British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch\u2019s tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
\nGrant, alongside King Charles\u2019 son Prince Harry, was suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) for alleged widespread unlawful information gathering, including landline tapping, burglary and \u201cblagging\u201d confidential information about him.
\nFamous for films such as \u201cLove Actually\u201d, \u201cPaddington 2\u201d and \u201cNotting Hill\u201d, Grant has become a prominent campaigner on press reform since the phone-hacking scandal emerged more than a decade ago, and had joined forces with Harry in recent years.
\nHis case was one of several lawsuits which were eligible to go to trial at London\u2019s High Court in January, but the actor said he had agreed to settle with NGN.
\n\u201cNews Group are claiming they are entirely innocent of the things I had accused the Sun of doing,\u201d he posted on X. \u201cAs is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court.\u201d
\nNGN declined to comment on the settlement.
\nGrant previously brought a lawsuit against NGN in relation to the now-defunct News of the World tabloid which was settled in 2012, a year after the newspaper was shut down by media magnate Murdoch following a public backlash over hacking.
\nNGN has always rejected allegations of any wrongdoing by staff at The Sun, having settled more than 1,300 cases \u2013 plus another 300 or so through its own compensation scheme \u2013 without making any admission of liability in relation to that paper.
\nHowever, the settlement of Grant\u2019s lawsuit, which focused exclusively on alleged wrongdoing at The Sun, raises questions about the sustainability of that long-held position.
\nGrant said he did not want to settle and wanted to hear his accusations tested in court, but said if he was awarded less in damages after a trial than NGN offered him now he would be liable to pay the legal fees of both sides.
\n\u201cRupert Murdoch\u2019s lawyers are very expensive,\u201d wrote the actor, who said he would spend the money on lobby groups such as Hacked Off, which campaigns against press intrusion.
\n\u201cSo even if every allegation is proven in court, I would still be liable for something approaching 10 million pounds in costs. I\u2019m afraid I am shying at that fence.\u201d
\nThe settlement could reduce the chances of NGN facing a trial at all over claims of unlawful information-gathering \u2013 though Harry\u2019s lawsuit continues and the prince has spoken repeatedly of his \u201cmission\u201d to purge the British press.
\nHarry and other claimants last month sought to drag Murdoch into the case, alleging he was personally involved in a cover-up of wrongdoing, with a ruling on their application still pending.
\nNGN says the claimants are using the lawsuits as a means to attack the tabloid press and that allegations against current and former staff are \u201ca scurrilous and cynical attack on their integrity\u201d.
\nOn Wednesday, NGN\u2019s lawyer Anthony Hudson asked the court to direct that the full trial currently listed to begin in January should instead be held to decide whether the claimants should have brought their lawsuits against the publisher earlier.
\n(Reuters)Phone hacking. phone tapping, press reform, settlement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
British actor Hugh Grant settled a lawsuit against the publisher of The Sun over claims of phone tapping and burglary. Grant, known for films like “Love Actually” and “Notting Hill,” has been a vocal advocate for press reform. The settlement raises questions about the publisher’s long-held position of denying wrongdoing. Grant did not want to settle but feared the high legal costs if he lost at trial. The settlement may prevent a trial over unlawful information-gathering, but Prince Harry’s lawsuit against the publisher continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":8585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1418,6557,383,461,771,4477,279,3740,2511,932,2264,2544,704,5165,3143,6849,2218,3755,1386,2878,6031,591,450,387,2952,2628,6850,3331,6851,6852,2847,759,2173,5172,5644,3897,1906,6305,18],"class_list":["post-8584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-allegations","tag-application","tag-attack","tag-british","tag-burglary","tag-charles","tag-comment","tag-compensation","tag-costs","tag-court","tag-damages","tag-fees","tag-films","tag-hacking","tag-harry","tag-hugh-grant","tag-investigators","tag-journalists","tag-king-charles","tag-lawsuit","tag-lawsuits","tag-lawyers","tag-london","tag-lost","tag-media","tag-money","tag-murdoch","tag-news","tag-phone-tapping","tag-press-reform","tag-privacy","tag-scandal","tag-settlement","tag-shut-down","tag-sun","tag-sustainability","tag-trial","tag-who","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n