Max Beesley wins big damages in Popbitch claim

Actor Max Beesley has accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages over a claim that he tried to line up three women to have sex with.

The Hotel Babylon star was not at the High Court for the settlement of his action against Popbitch Ltd, which circulates a weekly celebrity gossip email to 360,000 people.

His solicitor, Jenny Afia, said that issue 370 in October 2007 alleged that, while at a TV industry party in Cannes, Beesley tried to line up the women, and asked one woman, who said she was not interested in having sex, to go away so that he could find someone else.

"This story was totally untrue," she told Mr Justice Eady in London.

She said that the actor requested via his solicitors that Popbitch correct the position immediately with an apology and damages and, when this was not met, had no option but to commence proceedings.

Popbitch had now accepted that the allegations were totally untrue, and had agreed to publish an apology as well as pay substantial damages and Beesley's costs.

Popbitch's solicitor, James Quartermaine, said that it sincerely apologised for the embarrassment caused by the defamatory article, which it fully accepted was false.