Elton John Among High-Profile Celebrities to Lose Hacking Court Case in U.K.
Categoria: Musica
The star and husband David Furnish were joined by Prince Harry, actor Elizabeth Hurley and more in their battle against the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
Por Billboard | 07/07/2026
Elton John , Prince Harry and a number of high-profile British celebrities have lost their lengthy trial against the Daily Mail newspaper in a judgement shared on Tuesday (July 7). John was among the list of public figures who alleged that the Daily Mail and its sister magazine, Mail on Sunday, had unlawfully obtained information by hacking into their messages, tapping landlines or acquiring medical records. Both publications’ parent company, Associated Newspaper Limited (ANL), denied wrongdoing. Related Taylor Swift Wins Court Ruling Dismissing ‘Absurd’ Copyright Lawsuit Over Song Lyrics Naoshi Fujikura of Universal Music Japan on Japan's Unique Superfan Culture & Global Ambitions: Billboard Global Power Players Interview Katsumi Kuroiwa of Avex on the Bruno Mars Publishing Deal & Taking the Company Worldwide: Billboard Global Power Players Interview The ruling by judge Matthew Nicklin dismissed claims by John and husband David Furnish, who were joined by Prince Harry, actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, campaigner Doreen Lawrence (mother of murdered teenager Stephen) and former member of parliament Sir Simon Hughes. He said they had “failed to prove the allegations of UIG (alleged unlawful information gathering)” during a 10-week trial at London’s High Court, which began in January. It added, “The Court rejected the attempt to prove the claims by broad inference where there remained a legitimate and realistic possible lawful source pathway, or where the article-specific evidence did not prove that the relevant information must have been obtained unlawfully.” Read the full judgment here . The judgement said that it could not rule on accusations that these information gathering practices were “widespread and habitual.” Nicklin adds, “The Court also held that the parties were bound by the cases they had pleaded. It was not permissible, at trial, to replace a pleaded allegation with a different, and in many instances more serious, allegation of UIG.” “This is a magnificent vindication of the Daily Mail’s journalism,” a spokesperson for ANL told the BBC. “The reputations of our decent and hard-working journalists were terribly impugned, and today they have been exonerated.” The spokesperson continued, “As the judgment clearly shows, every single article was legitimately sourced. We will look to resolve outstanding issues, including the recovery of the costs we have incurred while defending ourselves against this egregious litigation.” Elton John’s team did not immediately return a request for comment.