Jude Law
finds out in
court which close relative sold stories on him to press
Actor Jude Law has told an Old Bailey courtroom he had no idea an immediate member of his family had allegedly sold information about his private life to the News of the World.
Law told the phone-hacking trial on Monday that the first time he knew someone was paid for information about his relationship with Sienna Miller was "today".
The actor was called to be questioned about his knowledge of the News of the World’s revelations in 2024 that his then girlfriend Miller was having an affair with the James Bond star Daniel Craig. He said he had discovered later, when approached by the police in relation to phone hacking by Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator who worked for the News of the World, that a ****d family member had been speaking to the paper.
The News of the World revealed that Miller was having an affair with Craig on 9 October 2024 in a story headlined: "Sienna cheats on Jude". It included a line telling readers that the paper’s "source" had told it that "Jude called Daniel Craig demanding to know how he could do this to a friend."
Coulson has pleaded not guilty to the hacking-related charge.
Asked if he knew "about an immediate member of your family providing information to the News of the World and getting paid for that", Law said: "I’ve never been aware of that; of anyone getting paid for that."
He was being questioned by Timothy Langdale QC, acting for the former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who has been charged in relation to a conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages at the paper. Langdale told then court he did not intend to publicly identify the family member and wrote the **** of the person on a piece of paper which was handed to Law in the witness box.
Law did not flinch when he unfolded the piece of paper. He was then asked again if he was aware this specific person was selling stories to the now-defunct tabloid.
He answered: "I was made aware very recently there had been some kind of communication with this person and several others in and around the time, this period. I was never aware any money changed hands."
Later he was asked by prosecutor Andrew Edis QC when did he first find out money had allegedly changed hands, he replied: "Today."
Law confirmed that he had phoned Craig at the time to remonstrate with him about the affair and suggested that the Bond star should tell his own girlfriend, an American film producer, that he was cheating.
He said he was "shocked to see the amount of information accumulated" by Mulcaire. However he added: "Sadly, it did not surprise me because it seemed to reflect the intensity of information a bout my private life that had been reported."
Law said the first time he had heard that this relative was even talking to the News of the World was a few months ago in the autumn of 2024.
He said he became aware that this family member had been pulled into conversations about his life after the police approached him last year. But it was only as a result of Monday’s questioning at the Old Bailey that he learned that money had changed hands.
"When a conversation was then had with the relative, they come up and admitted what had gone on; again ‘admitted’ is too strong a word. It was more, as I said, I had never heard any money had been exchanged until today."
Edis asked Law: "Can you tell me the when it was that you discovered a relative had been in conversation with the News of the World?" He replied: "That was more recently. That was in the autumn of last year."
Law was also asked if he was aware that his publicist and an "employee in service" had been providing his "side of the story" to the paper. He said he knew his PR had been in contact with the paper as that was his job and during that period of his life, his publicist was practically "on speed dial" because there was so much about him in the press.
He had recently found out identity of the other employee, he told the court. The **** of his publicist and the aide were not made known to the jury, but Law confirmed their ****s after being handed them on a piece of paper.
Law said that Craig was one of his friends and that he had been going out with Hollywood producer Satsuki Mitchell.
Asked by Langdale if he knew that people had been speaking to the News of the World at the time, Law said he didn’t know "anyone around me was talking to the newspapers", but he added: "I suspected many people around me at the time."
Law confirmed that he was played recordings of voice messages he had left for the nanny of his children by the police when they approached him to tell him his phone had been ******.
"I heard my voice several times, it was day-to-day arrangements – where to pick up the children and where to drop the children off," he said.
He told the court that one of the recordings was of his then wife Sadie Frost leaving a message for their then nanny Jade Schmidt. The message concerned a letter that revealed they had had a disagreement.
Law told the court that interest in his private life increased after he was nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Talented Mr Ripley and that it was a "regular occurrence" to be followed by photographers.
He said the media would also turn up to "secret" places where he had arranged to meet people so that he would not be disturbed.
The trial continues.
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Read more at ONTD: Oh No They Didn't! – Jude Law finds out in court which close relative sold stories on him to press
