Jessie Wallace accepts damages over Letitia Dean snub claim

Jessie Wallace as Kat Moon in EastEndersEastEnders star Jessie Wallace has been awarded damages related to a magazine article which falsely claimed she had snubbed co-star Letitia Dean.

The article in Reveal’s August 2012 edition suggested that the actress, who has played Kat Moon on and off since 2000, had snubbed Dean who recently reprised her role as Sharon Rickman because she was jealous of her return to the soap.

Wallace, who strongly refutes the claims, today (1 March) accepted a high court apology from the National Magazine Company along with a sum of money in damages, The Guardian reports.

In a statement read out at the high court by NatMags solicitor Roddy Chisholm-Batten, the Reveal publisher said it accepted that the allegations were false and that Wallace and Dean were in fact good friends.

“The article, published in Reveal in August 2012 and headlined “Jessie and Letitia at war”, had “wrongly suggested that Ms Wallace had behaved in a highly unprofessional and childish manor by deliberately snubbing fellow actress, Letitia Dean, out of personal jealousy at the popular return of this EastEnders favorite, and has there by created an extremely tense and difficult working environment for the cast and crew working on the programme”, Chisholm-Batten said.

“NatMags accepts that there is no rivalry between the two and that Ms Wallace was delighted at Ms Dean’s return to EastEnders last year. It wishes to apologise publicly and unreservedly for any upset and embarrassment that this article has caused Ms Wallace.” he added.

Chrisholm-Batten confirmed to the court that NatMags had agreed to pay damages – believed to be a five-figure sum – and Wallace’s legal costs.