In February this year The Sun on Sunday published a story, “Elton’s Dog Did This To My Girl”. It does not take much imagination to guess what the story was about, for the avoidance of doubt it explained of “Freddy Krueger-like injuries” that were inflicted by Sir Elton’s dog on a five year old girl who was over for a play date.
Sir Elton John and David Furnish then went on to bring libel proceedings against News Group Newspapers, owner of The Sun on Sunday. The matter reached court and ultimately a settlement was soon reached.
Jenny Afia, solicitor for Sir Elton John and David Furnish told Mr Justice Matthew Nicklin that the “The truth is that the injuries were not serious, and the claimants, far from ignoring the incident, made several inquiries about the girl’s welfare to her father and nanny,”
Jeffrey Smele, solicitor for News Group Newspapers, explained that “The defendant offers its apology to the claimants and is pleased that the matter has been amicably resolved,”
It is reported that the settlement was a “significant” amount of damages and a reimbursement of legal costs.
