Meghan Markle Slams News Outlet For Threatening To Expose The Friends Who Defended Her

Meghan Markle slammed The Mail on Sunday and its publishers after the outlet threatened to publish the name of five of her friends who spoke out anonymously on her behalf last year.

As People reports, five women came forward for a story back in February of 2019 about the treatment that the duchess was receiving from British tabloids. Meghan says that she wasn’t aware that her friends were speaking on her behalf, but acknowledged that the five women felt like they needed to defend her when she couldn’t defend herself.

“Associated Newspapers, the owner of The Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, is threatening to publish the names of five women — five private citizens — who made a choice on their own to speak anonymously with a U.S. media outlet more than a year ago, to defend me from the bullying behavior of Britain’s tabloid media,” she said.

Meghan is involved in a court battle with the publisher after suing them for running parts of correspondence between her and her father.

She accused the publisher of trying to create a diversion from the case, which is focused on its publication of the letter.

“Each of these women is a private citizen, young mother, and each has a basic right to privacy,” she said.

She added that while the court system and The Mail On Sunday have access to the names of her friend, they shouldn’t be exposed to the public because it could have a negative impact on the emotional mental health of the women involved.

“These five women are not on trial, and nor am I. The publisher of the Mail on Sunday is the one on trial,” she said. “The Mail on Sunday is playing a media game with real lives.”

She concluded her statement asking for the court to prevent the outlet from publishing the names of the women.

The Mail on Sunday responded to the statement saying that they weren’t planning to expose the five women this weekend, but didn’t believe that their identities should be kept secret because they were an important part of the case. The publisher pushed back on the idea that its plan to publish the names of the women was an attempt to distract from the lawsuit.

The news comes as she and her husband, Prince Harry, are reportedly working hard to settle into their new lives in Los Angeles. According to some sources, while the couple appears to be happy to the public, they are struggling to adapt to their new situation.