“I’m Pleased This Has Been Resolved”: Ian “H” Watkins Receives High Court Apology Over Photo Error

Nineties pop star Ian Watkins better known as “H” from Steps, has received a public high court apology from E! Online. The entertainment website used the singer’s photo instead of sex offender Ian Watkin’s image from the Lostprophets. Both have the same name. At the time, H was forced to clarify that he was not the same singer after he received backlash from fans online who confused the pair. Today the Steps singer received a court apology. The US company's solicitor said that E! expressed regret for the "distress and damage" that the photo's publication had caused for H.

Today @eonline have publicly apologised in a statement read in court for using my picture. I'm pleased this has been resolved ..... — Ian H Watkins (@Ianhwatkins) December 19, 2013

Following the apology, H posted a longer Facebook statement online, writing: “As many of you will know, on 27 November E! Online mistakenly published a photograph of me alongside an article reporting the case of the convicted paedophile, Ian Watkins, of the band Lostprophets. “In Court this morning E! have publically apologised to me and a statement has been read in court to make the position clear. “This was not something that I did lightly but it was important to me that a public statement was made so that there is no confusion going forward. “I am really pleased that it has been resolved so quickly so that my familynand I can try and move on from what has been an extremely distressing time. “Thanks once again to those who have supported me xx” Yesterday, former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins was jailed for 35 years for child sex offences.