Hugh Grant Settles Privacy Case Against Rupert Murdoch’s Tabloid For ‘Enormous Sum’
In a thread on X, Grant expressed his reluctance but rationale for settling. (Photo by: John Rasimus/STAR MAX/IPx 2023 12/10/23)
Actor Hugh Grant settled his privacy lawsuit against The Sun newspaper’s publisher News Group Newspapers (NGN) out of court, he announced Wednesday.
The 63-year-old actor, known for his roles in Notting Hill and Love Actually, claimed that the publisher’s journalists had engaged in phone tapping, burglary at his home and “illegal blagging” of confidential information, according to his attorney.
The legal battle was part of a broader contention over privacy with NGN, which has faced over a thousand similar claims, including a case brought by Prince Harry. The publisher maintains that no wrongdoing occurred at The Sun, a stance unchanged in public statements following the recent settlement. The Duke of Sussex’s trial is scheduled for January 2025.
A previous lawsuit brought by Grant against NGN, alleging similar misconduct by News Of The World tabloid, which was shut down by media mogul owner Rupert Murdoch in the fallout over its notorious hacking scandal, was settled in 2012.
In a thread on X, posted Wednesday morning, Grant expressed his reluctance but rationale for settling.
Read Grant’s statement in full:
“News Group are claiming they are entirely innocent of the things I had accused The Sun of doing – phone hacking, unlawful information gathering, landline tapping, the burglary of my flat and office, the bugging of my car, the illegal blagging of medical records, lies, perjury and as is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court.
I don’t want to accept this money or settle. I would love to see all the allegations that they deny tested in court. But the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides.
My lawyers tell me that that is exactly what would most likely happen here. Rupert Murdoch’s lawyers are very expensive. So even if every allegation is proven in court, I would still be liable for something approaching £10 million in costs. I’m afraid I am shying at that fence.
Rupert Murdoch has spent over £1 billion in damages to claimants and in lawyers’ fees, settling over 1500 claims in this way. He seems remarkably determined that there shouldn’t be a trial of the facts.
Murdoch’s settlement money has a stink and I refuse to let this be hush money. I have spent the best part of 12 years fighting for a free press that does not distort the truth, abuse ordinary members of the public or hold elected MPs to ransom in pursuit of newspaper barons’ personal profit and political power. So this money will be repurposed via groups like Hacked Off into the general campaign to expose the worst excesses of our oligarch-owned press.”
