The Sun offers 'huge sum of money' to Hugh Grant to spare himself a trial

British actor Hugh Grant has reached a financial agreement with the publisher of the tabloid The Sun, which he was suing for "illegal collection of information", he announced on Wednesday, claiming to have been offered "a huge sum of money.

Hugh Grant, aged 63, sued the Sun, whose publisher NGN rejected any illegal procedure, for “telephone hacking, illegal collection of information, telephone tapping”, the actor recalled on social networks. He also accuses him of burglarizing his apartment and bugging his car. NGN “claims to be completely innocent,” the actor wrote. “As is often the case with completely innocent people, (the company) is offering me a huge sum of money to prevent this matter from going to court,” he added, ironically. The case was scheduled to go to trial in January 2025.

At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, NGN's lawyer, Anthony Hudson, indicated that an agreement had been reached "recently." The agreement “was made without acknowledgment of liability,” added an NGN spokesperson. “It is in the financial interest of both parties not to pursue a costly trial.”

Hugh Grant said he would have liked to go to trial. But due to the rules governing civil trials, he explains that he would have had to pay the legal costs of both parties, if the court awarded him damages lower than the amount proposed by NGN. However, the lawyers for NGN, which is part of Rupert Murdoch's empire, "are very expensive", he added, citing an amount of almost 10 million pounds sterling (11.7 million euros) .

The actor said he would donate the money to groups denouncing “the worst excesses of our oligarch-owned press.” Among these groups is Hacked Off, of which he is a board member.

Prince Harry, youngest son of King Charles III, has initiated similar proceedings against NGN. The trial is scheduled for January 2025. Harry has launched several legal proceedings targeting the methods of certain British media. In February, his lawyer announced an agreement with the publisher of the Daily Mirror tabloid, MGN, to end prosecutions for unlawful news gathering. Harry obtained a “substantial sum,” his lawyer said, without revealing the amount of the transaction. Exiled in the United States, Harry, 39, feels stubborn resentment towards the tabloid press, which he holds responsible for the death of his mother Lady Di, killed in a car accident in Paris in 1997.