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Media intrusion

J. K. Rowling and Sienna Miller give evidence in UK press inquiry

Agencies

11/24/2011

Sienna Miller told Thursday's inquiry how she was spat at and abused by paparazzi photographers seeking a good reaction shot. She described in detail how she had become terrified by the attention.

  • Sienna Miller and JK Rowling.

    Sienna Miller and JK Rowling.

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Britain's beleaguered tabloid press is facing more pressure as Sienna Miller and J.K. Rowling give evidence about the effect of media intrusion on their lives.

The actress and the 'Harry Potter' author were scheduled to appear before an inquiry on Thursday into media ethics and practices.

Actress Miller told the inquiry how she had been placed under a "web of surveillance" by a tabloid newspaper which listened into her messages and read emails, prompting her to accuse family and friends of leaking stories to the press.

Appearing at the Leveson inquiry into media practices and ethics, the star of movies such as 'Layer Cake' and 'Alfie' said she felt violated by the constant coverage of intimate details of her private life in the press.

"(There was) this breeding of mistrust amongst all of us. Nobody could understand how this information was coming out... It was impossible to lead any kind of normal life," Miller said.

Miller's private life and particularly her romantic liaisons have long been staple fodder for the tabloid press.

The 29-year-old actress won 35,000 pounds from 'The Sun' and the now defunct 'News of the World' in November 2008 over her claims they had breached her privacy.

‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling, who was due to give evidence on the same day, has long fought to keep her children out of the media glare.

Miller and Rowling are the latest high-profile witnesses at the inquiry, set up amid a scandal over illegal eavesdropping by the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid.

The tribunal will also hear from former Formula One boss Max Mosley, who has campaigned for a privacy law since his interest in sadomasochistic sex was exposed in the tabloid.

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