Murdoch Firm Apologizes Over Book Dispute, Settles Suit

Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s publishing company apologized Friday after a lawsuit was settled over a broken book deal with Britain’s last governor of Hong Kong.

Lawyers announced that the dispute between former Gov. Chris Patten and Murdoch-owned HarperCollins has ended in an undisclosed settlement. The lawyers said the publisher has “unreservedly apologized” for and withdrawn any suggestion that the book was rejected for being below standard or “too boring.”

Last week, Patten sued HarperCollins for breach of contract after executives withdrew from a deal to publish his memoirs.

Critics have accused Murdoch of opposing the book, which is expected to be critical of China, because it threatened his business interests in that country.

Murdoch has said he told publishing executives last summer that he was unhappy with the decision to commission the book but he did not order its censorship or tell anybody “to invent excuses not to do it,” he said.