Top of Independent homepage on 1 October 2026
The Independent has apologised and agreed to pay damages to a British filmmaker after it reported on a legal claim against him alleging fraud.
Beau Kerouac sued The Independent over a February 2025 article headlined: “‘Aspiring artist’ accused of faking Hollywood career to swindle movie investors out of $500k.”
The article reported Kerouac had been accused of stealing at least $500,000 from investors in a documentary film about Saudi Arabia. It also reported his denials. A lawsuit filed against him was dismissed in June 2025.
The following month, The Independent added an update to the article which read: “The case against Beau Kerouac was dismissed on 6/17/25. As the case was dismissed at an early stage, the court did not make a finding in favour of either party in terms of liability.”
Kerouac said the article was defamatory because it suggested there were “strong grounds to suspect” he had “committed a large-scale fraud, but that the court never got an opportunity to consider them”, according to a statement read in London’s High Court on Thursday.
It added: “No findings of liability, fraud, or wrongdoing have ever been made against the claimant. The allegations are untrue.”
Kerouac’s case against The Independent has now been settled. The publisher agreed to pay his damages and legal costs and remove the article from its website – although at the time of writing it remains accessible on syndication platform AOL.
A lawyer for The Independent apologised in court “for any distress and embarrassment caused by the article”.
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