Thursday, October 4, 2012 9:20am ET by  
Comments (0)

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TV reporter settles legal claim over Harry Styles romance suggestion

An entertainment reporter for ITV Granada has settled a libel case with The Sun over suggestions she tried to romance One Direction's Harry Styles.

34-year-old Caroline Whitmore was the subject of an article in the British newspaper which focused on an interview she had with 18-year-old Styles at a One Direction gig in Liverpool.

It is said the singer kissed Whitmore on either cheek and The Sun published the story on July 23 with the headline 'Harry and cougar No 3'.

The TV reporter subsequently launched libel action against the newspaper and today (October 4) at the High Court in London she won undisclosed damages, legal costs and an apology due to the "particularly damaging and distressing" content of the story.

Julia Varley, solicitor for Whitmore, said that her client received internet abuse because of the article, with her Twitter page in particular suffering at the hands of online trolls.

She said: "The Sun has stated that the article was intended to be light-hearted. However, some readers seemingly understood that in referring to Mrs Whitmore as a 'cougar' and linking her to Mr Styles, the newspaper was seeking to suggest she had behaved inappropriately by pursuing a relationship with a considerably younger man, notwithstanding her being a married woman. The Sun has stated that no such meaning was intended. Such reading was particularly damaging and distressing to Mrs Whitmore, since she has been with her husband for 17 years and married for the last two."

 

 

 

Watch the video for One Direction's 'Live While We're Young' below: