Kate Winslet gets $41K in libel case

LONDON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- London's High Court has approved a settlement in which the Daily Mail newspaper is to pay actress Kate Winslet $41,000 in libel damages.

Winslet, who won an Oscar this year for her work in "The Reader," sued the news outlet last May for claiming she lied about her exercise regime. The actress said she was distressed and embarrassed by the report, which she alleged harmed her personal and professional reputations.

The BBC said the settlement was approved at a hearing Tuesday, which the actress did not attend.

The Daily Mail published an apology to Winslet in September.

"I am delighted that the Mail have apologized for making false allegations about me," the BBC quoted Winslet as saying a statement. "I was particularly upset to be accused of lying about my exercise regime and felt that I had a responsibility to request an apology in order to demonstrate my commitment to the views that I have always expressed about body issues, including diet and exercise. I strongly believe that women should be encouraged to accept themselves as they are, so to suggest that I was lying was an unacceptable accusation of hypocrisy."