Hugh Grant and Sarah Ferguson are amongst the 144 claimants who will finally receive damages qua the notorious News of the World/Daily Mail phone-hacking scandal of 2011. The Rupert Murdoch-owned News Group Newspapers has settled for "an undisclosed payout" to 52-year-old Grant and his fellow hacked victims.
The "Four Weddings and a Funeral" actor - along with Duthess of York Ferguson and sixteen others - will additionally receive a public apology, as per the terms of the settlement.
It in was April 2011 that an article penned by Grant appeared in British political/cultural publication The New Statesman alleged that News of the World/Daily Mail journalists were pressured by their superiors to hack the phones of various VIPs in order to acquire juicy news leads.
Damningly, the article included information about Grant's surreptitiously tape-recorded conversation with erstwhile News of the World writer Paul McMullan in which McMullan described not only said demands by superiors but also the further disconcerting notion that British politicos were well aware of the wiretapping.
The revelation included McMullan's elaboration that every recent prime minister from Margaret Thatcher through David Cameron were - being close acquaintances with Murdoch - were specifically in the know of the disreputable operation.
Furthermore, McMullan alleged in the taped conversation that not only had Cameron likely requested local authorities to "drag their feet" on investigating such illegal activities, but that the very authorities themselves had taken bribes from News of the World's tabloid reporters in order to stall.
Grant now speaks out for Hacked Off, an organization/petition that seeks to create a "free and accountable press" through tighter regulations on what the press can and cannot do while reporting/investigating a story.
The 144 victims settling out of court with News of the World still leaves another 26 cases open, with seven in particular "definitely going to trial" in the words of legal representative Hugh Tomlinson.
Other hacked celebs include the likes of renown magician Uri Geller, actor Christopher Eccleston, and singer James Blunt.
With six new cases opening on Friday - such as those by "American Idol" producer Nigel Lythgoe - Tomlinson expects "more than ten but less than 100 [additional] cases" as regards the scandal, according to The Guardian.
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