Hollywood stars turn to British courts to mount their fight for libel damages
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Hollywood stars are increasingly turning to British courts to bring libel actions, helping to double the number of defamation cases in the last year.
New figures released by Sweet & Maxwell's legal information service show that 20 libel cases involving celebrities versus newspapers came to court in the year to May 2006, compared to just nine in the previous 12 months.
Experts attribute the rise in part to the growing number of overseas stars whose advisers have become wise to the benefits of suing in English courts, where libel laws are more favourable to them.
Both the pop star Britney Spears and the actress Kate Hudson pursued claims in the UK against the National Enquirer, the racy magazine that sells mainly in US supermarkets. The publication shifts just 150,000 copies in Britain - but that has not stopped both celebrities pursuing it here and so evading the notoriously weak US libel laws.
Ms Hudson was incensed by an Enquirer article last October under the headline, "Goldie Tells Kate: Eat Something", which implied she had an eating disorder and was looking like "skin and bones". She won damages and costs and accepted an apology after Ms Hudson's solicitor, Simon Smith, of the London media law specialists Schillings, told the High Court that she had found the allegations "deeply offensive and embarrassing". Ms Spears secured an apology in copies of the Enquirer being sold in Britain after two articles in June alleged her marriage to Kevin Federline was over.
Gideon Benaim, a partner at Schillings, said the increase in libel suits was attributable, in part, to the trend of foreign-based celebrities suing in the English courts rather than in the US, where a claimant must prove malice and contend with the right to freedom of expression enshrined in the First Amendment. "As Hollywood stars see others successfully taking this approach to protect their reputations, more are following suit," he said.
Ms Spears and Ms Hudson were by no means the first overseas stars to pursue successful cases in Britain. The actress Sharon Stone brought a successful case against Associated Newspapers in April over allegations that she had left her son in a car with her driver while she dined at a restaurant. Last December, the actress Teri Hatcher also sued over allegations in the Daily Sport about her sexual conduct. Cameron Diaz accepted "substantial" libel damages from The Sun over allegations that she was having a romantic relationship with a married TV producer, while Justin Timberlake sued the News of the World over an allegation that he had an affair with a model while in a relationship with Ms Diaz. The cyclist Lance Armstrong sued The Sunday Times over allegations that he took performance-enhancing drugs.
For their part, newspapers may have become more cautious, according to Korieh Duodu, a barrister at David Price Solicitors & Advocates. "Instances of newspapers seeking to head off a costly and protracted full court hearing, while limiting the potential damage to their reputation that an adverse judgment might incur, by making an 'offer of amends' [an apology and compensation without an admission of full liability] appear to be on the increase," said Mr Duodu.
But as apologies are often not prominently published, claimants often also seek a statement in open court, including details about any apology and compensation - thereby pushing up the number of reported cases.
According to the research by Sweet & Maxwell, 38 per cent of all reported defamation cases (28 out of 74) involved an offer of amends and/or a statement made in open court last year, compared to 21 per cent the year before. There were 74 reported defamation cases last year, against 66 in the same period the year before.