Meghan Markle’s Netflix project gets embroiled in plagiarism accusations

Meghan Markle's name is once again embroiled in plagiarism accusations. This time, a British author claims her books and Markle's proposed Netflix shows have similarities "too great" for her to ignore. This is not the first time that the Duchess of Sussex has faced such accusations of plagiarism. Previously, there have been multiple instances where such claims have come to light concerning different projects associated with Meghan Markle.

Here's everything you need to know about the now-scrapped Netflix project from Meghan Markle.

British Author's claims about Meghan Markle's proposed Netflix project

Back in July 2021, Netflix announced Pearl, an animated series that was a part of a reported $100 million development deal that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's development company, Archewell, made with the streaming network after their US move in 2020. Described as a feminist animated series, Pearl was to follow a young girl who, according to Deadline,

"learns to step into her power and finds inspiration from influential women throughout history"

British author and illustrator Mel Elliott has recently revealed to The Sun that she sent a legal letter to Netflix as well as Archewell not long after the project's announcement, citing intellectual property concerns over similarities with her own character, Pearl Power.

As reported by The Sun, the legal letter states that the similarities between the two works, Elliot's Pearl Power and Markle's Pearl, were

"too many and too striking to ignore to be mere coincidence."

It also stated that the project

"may infringe intellectual property rights."

Elliott is the writer of a series of books for the character Pearl Power, which debuted in 2014. The third book in this series was published in 2016 and has since been translated into several other languages.

Elliott stated that she was disappointed and confused at how the Duchess of Sussex's proposed series was so similar to her own character, Pearl Power. She stated to The Daily Mail:

"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. 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."

Netflix axed the project less than a year after the announcement in July 2021, scrapping it before it entered production. Markle removed any mention of the project from Archewell's official website.

These plagiarism accusations come after Markle's With Love, Meghan was accused by Pamela Anderson of "copying" her show Cooking With Love last month.

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