Keira Knightley fights back

By Stone Martindale Jan 23, 2007, 15:23 GMT

Actresses cannot win.  If they are too thin, headlines scream anorexia, if they have no visible bones showing, it's weight gain crisis time.  What is just right and acceptable?  Keira Knightley has always been a slim, lanky girl, but reports of her physical build influencing victims of eating disorders pushed the beauty too far.  She is fighting back.

Knightley launched a libel lawsuit yesterday over a Daily Mail newspaper story she claims suggested she has "dishonestly sought to mislead the public" about whether she had an eating disorder.

The Scotsman reports that her Lawyers have announced that the proceedings were initiated by a published article in the Mail on January 11th. Simon Smith, of the law firm Schillings, said the article "carried a photograph of Ms Knightley, taken without her consent, whilst wearing a bikini and relaxing on a beach on holiday".

The article then connected Knightley's appearance with the recent, tragic death of a teenage girl who suffered from anorexia and contained an interview with the girl's mother.

"We wish to make clear that Ms Knightley has the deepest sympathy for the girl's family."

Mr Smith said: "However, Ms Knightley has publicly denied suggestions that she might be anorexic or have a similar eating disorder, including, in a prominent way, at a well- publicised press conference to mark the European premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean 2, in London last summer.

"Accordingly, in the proceedings, Ms Knightley will argue that the Mail's article suggests that she has dishonestly sought to mislead the public about whether she has anorexia or a similar eating disorder and will show that she does not have anorexia; and further will challenge the suggestion that she is responsible and to blame for the tragic death of the teenage girl by setting a bad example."

The case against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, is expected to go to trial either end of this year or early next year if it does not settle at an earlier time, reports the Scotsman.