The actor was one of the most high-profile victims of the scandal that ended in the shuttering of the News Corp-owned UK tabloid News Of The World. Hugh Grant‘s settlement for damages with Rupert Murdoch’s British publishing arm News International was for a “substantial sum”, his lawyer said today, and will be donated to Grant’s Hacked Off campaign, which is advocating for responsible press. Grant had filed his complaint in September. Earlier this month, News International settled 22 other cases related to the scandal, which led into a UK government inquiry into press ethics and several ongoing probes into corruption and bribery. Grant also testified before the Leveson Inquiry, which after a 16-month investigation called for an independent regulator to oversee the British press, an order UK publishers are now trying to figure out how to implement.


This is an expected outcome and probably one NewsCorp would hope for. I could see a scenario where a large class action lawsuit is filed against the company for their hacking activities. This settlement at least puts the issue to bed for them. As for plaintiffs, they should continue to pursue their case against the company. These kinds of actions cannot be allowed to go unpunished by the law or people.