Rupert Murdoch declares his appearance before British Parliament committee was ‘the most humble day of my life’

Rupert Murdoch appeared before a British Parliament committee on Tuesday to answer questions about News of the World’s phone-hacking scandal.

Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of News Corporation, declared in his brief opening statement, “This is the most humble day of my life.”

Parliament members asked the media titan to reveal whether ousted former protégé Rebekah Brooks or his son, James, ever notified him that phone-hacking victims became recipients of monetary settlements.

Murdoch answered by saying he could not recall exact details, which was a response he gave to several questions throughout Tuesday’s high-stakes hearing, according to ABC News.

When lawmakers pressed him over why an investigation was not conducted following Brooks’ admission that News of the World received information from police officers in exchange for payments, he replied, “I didn’t know of it.”

James interrupted members of the committee several times to inquire about answering questions on his father’s behalf, but they declined his request because of their preference to grill the elder Murdoch.

“I have to tell you I sympathize with the frustration of this committee,” James said. “It’s a matter of real regret that the facts could not emerge and could not be gotten to, to my understanding, faster.”

Parliament member Jim Sheridan bluntly asked, “Mr. Murdoch do you accept you are ultimately responsible for this whole fiasco?”

“No,” Murdoch said, deflecting blame to those he hired and trusted.