The Independent has issued a public apology to our client, the British filmmaker Beau Kerouac, through the making of a Statement in Open Court before Mr Justice Eardley in the Media & Communications List of the High Court. 

• On 7 February 2025, The Independent published an article entitled: “‘Aspiring Artist’ accused of faking Hollywood career to swindle movie investors out of $500k”.

• On 17 July 2025, The Independent updated the article with the following wording: “Update: 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 favor of either party in terms of liability”.

The article suggested that although the case was dismissed, there remained a question mark over whether there remained credible grounds to suspect that Beau Kerouac had committed a large-scale fraud, but the court had never had an opportunity to consider them.

The joint Statement in Open Court, which was made on 8 October 2026 (which can be found here), made clear that this allegation was entirely false stating that:

“No findings of liability, fraud, or wrongdoing have ever been made against the Claimant. The allegations are untrue.”

The Independent has apologised unreservedly to Beau Kerouac for the considerable distress and embarrassment caused to him by the article.

The publisher has also agreed to pay him libel damages, his legal costs and permanently remove the article from its website.

Edwards Duthie Shamash’s Role in the Case

Beau Kerouac was represented by Alex Cochrane, Partner, and Lucy Agombar, Trainee Solicitor, at Edwards Duthie Shamash Solicitors and we instructed William Bennett KC and Sam Rowe, both of 5RB.