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Gossips: People, Celebrities
Stone libeled over child story
Costner named in sex claim case
Photo: The allegations were made after Costner attended a golf event. Hollywood star Kevin Costner has been named as the celebrity accused of performing a sex act while being given a massage at a famous golf hotel. The allegation, which it is understood Mr. Costner denies, was made by a woman claiming unfair dismissal from The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, Fife. An employment tribunal ruled on Tuesday that Mr. Costner and the hotel could be named, despite an earlier ban. The worker at the centre of the claim has settled the case with the hotel. Mr. Costner had been in St Andrews with his wife attending the Dunhill Links pro-celebrity golf event when the incident was said to have taken place in October 2004.
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The spa worker, who cannot be named for legal reasons, initially claimed unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination against the hotel after she lost her job. She claimed to have been unfairly dismissed after she made the complaint to management about the 51-year-old star, whose best-known films include Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Bodyguard. The woman, who made no comment on the case, settled with hotel lawyers just before a tribunal hearing in Dundee for an undisclosed sum. Mr. Costner has not faced any proceedings in connection with the case and the allegations have never been legally tested. At a separate hearing, tribunal chairman Nicol Hosie ruled that both the hotel and Mr. Costner could be identified and that there was not a strong enough case for their names to be withheld. Advocate Laurence Kennedy, acting for the Daily Mail newspaper, argued Mr. Costner's name was already in the public domain in relation to the allegations as it had been published in papers including the Sunday Times Australia, The National Enquirer and the Himalaya Times in Nepal. He said: "The newspaper wishes to be free to report the allegations as allegations, not as a matter of fact." Mr. Hosie said it was unlikely Mr. Costner was unaware of the allegations against him and said he was not prepared to delay his decision until Mr. Costner had representation. He said: "It is very significant that his name is widely reported in the world's press. It is already a matter which is in the public domain." A national newspaper has reported that Mr. Costner has denied the claims. Continues on page 8 |
Actress
Sharon Stone has accepted substantial damages over a newspaper's claim
she left her young son in a car while she dined in a restaurant. The
London Daily Mail had alleged Stone left her four-year-old with a driver
while she was at The Ivy with a date. Her lawyer told the High Court:
"The article conveyed the clear allegation that Sharon Stone had
neglected her son in a shameful and selfish way." The paper apologized
for the story and will pay damages to charity.
Solicitor Rupert Grey told the court the Daily Mail had
published a photograph of Stone's son with his face blanked out and a
driver sitting in the front of the car. It then wrote that she had
stayed inside the restaurant for two hours with "a mystery male
companion" and that the child would have been traumatized. Mr. Grey said
this was not the case and Stone had in fact dined at the restaurant with
her son, and would have produced witness to back her up. The Daily Mail
repeated the allegation weeks later when it reported that Stone had
adopted another baby and the story was reported in other newspapers. Mr.
Grey said Stone had no option but to seek damages to put the record
straight. Associated Newspapers, which owns the Daily Mail, said the
paper had published the article in good faith but now accepted the story
was untrue and apologized unreservedly. 