14 DAY TRIAL // A short while ago, Star claimed that Katie Holmes was addicted to Scientology treatments and unnamed drugs, and this was the reason she couldn’t leave husband Tom Cruise. Star is now apologizing for saying those things.
Of course, this wouldn’t have happened if Katie didn’t sue the magazine for putting the story in print even after it got a denial for it.
At the time she filed the papers for the lawsuit, the actress was asking for $50 million in damages for libel, as we also reported in March this year.
Also then, Star vigorously defended its right to run the story in question, even saying that it would fight this in court to prove that it (the story) was accurate.
Before the two parties even got to court, Star has chosen to settle and, as part of the agreement, it issued a formal apology and will donate money to Holmes’ charity of choice, TMZ reports.
“In a recent issue of Star, we published headlines about Katie Holmes that could be read to suggest that she was addicted to drugs,” the apology reads.
“Star did not intend to suggest that Ms. Holmes was a drug addict or was undergoing treatment for a drug addiction,” Star says.
“Star apologizes to Ms. Holmes for any misperception and will be making a substantial donation to charity on Ms. Holmes’ behalf for any harm that we may have caused,” the apology adds.
In all fairness, it wasn’t like there wasn’t a clear intent to suggest that Katie was a drug addict, since the cover of Star literally screamed “Addiction nightmare. Katie DRUG SHOCKER!”
On the bright side, Katie Holmes has issued a statement of her own, saying she was happy with how things were handled in this matter and that she will be dropping the lawsuit.
“I’m pleased that this lawsuit could be resolved amicably and accept American Media’s apology,” she says.