Sienna Miller agreed a settlement in her phone hacking lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct newspaper News Of The World, Wednesday.
The actress flew from the U.S. to the U.K. to attend the hearing in London, with barrister David Sherborne telling the court how her privacy being invaded was very important to her, hence the long flight.
According to the BBC, Miller and former soccer player Paul Gascoigne settled the dispute, but NGN “took issue with the wording of a statement they wanted to be read to the court on their behalf.”
The company asked Mr. Justice Fancourt to resolve the issue, with Miller and Gascoigne asking the High Court to rule in their favour.
NGN lawyers were said to have asked Fancourt to conduct parts of the hearing in private, but the request was denied due to the allegations already being in the public domain.
Anthony Hudson QC, representing NGN, said the claims linked to the issues with the statements were “explicitly settled on the basis of no admission of liability.”
He explained how some of the allegations in the statements were “in reality being presented as fact and that is inappropriate,” insisting that this “runs completely contrary to the basis on which the claimants settled.”
Sherborne claimed Miller was “perfectly entitled” to include certain details in her statement, the BBC went on to report, saying she should be “allowed to say what she felt was hurtful to her, damaging, the effect of the publication and what she wants to say about the settlement.”
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NGN has agreed to pay confidential damages to each of the claimants and also pay their legal costs.
Statements from Sean Bean and Texas lead singer Sharleen Spiteri were among those to be read out in court. Numerous celebrities have already settled phone hacking claims against the News Of The World, which ceased publication in July 2011 after 168 years.
Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories.
