Hugh Grant says he settled his lawsuit with The Sun outside of court well before its January 2025 trial date.
The actor previously accused the newspaper of phone hacking, unlawful information gathering, landline tapping, burglary of his flat and office, bugging his car, illegally obtaining medical records, lies, perjury and destruction of evidence.
“As is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court,” Grant wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday. “But the rules around civil litigation mean 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.”
Because Rupert Murdoch’s lawyers would be expensive regardless of the court result, Grant said he is “shying at that fence” of potential liability for 10 million pounds in costs.
“Murdoch’s settlement money has a stink and I refuse to let this be hush money,” the actor continued. “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 MPs to ransom in pursuit of newspaper barons’ personal profit and political power.”
He plans to repurpose the money to groups like his organization Hacked Off, which was established in 2011 as a “campaign for a free and accountable press for the public and other methods for the general campaign to expose the worst excesses of our oligarch-owned press.”
At the end of the thread, Grant shouted out his legal team Anjlee Sangani, David Sherborne, Evan Harris and Dan Waddell, as well as alleged whistle-blowers Dan Evans, Emma Jones, Steve Whittamore, Danno Hanks and Glenn Mulcaire.
“I particularly want to acknowledge the work and sacrifices of Graham Johnson in the face of unfair attacks from those on the other side who are seeking to stop the truth coming out,” he concluded.
A spokesperson for News Group Newspapers (NGN) responded to Grant’s public comments in the following statement to TheWrap:
In 2011, an unreserved apology was made by NGN to victims of voicemail interception by the News of the World. Since then, NGN has been paying financial damages to those with proper claims.
As we reach the tail end of litigation, NGN is drawing a line under disputed matters, some of which date back more than 20 years ago. In some cases, it has made commercial sense for both parties to come to a settlement agreement before trial to bring a resolution to the matter.
There are a number of disputed claims still going through the civil courts some of which seek to involve The Sun. The Sun does not accept liability or make any admissions to the allegations.
A judge recently ruled that parts of Mr. Grant’s claim were out of time and we have reached agreement to settle the remainder of the case. This has been done without admission of liability. It is in both parties’ financial interests not to progress to a costly trial.
TheWrap has reached out to Grant’s team for further comment, but has not heard back.
