LONDON (Reuters) – Sienna Miller will take a payoff to drop a case against a newspaper that snooped on her phone messages, a scandal that embarrassed Rupert Murdoch's News Corp while it seeks government blessing for a huge merger.
Miller, the on-and-off girlfriend of fellow Hollywood star Jude Law, was one of the main plaintiffs suing News Corp over allegations reporters at its News of the World tabloid illegally listened to voice messages to get scoops.
The scandal has already cost Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman his job and led to calls for greater oversight of Britain's ruthlessly competitive news media.
The newspaper said it would pay Miller 100,000 pounds ($160,000) as part of a settlement that would see her drop her case. The newspaper would also give her documents in the case.
Miller was one of more than 20 celebrities, including TV personalities, sports figures and even former cabinet members, suing the News of the World for hiring a private investigator to hack into the voicemail accounts of their mobile phones.
Her case was expected to be one of a handful of lead cases against the newspaper that will set compensation levels for other plaintiffs. The lead cases are expected to be decided at a case-management hearing next week.
"We are pleased that we have managed to bring this case to a satisfactory conclusion. Several weeks ago we admitted liability in certain cases and offered a genuine and unreserved apology," News International said in a statement on Friday.
"We hope to resolve other cases swiftly."
Miller's lawyer had no immediate comment.
The scandal has damaged News Corp's reputation at a time when it has been seeking government approval for a proposed $14 billion takeover of British pay-TV firm BSkyB. Opponents want the merger blocked pending the outcome of a police probe.
One journalist at the newspaper was jailed in 2007 for illegally snooping on phone messages of a member of the royal household, but the paper maintained until this year that it was an isolated incident.
The police have since reopened the investigation, several journalists have been arrested and the newspaper has apologised. Cameron's media chief Andy Coulson, who had been the newspaper's editor at the time when the snooping took place, resigned.
Ex-member of parliament George Galloway, who also says his voicemail was hacked, has called cash settlements a legal trap that would allow News Corp to silence claimants by offering them compensation they cannot afford to refuse.
Claimants who refuse to settle and bring their cases to court could end up with huge legal bills.
(Editing by Peter Graff)
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