Brangelina Settle Privacy Claim Against Murdoch London Tabloid

Image by Daniel Semper via Flickr

On the day that her action flick Salt debuts, 35-year-old actress Angelina Jolie and her hunky companion Brad Pitt, 46, settled their prviacy suit against News Corp.-owned  London tabloid News of the World, pouring salt in Rupert Murdoch's wound.

The undisclosed settlement amount and court costs, which the Hollywood couple will donate to their charitable foundation, resolves a suit filed in the London High Court after the tabloid published two articles in January 2010, one of which appeared on the front page, alleging attorneys for Brangelina, who aren't married, were assisting the purportedly separating actors in deciding how to divide their $313 million marital assets and work out custody of  six children, three of whom they adopted together.

The suit, which was prompted by the tabloid's failure to apologize to Jolie & Pitt and retract the story, ended with the newspaper conceding the stories were false and agreeing to pay damages.  Under English libel law, unlike its U.S. counterpart, the media defendant carries the burden of proving the truth of what it published and the plaintiff need not prove it was damaged by the allegedly false statements.

The crack staff of "TUOL" admits the case is not precedent-setting, but couldn't otherwise justify running the above photo.

British Tabloid Suffers Wrath of 'Brangelina'

Cover of Mr & Mrs Smith [Blu-ray]

The U.K.'s best-selling newspaper, the Sunday tabloid NewsoftheWorld, is bracing for a libel war with Hollywood glamour couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

While Pitt, 46, and Jolie, 34, watched the Super Bowl Sunday from a private box in Miami's Sun Life stadium (to avoid other fans asking "Who dat?"), their lawyers readied a claim for filing Monday in London's High Court.
 The defendant tabloid on Jan. 24, according to the lawsuit, published false and intrusive allegations that the power couple planned to separate and had worked out custody arrangements for their six children and a division of their alleged assets of $320 million.

Pitt and Jolie became an item while filming the action/comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2005.  Pitt is divorced from actress and tabloid fave Jennifer Aniston, and Jolie was twice-married, to actors Billy Bob Thornton and Jonny Lee Miller, both of which ended in divorce.

Under British libel law, the burden of proof rests with the publisher to prove the truth of the statements in dispute. In contrast, in the U.S., public figures carry the burden of showing the article at issue was both false and published with actual malice.