Meghan Markle was set to executive produce Pearl, an animated Netflix show about a 12-year-old girl inspired by historical women, through Archewell Productions. The project was announced in 2021 but quietly cancelled in 2022.
Now, British author Mel Elliott claims the show bore “striking” similarities to her own character, Pearl Power, featured in books released between 2014 and 2016. Elliott says she sent legal and personal letters to Archewell and Netflix over concerns of copyright infringement, but received no response.
While Elliott isn’t directly accusing Meghan or her team of plagiarism, she expressed disappointment that her objections were ignored and believes the similarities were too strong to dismiss. She also hopes her objections influenced the show’s cancellation.