Justin Timberlake: Libel win

London, Aug. 24 (Reuters): American pop star Justin Timberlake today won substantial libel damages from a British newspaper that claimed he had had an affair behind his girlfriend’s back.

The News of the World claimed Timberlake, whose girlfriend is Hollywood actor Cameron Diaz, had an affair with model Lucy Clarkson while he was in Britain at the end of 2003 to promote his album Justified.

But at London’s high court, the paper admitted that the July 2004 story was fabricated and agreed to pay undisclosed substantial damages and said it would run a prominent apology.

The newspaper printed an interview with Clarkson, saying that she revealed their secret liaison.

Timberlake’s lawyer Simon Smith said: “The story she sold was something she had fabricated. She lied to the News of the World.”

Initially, the newspaper said it would prove the allegations were true but now accepted they were false, Smith said.