BRITAIN: Hollywood stars Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones were more concerned with making money from their wedding photos than protecting their privacy, the owner of Hello! magazine told a court yesterday.
The couple is suing Hello! for damages after it printed unauthorised pictures of their New York wedding in 2000 - three days before rival OK! hit the newsstands with official shots.
Mr Eduardo Sanchez Junco said the actors tried to get the highest possible price for exclusive rights to the shots. "The wedding was offered to various media, including ourselves, not in order to maintain privacy, but solely in order to establish competition which would raise the price for exclusivity," he said.
Mr Sanchez Junco, who is also editor-in-chief of Hello!, told the High Court the OK! deal was "more generous than, or at least equal to" the amount Hello! had offered.
Ms Zeta-Jones (33), and Mr Douglas, 25 years her senior, claim Hello! breached their privacy and are suing the magazine for £500,000 for loss of income, stress and damage to their careers.
OK! had signed a £1 million deal with the couple for exclusive rights to the pictures. Both actors appeared as witnesses in the court on Monday.
Mr Sanchez Junco said he would never buy snaps of a "genuinely private wedding". The case continues.