Will Smith wins Hitler slur apology | Media law

Hollywood actor Will Smith has won an apology and damages from an entertainment news agency after it distributed a story in which it alleged he had called Adolf Hitler a "good person". London-based World Entertainment News Network admitted at the high court today that the allegations were "misleading and published in error" and apologised for

Media law

Will Smith wins Hitler slur apology

Hollywood actor Will Smith has won an apology and damages from an entertainment news agency after it distributed a story in which it alleged he had called Adolf Hitler a "good person".

London-based World Entertainment News Network admitted at the high court today that the allegations were "misleading and published in error" and apologised for any distress and embarrassment they had caused to Smith, the star of films including Independence Day, Hitch and I Am Legend.

WENN had distributed the article in December last year under the headline "Smith: Hitler was a good person", in which it claimed the actor had praised the Nazi dictator in an interview with the Scottish Daily Record newspaper. The piece was widely picked up by media outlets worldwide.

After Smith complained, the agency retracted the article and circulated a correction and apology, although Smith's solicitor Rachel Atkins, a partner at media law firm Schillings, told the high court today that it did not receive "any media attention".

Atkins said the allegation was "false and without any foundation" and had wholly misrepresented the actor's words.

"The claimant believes that Adolf Hitler was a vile and heinous man," she added. "The allegation that he could think otherwise is deeply distressing to the claimant and has caused him acute embarrassment."

WENN's solicitor Marvin Simons Seddons told the court: "The defendant accepts that the allegations concerning the claimant were misleading and published in error. It is therefore happy to set the record straight and to apologise to the claimant."

The news agency agreed to pay Smith's legal costs and an undisclosed amount in damages, which the actor said he would donate to charity.

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