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Singer Elton John told London’s High Court on Friday he was outraged by allegations that his landline phones were tapped on behalf of the Daily Mail.
The experienced singer, known for hits like Rocket Man And Your songAssociated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, is suing Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, along with his husband David Furnish, Prince Harry and four others over alleged widespread invasions of privacy.
Associated denies allegations of phone hacking and other illegal acts, saying its newspapers’ reports were based on information that was already publicly available or came from legitimate sources, such as the “leaky” social circles of celebrities.
The claims were described as “absurd slanders”.
John, appearing via video link in a blue shirt and green jacket, said he only learned of the Mail’s alleged misconduct when his close friend, actress Elizabeth Hurley, another plaintiff, told him about it.
Hurley had been informed by a private investigator that John’s landline phones had been tapped while she was staying with him shortly after their son was born.
The private investigator’s evidence is one of the main points of contention in this case, as he had originally made a statement in support of the plaintiffs, but now withdrew it, casting doubt on its authenticity.
“When we realized the seriousness of what was happening … we were outraged,” said John, who has sold more than 300 million records in his six-decade career.
John, who said he did not own a cell phone, said that while Hurley was staying with him, his three landline phones were “hacked.”
“I was outraged,” said the singer, who apologized for having to appear via video link because he couldn’t attend in person “because of my visual impairment.”
“I have never been afraid to take my side with the British press if I think I have been treated badly or there has been injustice.”
Catrin Evans, Associated’s lawyer, questioned John about some of the ten articles published between 2002 and 2015 and explained to him that the information may have come from his own spokesman or other legitimate sources, such as his circle of friends.
“My friends don’t talk to the press and so, to put it bluntly, they’re still my friends,” John said, later saying Evans was “grasping at straws” and asked why she wasn’t focusing on the “horrible things” Associated had done.
“Outside…basic standards of human decency.”
One of the articles he and Furnish are complaining about references a 2010 article about the couple having a child through surrogacy, saying that the Mail received a copy of their son’s birth certificate before they did.
“It was truly sickening for David and I to see the disclosure in our case, with Zachary as the target when he was just born, with David and I as the target, with me as the target when I was sick and unwell,” John wrote in his testimony.
“I find it abhorrent that the email intentionally invades my health and medical information surrounding the birth of our son Zachary and violates even the most basic standards of human decency.”
John is the last of the seven plaintiffs to testify. The nine-week trial is expected to conclude next month.
