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Charlotte Church Wins Phone-Hacking Settlement

Singer was spied on by defunct News of the World

February 27, 2012 8:55 AM ET
charlote church
Charlotte Church arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice before reading a statement to the press in London.
Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Charlotte Church and her parents have settled a phone-hacking damages lawsuit against the publishers of the News of the World. The Church family will be paid 600,000 pounds – $951,400 – in damages, including 300,000 pounds ($476,000) in legal costs.

Church had claimed that 33 articles published in the now-defunct News of the World tabloid were the product of journalists illegally hacking into her and her family's voicemails. "What I have discovered as the litigation has gone on has sickened and disgusted me," Church said outside the court after making the settlement. "Nothing was deemed off-limits by those who pursued me and my family, just to make money for a multinational news corporation."

Photos: Random Notes
Church is not the only pop singer to have been a target of the News of the World. Paul McCartney and George Michael have both claimed to have been hacked by the publication, which was owned by Rupert Murdoch.

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