Sir Elton John tells court ‘invasion’ into his family’s privacy was ‘abhorrent’
Sir Elton John says his and his son’s medical information Daily Mail “disgusting and beyond even the most basic standards of human decency”.
Giving evidence in the High Court on Friday, the singer also said her claim against the newspaper’s publisher involved “the most horrific things you can suffer in the world in terms of privacy”.
Sir Elton and his husband David Furnish are part of a group of seven high-profile individuals, including the Duke of Sussex, actor Elizabeth Hurley and campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, who are taking legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).
Sir Elton and Furnish claim 10 articles about them between 2000 and 2015 were based on illegal information gathering, including illegally obtained medical information and tapping landlines.
ANL has strongly denied wrongdoing, with the broadcaster’s lawyers previously telling the court that the allegations made by Sir Elton and Furnish were “unsupported by any evidence before the court and are completely unfounded”.
Sir Elton, who attended the hearing via video link on the 15th day of the hearing, wearing a green suit, blue shirt and tie, said at the hearing in London that he and his wife had initiated legal action against the publisher of the book. Daily Mail Because they were “angry”.
Catrin Evans KC of Associated Newspapers Limited said of the 10 articles in which her claims were made: “It is true that you did not complain about any of them at the time they were published.”
Sir Elton replied: “We didn’t know the extent of the seriousness of what was happening. When we realized the seriousness of what was happening, we took action because we were angry.”
In her witness statement, given shortly after Sir Elton began giving his oral evidence, the singer said: “There were many features of this allegation that were unacceptable to David and me.
“Exploitation of love, connection, trust, and bonds to find information shared safely.
“The secrecy and invisibility of such evil acts that we have no chance of catching, detecting, stopping, which we would do immediately if we knew what was happening.
“A violation of the security of our home, our children and our loved ones.
“But on a personal level I found this: Mail‘s intentional interference with my medical health and the medical details surrounding the birth of our son, Zachary, is abhorrent and defies even the most basic standards of human decency.”
Sir Elton John also told in his written statement how “genuinely sickening” it was for him to see documents in his legal claims against himself and Furnish. Daily Mail‘s publisher.
During cross-examination, Sir Elton accused Ms Evans of having nothing to discuss “about the real purpose of this case”.
He asked: “Can I ask you why you’re focusing on such things when our lawsuit against Associated Newspapers involves some of the most horrific things you can experience in the world in terms of privacy and focuses on my trip to the hospital with an infected hip? Of course you have a few more questions for me about the real meat of this case, but I don’t.”
Ms Evans replied: “Not at this stage.”
In their written submissions, ANL’s Antony White KC and Ms Evans KC said the social circles of many of the family names bringing the allegations had been “leaked”.
They continued: “Friends and friends of friends or colleagues regularly provided information about the plaintiffs’ private lives to the press, on a confidential basis, for obvious reasons.”
Lawyers later said Sir Elton’s spokesman said at the time that he “regularly provides information about their lives, including health information, to the media, including associated journalists”.
Sir Elton told the court on Friday the spokesman “no longer works for us”.
The court was previously told Sir Elton and Furnish felt their children’s safety had been “violated” over allegations of illegal news gathering, including claims that Zachary’s birth certificate had been “stolen” before the couple received a copy.
In their written submission, ANL’s lawyers said the article “completely legitimately” derived from previously published reports on the child’s birth, information from the local registry office and a statement from a surrogacy agency.
Ms Evans claimed the information had been made public Mail article.
In response, Sir Elton described Zachary’s birth as an “army manoeuvre”, adding: “We kept him quiet, which was a miracle given who we are.”
Sir Elton appeared in court the day after Furnish gave evidence.
In his witness statement, the filmmaker said he and Sir Elton “have a long and difficult history”. Mail”.
He continued: “They have been actively homophobic for years.
“During Mail They partly kept up with the times, but also published countless judgmental and narrow-minded stories about us; these are pieces clearly designed to undermine who we are and how we live our lives.
“It’s disgusting to know that stolen information enabled them to do this to us by sending private detectives on us and tapping landlines and recording our live phone calls.”
The hearing before Mr Justice Nicklin was adjourned until Monday and is expected to conclude in March; The written decision is expected to be given at a later date.
