Elton John and husband David Furnish lose High Court privacy case against Daily Mail
Elton John and David Furnish (Getty Images)
Elton John and six other claimants have lost a High Court case against the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday after failing to prove allegations.
The iconic singer was one of seven – also including Prince Harry, Sadie Frost and Elizabeth Hurley – who alleged that newspaper publisher Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) had breached their privacy, and used unlawful information gathering methods.
Barrister David Sherborne, representing John and his husband David Furnish, alleged the papers published details about the birth of their son, who was born via surrogacy, including his birth certificate before they received a copy.
ANL consistently denied the allegations, branding them “lurid” and “preposterous”.
The publisher tried to have the case thrown out in 2023, saying the claims against them had been brought “far too late”, however were unsuccessful.
Now, months later, all claims against ANL have been dismissed after the claimants failed to prove them to be true.
Mr Justice Nicklin said in a 436-page judgment that the allegations were serious and needed more evidence to be proven, according to BBC News, and could not rely on “suspicion, even where understandable”.
Nicklin accepted claims from ANL journalists who “gave lawful explanations for the sourcing” of the articles which were part of the allegations.
He also ruled claimants failed to prove three senior staff members from ANL had lied during the Leveson Inquiry, when they said no unlawful activity took place at the Daily Mail or Mail on Sunday.
Following the victory, an ANL spokesperson said: “This is a magnificent vindication of the Daily Mail’s journalism.”
They added: “The reputations of our decent and hard-working journalists were terribly impugned, and today they have been exonerated. As the judgment clearly shows, every single article was legitimately sourced.”
The spokesperson added that the company “will look to resolve outstanding issues, including the recovery of the costs we have incurred while defending ourselves against this egregious litigation”.
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