Former X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos is set to seek damages for libel from The Sun newspaper over claims that she dealt cocaine.
The N-Dubz singer has lodged a High Court application in Dublin for permission to sue Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, publishers of The Sun, The Sunday Times and The Times.
The Sun on Sunday used undercover reporter Mahzer Mahmoud — also known as the ‘fake shaikh’ for his habit of disguising himself in Arab clothes — to pretend to be a Bollywood producer who tried to get the X Factor judge to star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in a new movie. The reporter then set up a cocaine deal.
But the criminal case against Contostavlos was thrown out by Judge Alistair McCreath after a year-long criminal investigation. In the meantime, she lost her job, reportedly worth £470,000 (Dh2.6 million) a series, as an X Factor judge, as well as endorsement contracts worth more than £725,000 a year.
After the criminal case against her was thrown out, Contostavlos claimed to have been abandoned by some of her friends, to have lost a stone in weight and to have attempted suicide.
Contostavlos, 26, failed to bring a case for libel against News Group Newspapers within a 12-month deadline for such cases in the UK. However, an extension to that deadline can be obtained in Ireland, where The Sun, which has a daily circulation of 2.2 million, sells around 60,000 copies a day. It is this extension that Contostavlos has asked for from the court and her request will be heard later this month.
Libel damages in Ireland are considerably higher than in other jurisdictions and the law is much more favourable to plaintiffs.
The star’s Belfast lawyer, Paul Tweed, has represented a string of celebrities who chose to sue for libel in Ireland rather than in their own countries, including Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, J-Lo, Harrison Ford, Reese Witherspoon and Nicolas Cage.
A spokesperson for The Sun declined to comment.
