Meghan Markle accused of copying childrens author…
Meghan Markle is in a copycat disaster.
The Duchess of Sussex, 43, is dealing with plagiarism claims from British kids’s author Mel Elliott.
Elliott informed the Daily Mail Friday that she despatched legal letters to Markle over Markle’s cancelled animated Netflix show “Pearl” bearing “striking similarities” to Elliott’s “Pearl Power” books.
Meghan Markle on the Invictus Games Sydney 2018. Getty Images
Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle on Sept. 10, 2022. POOL/AFP by way of Getty Images
“Meghan is a feminist who sticks up for other women, so I was disappointed and confused to see how similar Netflix’s proposed show ‘Pearl’ was to my own ‘Pearl Power,’ who had been created seven years earlier,” Elliott informed the outlet.
“Of course, I can’t know if anyone on her team had seen it and been inspired by it, but the similarities were too great for me to ignore,” the author added.
Mel Elliott. mellyelliott/X
Mel Elliott’s guide “Pearl Power.”
As half of Markle and Prince Harry’s $100 million deal with Netflix, “Pearl” was introduced in development on the streamer in July 2021, with Markle serving as an govt producer alongside Elton John’s husband, David Furnish.
The collection was stated to be about a 12-year-old woman who “learns to step into her power and finds inspiration from influential women throughout history.”
But “Pearl” ended up being scrapped as Netflix claimed on the time they have been no longer prioritizing animation.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in Australia in 2018. Getty Images
Elliott, who printed her “Pearl Power” books in 2014, 2015 and 2018 and was in discussions to adapt the franchise into a TV collection involving tennis icon Billie Jean King in 2019, claimed her legal crew despatched a formal letter to Markle’s camp in 2021 alleging attainable infringement of her copyright.
“The similarities between your proposed animation series and my client’s work appear to be too many and too striking to be mere coincidence,” the letter learn, per the Daily Mail.
Mel Elliott. mellyelliott/X
Elliott claimed she despatched two more letters to Markle’s Archewell Productions and Netflix, however she by no means heard back.
“What saddened me most is that my objection was never acknowledged — neither Netflix nor Archewell responded to me when I would have loved to have contributed and collaborated,” Elliott stated.
The author additionally clarified that she wasn’t attempting to get Markle’s show canceled, however she wished to be “acknowledged or invited to work as a collaborator on the series.”
Meghan Markle in “With Love, Meghan” on Netflix. Netflix
Meghan Markle in Colombia in August 2024. REUTERS
“Pearl was my dream project and now, annoyingly, if I reprise my own creation, it’s going to look like I have copied the idea from someone else,” she defined.
The Post has reached out to reps for Markle and Netflix.
The Sussexes have launched a number of initiatives with Netflix, beginning with their five-part “Harry & Meghan” docuseries in 2022, the place the couple opened up about their determination to desert their lives as working royals.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle with their children. Alexi Lubomirski / Duke and Duchess of Sussex
That was adopted by “Heart of Invictus,” a documentary following athletes getting ready for the Harry-founded Invictus Games, which aired in August 2023. The following 12 months, Harry launched his “Polo” documentary which he was barely featured in.
Most not too long ago, Markle got here out together with her eight-part “With Love, Meghan” life-style collection that acquired a frosty reception from critics and was even accused of being a ripoff of Pamela Anderson’s own cooking show.
The As Ever founder additionally handled copying claims after she rebranded her life-style business enterprise to the identical title as an unbiased NYC clothes model. A Spanish city then accused her of copying their conventional coat of arms for As Ever’s new brand.
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