The legal action initiated some time ago in the United Kingdom by Hugh Grant against the Sun has been closed with an out-of-court settlement, accused by the famous actor - as by other VIPs in the past and present - of repeated illegal intrusions and wiretaps in violation of privacy.
Grant's complaint - for years in open controversy with the sensationalism and methods of the tabloids of the British popular press - had targeted the corporate and editorial top management of News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publishing company that publishes the Sun and which belongs to Murdoch family. And it referred to the enlistment of private investigators called to spy on the private lives of others on behalf of journalists of the newspapers through telephone interceptions or even bugs placed in the house. Accusations that Ngn's defense had initially rejected, dismissing similar practices at most as a legacy of times gone by (in memory of a previous scandal which resulted in a sensational trial 13 years ago in the United Kingdom and the closure of the News of the World by the authorities , another Murdoch group publication); but on which in the end he preferred to settle, after having offered Grant "an enormous sum" - according to what the interested party declared today - in order to avoid a public trial.
The exact amount of the sum was not revealed, and in principle the British and Hollywood star would not have "wanted to accept", as he stated. However, he changed his mind after learning from his lawyers that the legal costs of a full trial, including various appeals and appeals, could have cost him "10 million pounds".
Other celebrities are being sued with similar accusations against both the Sun and other leading tabloids such as the Daily Mail or the Daily Mirror. First of all, Prince Harry, second son of King Charles III and the late Lady Diana, who has achieved some at least partial victories in court (like his wife Meghan), but has recently insisted that he wants to continue the legal crusade to the end in cases still open.