Hugh Grant Seeks Big Damages for Phone-Hacking

Actor files a legal claim asking for a big payout against News of the World.

Hugh Grant's taking some extreme legal measures against Rupert Murdoch's minions.

The British actor filed a petition on Thursday in London's high court seeking damages against Murdoch-owned News International for the massive phone-hacking scandal in which he and celebrities like Sienna Miler, Steve Coogan and J.K. Rowling were targets.

Per the U.K.'s The Guardian, Grant's filing came a day before a court-imposed deadline for victims to file further claims in the case, and about 100 new ones are expected.

Hugh Grant's awfully big phone-hacking victory

The "Love Actually" star serves as a spokesman for the antihacking lobby group Hacked Off and has been one of the most vocal proponents of a hacking inquiry. In an April 2011 essay in the New Statesman, he helped expose the scope of the privacy invasions by the paparazzi by detailing how a former editor for News of the World, a subsidiary of News International, told him the various methods employees of the paper used to tap his cell phone and that of other public figures.

In July 2011, Grant won a legal victory after a court ordered Scotland Yard to turn over to him evidence it had regarding a private investigator working for the now-shuttered NOTW who had hacked into his voicemail.

The 52-year-old star's civil action is one of 240 new claims against Murdoch's media empire. Twenty-five people have been arrested in the scandal, the most notable of which was ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks.

Sienna Miller gets revenge in phone-tapping scandal

Grant said that whatever money he was awarded over the phone-tapping would go to help other victims of the press intrusion.

Some victims have already won big damages from the tabloid. Last year, Miller received a $162,000 judgment in her favor against News of the World, which subsequently issued a public apology, while singer Charlotte Church scored a $950,000 payout.

Copyright E! Online
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