Hugh Grant arrives at the 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles, Sunday Jan. 29, 2023. A London court on Friday rejected an attempt by the publisher of The Sun tabloid to throw out a lawsuit by actor Hugh Grant alleging that journalists and investigators it hired illegally snooped on him.
During a hearing last month, News Group argued that claims of unlawful information gathering by Grant and Prince Harry should be thrown out because they weren’t brought within a six-year time limit. Grant previously settled a phone hacking case with News Group’s former publication News of the World. That paper was closed in 2011 at the height of the hacking scandal after it was revealed that the tabloid had intercepted voicemails of a murdered girl, in addition to those of celebrities, athletes, politicians and members of the royal family.
Prince Harry alleged last month that the royal family had agreed to settle their cases with News Group out of court after phone hacking litigation against News of the World had wrapped up. He said the deal—allegedly agreed to by his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II—was intended to keep the royals from testifying in court. He said the deal called for an apology.
A spokesperson for News Group issued a statement Friday saying it was pleased that the court threw out Grant’s phone hacking allegations.