Chris Evans ordered to pay £1m costs to Virgin Radio

LONDON - Maverick broadcaster Chris Evans has been ordered to pay £1m in legal costs to SMG, the company that sacked him from his job as a presenter on Virgin Radio.

On June 26, Evans lost his court case against SMG, the owner of Virgin Radio, when the High Court ruled that he had not been unfairly dismissed and was not entitled to £8.6m in unpaid share options.

Yesterday, Mr Justice Lightman said he would have to pay £1m costs by July 16. Evans could be liable for more, depending on the ruling of a costs judgement. The four-week trial is estimated to have generated £4m in legal fees.

Lightman also gave SMG permission to pursue a counter claim against Evans for £20m in damages. The media group says it is owed compensation from the millionaire presenter and producer because of his binge drinking and failure to turn up for work on several occasions.

The judge complained in his judgment of the "horrendous cost" of the case, which saw 50 "largely unread" jumbo volumes of documents produced in evidence.

Evans can afford to pay the costs. He made £70m from the sale of his Ginger Media Group, which included Virgin and a TV production arm, to SMG in 2000.

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