UK tabloid apologizes, pays damages to ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling for sob story claim

LONDON – A British tabloid has apologized and paid damages to “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling over an article about her time as a single mother.

Rowling brought a libel case against the Daily Mail after it alleged in an article in September that she told a false “sob story” on how people at her church stigmatized and taunted her for being a single mother on welfare. The newspaper report was based on an essay Rowling wrote for a charity describing her experiences some 20 years ago.

The paper printed an apology Wednesday stating that Rowling in fact did not make any false claims. The paper said it had agreed to pay unspecified “substantial damages” and legal costs to Rowling, who will donate the money to charity.

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