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15 Feb 2025 10:49
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  •   Home > News > International

    Hugh Grant calls for police to investigate The Sun as he feuds with Piers Morgan on X

    The English actor was forced to settle in the same lawsuit with NGN that Prince Harry reached a settlement with this week.


    Actor Hugh Grant has called for police to open an investigation into owners of British tabloid paper The Sun after Prince Harry settled his privacy claim this week.

    The prince reached a surprise settlement with News Group Newspapers (NGN), including a reported eight-figure sum and a public apology over allegations of unlawful activities.

    Grant was also part of the lawsuit but reluctantly settled in 2024.

    The actor told BBC Radio both incidents had shown a civil case was "not the right instrument" to get to "the real truth" of what happened at the newspaper.

    The fall out has also reignited a feud between Grant and controversial British media figure Piers Morgan.

    Here's what we know.

    What does Hugh Grant accuse NGN of doing?

    Grant had accused The Sun of using private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, and said he settled because he could not face the possible costs of proceeding to trial.

    Unlike in the case of the Duke of Sussex, NGN had denied the allegations and said the settlement was reached "without admission of liability".

    Grant said he was forced to accept "an enormous sum of money" to settle because he could have faced a legal bill of 10 million pounds ($19.4 million) even if he won at trial.

    Under English civil law, a claimant who wins a court judgement that is lower than what they were offered to settle, has to pay the legal bills for both sides.

    The law is intended to discourage lengthy trials.

    Grant previously settled a suit with News of the World in 2012 over accusations of phone hacking.

    Despite the grave financial risk, Harry told The New York Times Dealbook Summit in December that he was not going to fold.

    Another fellow claimant was Tom Watson, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party, who said his voicemails were intercepted during a period when he was investigating the hacking scandal.

    Their lawyer said the newspapers had a widespread practice of using deception to obtain medical, phone and flight records, bugged homes and placed listening devices in cars.

    Why has Hugh Grant called for a police investigation?

    Grant argued a new police investigation was needed because people who were at the paper at the time that private investigators who carried out "unlawful activity" were instructed were still in "positions of great power".

    Former executives accused of playing a role include Will Lewis who is now CEO of the Washington Post and Rebekah Brooks, CEO of News UK, a division of News Corp.

    They have denied wrongdoing.

    The actor and Mr Watson called on the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Metropolitan Police to investigate.

    In a post on X addressing Sir Mark Rowley, the commissioner of Metropolitan Police, Mr Watson said he had sent a dossier "exposing wrong doing" to police.

    The CPS told the BBC criminal investigations were matters for the police.

    He also called on politicians to take action, recommending the UK government launch a part two of the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.

    The inquiry that took place in 2012, looked into the culture, practice and ethics of the press, and was launched in response to the phone hacking scandal.

    "This is something that was repeatedly promised by Labour in opposition to victims of press abuse, over and over.

    "And now suddenly seems to have disappeared from their priority list now that they're in government."

    Why is Hugh Grant feuding with Piers Morgan?

    Not everyone agreed with Grant's harsh comments on the UK media this week.

    In Grant's BBC Radio interview, he said "I have some sympathy, when I'm in a generous mood, for politicians terrified of the Murdochs".

    Mr Morgan responded to these comments on X, saying "REMINDER: Hugh Grant took many millions of pounds from Rupert Murdoch to make movies for him. #hypocrite."

    Grant, was quick to respond, saying the accusations were "bull****".

    "The last time I worked for a Murdoch-owned company was in 1994," he wrote.

    "Which was long before I knew anything about his papers' methods.

    "Since then I have turned down every single job offer emanating from a Murdoch-owned company."

    Morgan then commented: "UPDATE: Your movie Florence Foster Jenkins was distributed by Murdoch-owned (at the time) 20th Century Fox in the UK. #HypocriteANDliar."

    The actor retorted: "That film was made for the BBC and Pathé. My contract was with them. I have no control over which local distributor is subsequently used in various countries. Fox was just local distributor for the UK. Keep up."

    Morgan later posted a photo of the actor's 1995 mugshot for an arrest in a police vice operation in Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, and said he was "up for a fight" with the actor to settle the feud.

    It's not the first time the pair have gone head to head.

    In 2011, Morgan banned Grant from his shows on CNN and ITV after Grant openly criticised the British tabloid press.


    ABC




    © 2025 ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved

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