Why Samantha Markle Won’t Be Able to Sue Meghan Markle for Defamation Again After Losing Lawsuit

US Weekly

Transcript

00:00 All right, moving on over to Megan Markle.

00:02 This is a story we haven't talked about in a while,

00:04 but finally come to a conclusion.

00:06 So a Florida judge terminally dismissed

00:08 Samantha Markle defamation lawsuit against Megan.

00:11 The case was dismissed with prejudice

00:13 after Samantha failed to produce statements

00:15 that could support a claim for defamation.

00:17 In court documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight,

00:19 United States District Judge

00:21 in the Middle District of Florida ruled in favor of Megan

00:24 throwing out the case in an order stating

00:26 the court grants the motion to dismiss in full

00:29 Samantha Markle's claims will be dismissed.

00:31 Surprise, I mean, I feel like we said before

00:33 that she didn't really have the evidence,

00:36 even though that she was, in her complaint,

00:39 she was saying that in the book "Finding Freedom,"

00:41 the Netflix series "Harry and Megan,"

00:43 that they spoke ill of her.

00:45 So what do we make of all of this?

00:48 Christina, I'm not surprised,

00:49 and we previously talked about Thomas and Samantha's

00:52 cases against Megan,

00:54 and when you're looking at defamation, right,

00:55 it has to be a statement about a person.

00:58 It's got to be published. It has to be untrue.

01:00 But really what we're dealing with here

01:01 is a statement of opinion.

01:03 You know, if you have an opinion,

01:05 that usually can't be defamatory.

01:07 And here, what we're talking about is

01:09 Megan made two statements.

01:10 That one, she grew up as an only child,

01:12 even though she had a half-sister,

01:14 didn't really have much of a relationship.

01:16 She hadn't seen her for many, many years.

01:17 So, you know, the judge said,

01:19 "Well, that's her opinion about her childhood

01:22 and her upbringing. That's not defamatory."

01:25 And then the other statement was that

01:26 Samantha changed her last name

01:28 to basically benefit from Megan's celebrity status.

01:32 And again, the judge said,

01:33 "Well, that's not enough to be defamatory."

01:35 The judge gave Samantha an opportunity

01:37 to amend her lawsuit,

01:39 really clarify or really specify what was defamatory.

01:44 And when Samantha was unable to do so,

01:46 the case was dismissed.

01:47 Now, if Samantha wants to appeal,

01:49 she can go to the court of appeal,

01:50 but it doesn't strike me as a strong defamation case,

01:53 Christina.

01:54 Right. Now, this is the third time

01:55 that she has tried to bring this case forward.

01:58 Do you feel like she's going to do it again?

02:00 Or is this, you know, three strikes, you're out?

02:03 I mean, she's out.

02:03 So this is what we call a d'amour in federal court,

02:06 which is where this is a 12(b)(6) motion,

02:08 but it's really a motion to dismiss.

02:10 And the judge says,

02:11 "Even if everything you say is true,

02:13 as a matter of law, it's not defamation.

02:16 You don't have a case.

02:17 It can't go to a jury."

02:18 So the judge ruled that as a matter of law,

02:20 Samantha has no case.

02:22 And the case was dismissed with prejudice,

02:23 which means it can't be amended.

02:25 it can't be refiled. So all Samantha can do is appeal if she wants to move forward.

Category

Transcript

Recommended