Phone hacking scandal: Sienna Miller blamed family for leaks

Phone-hacking victim Sienna Miller believed a succession of articles about her private life which appeared in The News of the World were being leaked to the Sunday tabloid by a close friend or member of her family.

The actress, 29, revealed she was left so paranoid by intimately private stories published between 2005 and 2006 that she accused her mother, sister and former boyfriend Jude Law of selling them to the press.

Miller, who reached a £100,000 settlement with the NOTW and is now assisting with the Leveson inquiry, also said she planted false stories after becoming suspicious that her phone was being interfered with.

She told The Independent: “I changed my mobile number three times in three months. There were clicks on the line. I would pick up the phone and it would drop, there were messages I would never get, coupled with articles (containing private information) coming out every week.

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“So I started to do tests. I would leave messages on people’s phones, like we’re going to rent this house or whatever, and it would appear next day in the papers.”

After a number of stories appeared that only her inner circle of friends and family could possible know about, the actress said she gathered them together for a showdown.

“I sat down in a room with my mother, my best friend, my sister, my boyfriend, and said someone in this room is lying and selling stories and one of you has got to admit it.”

Miller, who was targeted because of her high-profile relationship with Law, said she was still reluctant to take on Rupert Murdoch’s media empire when the hacking scandal emerged for fear that it could damage her career.

“Everyone was scared of Rupert Murdoch, even governments,” she said.

“People are terrified for their own reputations. They want the press on their side.”

Miller said she finally decided to take legal action because she could not stand back and do nothing.

“The tabloid media culture in this country had got to a point where it was completely immoral. There was no consideration for you as a human being,” she added.

“I realised I couldn’t continue living in this country and doing my job, which I loved. You want to feel that you can do something creative that you love without being picked apart and mutilated for other people’s pleasure.”

Sienna Miller (Scanpix/ Shizuo Kambayashi)

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