Actor Hugh Grant settles phone-hacking case with UK papers

LONDON – British actor Hugh Grant has settled his phone-hacking damages claim against Mirror Group Newspapers.

Grant was at the High Court on Monday when the details of the settlement were provided at a hearing.

Grant said the newspaper group had engaged in “industrial scale” phone hacking.

“This newspaper group has misled the public and its shareholders for many years; and it has let down its readers and its hard-working journalists,” Grant said outside the court.

Settlement details weren’t made public. British media said the payment involved a six-figure sum which the actor donated to the anti-hacking activist group Hacked Off.

Grant’s claim involved the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People newspapers. He has for a number of years spoken out against intrusive and sometimes illegal British press activities.