On Tuesday, Hugh Grant announced that he had settled his hacking lawsuit against The Sun. He explained what happened in a lengthy Twitter thread – The Sun’s lawyers made him a substantial settlement offer and Grant was basically handcuffed by the British civil litigation laws. Meaning, if he didn’t take the settlement and the case went to trial, there would have been a very good chance that Grant could have won the trial and yet still owed $10 million-plus in his own legal fees and The Sun’s legal fees. Grant pointed out that this is the consistent methodology of News Group Newspapers: they make generous settlement offers to keep all of their dirtiest deeds from coming out in court and if their victims demand to go to trial, victims find themselves getting screwed over by a legal system set up to protect the criminal behavior of the press. Something similar happened with Sienna Miller as well.
Throughout the whole Hack-gate scandal and the past five years of lawsuits, it’s always been said that Prince Harry was uniquely positioned to take his fight against the press to trial. But now Harry’s lawyer David Sherbourne is saying that News Group Newspapers has also made a settlement offer to Harry.
Prince Harry could be ‘forced’ to settle his High Court case against The Sun because of concerns over a huge legal bill, even if he wins. David Sherborne, lawyer for the Duke of Sussex, said his client faced an ‘impossible’ threat of high legal costs by continuing the case.
Harry and actor Hugh Grant are among dozens of stars who sued over their private information allegedly being stolen by The Sun. Yesterday, at a pre-trial hearing, the High Court was told Grant, 63, had agreed a settlement and was no longer involved in the case. The star later stressed on social media he had ‘had to’ settle – to avoid the risk of a possible ‘£10million’ legal bill. In 2021, actress Sienna Miller agreed a similar deal. She said that even if she had won, her costs would have run to millions had she rejected the offer to settle.
Harry is among 42 remaining individuals still suing The Sun’s publisher News Group Newspapers for allegedly snooping on their private information, which it strenuously denies.
Yesterday Harry’s lawyer told the court: ‘The Duke of Sussex is subject to the same issues that Sienna Miller and Hugh Grant have been subjected to – that offers have been made [to settle] that makes it impossible for them to go ahead.’
Grant later said he hadn’t wanted to settle but added: ‘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.’ NGN has always rejected allegations of any wrongdoing by staff at The Sun.
“NGN has always rejected allegations of any wrongdoing by staff at The Sun” – yes, that’s why they’re apparently making seven-figure out-of-court settlements with celebrities they never, ever hacked or stalked or committed crimes against. As for Harry, keep in mind that he just scored a major victory back in December against the Mirror Group, and after that court win, Harry accepted a significant settlement for the rest of his hacking claims again the Mirror. The Sun was looking at a similar scenario – that if Harry ended up taking this all the way to trial, he’ll win and they would still have to settle anyway. Anyway, it’s interesting that Sherbourne brought this up in a court hearing. Watch this space!
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
-
- Prince Harry departs The Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Thursday 30 March, 2023. He is part of a group suing the Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) in the High Court over phone hacking allegations.,Image: 766160550, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
-
- Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex arrives at The Rolls Building – Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Tuesday 6 June, 2023 to give evidence as part of the Mirror Group newspapers (MGN) phone hacking trial.,Image: 781720787, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
-
- Prince Harry The Duke Of Sussex departs The Rolls Building – Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Wednesday 7 June, 2023 as part of the Mirror Group newspapers (MGN) phone hacking trial.,Image: 782000576, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
-
- Prince Harry The Duke Of Sussex departs The Rolls Building – Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Wednesday 7 June, 2023 as part of the Mirror Group newspapers (MGN) phone hacking trial.,Image: 782000590, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
-
- Prince Harry The Duke Of Sussex departs The Rolls Building – Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Wednesday 7 June, 2023 as part of the Mirror Group newspapers (MGN) phone hacking trial.,Image: 782000612, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
-
- Prince Harry The Duke Of Sussex departs The Rolls Building – Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Wednesday 7 June, 2023 as part of the Mirror Group newspapers (MGN) phone hacking trial.,Image: 782000626, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
-
- Royal Courts of Justice, London, UK. 7th June 2023. Prince Harry leaving the Royal Courts of Justice, with his lawyer, David Sherborne, following his second day giving testimony in the witness stand. The Duke of Sussex is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages over alleged unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking and is the first senior British royal to give evidence in court for 130 years.,Image: 782000910, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Supplied by AVALON – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photo by Amanda Rose / Avalon
-
- February 9, 2024, London, England, United Kingdom: Prince HarryĂââ s lawyer DAVID SHERBORNE I seen reading the PrinceĂââ s statement outside Rolls Building after the royal givenĂââ substantial damages in Mirror hacking case by High Court in London. London United Kingdom – ZUMAs262 20240209_zip_s262_050 Copyright: xTayfunxSalcix,Image: 845081362, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Tayfun Salci / Avalon
-
- February 9, 2024, London, England, United Kingdom: Prince HarryĂââ s lawyer DAVID SHERBORNE I seen reading the PrinceĂââ s statement outside Rolls Building after the royal givenĂââ substantial damages in Mirror hacking case by High Court in London. London United Kingdom – ZUMAs262 20240209_zip_s262_045 Copyright: xTayfunxSalcix,Image: 845081374, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: imago is entitled to issue a simple usage license at the time of provision. Personality and trademark rights as well as copyright laws regarding art-works shown must be observed. Commercial use at your own risk., Model Release: no, Credit line: IMAGO/Tayfun Salci / Avalon
Man what a f**cked up system that even if you win you have to pay!
Lets all ask the question: cui bono? (-Latin for “who benefits?”) Who stands to profit from the status quo?
Answer: The monarch & monarchy.
Make no mistake, the british legal system is The Crown. If the shitmedia is successfully brought to trial to account for its salacious and criminal activities that involve members of the RF then inevitably, what will also come to light is the extent to which the RF, all the way to the top, was complicit.
Cant have that, can we?
Hence the skewed structure of the justice system where, even if you have truth and right and evidence on your side, you will lose, so dont even get started.
Thats what faces H at this time and I for one, would never tell him to forge ahead anyway. Not when he has a young family to raise. And not when the ones who will benefit is a country full of mentally enslaved people who wont even recognize when something is in their own best interest.
I can only hope that H’s lawyers will successfully avoid being gagged by the final agreement in all this so that H can still put the information out there so that the court of public opinion can rule on it.
Totally agree with all that you have said. Harry must do what is right for him & his family.
Agree, only Harry and Meghan know what is right for them. Lego action takes a toll and you have to know that going in and when choosing to continue.
Sometimes it’s worth it to have made your point and take the cash and move on for your peace of mind. This is a short life.
I just wish Harry had an extra 10 million or so to throw away just to take them to court anyway and have everything come out.
And who the hell pays so much money out to multiple people and still claims they did nothing wrong??
*My typos are insane today. Legal action, not Lego action.
At least by settling the Sun has admitted that it did hack Harry’s phone, which is a criminal offence, bet the police and the DPP won’t do anything about it though. It is immoral the way they will get away with it.
The system is designed to avoid unnecessary court cases if the defendants offer a reasonable settlement i.e. the kind of settlement a court would award, or even a higher settlement a court might award. A reasonable settlement would include all legal costs as well as significant damages.
Pursuing a case could be judged unreasonable and a waste of the court’s time in these circumstances.
And without case law to establish precedents, then certain issues don’t get considered at all. These types of cases should be considered public interest litigation because they are about the abuse of corporate media on individuals. This isn’t a dispute about money like a breach of contract.
And with public interest litigation costs are not a factor because they don’t get awarded. It is a choice for the UK govt to continue to permit corporate media to abuse individuals because they don’t just do it to those with money and power.
It’s never unreasonable to air out the truth when media is involved. This seems outrageous to me. There is much more to be won than money in many cases. It feels like certain companies and organizations can do as much harm as they want so long as they can pay monetary damages, but monetary damages do not always make the aggrieved party whole.
That set-up benefits malfeasants.
Mirror can’t say anymore they never hacked anyone or did illegal things because Harry has a successful case proving that they did and as judge said it was systematic and widespread. I hope Harry takes the risk, even if financially unsound, and proceeds with the case. So, they can not say it is all alleged anymore. If he doesn’t, I understand of course. It is apparent even if he wins, the government will never go after them criminally.
If the others who are suing take their settlements and have it go towards Harry’s possible legal fees, then at least the newspapers can go to trial and be exposed. Hugh said he was donating his settlement to a non profit that advocates for this issue so the money would be well spent and finally there will be someone suing who isn’t intimidated by this risk. The fact that a royal can bring down and expose the system is the chef’s kiss.
That would be a great idea.
I would hope that Harry continues the case and those that settled and can afford it (Hugh Grant, not Doreen Lawrence) unite as a group, instead of seeing this individually, and chip in to cover Harry’s costs. If they divide the costs for one case among the plaintiffs, it could be possibly financially feasible and I think worth it. This is the case with Elton John and his husband too, right? I don’t know UK law, but I can’t imagine it is not permitted for others to cover court costs, even if they have to donate to Harry and then he pays. They only need one to go all the way through and win and floodgates open for all additional plaintiffs.
My thoughts exactly! I hope there’s a private little GoFundMe type thing going on right now, led by Hugh, who likely has the most to give. If they all chip in, it can be done.
Was thinking the same thing—I wish there was some class action-esque strategy they could adopt so that they could take the risk together. It seems such a clearly unjust aspect of the British justice system that claimants can win and still be punished so severely. It screams for reform.
🎯
It truly is unbelievable how the system is rigged in favor of the rags over there.. it’s been an education for sure.
I’m not surprised, this seems to be the MO for these organizations – if they offer an outrageous settlement offer, an amount you might never expect to win in court, the incentive is there to settle. so if the Sun offers Harry 10 million, and he is only awarded 9 million in court, he has to pay all their legal fees – it sounds like he still gets that 9 million (or whatever amount it is), but it would likely end up being eaten by the Sun’s legal fees. Maybe that’s a risk that Harry is willing to take, but we’ll have to see.
I can understand not wanting people to file frivolous lawsuits but this is such a weird practice. I’m on the fence. I would like him to see it through but he’s not made of money. He’s absolutely raised awareness of their shady activities and gotten them to admit it in court record, and the settlement wouldn’t be secret like his brother’s was. If this is going to end being something where he is going to lose hundreds of thousands or millions just to be right, I don’t know. Integrity absolutely matters but we also live in a world where bills need to paid. They aren’t a corporation or being supported by taxpayers.
I wonder if all the people using are getting the same seven figure settlements or it’s only the ones with money!? I say Harry has made his points and he should take as much as possible and be done with these scums.
Came here to say the same. The truth is out there, what is done is done, take the money to add to your already huge amounts of money and enjoy your life. Sometimes too, it is best to walk away for your own mental health, and he really doesn’t want to be coming over here for lengthy court cases anyway. Stay safe happy and wealthy Harry!
100% agree with you,
Yes, I’m tending in this direction, too. Settlements, although there’s no admission of guilt, mean something to the public. And there’s something to be said for making the Sun pay out huge sums of money – if you can’t make them admit their guilt, you can at least make them scream.
I have to think that Harry and the others anticipated this. I think they have been very smart thus far to get these cases as far as they have and these are people like Harry, Hugh and Elton who get press. If all of the others take big settlements then maybe that could be used for Harry’s costs. They want one big win and the person who would get the most press is Harry.
Genius idea Tina!
Hugh, Elton and others take huge settlements then pool resources to back Harry all the way. Beware the ginger dragonslayer. 🐲
Meanwhile the newspapers will continue to print lies about him with get out clauses, such as ‘sources say’ ‘it is thought’ and the gullible readers will believe them.
Then there’s no justice. Only gross injustice, and if they don’t change this rotten system, they are complicit in perpetuating this abuse. Are the judges and lawmakers just going to shrug their shoulders?
Question for our British peeps: is the judge in these cases aware of the amount of money in the settlement offer? Can they deliberately award less than the settlement in order to benefit the papers by having the litigant pay costs? Alternately, can they deliberately award more than the settlement so that the papers pay all costs, or at least their own? What a racket! Also, does this winner pays everybody’s court costs apply only to newspaper libel cases, or all libel cases?
No the Judge in the main set of proceedings won’t get details of the offer. Tbh I’m surprised this is being touted by H’s lawyer- usually the existence as well as the substance of settlement discussions or offers are strictly without prejudice confidential and between the parties only. Even after the proceedings have concluded those offers are only available to the costs court which is separate and distinct.
A court has the discretion to award whatever it wants- it’s not bound. Even if it was appealed the parameters of what the Court of Appeal is allowed to consider is very narrow.
Any settlement H enters into he will sign an NDA. The papers won’t agree to anything less unfortunately.
Huh. Thank you!
It’s already a win even if Harry takes the settlement. It’s Harry’s high profile and determination which has caused the BM to offer big settlements to Grant and others. And now everyone knows what they did, even if it’s not legally “proven”. It would be financially prudent for Harry to take the settlement as it would cover his legal bills plus give him extra money (rather than potentially debilitating his finances), and it would free up his time and head space from dealing with this stuff further. Meanwhile, the BM is on notice that if they start up this crap with Harry again, he will pursue them as diligently as he has this time.
As my second ex-husband (the good one) used to say, “the worst settlement is better than the best litigation.” Like all hyperbole, this statement is both false and true.
I agree Harry has already won even if he takes the settlement. And I hope he takes it, and not just because litigation is soul-crushing but also because Harry has made his points.
I guess Harry is weighing his options at the moment. If he agrees to settle the case, it better be for even more than what they paid Hugh Grant. I know it’s not about the money for him but if Sun was innocent of wrongdoing they would not be offering to settle these cases.
Murdoch’s lawyers were in court carefully observing the Mirror Group case and took note of the damages awarded (I think it was in the £140,000 range for succeeding in finding 15 out of the 33 articles being a result of unlawful information gathering; plus Harry’s legal fees of nearly £1 million). It’s reasonable to assume the settlement for the outstanding 115 cases was nearly £600,000 when using the same ratios. So, all Murdoch’s team has to do is plan to lose on every article (there are 235), calculate the maximum award, Harry’s expected legal costs and throw in a couple of hundred thousand or so just to be sure and voila! A settlement offer of £4 million would mean Harry would win in court but lose millions at the same time. You can bet the farm if Harry decides to push for a trial, we will see legal shenanigans of time wasting motions to crank up the legal fees. I know Harry is passionate and determined to get some kind of legal vindication against the Sun (as he should) yet the system would make it an expensive pyrrhic victory
Great points.
In terms of mental health, it might be totally worth not having to fight. At some level this has to be draining and the newspapers just don’t quit.
On the other hand, it stinks to high heaven that a very rich corrupt company can essentially game the system by offering a generous settlement and “gag” their “opponent” with an NDA. It’s fairly simple for a news organization to…create the news here.
So many people have needed to accept these settlements as “justice” when they quite vocally have announced that they would rather not have. Clearly, rich companies have no incentive to change—they can fight to weaken the other side and if that doesn’t work then they settle. There has to be a change in the law because the rich can game the system in ways others cannot. Perhaps the settlement should be based on a percentage of the company’s wealth instead?
I hope Harry feels he can make the best choice for himself and his family whatever that may be.
Take the settlement Harry, BUT with a written guarantee that the sun, the sun on line and all it’s affiliates would have to cease and desist from printing any untrue stories about you and your wife.
You can walk away with your head held high, unlike your brother who skulked away to a dark corner to count his payments on the sly.
You have proved the dishonesty at the heart of two massive. Monoliths, the murdochs and the Windsors ✌️
Mary Pester, I doubt a settlement agreement would include the type of statement you want. It will be interesting to discover if Harry pushes them to include clauses regarding what illegal activities that there done in the past would not happen in future. I think that makes sense. This lawsuit included burglary, placing tracking devices and phone tapping–those are different from the hacking and blagging.
With luck (a lot of luck) the bm will stop doing all of the illegal things they have been doing. Time will tell.
Today The Scum went with front page of Prince Harry and the bashing headline American Idle which I have complained about as being motivated by their bitterness over being sued by him. Not very conciliatory of them if they don’t want him to sue? Or are they trying to provoke him to sue because they want to ruin him financially if he “wins” but settlement less than their offer, so he goes bankrupt paying their legal fees? Or are they just nasty scum?
Lady Digby, it seems there are some rrs you have picked up on our Billy Idle and Bone Idle comments. I don’t think Harry care about this stuff. The proof is when his projects are put out in public. One of the issues the bm have is they seem to think H&M aren’t busy. Well, you don’t do everything they do and not be working hard behind the scenes. It’s such a departure from the brf that the bm don’t understand. The clearly have limited critical thinking skills.
Sienna Miller fought very hard to even get the judge agree to let her made a statement after the settlement; and she had a strong case for conviction (the tabloid blagged her personal medical record). It just showed how INJUSTICE the justice system is. It benefits greatly to the Rich, the White and Drump45.
Well I think this was the case that the claimants were allowed to use information from the Levenson inquiry right? So the writing was on the wall for the Sun. I’m guessing the Fail will try and settle next. I say take the money, those organizations are corrupt from the top down and I think Harry and the others have done a good job exposing that. Once all of the cases have been settled, it will be a good chunk out of Murdoch and Rothermere’s hides. Death by a thousand paper cuts .
I think he should take the money but, ONLY if it’s more than what the Sun gave to William. I want the double whammy of Murdoch having to pay millions to the Spare who they maligned at the behest of the Heir . Coupled with the knowledge that the Heir will be spitting feathers and throwing cushions knowing that the Spare has bested him once again.
Yes I know I’m being petty but, sometimes you really do have to get down in the mud and fight dirty!
It’s easy to talk big with someone else’s money, but if I were Harry I’d consider $10 million in legal fees an acceptable price just to prove a point. He’s not suing them because they harmed him financially. If he and Meghan already have their future locked down, then they might view these legal costs through the lens of activism/public service in their fight against media corruption and misinformation. They may feel that they have more to gain by taking it to the end, even if they’re stuck with the tab.
I wonder if the settlement’s require the plaintiff not to speak about the case and/or prevent them from discussing or sharing the evidence they have against the media outlets. I mean, if the media outlets can force a settlement based on the financial part alone without admitting wrongdoing, the plaintiff should be permitted to then make any evidence of the wrongdoing public and continue to say what the media outlets did
What I find concerning about Hugh Grant’s settlement is that it apparently includes a gag order, because he hasn’t divulged how much he was paid.
I have no idea what Harry will decide-but if he settles-he needs to put some teeth in that NDA clause