In an electrifying development from London’s bustling High Court, esteemed British actor Hugh Grant has confirmed that he has accepted ‘an enormous sum of money’ to reach a settlement regarding accusations lodged against renowned Sun tabloid for blatantly trespassing his privacy using unethical means.
Grant had accused the tabloid of gross unlawful innovation in privacy intrusion – ranging from phone tapping, to planting bugs on his vehicle, to even audaciously breaking into his home in order to illicitly surveil his private life. The settlement was announced on Wednesday, and in wake of it, the actor came forth stating his reluctant decision was rooted in a potentially crushing financial implication forced by a contentious court policy.
According to this policy, Grant could have faced a hefty legal bill, should he have won the trial but the court awarded him a lower sum than the settlement offer, a reality that could spell a similar fate for fellow claimant Prince Harry, their legal counsel has indicated. A fiscal hurdle of this magnitude could compel the Duke of Sussex to settle as well.
Grant, in a scathing commentary on this court policy shared on a social media platform, said, “As is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court…Even if every allegation is proven in court, I would still be liable for something approaching 10 million pounds ($12.4 million) in costs. I’m afraid I am shying at that fence.”
While the actual amount negotiated in the settlement remains under wraps, NGN has categorically stated that it is not admitting any liability, asserting instead that the settlement was financially beneficial to both parties involved, facilitating the sidestepping of an expensive trial.
The allegations against NGN, a subsidiary of the media giant Rupert Murdoch’s empire, echo a harrowing breach of privacy by engaging in illicit activities such as intercepting voicemails, bugging vehicles, and using deception tactics to gain access to confidential information from 1994 to 2016.
Following the trail of numerous other celebrities who have settled their claims against the publisher, such as actress Sienna Miller, football player Paul Gascoigne and Spice Girls’ Melanie Chisholm, Grant joined their ranks without losing his fiery spirit.
Lawyer Gideon Benaim, an observer of the case, suspects that the publishers took advantage of the court’s powerful rules and offered Grant an amount he would find hard to surpass in the trial. These rules entailed, had a judge awarded Grant less than the settlement offer, he would encounter significant legal costs.
January 2023 will see the Duke of Sussex along with 41 other claimants, continuing their legal battle against The Sun in the High Court. David Sherborne, their attorney, claimed that the same circumstances forcing a settlement upon Hugh Grant are operative for Prince Harry.
This dramatic conclusion comes less than a year after Justice Timothy Fancourt rejected NGN’s endeavor to dismiss Grant’s lawsuit alleging unlawful information gathering.
The narrative takes a chilling turn when the spotlight shifts to Grant’s mysterious home intrusion in 2011. Despite the scene of upheaval witnessed at his fourth-floor apartment with no apparent possessions missing, Grant was left baffled by the subsequent Sun story detailing the interior of his home implying ‘signs of a domestic row.’
Grant, who had previously won a lawsuit against Murdoch’s News of the World for phone hacking, pledges that his fight is not over, stating “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 (members of Parliament) to ransom…”
He pledged the monies directed from the settlement will go towards advocating groups like Hacked Off, that was formed after the 2011 phone-hacking scandal which led to the disbandment of News of the World and compelled the government to examine unlawful press practices.
Prince Harry’s case against The Sun adds to his litany of lawsuits against British tabloids, who he accuses of badgering him for most of his life. The Duke of Sussex also perceives these papers as the cause for his mother, Princess Diana’s untimely death caused by a car crash during paparazzi chase.
As of last year, Prince Harry has won his first case against Mirror Group Newspapers where Fancourt found phone hacking to be ‘widespread and habitual.’ He should receive an interim payment of £400,000 ($498,000) as part of the settlement, which besides the court judgment also includes his legal charges. Another case is in the pipeline against the Daily Mail’s owner.
