Meghan Markle Faces Plagiarism Claims Over Shelved Netflix Show; Author Says Similarities Were ‘Too Great’

In a turn of events, Meghan Markle has become entangled in a plagiarism scandal when UK author Mel Elliott claimed that the Duchess’s abandoned Netflix series showed strong resemblances to Elliott’s previously published works. This allegation raises questions about “Pearl,” an animated project that Markle was planning to oversee as part of her multi-million dollar deal with Netflix, casting a dark cloud over its development.

In July of 2021, it was revealed that Pearl is a story about a young girl embarking on a journey to understand herself, drawing motivation from significant women throughout history. However, production on the show never started, and since then, Elliott has expressed worries that its premise resembles her own creation — the Pearl Power series, which premiered in 2014 and focuses on a powerful young girl with similar themes.

As reported by The Daily Mail, Elliott expressed her dismay and bewilderment over the striking resemblance between the two works. She stated, “Given Meghan’s strong feminist stance and her support for other women, I found it troubling and perplexing to notice such a close resemblance between Netflix’s proposed show Pearl and my own creation, Pearl Power, which predates it by seven years.” Despite not being able to definitively say that anyone from Markle’s team copied her work, Elliott emphasized that “the similarities were too striking to overlook.

Additionally, the author disclosed that she’d sent legal correspondence to Archewell Productions and Netflix, yet didn’t receive any reply. Simultaneously, The Sun reported that both entities were contacted for their comments, but neither had released a statement as of the publishing date.

Although Markle’s Pearl didn’t progress beyond the development phase, Elliott’s assertions have sparked a renewed debate about creative authenticity and intellectual property rights in high-profile media productions. As events develop further, the spotlight is shifting towards Netflix and Archewell’s reaction to these claims.

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2025-04-21 11:37