Hollywood actor Will Smith won a public apology and damages in London's High Court on Friday over a false allegation that he had described the former Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as a 'good person'.
His lawyer Rachel Atkins told judge David Eady the "deeply distressing" libellous allegation by World Entertainment News Network Limited (WENN) had caused her client "acute embarrassment".
The claim arose after London-based WENN, which provides entertainment news and photographs around the world, published an article on December 23 last year entitled "Smith: Hitler Was A Good Person", the court was told.
Atkins said the article "wholly misrepresents" an interview her client gave to a Scottish newspaper and in fact he considered Hitler to be a "vile and heinous man".
"The allegation that he could think otherwise is deeply distressing to the claimant and has caused him acute embarrassment," she said.
The action was brought because the article was picked up worldwide but despite an apology and retraction from the defendant, "the libel remains at large", she added.
WENN, whose lawyer apologised again in court, agreed to pay an unspecified amount in damages to the actor, who would then donate the money to charity, she added.
Smith, 39, famous for films such as Independence Day and the Men in Black series, was not in court.