Entertainment> Celebrities

Cameron Diaz wins damages over "clinch" report

(Reuters)
2007-02-17 09:22

Reuters - Fri Feb 16, 9:20 AM ET Cameron Diaz arrives at the 64th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills in this January 15, 2007 file photo.[Reuters]

Actress Cameron Diaz won a public apology and "substantial" libel damages at London's High Court on Friday over newspaper claims she had been caught in a "passionate clinch" with a television producer.

U.S. tabloid newspaper, the National Enquirer, published an article on its Web site in May 2005 which said the alleged incident had taken place in bushes outside a studio in Santa Monica, California.

As the story could be accessed in Britain via the Web site, it was subject to the country's libel laws.

Diaz's lawyer told the court the report appeared under the headline "Cameron Caught Cheating" and said she was "facing a grilling from boyfriend Justin Timberlake -- after she was photographed in a passionate clinch with a married man!"

The "Charlie's Angels" star and singer Timberlake were a high-profile celebrity couple until their three-year relationship ended last month.

Sam Howard, lawyer for the National Enquirer, told the court the newspaper accepted the allegations were without foundation and "ought never to have been published."

Diaz's lawyer Simon Smith said the married man photographed with the actress was identified as Shane Nickerson, supervising producer on her adventure show "Trippin."'

The newspaper, which had apologized unreservedly for the embarrassment and distress caused, had agreed to pay Diaz "substantial" but undisclosed damages, Smith said.

The story also appeared in Britain's top-selling tabloid daily, the Sun, which settled a libel claim in July 2005, Smith said.