her on a global stage, she claimed on Thursday.
The new allegations are part of an amended version of Markle’s defamation lawsuit against Meghan, filed within hours of a two-week deadline a judge had set for her—after granting Meghan’s motion to dismiss the original claim. In a statement at the time, Markle’s attorney swore they’d be returning with an “even stronger” case.
As opposed to focusing on Meghan’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the amended complaint zeroes in on Harry & Meghan. In the series, Samantha Markle claimed, Meghan made statements seeking to “demonize” her, portraying her as “a liar,” “a fame seeker,” and “a racist.”
She even alleged that some of Meghan’s fans launched “hate-filled smear campaigns” against her as a result of the show, saying she’d been the target of “death threats” and “trolls” who hacked her Twitter account.
She launched her original case just over a year ago, in March 2022, suing Meghan for “defamation and injurious falsehoods,” among other things.
If you care – I do not – you can see the actual filing here, and I’m also including some tweets from Buzzfeed’s Ellie Hall, who has covered Samantha extensively. From a purely legal standpoint, I think Samantha’s refiled lawsuit at least has more standing, just because Meghan and Harry were executive producers on the Netflix show. The problem is, you know Netflix’s lawyers went through everything, and nothing made it to air without a full check by legal. It’s also just… embarrassing for Samantha. Her own daughter – whom Samantha did not raise – basically called Samantha a nutcase obsessed with Meghan.
BREAKING: Samantha Markle has filed an amended complaint in her defamation lawsuit against Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Samantha has added allegedly defamatory statements made in the Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan" to the lawsuit: https://t.co/adk3XteIdi
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) April 13, 2023
Here's Part 2 of Samantha Markle's allegations of defamation from the Netflix docuseries "Harry & Meghan": pic.twitter.com/pHEVxzEWFo
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) April 13, 2023
Photos courtesy of WENN, Netflix.
Samantha Markle talks to the Piers and Susanna about paparazzi shots of her father and not being invited to the wedding of her sister Meghan and Prince Harry on ‘Good Morning Britain’. Broadcast on ITV1 Featuring: Samantha Markle, Samantha Grant When: 15 May 2018 Credit: Supplied by WENN **WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material.** 
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visits The Smart Set, Capsule Collection at John Lewis, Oxford Street Featuring: Meghan Duchess of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 12 Sep 2019 Credit: Phil Lewis/WENN.com 
Samantha Markle talks to the panel about paparazzi shots of her father and not being invited to the wedding of her sister Meghan and Prince Harry on ‘Loose Women’. Broadcast on ITV1 Featuring: Samantha Markle, Samantha Grant When: 14 May 2018 Credit: Supplied by WENN **WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright, License in attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN’s services only, do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright, License in material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify, to hold WENN, its directors, shareholders, employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), any causes of action, allegation against WENN arising out of, connected in any way with publication of the material.**
Meghan Markle’s step sister Samantha Markle & guests at The Ray Darcy Show, RTE, Dublin, Ireland – 13.10.18. Featuring: Samantha Markle Where: Dublin, Ireland When: 13 Oct 2018 Credit: WENN.com **Not available for publication in Ireland** 
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex attending the annual Endeavour Fund Awards at Mansion House London. Their Royal Highnesses will celebrate the achievements of wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women who have taken part in remarkable sporting and adventure challenges over the last year. Meghan hands out a award When: 05 Mar 2020 Credit: WENN/Avalon **WENN/Avalon** 
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