News of the World has agreed to pay athlete Artur Boruc £70,000 in libel settlement after the newspaper published a story claiming that Boruc, a Polish soccer player, “had been deceiving his pregnant fiancée” and sending a “mystery” woman “explicit X-rated” messages and photos, The Guardian reported.
According to The Guardian, the story is fake and the newspaper claims it was tricked by a man named Kevin O’Donnell who pretended to be a financial adviser to Boruc. O’Donnell allegedly created a fake online presence with communication between Boruc and his girlfriend, and doctored a fake photo pretending to be Boruc.
News of the World reportedly claims it was hoaxed by this man and that the newspaper wasn’t “reckless or irresponsible” in reporting this hoax story.