Meghan Markle is being sued by her half-sister Samantha following her and Prince Harry’s Oprah Winfrey interview.
Samantha, 57, is suing the Duchess of Sussex for defamation, TMZ has reported, with Thomas Markle’s eldest daughter claiming some of Meghan’s childhood recollections during the interview were fabricated.
Meghan’s attorney, Michael Kump, spoke to TMZ who broke the news, and branded the lawsuit “absurd”. “This baseless and absurd lawsuit is just a continuation of a pattern of disturbing behavior. We will give it the minimum attention necessary, which is all it deserves,” he told the US news site.
Meghan and Harry’s interview with Oprah in March last year broke records across the world. 17.1 million viewers watched it on US channel CBS and, just a day later, it aired in the UK, with ITV announcing that the broadcast secured the channel its biggest peak audience in two years.
The interview attracted a peak audience of 12.4 million viewers to ITV while it was airing. A total of 49 million people watched worldwide in the first three days.
It also received an Emmy nomination in the best hosted nonfiction series category but was beaten by actor Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy travel and food show.
During the two-hour conversation, the pair opened up about the difficulties they faced during their time as senior royals, their lives in California, and expecting their second child.
Meghan also spoke about her dad, her half-sister Samantha and the “tell-all” book she wrote about her. “I think it would be very hard to ‘tell all’ when you don’t know me,” Meghan told Oprah at the time. “This is a very different situation than my dad, right. When you talk about betrayal, betrayal comes from someone that you have a relationship with.”
