Miller: Sun brutally took away choice over my body
Actress wins ‘substantial damages’ from publisher of tabloid that leaked news of her pregnancy
‘I wanted to expose the criminality that runs through the heart of this corporation’
SIENNA MILLER accused The Sun of forcing her to make a decision about her body “that I have to live with every single day” after leaking news of her pregnancy.
The actress, 39, said the newspaper “brutally” removed her choices by publishing private information “in the most vulnerable moment of my life”.
She spoke after formally settling a phone-hacking claim against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of
The Sun, for “substantial damages”.
The Sun revealed in 2005 that Ms Miller, whose relationship with Jude Law had been a source of tabloid fascination, was pregnant.
She did not go on to have the baby. Ms Miller claimed that a senior Sun journalist met a “medical records tracer” in July and August of that year to discuss her pregnancy.
Documents disclosed during the case included records of phone calls made by journalists to mobile phones belonging to Ms Miller, her friends and family, and invoices from private investigators.
NGN denies that any illegal information-gathering took place and has agreed to settle her case for damages without any admission of liability.
Outside the High Court in central London, Ms Miller said: “It is a fact that they stole my own medical records and published that I had had a pregnancy. And yet they continue to wage a war against a legal inquiry into this illegal and frankly disgraceful behaviour.
“It is a part of my case that Rebekah Brooks [then editor of The Sun] confirmed to those that represent me that she knew about my pregnancy in the most vulnerable moment of my life.
“It is a part of my case that she assured those that represent me that she would not print that information. And it is a part of my case that she, The Sun, did print that information.”
Ms Brooks has denied involvement in unlawful activity.
Ms Miller said the newspaper “very nearly ruined my life… Their behaviour shattered me, damaged my reputation – at times beyond repair – and caused me to accuse my family and friends of selling information that catapulted me into a state of intense paranoia and fear.
“Their actions, their words, their ‘tittle tattle’, compelled me into making decisions about my future and ultimately about my own body that I have to live with every single day.”
David Sherborne, barrister for Ms Miller, told the hearing that The Sun “published numerous intrusive stories about her that contained intimate private details about her relationships and feelings and even her confidential medical information”.
“It was already an incredibly stressful and difficult time in her life but the Sun’s targeting of her made it traumatic,” said Mr Sherborne.
“She felt at the time, and still does, that The Sun brutally took away her choice in the matter. Ms Miller felt that they were constantly hounding her so that she could not even visit a doctor’s clinic without being followed.”
Mr Sherborne said that Ms Miller believed she was “targeted in pursuit of the Sun’s aim to profit out of her misery” and “cannot ever forgive what they did to her, but at the very least she hopes to hold them accountable”.
Ms Miller said that she was disappointed not to pursue the case to trial, but could not afford it as the bill would run into millions of pounds. She said: “I wanted to expose the criminality that runs through the heart of this corporation. I wanted to share News Group’s secrets just as they have shared mine.”
Fifteen other high-profile figures, including Shane Warne, the Australian cricketer, have settled claims against News Group Newspapers over phone hacking at the now defunct News of the World.