Hugh Grant, the renowned British actor celebrated for roles in “Love Actually” and “Notting Hill,” has reached a settlement in his privacy lawsuit against the publisher of The Sun, News Group Newspapers (NGN). However, the actor took an atypical stance on the settlement, using his platform to denounce it as potential “hush money” and vowed to redirect the undisclosed sum toward efforts to reform the press.
The lawsuit, which was set to go to trial, accused The Sun of various forms of illegal information gathering, including phone hacking, landline tapping, and burglary. Grant’s litigation history with NGN goes back to a previous settlement in 2012 with the now-defunct News of the World tabloid over similar allegations. Despite the settlement, NGN maintains that their journalists did not engage in any wrongdoing at The Sun.
Grant’s adamant refusal to quietly accept the settlement was made clear in a series of posts on X, where he articulated his reasoning and his decision to allocate the settlement funds to advocacy: “News Group are claiming they are entirely innocent of the things I had accused the Sun of doing… 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… Rupert Murdoch’s settlement money has a stink and I refuse to let this be hush money.”
Highlighting the strategic calculations that shaped his decision, Grant pointed out the financial risk associated with proceeding to trial, stating, “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.” This cost could potentially exceed £10 million, an amount that ultimately swayed Grant’s choice, despite his eagerness to have the claims tested in court.
Grant is not alone in his battle against the tabloid’s publisher. Prince Harry had also sued NGN over similar claims and was given the go-ahead to proceed to a trial. NGN has faced over a thousand claims of similar nature and has consistently settled without admission of liability, paying out large sums as part of this process.
Grant’s commitment to press reform has been long-standing; he has been a vocal advocate since the phone-hacking scandal surfaced over a decade ago. In a display of his dedication to the cause, Grant declared that the money from the settlement would be “repurposed via groups like Hacked Off into the general campaign to expose the worst excesses of our oligarch-owned press.” Hacked Off, the organization he supports, has been at the forefront of advocating for a responsible and accountable press.
Relevant articles:
– Hugh Grant Says He Doesn’t ‘Want to Accept’ Settlement in Privacy Case Against the Sun Publisher: ‘I Refuse to Let This Be Hush Money’
– Hugh Grant Settles Privacy Case Against Rupert Murdoch’s Tabloid For ‘Enormous Sum’, Mediaite, Wed, 17 Apr 2024 11:46:00 GMT
– Hugh Grant settles phone-hacking lawsuit with Murdoch-owned British tabloid the Sun, CBC News, Wed, 17 Apr 2024 12:02:22 GMT
– Hugh Grant settles court claim against Sun publisher for ‘enormous sum’, The Guardian, Wed, 17 Apr 2024 10:56:00 GMT