The Tree of Life (2009)
The parent company behind Britain’s News of the World will pay an undisclosed sum to settle a lawsuit against the newspaper by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie that claimed the two were legally separating and had negotiated custody arrangements.
On Thursday, the couple’s lawyer said in London’s High Court that Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers accepted that its published allegations were “false and intrusive,” reports the BBC.
In January, when the suit was filed, the couple’s attorney, Keith Schilling, stated: “We can confirm unequivocally … that the allegations published by the News of the World are false as well as intrusive.”
Among the evidence in the case was a statement from the divorce lawyer reputedly cited in the original story. “I have never met. … your clients or had any involvement with either of them. The foregoing is true with respect to all other members of this firm,” said his statement.
Pitt and Jolie, who this week were attending premieres for her new movie Salt, did not appear in court. Their attorney said News of the World would publish an apology and pick up Pitt and Jolie’s legal costs and pay damages, which the couple intend to donate to their charitable Jolie-Pitt Foundation.