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Tabloid says sorry
19/07/2006 07:13 - (SA)
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| So happy together... (AP File) |
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Shawn Pagatchnik
Dublin, Ireland - The National Enquirer apologised to Britney Spears in its British and Irish edition on Tuesday for reporting that she was ready to divorce Kevin Federline.
The articles were published on June 5 and on June 12 under the headlines, "Britney marriage is over!" and "Britney and Kevin: And now their divorce!" Both stories were vaguely sourced to unidentified friends of the couple.
The retraction and apology said National Enquirer officials "now accept that their marriage is not over and they are not getting divorced.
"These allegations are untrue and we now accept Britney's position that the statements are without foundation. We apologise for any distress caused."
A London lawyer representing American Media Inc, the Boca Raton, Florida-based publisher of the National Enquirer, signed a settlement agreement with Paul Tweed, the Belfast lawyer representing Spears in Britain and Ireland. The settlement requires a published apology, but no cash damages.
Spears pursued a libel action on this side of the Atlantic, rather than in the United States, because British and Irish laws are much more plaintiff-friendly.
The 24-year-old pop princess and Federline, 28, an aspiring rapper, were married in September 2004. They have a 10-month-old son, Sean Preston, and she is pregnant with their second child.
"The couple are very satisfied with the Enquirer's prompt and good-faith response," Tweed said in a phone interview from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he is on vacation.
He confirmed the settlement meant the National Enquirer would not be sued, nor be required to publish the apology in the United States.
The office of National Enquirer chief executive David Pecker referred The Associated Press to a New York public-relations firm, Freud Communications.
An official there, Matthew Hiltzik, said the US edition of the National Enquirer had carried different versions of the June 5 and June 12 stories on Britney Spears than the one distributed in Britain and Ireland, but he could not say how they were different.
- AP
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