Hollywood star Hugh Grant vowed to shun Cannes in favour of the East End Film Festival from now on, speaking at the Rio Cinema premiere of a documentary lampooning Britain’s tabloid newspapers.

The Four Weddings and a Funeral star came to see One Rogue Reporter, which follows former tabloid journalist and Leveson Inquiry witness Rich Peppiatt as he turns the tables on unscrupulous newspaper bosses.

Mr Grant, who appears in the movie, accepted a “substantial sum” after settling his legal claim over the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

The actor was one of the victims of the illegal practice which led to the closure of the newspaper last year by its publisher, News Group.

Festival director Alison Poltock said: “It was great having Mr Notting Hill himself come east to support our screening of One Rogue Reporter.

“He seemed to rather like it. In fact, he said: ‘From now on, I’m going to the East End Film Festival instead of Cannes’.”

Also at the Kingsland Road cinema screening was Max Mosley, the former Formula One boss who successfully challenged the News Of The World in the courts over stories that the newspaper had published about his private life.

He too makes an appearance in the documentary, along with other Leveson Inquiry witnesses including John Prescott and Steve Coogan.

Grant, the smartly-dressed star of Bridget Jones’s Diary and Love Actually, had been at Royal Ascot earlier in the day, but left after just one race to come to Dalston for the film premiere.

Afterwards, he headed up Kingsland Road for an after-party at the Tipsy bar in Stoke Newington Road, with cocktails and Venezuelan food from Josefa’s Kitchen.

The festival, in its 13th year, came to an end last Wednesday, with a screening of a documentary about 80s pop icon Adam Ant.