Hugh Grant settles his lawsuit with 'The Sun': he says that Rupert Murdoch's money "is disgusting", but he cannot bear the cost of the trial

Actor Hugh Grant (London, 63 years old) has reached an out-of-court agreement with News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of

newspaper , to withdraw his lawsuit for the British media's alleged use of illicit methods to obtain information about he. The agreement between the parties, the conditions of which have not been specified, was known this Wednesday, April 17 during a preliminary hearing at the High Court of London, scheduled to prepare the ongoing litigation against Rupert Murdoch's journalistic group by several plaintiffs. , which also includes Prince Henry (London, 39 years old).

During this hearing, NGN attorney Anthony Hudson mentioned that “there are currently 42 cases pending, after the Grant lawsuit was recently settled.” For his part, the actor's representative, David Sherborne, confirmed in turn that his client recently settled the lawsuit, which was to be examined in a trial in January 2025. Something that the protagonist himself confirmed today.

The actor from films like

or

has published a thread of 14 messages on his X profile to explain what happened. “For anyone who has been interested in my lawsuit against

, the news is that I had to settle my claim out of court before it went to trial,” the string of posts began. “News Group claims they are completely innocent of the things I accused the Sun of: wiretapping, illegal information gathering, wiretapping, burglary in my apartment and office, wiretapping in my car, obtaining my medical records , lies, perjury...”, he adds. “As often happens with those who are totally innocent [he ironizes], they offer me a huge sum of money to keep this matter out of court,” he says later.

A money that, he says, he refuses to accept: “I didn't want to accept this money or reach an agreement. “I would have loved to see all the accusations they deny proven in court,” the interpreter wrote. “However, the rules in civil litigation mean that if I go to trial and the court awards me compensation that is even a penny less than what was offered in the settlement, I would have to pay the legal costs of both parties.” Grant excuses himself by detailing the enormous legal costs that may entail continuing with this legal battle against the tycoon Rupert Murdoch, owner of the media conglomerate, which the interpreter estimates at up to 10 million pounds (about 11.7 million euros at the current exchange rate). . “Rupert Murdoch has spent more than £1 billion in damages to claimants and legal fees, settling more than 1,500 claims in this way. "He seems remarkably determined not to have a trial of the facts," warns the actor.

So Grant, who claims that Murdoch's money "sucks", guarantees that the money he receives will be reused through organizations like Hacked Off, which advocates for "a free and responsible press." He then goes on to thank the work of his entire legal team. “I would also like to thank the brave complainants who came from the other side and other brave witnesses who are providing much of the evidence,” says the actor. “I particularly want to recognize the work and sacrifices of Graham Johnson in the face of unfair attacks from those on the other side who seek to prevent the truth from coming to light,” he concludes.

Grant already reached an agreement in 2012 with NGN for another lawsuit he filed for similar reasons against the now defunct Sunday newspaper

. The newspaper closed in the summer of 2011 after it was revealed that it used illegal wiretapping to obtain information from celebrities and ordinary people.

NGN initially argued unsuccessfully that Grant's lawsuit should be blocked because he had waited too long to file it. This meant that in 2023 a judge had to rule on whether the actor's case should be allowed to continue because it dates back more than six years, the time limit for taking this type of legal action in civil courts. In fact, this time limitation has become decisive in these cases against newspapers, in which many of the accusations of irregularities date back even 30 years. However, Grant was allowed to pursue the case after proving that material proving the crimes came to light in recent years.

In 2019, Prince Harry also decided to take legal action against the British media

and

for allegedly accessing private telephone messages, as reported by Buckingham Palace at the time. In February 2024, the

agreed to pay almost half a million euros to the Duke of Sussex.

, for its part, has maintained at all times that it did not commit illegal activities.