Actor Hugh Grant settles phone hacking claim with Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World
LONDON - Hugh Grant's lawyer says the actor has settled his phone hacking claim against Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct News of the World tabloid for what he described as a "substantial" but undisclosed sum of money.
Mark Thomson said Friday that Grant would donate cash from the settlement, as well as an additional payment, to media reform group Hacked Off, which is campaigning for stricter oversight of Britain's scandal-tainted press.
Grant was one of the first celebrities to turn on Murdoch's star tabloid as it emerged that journalists there hacked the phones of people in the public eye, listening in on their private communications in search of stories. The ensuing scandal exposed a culture of espionage, bullying, bribery, and blackmail across the U.K. press.
Murdoch's London-based News International did not immediately offer comment.
