He received legal advice saying the allegation was indefensible, and that if he tried to defend it - which he spent a fortnight initially trying to do - the paper would have faced major costs.
How this happened is still unclear, but justice secretary Chris Grayling has said the allegations represent something "wholly indefensible and unacceptable".
A judge was told that the publisher of the Daily Mail has accepted the allegations were "completely false and indefensible", published an apology and undertaken not to repeat them.
In December 2013, libel proceedings were launched and the following month the publisher accepted the allegations "were completely false and indefensible", published an apology and agreed to pay substantial damages which the author was donating to charity.
Mr Thwaites said: "The allegations were and are completely false and indefensible.
If the allegations are correct, Smollett's behavior is morally indefensible.
If Mr Tanzi's allegations are true, his position at the helm of Capitalia looks indefensible.
HUFFPOST OPINION: AMERICA'S INDEFENSIBLE ALLIANCE WITH THE PHILIPPINES "Last week, the International Criminal Court officially opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of state-sanctioned killings and other human rights violations committed by the Philippine National Police under the direction of Duterte".
He once described his job as "defending the indefensible", so there's no reason why he should blench at airing Fayed's preposterous allegations.
The baseless allegations against Ms Sinclair's Jewish family smacked of anti-semitism, she continued, and made the movie "indefensible".
In court filings, Sanea has depicted the Gosaibis' campaign to "apply illegitimate pressure on me to pay ahab's legitimate debts" as "indefensible and abusive," and has said, "I am absolutely sure that I have done nothing wrong"; the loan-book allegations, he has said, are "without any justification," and he has "categorically" denied participating in any forgery.
