Niche Media/ Getty ImagesLooks like the National Enquirer is crying uncle in its beef with Brooke Shields.
The actress threatened legal action and initiated a police investigation last month after a reporter for the tabloid, claiming to be a family friend, checked Shields' ailing mother out of a New Jersey nursing home, ostensibly as fodder for a story.
Teri Shields, 75, suffers from dementia—something the actress was reluctantly forced to disclose in the wake of the Enquirer's actions.
"I am very pleased to report that [the] National Enquirer was prevailed upon not to publish a story," Shields's attorney, Gerald B. Lefcourt, tells People magazine. "Further, it has or will be apologizing publicly. Finally, it has agreed to make a generous donation to further research on dementia and to encourage others to do so." (As of press time, the Enquirer had not yet released its mea culpa.)
After Brooke Shields came forward, the Enquirer insisted the reporter had known Teri Shields for more than a decade and was simply taking her to lunch and helping her "run some errands."
But the Lipstick Jungle star wasn't buying it.
"As anyone knows who has a parent who suffers from dementia or Alzheimer's, it is one of the most difficult experiences you can go through as a son or daughter," Brooke Shields said when she first learned about the unauthorized visit.
"The idea that the National Enquirer took advantage of her state is reprehensible and disgusting."
Shields: 1. National Enquirer: 0. This case is closed.
(Originally published on June 6, 2009 at 5:10 p.m. PT)