Highlights
- Keira Knightley sued The Daily Mail for falsely blaming her for a teen's death, and was awarded £3,000 in damages.
- Knightley donated her winnings to the charity Beat.
- The Daily Mail published an apology and admitted that Knightley wasn't responsible.
Once people become famous, they more often than not become targets before too long. A perfect example of that is the fact that Keanu Reeves was once sued for millions for supposedly unpaid child support.
In Keira Knightley's case, she was also targeted when she was accused of being responsible for a teen's death. Even though Knightley is rich and she lives on a budget, she still took those who made that claim to court and got thousands of dollars.
Keira Knightley Beat The Daily Mail In Court
After rising to fame in 2003, Keira Knightley has been in the spotlight to one degree or another ever since. While that can be a great thing, fame certainly can have a dark side too. In 2007, things got especially dark for Knightley when she was blamed for a teen's death.
Throughout Knightley's time in the public eye, there have been a lot of headlines about her body. In many cases, there were articles published claiming that Knightley had an eating disorder which were written by people who had no personal knowledge of the actor.
What other celebrities have won lawsuits against The Daily Mail?
Which Celebrity: | Damages Awarded: |
|---|---|
£30,000 | |
£100,000 | |
"substantial damages" | |
undisclosed amount under $3 million | |
"undisclosed libel damages" |
While that has been pretty common, in 2007 things were taken to a whole new and disturbing level. On January 11th, 2007, The Daily Mail published an article focused on Knightley that made a truly shocking claim about her.
To communicate how shocking that article was, all anyone has to do is quote the title of the piece. "If pictures like this one of Keira carried a health warning, my darling daughter might have lived."
RelatedWas Adam Sandler Almost Sued For Plagiarism By This Popular Kids' Books Company?
One of Adam Sandler's popular comedies almost got him sued by a incredibly popular kids company.Alongside that eye-grabbing headline, The Daily Mail's article featured a picture of the actor wearing a bikini on a beach. The article that appeared under that headline and photo focused on a teen girl named Sophie Mazurek who tragically passed away. Of course, the article linked that teen's tragic passing to Knightley.
It is also worth noting that the January 11th article was far from the first time The Daily Mail body-shamed Knightley. In fact, only three days earlier, The Daily Mail published an article with the headline "It's itsy bitsy teeny weeny Keira Knightley".
In both of those two articles, The Daily Mail accused Knightley of having an eating disorder. Following the article from January 8th, Knightley didn't sue the publication. Instead, Knightley only took legal action after being accused of being responsible for a teen's passing.
Given the outrageous nature of The Daily Mail's headlines, it likely won't surprise anyone that Knightley won in court. While Knightley prevailed over the publication, she was only awarded £3,000 in damages. According to a Denver Post article from that time, Knightley's damages were worth roughly $6,000 in United States Dollars.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Keira Knightley has an $80 million fortune as of this writing.
When Knightley took The Daily Mail to court, she didn't try to get rich from the situation. Instead, Knightley was only interested in making a point about how irresponsible she felt The Daily Mail's reporting about her had been.
As The Guardian's article about the lawsuit ending revealed, Knightley donated her winnings to charity. Knightley actually doubled the amount she donated as she gave some of her own money as well.
RelatedJean-Claude Van Damme Was Sued For Injuring A Co-Star, But How Much Did He Have To Pay?
Early on in Jean-Claude Van Damme's career, he had to pay a lot of money after being found liable for stabbing a stunt performer's eye."Knightley's £3,000 damages will be donated to a charity, the eating disorder and mental illness charity, Beat. Knightley will also match the damages sum being donated to Beat."
Seemingly more importantly for Knightley, The Daily Mail agreed to publish an apology. Additionally, the publication apologized in court which was quoted by The Guardian's article.
"The defendant sought to publish an article which it considered to be in the public interest as it concerned an important debate and wished to alert mothers to the dangers of anorexia. It understands that the claimant acknowledges the importance of that debate. However, through me, the defendant accepts that the claimant does not bear responsibility for Sophie's death, does not have an eating disorder, and has not misled the public."
After Knightley's lawsuit against The Daily Mail ended, her lawyer read a statement in court which was summarized by The Guardian.
"Knightley's solicitor Simon Smith also read a statement describing the January 11 article as 'entirely false'. He added that the actress found the suggestions all the more offensive as she had admitted publicly in the past that a member of her family suffered from anorexia and she was aware of the devastating effects eating disorders could have."
Knightley's lawyer also expressed the actor's sympathies for the family of Sophie Mazurek.
"Mr Smith added that Knightley had, through her lawyers, offered her sincere sympathies to Ms Mazurek's mother and family for what was obviously a tragic and distressing loss for them."
Keira Knightley Has Spoken Out About Being Body-Shamed
In the year 2004, Keira Knightley starred in a mostly forgotten movie titled King Arthur. While that movie wasn't a complete flop, for many people the most memorable thing about the film was the backlash that the film's poster inspired.
RelatedKeira Knightley's $80 Million Net Worth Was Built By These Insane And Oddly Consistent Movie Salaries
Despite some box office flops, Keira Knightley manages to secure big paychecks, making her one of Hollywood's highest-paid actresses.When the poster for King Arthur was released, it didn't take long for people to notice that Knightley's chest was photoshopped to be bigger. Years later, Knightley would pose for a topless photoshoot. During an interview about that photoshoot, Knightley explained that she agreed to it to address how her body had been altered by others over the years.
"I’ve had my body manipulated so many different times for so many different reasons, whether it’s paparazzi photographers or for film posters. That [shoot] was one of the ones where I said: "OK, I’m fine doing the topless shot so long as you don’t make them any bigger or retouch." Because it does feel important to say it really doesn’t matter what shape you are."
Also, during that same interview, Knightley expressed her opinion about how women in the media are judged for their bodies. "I think women’s bodies are a battleground and photography is partly to blame. Our society is so photographic now, it becomes more difficult to see all of those different varieties of shape."
In 2014, Knightley was interviewed by Elle UK. During that interview, Knightley was extremely blunt about how her body had been talked about when she was interviewed.
"There was a very long time when [interviewers] were all: 'Well you’re a sh*t actress and you’re anorexic and people hate you' which, for a teenager or somebody in their early 20s, is a very strange thing."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGiinqGilnqsusign62kla56pa3IpbBmpZGeuW64wLCqrqGkYrKiwMinnmacmai8s7DEq2StnZWjeqWxwK2faA%3D%3D