Colin Firth's wife Livia Giuggioli has dropped her stalking claims against her ex-lover.
The King's Speech actor and his Italian film producer wife made a complaint to Italian police in March alleging that journalist Marco Brancaccia made threatening phone calls and sent menacing texts to her, emailed photographs to the British actor, while Giuggioli claimed she was living in terror and believed he may be following her.
Brancaccia denied their accusations, claiming Firth's wife invented the harassment allegations to cover up their affair, which began in 2015 and ended the following year, an allegation the couple admitted to in a statement in which they claimed the fling occurred during a brief separation.
A pre-trial hearing took place in the case in Rome, Italy on Wednesday so a judge could decide whether to send the case to trial. After the hearing, lawyers for the couple and Brancaccia issued a joint statement declaring that they had come to a private settlement and the charges would be dropped.
"In the best interests of their families, the parties have agreed a private settlement," the statement read. "The parties have asked the court for a postponement of the preliminary hearing in order to formalise the agreement… This agreement precludes any further public statement by any of the parties about this matter."
After Brancaccia made the affair claims, a spokesman for the couple, who married in 1997, issued a statement revealing their secret separation to British newspaper The Times.
"A few years ago Colin and Livia privately made the decision to separate," the statement read. "During that time Livia briefly became involved with former friend Mr Brancaccia. The Firths have since reunited.
"Subsequently, Mr Brancaccia carried out a frightening campaign of harassment over several months, much of which is documented. The Firths have two children and live in Chiswick, west London, and own a house in Umbria. For obvious reasons, the Firths have never had any desire to make this matter public."