Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
The actor Hugh Grant announced yesterday that he had settled his lawsuit against The Sun newspaper for what he described as “an enormous sum”. He would have continued the fight, but was warned he faced a potential legal bill of up to £10 million even if he won, depending on the damages awarded. Whatever his agreement with News Group, the owners of The Sun, it did not preclude Grant from repeating accusations that the newspaper had hacked his phone, tapped landlines, burgled his flat and office, and much else besides. “I don’t want to accept this money,” Grant posted on X. “I would love to see all the allegations, that they deny, tested in court.” He added that he would not use the funds as “hush money”. Instead it “will be repurposed via groups like Hacked Off into the general campaign to expose the worst excesses of our oligarch-owned press”.