Apparently Kate Hudson has never been too thin. Or too rich, for that matter.
The Almost Famous star won libel damages from the British edition of the National Enquirer Thursday, after she sued the magazine over a story that claimed she was "way too thin" and looked "like skin and bones."
The October 2005 story ran under the headline "Goldie Tells Kate: Eat Something!," with an accompanying photo of Hudson that made her appear too skinny, implying that she had "recklessly and foolishly endangered her health by deliberately starving herself," according to her U.K. attorney, Simon Smith.
"The allegations that I sued over were blatantly false, and I felt I had no choice but to set the record straight by challenging them in court," Hudson said in a statement.
Hudson lost weight for a film role after giving birth to her son, Ryder, in January 2004, Smith said, but at no time was Goldie Hawn worried about her daughter's eating habits, as the article claimed.
"Ms. Hawn has explained to me that she has never had any concerns about her daughter's appearance whatsoever and that she has always appeared to be very healthy and happy," Smith said.
He called the allegations "deeply offensive and embarrassing" to Hudson.
American Media Inc., the U.S.-based publisher of the British edition of the Enquirer, apologized for "the deep distress and acute embarrassment" caused by the allegations, which it acknowledged were false. The magazine agreed to pay an undisclosed sum and to print an apology.
Hudson is just one of a growing number of celebrities who are pursuing libel cases against U.K. publications with increasing frequency and success because of the fact that British and Irish libel laws are far more sympathetic to the plaintiff than U.S. laws.
While U.S. libel laws call for the plaintiff to prove that a publication ran a false story both knowingly and maliciously, U.K. libel laws place the burden of proof on the publication that ran the material.
Earlier this week, for example, the British edition of the Enquirer apologized to Britney Spears for publishing two stories indicating that her marriage to Kevin Federline was over.
Other celebrities who have recently triumphed in their battles against the British tabs include: Teri Hatcher, Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake and Kate Moss (though it's debatable whether she could really be called victorious in the end).
With her legal victory under her belt, Hudson can resume focusing on her day job. The actress is next slated to star opposite Ken Watanabe in A Dream of Red Mansions, based on the true story of an American photojournalist who falls for an idealistic revolutionary in war-torn China in 1949. Production on the film is scheduled to begin in October.
Hudson can currently be seen in You, Me and Dupree, which opened in third place at the box office last week.