London: British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid newspaper The Sun, while the lawyer for Prince Harry said the royal could also be “forced” to agree to a deal.
Grant, alongside King Charles’ son and others, was suing News Group Newspapers for alleged widespread unlawful information gathering, including landline tapping, burglary and “blagging” (gaining through fakery) confidential information about him.
Hugh Grant will receive an “enormous sum”.Credit: AP
His case was one of several which were eligible to go to trial at London’s High Court in January, but the actor said he had reluctantly settled with NGN because he could be left with a multimillion-pound legal bill if he rejected their offer now, even if he later won the lawsuit.
“News Group are claiming they are entirely innocent of the things I had accused the Sun of doing,” Grant posted on X on Wednesday. “As is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court.”
Grant, famous for films such as Love Actually, Paddington 2 and Notting Hill, said if he was awarded less in damages after a trial than NGN had offered him now, he would be liable to pay the fees of both sides’ lawyers.
“Rupert Murdoch’s lawyers are very expensive,” Grant said. “So even if every allegation is proven in court, I would still be liable for something approaching £10 million ($19.3 million) in costs. I’m afraid I am shying at that fence.”
Prince Harry.Credit: AP
David Sherborne, the lawyer for both Grant and Harry, told a hearing at the High Court on Wednesday that the prince, who is also the Duke of Sussex, and other claimants also face a similar predicament and could have settlements “forced” upon them.
“The Duke of Sussex is subject to the same issues that [actor] Sienna Miller and Hugh Grant have been subject to, which is that offers are made [which] make it impossible for them to go ahead,” Sherborne said.