Bob Geldof yesterday accepted a public apology and substantial undisclosed libel damages over newspaper articles which may have given the impression that he had celebrated winning custody of his children by groping a Soho stripper.
Geldof was not at the High Court in London to hear his solicitor, Mr Keith Schilling, tell Mr Justice Morland that the Live Aid organiser had brought the action over two stories published in the Sun in October last year.
They alleged that he had "groped", "fondled" and "kissed" a stripper as she "gyrated inches from his face" in a nightclub. It was also claimed that the woman had stripped for Geldof on a number of occasions previously, that they were "good friends" and that he had spent hundreds of pounds on her. The newspaper accepted that the allegations were entirely untrue.
The day before the reports, the Sun had published another story about his ex-wife, Paula Yates, entitled "Paula loses kids to Geldof", reporting on earlier High Court proceedings concerning the living arrangements for the couple's children.
Mr Schilling said: "The second of these articles complained of may have created the impression that the plaintiff had celebrated the court's decision by behaving at the nightclub in the manner alleged in those articles."
Mr Tim Ross said the newspaper sincerely apologised to Mr Geldof.