Developments in Sarah Phillimore’s libel case against Jolyon Maugham:
Open letter sent August 28 2026
Phillimore v Maugham KC: Open Offer
KB-2026-002022
1. We continue to act for the Claimant, Sarah Phillimore, in a spirit of collegiality and with a genuine desire to resolve this matter proportionately. We invite you to consider both this open offer and the reasoning that follows with care.
The current position
2. Our client’s Particulars of Claim set out three publications, each of which accused her of leading a campaign of harassment so wicked that another person attempted suicide. Your client admitted at the pre-action stage that each publication was defamatory at common law and caused serious harm to our client’s reputation. The publications achieved very substantial reach: over 400,000 followers on X alone, with hundreds of thousands of views, and continuing publication on Bluesky, TikTok and Instagram to audiences numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
I recommend reading the whole thing. The lawyerly dispassion and clarity are a treat. Upshot is Phillimore did nothing wrong so you might as well settle, you damn fool – only of course the last three words are not actually written. Felt in the air, but not written.
Maugham of course did not agree to settle.
Then there’s the part about the witness.
9. We are mindful that the person at the centre of the underlying complaint – Sophie Weddell – is, on any view, a vulnerable individual. Weddell’s own witness statement, served in support of the GLP complaint, described very significant mental health difficulties. Our client takes no pleasure whatsoever in that contested defamation proceedings, with the publicity they inevitably attract, risk causing Weddell further distress, particularly if your client’s truth defence requires them to give evidence and be cross-examined on the matters set out in the Particulars of Claim, the BSB’s decision letter, and the Independent Reviewer’s report.
10. Our client would prefer that Weddell is spared that ordeal entirely.
Weddell, on the other hand, is on Blue Sky jumping up and down begging to be a witness.
He cannot wait for his closeup, Mister DeMille.
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