Tuesday, 23 January 2007

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Keira Knightley sues over anorexia claims

Star denies she lied over eating disorder

Actress Keira Knightley is suing The Daily Mail, saying that the newspaper implied she lied about having an eating disorder.

At issue is a Jan. 11 story about a teenage girl who died of anorexia. It was illustrated with a shot of Knightley on a beach in a bikini.

The Pirates of the Caribbean actress, 21, has "publicly denied suggestions that she might be anorexic or have a similar eating disorder," her lawyer, Simon Smith, said in a statement. He said that any legal action will reiterate that denial.

Knightley will "argue that the Mail's article suggests that she has dishonestly sought to mislead the public about whether she has anorexia or similar eating disorder and will show that she does not have anorexia."

Last summer, at the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest London premiere, Knightley emphatically denied that she suffers from anorexia. "I don't have it. I'm very sure I don't have it," she said.

She continued: "I've got a lot of experience with anorexia. It was in my family hugely. My grandmother and my great grandmother suffered from it. And I've got a lot of friends at school who suffered from it. So I don't think it's anything to be taken lightly."

If the case is not settled, it could go to court in London later this year.

Associated Newspapers, the publishers of the Daily Mail, did not have a comment Tuesday.