Steve Coogan pays out of Lost King defamation claim

Academic sued over his portrayal in comic's Richard III filn

Steve Coogan and the producers of his film The Lost King have agreed to pay an academic ‘substantial damages’ for defamation about how he was portrayed in their story about the discovery of Richard III’s remains.

Richard Taylor – pictured above outside the High Court today – had sued after the 2022 film depicted him as ‘devious’, ‘misogynistic' and ‘weasel-like’.

He was the deputy registrar of the University of Leicester at the time historian Philippa Langley led a team to discover the Plantagenet monarch’s bones in a car park in 2012.

Coogan wrote the script with his long-term writing partner Jeff Pope and it was made by his company Baby Cow along with Pathé Productions.

Last year, the High Court ruled it was defamatory in a preliminary judgement, meaning the claim could be heard as a full trial – which has now been avoided with today’s settlement.

In court today, Justice Collins Rice told Taylor: ‘These were momentous historical events and finding yourself represented in a feature film about them must be an unsettling experience… I hope that this very clear statement and the settlement… will help Mr Taylor put this particular experience behind him.’

A statement for the defendants said: ‘As a distributor and producer recognised for bringing complex, real-life stories to audiences, we are deeply aware of the responsibility that comes with such portrayals and approach each project with care, integrity, and a commitment to authenticity. We remain incredibly proud of this film and are pleased this matter has now been settled.’

The film starred Sally Hawkins as Langley and Coogan as her estranged husband John.

Lost King

Trade website Deadline reports that the film will not be significantly re-edited, but will include a title card specifically saying that Lee Ingleby’s portrayal of Taylor is fictional while the real academic ‘acted with integrity during the events portrayed’.

Daniel Jennings, at Shakespeare Martineau, which represented Taylor, said the settlement ‘could be the first of many defamation rulings if our appetite for "true accounts" continues to gather pace’.

It could have parallels with the case brought against Netflix over Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer by Fiona Harvey, identified as the stalker in the story – although that case will be heard in the US, not Britain.