--- title: Hugh Grant on British Phone Hacking Case Verdict: 6 Are Guilty description: The actor has been an outspoken critic of phone-hacking practices that led to a trial that ended this week canonical: https://time.com/2920980/hugh-grant-phone-hacking-verdict-dont-forget-guilty-pleas/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-25T17:28:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:36:47.275Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Hugh Grant on British Phone Hacking Case Verdict: 6 Are Guilty og:description: The actor has been an outspoken critic of phone-hacking practices that led to a trial that ended this week og:url: https://time.com/2920980/hugh-grant-phone-hacking-verdict-dont-forget-guilty-pleas/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1fab990bdcb1e6c/6986993badae443969543df6/hugh-grant-phone-hacking.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Hugh Grant og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hugh Grant on British Phone Hacking Case Verdict: 6 Are Guilty twitter:description: The actor has been an outspoken critic of phone-hacking practices that led to a trial that ended this week twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1fab990bdcb1e6c/6986993badae443969543df6/hugh-grant-phone-hacking.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hugh Grant on Phone-Hacking Verdict: Don't Forget the Guilty Pleas  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 25, 2014 5:28 PM CUT  LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 17: Hugh Grant the 59th London Evening Standard Theatre Awards at The Savoy Hotel in London on Nov. 17, 2013. LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 17: Hugh Grant the 59th London Evening Standard Theatre Awards at The Savoy Hotel in London on Nov. 17, 2013.David M. Benett—Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 25, 2014 5:28 PM CUT Hugh Grant would like to amend the score card being touted by most news stories about verdicts in the British phone-hacking trial this week. Most have noted that just one of the seven defendants, former _News of the World_ editor Andy Coulson, was[ found guilty](http://time.com/2917063/andy-coulson-rebekah-brooks-phone-hacking/ "undefined") of conspiring to intercept calls. Six others, including Rebekah Brooks, who was editor before Coulson, were found not guilty. Grant, one of the most prominent victims of the phone-hacking in question, is concerned that coverage of the trial isn’t complete, because the tally is leaving out the guilty pleas of others charged in the scandal. In a statement issued to TIME, the actor, who in 2012 [settled with the paper’s parent company, Rupert Murdoch’s News International, for damages](http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-20820485 "undefined") over the hacking, wrote: --- > “” --- And it may not stop there: In addition to the “dozens” of journalists who the _Guardian_ [says](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/24/news-international-was-media-giant-out-of-control "undefined") could potentially face charges related to this scandal, the paper [also reports](http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/24/scotland-yard-want-interview-rupert-murdoch-phone-hacking "undefined") today that Murdoch, who owned the now-defunct _News of the World_, has been informed by Scotland Yard that they would like to interview him about the case. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2920980/hugh-grant-phone-hacking-verdict-dont-forget-guilty-pleas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2920980/hugh-grant-phone-hacking-verdict-dont-forget-guilty-pleas/"},"headline":"Hugh Grant on Phone-Hacking Verdict: Don't Forget the Guilty Pleas","datePublished":"2014-06-25T17:28:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:36:47.275Z","description":"The actor has been an outspoken critic of the illegal reporting practices that led to the sensational U.K. trial","url":"https://time.com/2920980/hugh-grant-phone-hacking-verdict-dont-forget-guilty-pleas/","keywords":["celebrities","Media","Hacking","Pop Culture","england","Scandal","Lawsuit","Rupert Murdoch"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1fab990bdcb1e6c/6986993badae443969543df6/hugh-grant-phone-hacking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1fab990bdcb1e6c/6986993badae443969543df6/hugh-grant-phone-hacking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hugh Grant","caption":"The 59th Hugh Grant Evening Standard Theatre Awards - Ceremony","creditText":"David M. 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