Comic demands damages over article

John Cleese has launched a High Court bid for damages over an article that claimed his career was on the slide.

The Evening Standard offered Cleese £10,000 and a published apology over the story, which appeared last April.

But the comic though the apology did not go far enough, and was not in a prominent position.

Cleese's barrister Jonathan Caplan told the court that the article claimed he had "emigrated to the US where he has become a humiliated failure".

He added: "This was a baseless and offensive attack on his reputation and his character."

The story appeared shortly after the cancellation of the American sitcom in which he appeared, Wednesday 9.30 (8.30 Central) after just two shows,

However Cleese only had a cameo role, appearing on screen as the owner of a TV station for a few minutes each episode.

The Evening Standard claimed, paraphrasing the classic Monty Python sketch, that Cleese was an ex-comedian who had lost his touch since setting up home in California.

Giving evidence via a video link, Cleese, 63, told the court he thought the paper was not "genuinely sorry" when it published the apology.

"I found in the past that when there is a nasty attack like this, one's first reaction is to feel bewildered and disorientated and, to a certain extent, scared," he said.

The newspaper argues that the £10,000 offered should have been enough to settle the matter.

A decision is expected in the next few days.

Published: 23 Jan 2003