Knightley wins libel case over 'anorexia' article
Keira Knightley stars in the Pirates of the Caribbean films
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Thursday, 24, May 2007 12:21
Actress Keira Knightley has accepted £3,000 in libel damages from the Daily Mail newspaper over an article which implied she had an eating disorder.
A picture of the star on the beach was placed alongside an article about a girl who had died of anorexia. Solicitor Simon Smith told Mr Justice Eady the suggestions in the story were "entirely false".
Mr Smith said the story implied Ms Knightley had been dishonest in saying she didn't have anorexia.
He added that the article could have been interpreted as suggesting that Ms Knightley bore personal responsibility for causing the death of 19-year-old Sophie Mazurek.
The Daily Mail article alongside the picture of the actress carried the headline: "If pictures like this one of Keira carried a health warning, my darling daughter might have lived."
Ms Knightley has, through her legal team, offered her sincere sympathies to the family of Ms Mazurek.
The actress will double the libel damages and donate the money to Beat, an eating disorder and mental illness charity.
Kate Wilson, solicitor for Associated Newspapers, said the "defendant accepts that the claimant does not bear responsibility for Sophie's death, does not have an eating disorder, and has not misled the public". The paper has also agreed to reimburse Ms Knightley's costs.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star was not in court for the hearing, but her mother Sharman Macdonald and partner Rupert Friend were in court to hear the proceedings.
The 22-year-old's latest film, Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End opens in cinemas across the UK today.