Comedian Russell Brand has been awarded substantial damages after a tabloid newspaper linked him to the alleged rape of a girl at his flat.
The
Daily Star newspaper had reported claims that a 20-year-old girl had been drugged and raped at the star's rented flat during last year's Edinburgh Festival.
Brand, 32, issued a statement denying any involvement in the supposed incident after the article was published, but his lawyer told the high court that the newspaper's owners had only publicly apologised to his client after he sued them for libel.
Express Newspapers has now agreed to pay the legal costs of the former host of Big Brother's Big Mouth and provide him with substantial damages.
Speaking on behalf of Brand, lawyer Paul Fox told the court: "The claimant was never suspected of the alleged rape nor was there any evidence at all to involve him in its circumstances.
"Rather, at the police's request, he assisted them as a witness," he added.
Express Newspapers' lawyer Nicole Patterson said that her client regretted publishing the article on the comedian and offered its "sincere apologies".
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