Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair did some coverage on this week’s updates from the Duchess of Sussex’s lawsuit against the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday. She actually explained something which had been bugging me, which is the introduction of Finding Freedom as some kind of “defense” for the Mail publishing Meghan’s letter to her father. Nicholl says that the Mail’s lawyers applied to amend their defense, that was the whole reason for the court appearance (for the lawyers), this idea that perhaps Meghan’s copyright doesn’t really belong to her if she, say, gave an off-the-record interview to Omid Scobie. The Mail is pulling on that string not because they think it’s a winning defense – they are only trying to nitpick and smear Meghan for something literally all celebrities and royals do, which is the give-and-take of PR and media management. They’re trying to equate “a duchess giving the wink-and-nod to her friends to speak on her behalf” to “a British tabloid infringing on a duchess’s copyright.” Nicholl did have some new information too:
The hearing was the latest pretrial hearing in the duchess’s long and protracted legal action against the publisher of the Mail, which in February 2019 published the letter Meghan had written to her father after her 2018 wedding. The defense claimed yesterday that the duchess discussed the letter with the communications team at Kensington Palace and had written it “with a view to it being read by third parties and/or disclosed to the public” in a bid to improve her public image. Meghan, on the other hand, insists the letter was private and is expected to give in-person evidence when the case goes to court in January.
The duchess, who has switched lawyers ahead of the court case in an effort to speed up proceedings, could come face-to-face with her father if he is called as a witness by the Mail’s publisher. But while the face-to-face meeting would be deeply uncomfortable for Meghan, who has not spoken to her father for two years, she is adamant that she will have her day in court.
VF.com has also been told that the duchess has no plans to drop the legal action ahead of the hearing next year. “There’s no wavering,” a source close to Meghan said. “She is resolute that she intends to see this to the end. It’s costing a lot of money, but no one has been in the dark about the scale of this and what it’s going to cost. The duchess’s eyes were wide open when she went into this, and she feels as strongly now as she did then that she has to draw a line in the sand. The publication of the letter and how Thomas was treated by the Mail on Sunday has caused real damage to their relationship.”
What surprised me a little bit in Finding Freedom was just how much Meghan tried to give her father a chance and tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. It was never going to be easy for her to admit to herself or others that her father showed he was a piece of sh-t very, very quickly. In FF, she seemingly still assumes that her relationship with her father would be much different today if only he had not been so manipulated by Samantha Markle and the British tabloids. To which I say… you can lead a horse to water, you know? Toxic Tom was always a piece of sh-t. And the Mail’s case will absolutely FALL APART as soon as they call that toxic bastard to the stand.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
Meghan says “you gonna learn today”. She wants a trial and teach these assholes a lesson and basically change how british news is written – make them more ethical.
They should have left her child alone!
It was in the papers today that Meghan’s lawyers have specifically come out as instructed by Meghan to refute Finding Freedom as inaccurate in many ways. As in the lawyer specifically said “I have been informed by the claimant that x and y and z is not true..” and that most of the book is based on tabloid articles and speculation. Their point is to underline the fact that the biography was entirely unauthorised so as to shoot down this, frankly, barking attempt of the Mail to use it as ‘evidence’ of anything vis a vis Meghan.
Unauthorized is not the same as inaccurate, but the segments that were specified included insignificant details that were extrapolated from information that was already public. No one reputable is saying that “most of the book is based on tabloid articles and speculation.”
delete
I mean… FF read like fanfic anyways. A lot of the stuff I read in the book was just a twist on tabloid gossip, humanising Meg. Also… as her lawyer said, the book wasn’t over the top fawning complimentary to Meghan. That alone should have let the haters know… but when you’re determined to hate someone, you’ll do anything
The part of the book that convinced me It was fanfic was the yoga pose after the “engagement promise”… seriously? Lots of people have used this as proof. But anyone who knows Meg knows she’s a yogi, and anyone who knows yogis knows that yoga at sunset or suns rise is their dreaaaam.
Common sense is seriously lacking over on that little island 💁🏾♀️
This. I haven’t read the book but it was obvious ‘creative license’ was being used in some cases which seems typical of the reporting and books around the younger royals. some quotes were so dramatic whilst some werent that believable because you knew it was likely something blunter was said eg “blindsided by lust”.
It’s funny that the witness statement has seemingly debunked that phone call in bathtub or Harry’s thoughts when Archie was born as that’s the kind of ‘intimate detail’ that makes people think they practically wrote it themselves.
But it doesn’t seem atypical of royal bios to claim to have these insights. Eg Ingrid Seward’s recent one on Prince Philip claims to know Philip’s reaction when Charles was born & Lady Colin Campbell’s book on the Queen& Philip claimed Philip was surprised how much Lizzie enjoyed sex& discusses him describing her skin to his friend etc. Of course in this case royal experts dismissed the intimate detail and called the book fiction.
Mail should give us their source in KP, who said Meghan wrote to her father to improve her image. That sounds like a total fabrication and how come, the mail did not mention this in the first place. They are just lying to fit into their bogus defence. How does a book published long after the letter was written, becomes a defence. This is imtimida
tion, to bully Meghan to drop the case, that way the mail wins, and Meghan will have to pay the court cost of the mail. They are desperate and clutching at straws. Whether Meghan showed the letter to KP, is neither here nor there, it was private, the mail, did not seek permission to release it to the public. fullstop ! Copyright laws are clear, the mail knows it, but unfortunately for them, they did not count on The Duchess going all out to sue. Meghan is not some shrinking violet.
If the Mail is relying on a KP PR person for that assertion, if this thing goes to trial, they will have to call that person as a witness. Attorneys can’t make false statements in their court submissions. It would ruin the career of the lawyer making an assertion like that. If this goes to trial then that’s going to be a fascinating look at how the KP PR operation works.
Yes, and I hope that Christian Jones and his partner are dragged into court – we know they have been leaking with the backing of Cain and Unable.
We will never get the full truth but I think we will get enough to understand how much they were betrayed by both families.
my question is where is toxic tom and Samantha? I think KP is training him for the court appeal because tom is a loose man. let’s wait and watch.
I read sometime ago that the Mail had talked them into staying quiet until after the court case, (probably paying them for silence), Samantha was supposed to be writing a book and that’s all gone very silent as well.
Good for her. I admire Meghan for what she is doing. Not many people would willingly put themselves through this. The trial between Depp and The Sun revealed a lot of nasty stuff I wasn’t even aware of when he separated from Heard. I can’t imagine putting myself through this. In any case, since this tidbit is from Katie Nicholl, Nicholl and her mysterious source are likely just guessing that is how Meghan feels (which they are probably right).
This whole thing has been so eye-opening as to how underhanded and dangerous the media is, as an entity. I admire them for fighting this case, and trying to remain a couple committed to their overarching beliefs. It can’t be easy and the mockery, gaslighting and name calling is terrible. I truly hope they win, and I look forward to their statement when they do.
Don’t lump in reputable journalism with this trash in your fears of the media.
Harry told us back in December in that statement that this was a matter of principle and that theyll donate any earnings to a anti bullying charity. The mail has no grounds to use FF in a copyright case.
The mail is digging their own grave by going after omid. They and every tabloids gossipers will need to prove their lies & share their sources if they push with this & Meghan’s team can re introduce the striked off parts which byline investigation highlighted.
https://www.bylineinvestigates.com/mail/2019/11/15/noen2cgslou82nzpgi0g3mpjebpd6i
I hope this ends up like Hogan vs. Gawker and the Daily Mail becomes a cautionary tale for the racist tabloid scum.
Hogan v Gawker was bankrolled by a creepy sexist Trump-supporting billionaire, Peter Thiel, who didn’t like Gawker for his own reasons. It set a bad precedent that the extremely wealthy can put publications out of business when they slip up. It is not some great development to be celebrated.
Mumbles
Yeah, not like that. You took that and ran!
Posting portions of a person’s sex tape without permission seems like more than just a slip up? Either way, Wiglet’s original point still stands.
I miss Gawker, and hate what was done to them by a billionaire.
But, i too hope the money damages the Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Sussex gets bankrupts the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday.
I don’t think the DM ever really expected the lawsuit to go this far. I think they expected the RF to reign H&M in at some point and there would be ongoing negotiation behind the scenes where they maintained the leverage and then could negotiate that for more access to them AND then continue the status quo to blackmail them for as much access as they wanted.
That obviously worked out so well in this case. They most likely thought they really had the upper hand when H&M left the UK, believing the RF would make them eventually bend the knee due to money. And then they became truly financially independent and torpedoed that fever dream.
So now they’re grasping at straws to try and maintain “dominance” and it’s just all unraveling for them.
Honestly, regardless of the outcome, it’s interesting to watch because just about everyone underestimated H&M. And they’re still thriving, not just surviving.
The Fail is grasping at straws here hoping for a smoking gun in the emails and texts. They know if Toxic Tom is called to the stand it’s all over for them. More scary, if the letter is un-redacted Bad Dad’s dirty laundry is revealed and show the Fail kept out the bad parts about TT to make Meghan look horrible. Good on Meghan for sticking to her guns.
Wasn’t it Katie Nicholls that claimed the Sussexes hadn’t been making any money during the pandemic shortly before news of the house purchase and Netflix deal came out? Must be nice to be paid to be pretend to be in the know.
Remember when Thomas Snr was doing the rounds it was reported that BP wanted to manage him & the Queen was said to be bemused because the Sussexes refused the Firm’s help. I can see KP saying they can’t ignore these outbursts forever & need to engage him & that is when Meghan decided to write to Thomas Snr.
The Fail must have known they were on shaky ground publishing the letter as they allegedly didn’t ask for comment or right of reply as is usual before publishing, likely because they knew that Meghan might have sought an injunction to stop the publication.
And as for showing the letter to eg her advisors at KP etc, Prince Charles successfully sued the Fail on the same grounds as Meghan over publishing his diary and he had given his diary to like 10 friends. So not sure that helps much. But guess we’ll see.
I think Sussexes are focused on principle but unfortunately even if hacking is revisited because of Harry’s and others new actions, journalists are way more entrenched now then they were when hacking scandal emerged especially with job cuts because of covid. Tories have a majority and Boris Johnson had ruled out following up on Levenson inquiry pre election so can’t see much change.
Never give in, never give up Meghan. Let them come at you and you keep holding your head up and sticking with it because you are in the right and this is the right way to handle it. I used to be so supportive of the media, but these days I’m wary of them. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in a free media, but I guess I also expected a more just media. In the very least I expected that when things are this egregious other media would say it loud and say it often, but that’s not what has happened here and elsewhere of late. The media is becoming very corrupt across the board from my vantage point and I honestly don’t know what the solution is.
Sigh. The DM is not reputable journalism and has a long history of corruption. Don’t go to the fast food store expecting a chef. “The media” is not “corrupt across the board,” and I say that from my vantage point of my 20 plus years in journalism. Piers Morgan is not a journalist. I can’t believe this needs to be said.
Piers Morgan replacing Larry King on CNN gave him more credibility than he deserved, as most Americans are unaware of what he did as revealed by the Levenson Inquiry. I agree he’s on the level of a Hannity but many Americans don’t know that.
I know that the DM is not reputable, but I wasn’t speaking about just them. I’m talking about the almost blanket silence coming from the BM in regards to the unrelenting racial abuse Meghan has had to endure in Britain since she arrived. Calling out abuse is, or should be a subject of journalism also and in an era of MeTo, you would certainly think that a high profile public figures abuse would gain the mainstream’s media notice. The fact that mainstream British newspaper hire writers who writes for the DM and mainstream British television shows bring on writers from the tabloids to racially abuse Meghan. It certainly hasn’t escaped my notice the way that Prince Andrew has gone almost unnoticed by the mainstream British media either. They (mainstream BM) like the DM have reported dishonestly about Meghan and has also racially abused her with virtually zero push back from anyone in said mainstream BM. I don’t read the DM, but I have been paying attention to the mainstream BM and their conduct imo is reprehensible when it relates to the BRF versus their coverage of Meghan.
There used to be a banner across the top of Fox News that stated it was an entertainment news site, yet it is still taken as gospel by some. Ditto Blind Gossip, also taken as gospel truth even though they too have a site banner saying everything is made up.
Went to look up “levenson inquiry” . So Piers Morgan has dirty hands and has a casual relationship with the truth. Now it starts to make sense.
Katie Nicholl doesn’t know anything.
But in general, I think she should take this to the end. A lot of lawyers have said that this is (on paper at least) is a pretty open and shut case but who knows what will happen in court.
This seems like a stupid panic move on the part of the Fail. They probably thought this lawsuit would end quickly, particularly after she had to pay them damages in the last round. I think the Fail was counting on the Sussexes feeling the economic strain and caving. They didn’t count on that sweet Netflix deal.
Also, I hope Toxic Tom does end up on the stand during trial. No amount of coaching can stop that idiot from running his mouth. All they have to do is ask him what didnhe mean when he said in that interview, “The Royal Family owes me?”
Can Meghan please “merch” her moisturizer and beauty routine! 😭. Her skin glows!
Sorry to go off topic, but that photo reminded me, God, her makeup was perfection on her wedding day! That totally natural lip, the glowing freckles, the soft soft eyes. Perfection.
I think the Fail are doing what they’ve done from the start of this action. Dragging it out, milking it and using it as a source to garner stories for the next decade.
I fully expect there to be an oops leak of the court bundles in a year or two. It will be done in a way that fully exonerates them, but they will still publish privileged information or find a way to force it;s publication.
They know they’re going to lose on principle so for now this is just about recouping the potential losses.
I think Meghan knows her father won’t be able to keep his lies straight and that will give her the win. I hope she wins but this feels a little uphill because of what it would upend if she were to.
Question: I’ve heard that the DM and the Sun are in serious financial trouble. With the expense of the DM case, could this shutter the DM?