Hugh Grant, represented by Anjlee Saigol of Taylor Hampton, brought an action against Mirror Group for the hacking of his phone and emails, as well as the use of blagging and private investigators to unlawfully obtain and publish his private information at its three national newspapers for over a decade.
In an unprecedented settlement, Mirror Group paid Mr Grant a six-figure sum in damages, all of which he donated to the campaign group Hacked Off. Mirror Group also, for the first time, publicly admitted to Mr Grant that a cover-up of its illegal activity had taken place and that it happened at the heart and within senior levels of the company.
Speaking outside Court, Mr Grant said:
“This case was not just about what they did to my phone and those close to me. In this litigation my lawyer and I pressed further because I was determined to uncover the truth about the nature of high-level concealment at the Mirror Group. This litigation has made clear that phone hacking and other unlawful information-gathering took place on an industrial scale at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People. This newspaper group has misled the public and its shareholders for many years; and it has let down its readers and its hard-working journalists. The public were not told the truth, the victims were not told the truth, the shareholders were not told the truth and the Leveson Inquiry was not told the truth.”
For a full copy of Mirror Group’s public apology to Mr Grant containing its first-time admissions of cover-up and failure of corporate governance, please click here.
For News Reports covering the successful outcome, please see the following links:
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/feb/05/hugh-grant-wins-damages-from-mirror-phone-hacking-case
The Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/hugh-grant-phone-hacking-claims-mirror-group-settle-lawsuit-a8194796.html
Sky News: https://news.sky.com/story/hugh-grant-settles-mirror-group-phone-hacking-claim-11237605
Press Gazette: https://pressgazette.co.uk/actor-hugh-grant-and-crimewatchs-jacqui-hames-call-for-leveson-two-after-settling-phone-hacking-disputes/
The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/02/05/mirror-group-pays-damages-hugh-grant-admitting-decade-unlawful/