"Hello!" Says Sorry--Sort Of

Tue., Feb. 18, 2003 9:00 AM PST by Julie Keller

The owner of Hello! magazine says he's sorry for making Catherine Zeta-Jones feel bad (and fat) with the unauthorized wedding photos he published in 2000.

Eduardo Sanchez Junco took the stand in London's High Court on Monday as part of his legal battle with the actress and her husband Michael Douglas and issued an apology of sorts for the offense and distress he caused them.

"I am sorry about that," he told the court through a translator.

The Spanish magazine magnate says he sticks by the photos of the then-30-year-old bride and her 55-year-old husband. He also called their multi-million-dollar legal response to the photographs "a little bit exaggerated."

Zeta-Jones and Douglas appeared in court last week as part of their lawsuit against the magazine for publishing unauthorized "tacky" photos of their blockbuster November 2000 nuptials in New York. During the actress' testimony, she said the photographs were of poor quality and were unflattering to her. Douglas said Hello! published the pictures out of spite because the couple sold the official, exclusive wedding photographs to its competitor, OK! magazine, for $1.6 million.

"The quality was what every bride would hate to have out there. It was cheap and tacky and everything I didn't want," Zeta-Jones vented about the guerrilla snapshots of their reception. "It was a devastating time," Douglas added. "The damage and stress that we've gone through is irreparable."

So to punish the magazine, the couple is suing Hello! for $800,000 for loss of income, stress and damage to their careers.

Junco said the magazine was simply reporting on a press-worthy event and had no malicious intentions toward the couple. He also pointed out that he has published hundreds of photos of the dashing Hollywood duo since the beginning of their relationship to satisfy his salacious readership. He claims he has always treated the couple with "respect and affection."

He also countered their conspiracy charges with the allegation that he was being sued because the Hello! shots may have damaged the couples' multi-million-dollar deal with OK!.

But he did tell the judge he intends to apologize, particularly to the Chicago star, for causing her distress. "Obviously for any way in which I have offended her, yes," he said.

The lawsuit, which names Junco, Hello!, its Spanish counterpart Hola!, media consultant Marquesa De Varela and her company Neneta Overseas Ltd. and freelance photographer Philip Ramey among its defendants, continues in London. OK! publisher Northern & Shell PLC is also suing for $2.7 million.

Meanwhile, both Douglas and Zeta-Jones are keeping busy, their careers firmly intact in spite of those darned wedding photographs.

Zeta-Jones is celebrating an Oscar nomination for her sultry role as Velma Kelly in Chicago. She will next appear opposite George Clooney in Intolerable Cruelty. Douglas can be seen in two films, the ironically titled comedy The Wedding Party and It Runs in the Family with his dad Kirk, mom Diana and son Cameron.

Then, after the impending birth of their second child in April, the duo plans to reteam with their Traffic producer Laura Bickford and star in Monkeyface, a racetrack heist thriller that will shoot in Miami in September, according to Daily Variety.