Hollywood couple Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel have received an apology in the High Court over an article published last month in Heat magazine.
The singer and his actress wife sued German publishers Bauer Consumer Media for defamation over the article in the September 6th-12th edition of the magazine.
Jim O'Callaghan SC, for the couple, told High Court president Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns today he was pleased to tell the court the matter could be settled on the basis of an apology to be read on behalf of the defendant.
Simon McAleese, solicitor for the Bauer, said an article was published under the headlines: “Justin Timberlake gets flirty with another woman, it’s not his wife!” and “The flirty photos that rocked Justin and Jessica’s marriage”.
The apology stated: “The article was based on an unfounded report regarding Justin Timberlake’s alleged behaviour at a club, following a performance in Paris, to celebrate a birthday, and also included a number of purported statements improperly attributed to Jessica Biel which Heat now understands had never been made by her”.
The defendant accepts the article was false and withdrew any inferences that questioned the state of the couple’s marriage. Bauer also “regrets any embarrassment caused to the couple and unreservedly apologises to them”.
Mr O’Callaghan, for the couple, told the judge the proceedings could be struck out in relation to both actions brought by the couple.
In a statement afterwards, the couple's solicitor Paul Tweed, said his clients were very satisfied with "this categoric retraction of what was a false and unfounded story", together with the comprehensive apology read in court.
He said the couple will not be making any further comment in relation to the matter. However, he added, they will “not hesitate to take similar legal action if false allegations regarding the state of their marriage are repeated”.
The couple were not in court.