• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, December 20, 2023

Will Lewis, who is scheduled to start as CEO of The Washington Post early next month, is facing a backlash for his purported role in addressing the hacking scandal at the tabloid News Of the World over a decade ago.  

NPR reports that Lewis was accused in lawsuits filed by Prince Harry and movie actor Hugh Grant against News Corp.’s British newspapers, of running a massive coverup. The suits allege that Lewis was in charge of a conspiracy to delete millions of emails, although he has not been personally sued for any of these claims.  

MediaPost could not independently confirm these charges.

Lewis was hired by News Corp. specifically to eliminate newsroom corruption and deal with charges of voicemail and email hacking. 

Critics might argue that with the Lewis hire, the UK hacking scandal has seeped into one of the most important newsrooms in the U.S., although the Post is not a party to any of it.  

The Post had not responded to a request for comment at deadline. Lewis had declined to comment to NPR, although he has denied the above allegations. 

NPR also writes that Lewis sought to conceal wrongdoing at News of the World’s sister tabloid The Sun. 

Last week, a judge in the UK ruled that Prince Harry’s phone was hacked by Mirror Group. The judge awarded the prince nearly $180,000 in damages.   

For his part, Hugh Grant alleged that The Sun arranged "burglaries ... the breaking and entering of private property in order to obtain private information through bugging, landline tapping [and] phone hacking," according to NPR. 

Whatever the truth, it is not good PR for journalism in general. 

The NPR report can be accessed here.