Kylie Minogue’s former boyfriend Olivier Martinez has launched a legal battle for libel damages from The Sun.
Martinez is demanding damages of up to £150,000 over a story headed ‘Kylie ‘still loves’ ex Martinez’published last November.
The French actor and model claims the story accused him of cheating on her with three different women despite their long term relationship. The allegations also appeared on the paper’s website, according to a High Court writ.
Martinez, who lives in Paris, says he has faced substantial injury to his reputation, and has suffered considerable hurt, distress and embarrassment. He is also seeking aggravated damages, saying the paper made no effort to check the allegations with him first, and if it had, The Sun would have been told that the allegation was completely untrue.
Both he and Kylie had publicly refuted claims of cheating in a joint press statement in February 2007, he says.
He fears that unless restrained by an injunction, the paper may repeat the allegations, and is seeking an injunction banning repetition of the claims at the centre of his legal action. He is also seeking damages. The writ was issued by Schillings.
In July Martinez complained to The Sun and the Daily Mail claiming breach of privacy, after they published pictures of him having a meal with former lover Kylie Minogue and her parents in a Paris restaurant.
In May, Martinez won privacy rulings against Mirror Group and Associated Newspapers over a set of pictures of the pair, published on the Sunday Mirror and This Is London websites.
Both publishers were ordered to pay 4,500 euros (£3,500) to the actor, after a Paris court ruled that the case could be heard in France because the websites were visible globally.
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