Daily Express Settles Libel Suit with Kate Beckinsale

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The Daily Express, which immodestly calls itself "The World's Greatest Newspaper," has forked over 20,000 pounds ($30,000) to English actress Kate Beckinsale and will pay her legal fees to resolve her libel suit regarding the upcoming film version of "Barbarella."

The Daily Express apologized to the actress, who turns 36 in two weeks, for a story that ran last month suggesting that she had been passed over by a studio and was "heartbroken" she had failed to land her dream role as 41st Century astronaut Barbarella. Academy Award-winning actress Jane Fonda survived with career intact, despite performing a gravity-defying striptease, when she starred in the original 1968 "Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy," which was directed by her then husband Roger Vadim.

According to Beckinsale's lawsuit, she was never in discussions to star in the movie remake and was embarrassed and harmed by the Express article that claimed she was snubbed and lost the role to "Charmed" co-star Rose McGowan. Her attorneys argued that the article fostered the impression that Beckinsale's career was in decline.

Ironically, Beckinsale's film credits include "Nothing But the Truth" (2008), a credo The Daily Express has been slow to embrace. England's libel law is more plaintiff-friendly than its U.S. counterpart, where celebrities are hard-pressed to prove that media defendants publish falsehoods about them with "actual malice."

In contrast, Beckinsale scored $30,000 for the "embarassment" caused by the Express article. Movie viewers who saw Beckinsale in "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" (2009) and "Van Helsing" (2004) might be surprised to learn she was so easily embarrassed.