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September 25, 2009

Sun apologises and pays Lily Allen £10,000 damages

By Oliver Luft

The Sun has apologised to the singer Lily Allen and paid her £10,000 damages plus costs after falsely claiming she made offensive remarks about David and Victoria Beckham and Ashley and Cheryl Cole.

The singer sued the News International title after it reported in May comments attributed to her by magazine, So Foot.

The Sun story, headlined ‘Ranting Lily’, falsely attributed claims that she called Victoria Beckham a “monster” and The X Factor judge Cheryl Cole “stupid and superficial”.

Allen said she never made any comment to the French football magazine. Her lawyers, Atkins Thomson, also issued proceedings against that title.

The Sun ran an apology to the singer on page 14 of today’s paper and online.

It stated: “In May we reported in Bizarre that Lily Allen had made various offensive remarks about David and Victoria Beckham and Ashley and Cheryl Cole in an interview with a magazine.

“We now accept that Lily didn’t say these things to the magazine and we apologise to Lily for the upset and embarrassment caused by repeating them.”

A statement from her lawyers, Atkins Thomson, confirmed that Allen had settled her claim for defamation and false attribution of authorship with the daily redtop.

It stated: “In a consent order made by the High Court in London on 23 September, the Sun agreed to pay Lily damages of £10,000 and not to repeat the words complained of.

“In accordance with the order, the Sun has published an apology in the newspaper and online.”

The singer’s legal action against So Foot magazine continues.

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