Hugh Grant Settles Legal Disputes With The Sun

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Facts

• British actor Hugh Grant has settled his lawsuit with the News Group Newspapers (NGN), the Rupert Murdoch-owned parent company of The Sun newspaper.¹
• Grant's lawsuit surrounds allegations that the paper put tracking devices in his car, wiretapped his landline phone, and burglarized his home in 2011. He said that while nothing was stolen from his apartment, The Sun 'detailed' its 'interior' the next day.¹
• Grant cited 'civil litigation' as the reason he chose to settle, stating 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.'²
• This isn't the first phone-hacking settlement Grant has made with NGN, having previously come to an agreement with the now-defunct News of the World, which shut down in 2011 amid scandals including the hacking of a murdered girl's voicemail.³
• With regard to the Grant case, NGN stated that the settlement was reached 'without admission of liability' and that avoiding a 'costly trial' was 'in both parties' financial interest.'⁴
• This follows Prince Harry's partial legal victory against another tabloid company, Mirror Group, in which the Royal received £140K ($180K) in damages. That publisher was also accused of phone hacking as well as other illegal activities.³

Sources: ¹Forbes, ²Independent, ³The Hollywood Reporter and ⁴BBC News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Guardian. Hugh Grant would have much preferred to go to trial, but UK civil case law makes it impossible. The British media oligarchy has gotten away with this countless times, so the public hasn't gotten to see evidence of their unseemly practices brought before a court. Anyone who has their phone hacked or house burglarized should get justice.
• Narrative B, as provided by Sky News. The allegations surrounding alleged NGN privacy violations date as far back as 20 years ago, and ever since then, the company has apologized to and compensated genuine plaintiffs. Those days are over, however, and the company has cleaned its reporting of these practices.