Murdoch hacking scandal: the facts they wish you didnt know

The UK ruling class is in disarray. Its web of corruption, bribery and lies are exposed—and it just keeps getting worse. Simon Basketter looks at the key things we’ve learnt this week

David Cameron has had more than 26 meetings with senior figures from Rupert Murdoch’s media empire since becoming prime minister. (For a full list of Cameron’s dinners with the media and his guests at Chequers, his private residence, go to wwww.socialistworker.co.uk)

Andy Coulson was Cameron’s guest at Chequers in March—two months after disgraced Coulson resigned over phone hacking allegations.

Rebekah Brooks was invited to Chequers twice last year, and James Murdoch once.

Brooks urged Cameron to scrap plans to give the job of Director of Communications to a senior BBC journalist.

Cameron was told it should go to someone who was "acceptable" to News International. Coulson got the job.

The Metropolitan Police employed Neil Wallis, former News of the World executive editor, during the phone hacking inquiry.

He "earned" £1,000 a day to advise Sir Paul Stephenson, ex-commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and senior officer John Yates from October 2009 to September 2010.

Stephenson spent five weeks recuperating from an operation at a luxurious health spa in Hertfordshire in January, at the expense of Outside Organisation—a PR firm managed by Neil Wallis. Wallis was arrested last week.

News International offered Stephenson hospitality on 15 occasions between April 2007 and March 2010—he accepted 14 times. In one instance, he met senior executives three times in one week.

Stephenson and the Metropolitan Police’s director of public affairs, Dick Fedorico, twice tried to convince the Guardian newspaper that Nick Davies’s stories about phone hacking were "over-egged and incorrect".

At meetings in December 2009 and February 2010, the Met’s representatives failed to mention that they were employing Wallis.

John Yates was in charge of carrying out "due diligence" on Wallis before the Met hired him to give PR advice.

"Wolfman" Wallis was reporting back to News International while he was working for the police on the hacking case.

Andy Hayman, chief of the Met’s counter-terrorism unit who ran the

investigation, attended four dinners, lunches and receptions with News of the World editors. This includes a dinner on April 25 2006, while his officers were gathering evidence in the case.

Hayman left the Met in December 2007 and was soon hired to write a column for the Times, a News International paper.

Hayman had his phone hacked by News International. But he was happy to bug prison visits between Babar Ahmad, who was unjustly accused of acts of terrorism, and his local MP Sadiq Khan.

Executives and others at News International enjoy close relationships with Scotland Yard’s top officials.

Since the hacking scandal began in 2006, Yates and others regularly dined with editors from News International papers.

Stephenson dined with company executives and editors 18 times during the investigation—including on eight occasions with Wallis while he was still working at the News of the World.

The MP who questioned Brooks and James Murdoch this week when they appeared before the Culture, Media and Sport committee has close links with News Corporation.

John Whittingdale, the committee’s Tory chair, is an old friend of Les Hinton, who resigned from News Corp on Friday night, and has dined with Brooks.

Brooks is to receive a £3.5 million severance package after resigning from News International.

Two of the company’s senior lawyers, Tom Crone and Jon Chapman, will receive an estimated £1.5 million each. Colin Myler, the final editor of the News of the World, is understood to be in line for

£2 million.

Rebekah Brooks’s PR firm, Bell Pottinger, has previously represented the Bahraini government, Trafigura—the oil company which was fined $1 million for dumping toxic waste in the Ivory Coast—and Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian dictator.

Yates is accused of securing Neil Wallis’ daughter a job at the Met.

Yates, Hayman and Fedorico are all being investigated by the IPCC over their links with Wallis.

Brooks reduced Gordon Brown to tears when she called to say that the Sun was to run a front page of private details of his baby son’s medical condition.

He omitted to say that afterwards he and his wife attended Brooks’ wedding, organised her birthday party and had her over to Chequers.

Piers Morgan, now a CNN broadcaster but formerly editor of the News of the World and the Daily Mirror, was aware of phone hacking during his time in charge of the Mirror.

According to Morgan’s autobiography, "Apparently if you don’t change the standard security code that every phone comes with, then anyone can call your number and, if you don’t answer, tap in the standard four digit code to hear all your messages."

In the US, outcry at possible hacking of 9/11 victims’ phones has led the FBI to launch an investigation.

News Corp donated $1 million to the US bosses’ organisation, the Chamber of Commerce, last summer. Shortly afterwards, the chamber launched a high-profile campaign to alter the foreign corrupt practices act—the same law that could potentially be brought to bear on News Corp now.

The who’s who of the phone hacking scandal

David Cameron: prime minister of Britain.

Rupert Murdoch: overlord of News International and News Corp.

Andy Coulson: editor of News of the World during phone hacking (2003-2007). Director of communications for David Cameron (2007-January 2011).

Rebekah Brooks: worked for Murdoch since 1997. News of the World editor (2000-2003). Sun editor (2003-2009). News International chief executive until July 2011, when she resigned because of the phone hacking scandal.

Neil Wallis: worked for News International from 1986, rising to become deputy editor of the Sun (1993-2003), deputy editor of News of the World (2003-2007), executive editor of the paper (2007-2009). Fellow journalists knew him as "the wolfman".

Sir Paul Stephenson: cop since 1975. Rose through the ranks to commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in 2009. Resigned last week over scandal.

John Yates: assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police and was appointed head of Specialist Operations on 9 April 2009. Was top terror cop when police killed Jean Charles De Menezes. Resigned Monday.

Andy Hayman: assistant commissioner for specialist operations, Metropolitan Police (2005–2007).

James Murdoch: son of Rupert. Assumed heir to the empire pre-hacking scandal. Represents News Corp’s interests at BSkyB.

Les Hinton: one of Rupert Murdoch’s closest business associates and head of News International at the height of the News of the World’s phone hacking. Resigned on Friday as chief executive of Dow Jones in New York.

 

Read More

Former City Slicker reporter offers evidence for public inquiry, alleging phone hacking was widespread at Mirror and People

Phone hacking was not confined to the News of the World but was widespread at other newspapers, including the Daily Mirror, a former Mirror reporter has claimed.

James Hipwell, who worked as a financial journalist under the editorship of Piers Morgan, said the practice was "seen as a bit of a wheeze" and offered to give evidence to the public inquiry into hacking ordered by David Cameron.

Hacking also took place at other titles in the newspaper group, including the People, he alleged.

"You know what people around you are doing," he told the Independent. "They would call a celebrity with one phone and when it was answered they would then hang up.

"By that stage, the other phone would be into [the celebrity's] voicemail and they would key in the code, 9999 or 0000. I saw that a lot."

He added: "It was seen as a bit of a wheeze – something that was slightly underhand but something many of them did. What a laugh.

"After they'd hacked into someone's mobile, they'd delete the message so another paper couldn't get the story. There was great hilarity about it."

Piers Morgan, a former editor of the Mirror, and the News of the World, has strenuously denied any link to the phone-hacking scandal.

Hipwell said he had chosen to speak out as he was sick of all the "lies".

The death of phone-hacking whistleblower Sean Hoare fuelled his decision to talk about what went on, he said, condemning the way the former News of the World journalist had been treated as "disgraceful".

Trinity Mirror denied its journalists had broken the law. A spokesman said: "Trinity Mirror's position is clear. Our journalists work within the criminal law and the PCC (Press Complaints Commission) code of conduct."

Trinity Mirror added that Hipwell's claims were "totally unsubstantiated".

Hipwell was jailed for six months in February 2006 for pocketing nearly £41,000 by repeatedly purchasing low-priced stocks, recommending them to readers in the Mirror's City Slickers column and then quickly selling them as values soared.

 

Read More

Piers is in a piss storm of woe over the phone hacking scandal that may make CNN wish they could fold him into an airmail envelope and mail him back to whence he came

Piers is in a piss storm of woe over the phone hacking scandal that may make CNN wish they could fold him into an airmail envelope and mail him back to whence he came. From the Guardian UK:

Phone hacking also rife under Piers Morgan at Mirror, claims ex-reporter

Oh dear. Perhaps it's all an innocent misunderstanding, but it appears many more worms will be emerging from the woodwork before this clusterphuck has run its course. If we can't send him back to Britain, is there someplace else we can send him?

Read More

Amy Winehouse, the beehived soul-jazz diva whose self-destructive habits overshadowed a distinctive musical talent, was found dead Saturday in her London home

Amy Winehouse, the beehived soul-jazz diva whose self-destructive habits overshadowed a distinctive musical talent, was found dead Saturday in her London home, police said. She was 27.


Winehouse shot to fame with the album "Back to Black," whose blend of jazz, soul, rock and classic pop was a global hit. It won five Grammys and made Winehouse — with her black beehive hairdo and old-fashioned sailor tattoos — one of music's most recognizable stars.


Police confirmed that a 27-year-old female was pronounced dead at the home in Camden Square northern London; the cause of death was not immediately known. London Ambulance Services said Winehouse had died before the two ambulance crews it sent arrived at the scene.

"I didn't go out looking to be famous," Winehouse told the Associated Press when "Back to Black" was released. "I'm just a musician."

But in the end, the music was overshadowed by fame, and by Winehouse's demons. Tabloids lapped up the erratic stage appearances, drunken fights, stints in hospital and rehab clinics. Performances became shambling, stumbling train wrecks, watched around the world on the Internet.

Read More

British actor Rhys Ifans, who portrays the villain Lizard in the upcoming Hollywood movie "The Amazing Spider-Man," was arrested and cited for battery

British actor Rhys Ifans, who portrays the villain Lizard in the upcoming Hollywood movie "The Amazing Spider-Man," was arrested and cited for battery at the pop culture gathering Comic-Con Friday evening.
"He was abusive, belligerent and aggressive, and shoved a female security guard," San Diego police spokeswoman Lt. Andra Brown said in a statement Saturday.
Brown told Reuters a member of Ifans' "entourage" did not have proper identification to enter Comic-Con, a gathering of science-fiction fans and comic book lovers. for a promotional event to tout the upcoming "Spider-Man" movie.
Story: A 'Twilight' dawn breaks over Comic-Con
Ifans used his hand to push his way past security, Brown said. He cursed the staff, hurled insults at the United States and loudly complained: "I don't live here," she said.
The police spokeswoman added that Ifans' breath "smelled like alcohol" but he was not cited for public drunkenness.

Read More

Cameron faces mounting pressure over hackgate fiasco

David Cameron has returned from his trade mission to Nigeria amidst a media frenzy, as the phone-hacking scandal that has come to embroil the Murdochs’ media empire and the Metropolitan Police edges higher in government.

It emerged from yesterday’s hearing that the then leader of the opposition’s communications guru, Andy Coulson, had been advised by the editor of sacrificed paper the News of the World, Neil Wallis.

Both men have now been arrested for their apparent complicity in the scandal and focus is now likely to turn to the Prime Minister, who may face a similar select committee hearing.

Their connection will be under deep scrutiny following yesterday’s hearings which, after hours of slow deliberating, culminated in Murdoch senior being ‘custard pied’ by anarchic comedian, Jonnie Marbles.

The prime minister has now returned to the UK in a bid to calm speculation, having cut short a trade mission to Africa.

 

Read More

Piers Morgan seeks apology over hacking claim

Former tabloid editor Piers Morgan has demanded an apology from an MP who made claims about him admitting to phone hacking, at the London hearing which quizzed Rupert Murdoch.
In an angry on-air exchange, Morgan, who is now a celebrity interviewer for US television news network CNN, challenged Member of Parliament Louise Mensch to repeat her claim that he had "boasted" of phone hacking in a book about his tabloid editor days.
She declined to do so, saying she had been covered by parliamentary privilege -- which protects her from legal action for anything said inside parliament -- a protection which does not apply if she repeats the words elsewhere.
In the committee hearing which grilled Murdoch and his son James over the phone hacking scandal rocking the tycoon's media empire, Mensch said Morgan had boasted about using a phone hacking "little trick" to win a scoop of the year award.
"That is a former editor of the Daily Mirror being very open about his personal use of phone hacking," she said in the hearing.
But Morgan, a former editor of the Mirror and of Murdoch's now-shuttered News of the World, said he had never claimed to have used phone hacking himself in his 2005 book "The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade."
"I'm amused by her cowardice in refusing to repeat that allegation now that shes not in parliament covered by privilege," Morgan said in the on-air exchange with Mensch, who was in London.
"She came out with an absolute blatant lie during those proceedings. At no stage in my book or indeed outside of my book have I ever boasted of using phone hacking for any stories."
And he added: "For the record, in my time at the Mirror and the News of the World I have never hacked a phone, told anybody to hack a phone or published any story based on the hacking of a phone."
In an increasingly tetchy exchange, during which Mensch said Morgan was a rich man and accused him of threatening her, the former newspaperman added: "I think you should apologize for being a liar."
He repeatedly bashed her for invoking parliamentary privilege and said Mensch should "show some balls" and repeat her claims outside the hearing.
Asking her to produce evidence to back her claim, he said: "If there is no evidence for that, are you going to publicly apologize to me, and to CNN right now for such an outrageous lie?"
"I feel no need whatsoever to apologize," said the lawmaker.

 

Read More

Former Olympic 100m champion Linford Christie crashed head on into a taxi with two newly-weds inside while driving the wrong way up the A413 in Buckinghamshire, a court has heard.

The 51-year-old former athlete, from Twickenham, denies dangerous driving in Chalfont St Peter on 8 May last year.

Mr Christie clambered from his badly-damaged Audi A8 after the collision, Aylesbury Crown Court heard.

Soon after he said: "Oh my God, it's all my fault", the jury was told.

Mr Christie was driving towards Amersham when he found himself on the wrong side of the A413, the court heard.

Eight seconds later, his car - with the personalised number plate 100 RUN - hit a silver Mercedes travelling in the opposite direction.

Dragged from taxi
The taxi was propelled on to a grass verge, while the Audi came to a halt in the middle of the carriageway.

Mr Christie, who had recently moved to the area and was on his way back to his girlfriend's home, was able to walk away from his vehicle but newly married Peter Ashton had to be dragged from the taxi.

Opening the case, prosecutor Nigel Ogborne said Mr Christie, of Sherland Road, Twickenham, west London, ploughed into the taxi some time between 2330 and 2340 BST.

"He drove for some 185m (600ft) and, the prosecution say, he drove on the wrong side of the road.

"He was driving on the opposing carriageway and a car was driving the other way and there was a head-on collision."

The court was told Mr Christie was searching for the turning to his girlfriend's home when he collided with the taxi carrying three people - Mr Ashton, his new wife Claire Lloyd-Ashton, her uncle Michael Burt and driver Naeem Akhtar.

Mrs Lloyd-Ashton said: "This male, he said, 'Oh my God, it's all my fault, it's all my fault. He seemed very distressed."

Jurors heard how Mr Christie told a police officer he believed he had been driving at about 30mph (48km/h) that night and the accident happened because he had a "lapse".

The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday.

Read More

Cheryl Cole has cancelled the 'family' get-together she planned to attend with former husband Ashley Cole.

Cheryl Cole has cancelled the 'family' get-together she planned to attend with former husband Ashley Cole.

The singer thought her love cheat ex had changed his ways but is now furious that Ashley is still acting like a single man.

Air stewardess Kerry Meades, 29, alleges she slept with the footballer in LA in June.

'Just as Cheryl's getting back on track and working really hard on her music, he does this. She's humiliated,' says a source. 

'Ashley had organised a family gathering, a barbecue, for when he got back from pre-season training in the Far East.

'This has now been scrapped.'

But Cheryl, who's demanded Ashley, 30, deletes her number, isn't letting the upset get her down.

Instead the Girls Aloud star, 28, is in the studio recording a new album so she can launch her music career in America.

'Cheryl's determined to keep her head down now and focus on work,' the source tells the Daily Mirror.

'What will be with Ashley will be. But it can wait.'

Read More

George Michael has called Jeremy Clarkson a 'pig-ugly homophobe' after the Top Gear presenter made jokes at his expense on the hit BBC show.

Earlier this month Michael had joked the show needed to camp it up, posting a video of a pink car on Twitter and urging Clarkson to buy one.
On Sunday’s episode of Top Gear, Clarkson appeared to make a joke about the Wham! singer’s sexual habits, saying while reviewing the new Jaguar XKRS.
He said: ‘It’s very fast and very, very loud.
‘And then in the corners it will get its tail out more readily than George Michael.’
Michael denied he had been trying to rile Clarkson, saying: ‘That's sooo funny! I wasn't trying to have a go at good old Jeremy! I said I sounded I sounded like him with someone's finger up his arse!!
'In other words I thought I sounded camp on my iPhone review of a bright pink bentley.’
But after initially laughing off Clarkson’s comments, he added: ‘Good grief Mr.Clarkson, I wasn't implying your towering heterosexuality was in question. I had no desire to insult you!
‘But I do now, you pig-ugly homophobic tw*t!!!!!’
George Michael isn’t the only one displeased with Clarkson this week.
Veteran presenter Stuart Hall called the 51-year-old a ‘deluded snob’ in a piece for Radio Times, after Clarkson said he would rather quit Top Gear than move to Salford.

 

Read More

Rupert Murdoch was pelted with a white foam during his appearance before MPs today.

Mr Murdoch's wife Wendi and his son James jumped to his defence as the attack was launched as the final questions were being asked by MPs.


The hearing was suspended as a man wearing a checked shirt with what appeared to be foam splashed across his face was detained by police.

Mr Murdoch, 80, was apparently pelted with a plate of foam.

MP Chris Bryant condemned the attack in which he said the media mogul had the plate pushed into his face.

James Murdoch was in mid-sentence as the attacked was launched.

Wendi Murdoch, who had sat behind her husband throughout his appearance before the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee, appeared to strike back at the assailant in defence of her husband.

Eyewitnesses said a member of the audience sat at the back of the room stood up and walked around to the front where Mr Murdoch was giving evidence and threw what appeared to be a paper plate covered in shaving foam at him.

As the protester was being taken from the room, Mr Murdoch's wife threw the empty paper plate at him.

The session was then suspended.

As the man was being led away in handcuffs escorted by a single police officer, he refused to give his name, saying: "As Mr Murdoch himself said, I'm afraid I cannot comment on an ongoing police investigation."

His shirt and hair was covered in what appeared to be white shaving foam.

Shortly after the foam attack, police were seen leading someone through the glass lobby of Portcullis House towards the underpass which leads to the Houses of Parliament.

An unmarked police car with flashing blue lights was seen arriving at the main entrance to the Palace of Westminster.

The hearing resumed ten minutes after the attack with Mr Murdoch now wearing shirt sleeves but apparently unharmed.

The alleged perpetrator was named on Twitter as Jonnie Marbles.

Marbles, who describes himself as an activist and comedian, wrote on the website just before the incident: "It is a far better thing that I do now than I have ever done before £splat."

The Independent's Whitehall editor Oliver Wright said: "If you are facing the way the Murdochs were facing, he came from the left-hand side.

"The police were on the other side of the room and this rather overweight copper, as they tend to be round here, rushed over but Wendi (Rupert Murdoch's wife) got to him first. She hit him with what appeared to be a paper."

When the hearing resumed, Labour MP Tom Watson, a vociferous critic of News International, concluded his questioning by telling Mr Murdoch: "Your wife has a very good left hook."

The start of the keenly-awaited hearing in the Wilson Room of Portcullis House was also briefly disrupted as protesters were removed.

The fact that one remained and was able to launch his attack is likely to be the subject of an urgent review of security by Westminster authorities.

During the hearing, Mr Murdoch admitted mistakes were made over the phone hacking scandal as he repeatedly apologised and declared: "This is the most humble day of my life."

He said he had been misled and people he had trusted with his British newspaper business had been betrayed.

But he said he had not considered resigning, adding: "Because I feel that people I trusted let me down and they behaved disgracefully, betrayed the company and me and it is for them to pay."

He added: "I am the best person to clean this up."

Read More

Pop group Take That have been forced to cancel a show for the first time in their lengthy career after Robbie Williams suffered a bout of food poisoning

.

The singer became violently ill on Friday night and was unable to recover in time to perform at Saturday night's gig in Copenhagen, Denmark, according to the reformed group.

A statement released by the group said it was "truly devastated" that the show did not go ahead.

"This is the first show that we have ever had to cancel in our career as a band," it said. "It was a horrible decision to make and one we agonised over.

"On Friday night, Rob suffered serious food poisoning from something he had eaten after the show. He was violently ill all night and well into the morning."

The band said the singer's dressing room was relocated to the stadium on Saturday morning in the hope that he could recover and prepare for the show. But despite taking prescribed medication, Williams was still vomiting at 4pm and doctors insisted he was not fit to perform.

The statement said that the band made a "group decision" to cancel the show as they felt it was "fairer" to the fans as the tour was about celebrating their reunion.

It added: "We cannot believe what has happened. Rob is still very unwell, and we are all just focusing on getting him better so we can put on our show in Amsterdam this coming Monday."

They added that they were "truly sorry from the bottom of our hearts" to those that had purchased tickets.

Take That's latest reunion show begins with a medley of songs performed by Jason Orange, Mark Owen, Gary Barlow and Howard Donald - who reformed without Williams in 2006. Williams, who returned to the original line-up last year, then sings a list of his own solo hits before the band reel off past and present songs as a five-piece.

Read More

An air-hostess claimed she slept with Ashley Cole just days before he flew back to London for ex-wife Cheryl’s birthday.

But shortly before her bash, where the couple made a very public reunion in front of their family and friends, the singer was left stunned when her ex-husband Ashley Cole asked her to re-marry him, it has been claimed.

According to The People, Chelsea and England player Ashley called Cheryl last Wednesday at a hotel in Los Angeles and asked her if she wanted to tie the knot again.


Speaking out: Air hostess Kerry Meades has claimed she enjoyed a series of romps with Ashley Cole around time he asked Cheryl to remarry him, it has been claimed

A source told the paper: ‘Yes he did decide to ask Cheryl to marry him again, it’s true.’

But now the Girls Aloud singer has now been dealt a fresh blow with the claims of Virgin Atlantic steward Kerry Meades who alleges that she bedded the footballer while he was in LA last month, The Sunday Mirror has reported.

Kerry added to the paper that she had already slept with Ashley in 2004 before bumping into him at Supper Club in Hollywood on June 17.


Will they or won't they? Ashley and Cheryl Cole's reunion seems doomed as further accusations against the footballer emerge

The stewardess claims the footballer propositioned her on the night but she refused his advances, but later arranged to meet him at his rented mansion.

She told the paper: ‘Once we got inside the villa, Ashley asked “Shall we go upstairs now?”’

She alleged the pair shared a jacuzzi and he got her a drink.

Kerry explained: ‘He came back and repeated “Can we go upstairs yet?”

'We went inside and started walking up a big spiral staircase. Just then the door opened and everyone standing in the kitchen could see us.’

‘We were holding hands and at least six or seven people must have seen but he didn’t care.’


Loverat: Ashley, pictured here at the Dead Man Running premiere in 2009, has been caught red-handed again

She added: ‘He was very caring and made me feel very special.’

Reports that Cheryl and Ashley were getting back together gathered pace after he jetted back from a holiday in New York earlier this month to attend the singer's 28th birthday party.

Cheryl is currently in America with her brother Garry Tweedy.

Although a spokesman last week refused to be drawn on Cheryl’s personal life, a source said: ‘Cheryl wants to resuscitate her profile in Hollywood, but she is focusing on her musical career for the time being.’

Kerry isn’t the only girl who claims to have bedded the footballer, as two other girls, believed to be bikini models, have made similar allegations after apparently meeting Ashley in Hollywood.

Max Clifford told the Mail: ‘In recent weeks, three girls have been in touch with me claiming to have had recent relationships with Ashley Cole.

'They will be coming to see me and I’ll see if there is any evidence to back up these allegations.’

Read More

DMX's Rep Slams Drug Smuggling Reports

A representative for DMX has blasted reports the embattled rapper has been caught sneaking drugs into prison, insisting he has "never" smuggled anything into his cell.

The hip-hop star, real name Earl Simmons, was due to walk free from an Arizona correctional facility on Wednesday after serving seven months behind bars for a probation violation. However, his release date has been postponed until next week following allegations he committed seven disciplinary infractions throughout his time behind bars.

Official records obtained by TMZ.com show the star had been found guilty of possessing drugs or narcotics, failing or refusing a drug test, disrespecting staff, smoking when not authorized, and being disruptive and disorderly.

Nonetheless, DMX's spokesperson has challenged the smuggling claims and played down reports of other bad behavior.

His rep tells AllHipHop.com, "DMX never snuck anything into the prison. As far as him smoking in jail, there is an area where inmates are allowed to smoke. A guard felt that DMX was smoking outside of a designated lined area in the smoking court and started harassing him, which resulted in the charge."

And the publicist is adamant DMX will be back to work in no time.

The rep adds, "DMX is looking forward to being released from prison and resuming his career."

 

Read More

Incarcerated rapper Lil Boosie is facing extra time behind bars after he was accused of attempting to smuggle drugs into his prison cell for the second time in two months.

The hip-hop star, real name Torrence Hatch, is currently serving a four-year sentence for drug and gun possession and violating parole from a previous conviction.

He is also due to stand trial next month after pleading not guilty to a first-degree murder charge relating to a 2009 shooting in Louisiana.

But his legal woes have gone from bad to worse after he was indicted for reportedly conspiring to get hold of codeine syrup behind bars at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.

He has been charged with one count of criminal conspiracy to take contraband to and from a penal institution, and another of inciting a felony.

The new allegations could land Hatch an additional five years in prison, according to AllHipHop.com.

Read More

Rebekah Brooks has been arrested by police investigating allegations of phone hacking by the News of the World and allegations that police officers were bribed to leak sensitive information

.

The Metropolitan police said a 43-year-old woman was arrested at noon on Sunday, by appointment at a London police station.

Brooks, 43, resigned on Friday as News International's chief executive. She is a former News of the World editor and was close to Rupert Murdoch and the prime minister, David Cameron.

A spokesman for Brooks said she did not know she was going to be arrested when she handed in her resignation.

Brooks was taken into custody at midday on Sunday, after agreeing to attend a London police station for questioning. Her spokesman, Bell Pottinger chairman David Wilson, said she did not know she was to meet with police until late on Friday, and that she did not know the appointment would result in her arrest.

The News International chief executive announced her immediate departure from the company on Friday morning. She had agreed to give evidence this coming Tuesday to the culture select committee's inquiry into allegations of phone-hacking at the News of the World.

Her lawyers are currently in discussion with the committee about whether she should attend. Wilson said: "It's left Rebekah in a very difficult position and has left the committee in a very difficult position".

An arrest by appointment on a Sunday by police is unusual.

In a statement the Met said: "The MPS [Metropolitan police service] has this afternoon, Sunday 17 July, arrested a female in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking.

"At approximately 12.00 a 43-year-old woman was arrested by appointment at a London police station by officers from Operation Weeting [phone hacking investigation] together with officers from Operation Elveden [bribing of police officers investigation]. She is currently in custody.

"She was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section1(1) Criminal Law Act 1977 and on suspicion of corruption allegations contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.

"The Operation Weeting team is conducting the new investigation into phone hacking.

"Operation Elveden is the investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to police. This investigation is being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

"It would be inappropriate to discuss any further details regarding these cases at this time."

Read More

Is CNN's Piers Morgan the next to fall in the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal?

CNN, which has given the scandal plenty of play, is starting to face questions about its treatment of allegations implicating its own Larry King replacement.

Seems Morgan was once an editor of the News of the World, the British tabloid that started all of this -- though his alleged improprieties were during his tenure as editor of a different tabloid: the Daily Mirror.

On Monday, a British politics blog titled Guido Fawkes claimed Morgan condoned hacking during his editorship.

"James 'Scottie' Scott, the Daily Mirror's showbiz reporter at the time, was listening into (English TV star) Ulrika Jonsson's voicemails when he was flummoxed by messages in her native Swedish," Fawkes wrote.

"Morgan decided to let '3AM Girl' Jessica Callan break the illegally obtained story under her byline in order to try and rid the column of its banal reputation."

The blog never supplied much evidence, but one of his sources might be Morgan's book, "The Insider," in which Morgan talks about a "little trick" that sounds a whole lot like hacking.

While different news outlets have begun to pick the story up, CNN has remained silent. Adweek pointed this out to CNN, which defended its silence by saying that Morgan has not been summoned to testify.

But while he has not been formally summoned like the Murdochs, MPs have said Morgan should face questioning.

Morgan himself addressed the speculation on Monday, telling the CBS daytime show "The Talk" that he had not broken any laws. However, neither CNN nor Morgan have responded to the allegations since then.Piers Morgan, the British journalist and talk show host who took over for CNN’s venerable Larry King earlier this year, is a former editor of the now-defunct News of the World, the tabloid at the center of the hacking scandal. Moreover, Morgan has been implicated in a separate celebrity phone hacking scandal while he was editor of the U.K’s Daily Mirror.
But so far, CNN has failed to report any of this. A ThinkProgress search covering the last 30 days of several media monitoring services and CNN’s own website, show the network has not so much as mentioned Morgan’s connection to the failed News Corp. tabloid, nor the separate Mirror allegation.
A CNN spokesperson confirmed the lack of coverage to Ad Week last week, “saying that the network hasn’t covered the matter because Morgan has not been officially called to testify in England.”
Morgan himself did address the issue on Monday, telling a CBS talk show that neither he nor his former publication have broken any laws.
The allegations are especially troubling given this passage from Morgan’s 2005 book, The Insider: The Private Diaries of a Scandalous Decade:
Apparently if you don’t change the standard security code that every phone comes with, then anyone can call your number and, if you don’t answer, tap in the standard four digit code to hear all your messages. I’ll change mine just in case, but it makes me wonder how many public figures and celebrities are aware of this little trick.
As Ad Week notes, “Morgan has been sounding a fairly sympathetic note about Murdoch.” In the CBS interview, he said, “I’m not going to join the Murdoch bashing. I’ve always been a big admirer of his. He gave me my first break in journalism. He made me editor of [News of the World] when I was 28 years old.”

Read More

Amy Winehouse has been forced to change her cell phone number

Amy Winehouse has been forced to change her cell phone number because her jailed ex-husband Blake Fielder-civil has allegedly been hounding the star with calls.
The troubled Rehab hitmaker divorced Fielder-Civil in 2009 after two years of marriage, and he has since moved on with fiancee Sarah Aspin, who gave birth to their first child, son Jack, earlier this year (11).
Aspin claims Winehouse has been constantly trying to contact Fielder-Civil and has sent him a string of saucy text messages in recent weeks - and she's had enough.
She tells Britain's The Sun, "She needs to keep her hands off him. He is mine and we are a family now. I've had enough of her thinking she can click her fingers and get him back whenever she wants. She phones him when she is really out of it (drunk) and her texts are even signed off 'your wife'."
But a representative for Winehouse has hit out at the allegations, insisting it is Fielder-Civil who is harassing the star.
Winehouse's spokesperson tells the publication, "She's had to change her number. He has been calling her more than 10 times a day. He uses a mobile (cell phone) in jail."
Fielder-Civil is currently serving a 32-month sentence for burglary and possession of an imitation firearm.

Read More

JLo's 'bare all' plans spoilt marriage

Looks like Jennifer Lopez's new role in 'What To Expect When You're Expecting', where she is due to strip off in, might have been a reason behind her shocking break-up with Marc Anthony after seven years of marriage.

Reports suggested earlier this week that Lopez, 41, would be baring almost all in the comedy film, based on the pregnancy book of the same name.

"According to the script, Jennifer's character, Holly, bares her breasts to help convince her husband, played by Rodrigo Santoro, that they need to adopt a baby boy," the Daily Mail quoted a source as telling Life And Style magazine.

It is not only in this movie that she is going nude, as Lopez is apparently also planning to get racy alongside Jason Statham in crime thrilled 'Parker'.

While it remains to be seen whether the roles had something to do with the split, Lopez has kept her nudity to a minimum since she has been with Anthony.

There also have been claims that Lopez's desire to rejoin 'American Idol' for a second season might have caused problems with Anthony.

However, according to other sources, it was actually Anthony's 'bad attitude' that caused the split.

 

Read More

Rebekah Brooks has been arrested by officers investigating allegations of corruption and phone hacking.

The 43-year-old went to a London police station by appointment at midday today and is being held on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications and corruption allegations.
Operation Weeting has been launched to investigate claims that newspaper journalists hacked into the phones of high-profile figures and even victims of crime.
Mrs Brooks resigned as chief executive of News International (NI) on Friday to avoid distracting attention from the company's efforts to "fix the problems of the past".
She was editor of the News Of The World (NOTW) when missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler's phone was hacked and messages were deleted. The teenager was later found murdered.
Mrs Brooks is the tenth person to be arrested in connection with the NOTW scandal since detectives reopened their investigation earlier this year.
The arrest puts her in a difficult position in terms of her scheduled appearance at the meeting on Tuesday. Rebekah's lawyers will be seeking guidance as to the course of action in regards to attending the meeting on Tuesday.
Mrs Brooks' spokesman
A separate investigation, titled Operation Elveden, is looking at allegations of inappropriate payments to police.
Mrs Brooks' spokesman said Mrs Brooks is "assisting police with their enquiries".
"Rebekah was informed about a pre-arranged interview with the police on Friday. She was arrested upon arrival at the police station today.
"Rebekah has been offering to help police with their enquiries since January. The police explicitly said they did not need to speak to her.
"As late as last week the police still maintained they did not need to speak to her.

Read More

Sir Paul Stephenson accepted £12,000 freebie while both he and Champneys spa employed ex-NoW deputy editor Neil Wallis

Britain's top police officer, Sir Paul Stephenson, who is under fire for hiring the former News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis as his PR adviser, reportedly accepted 20 nights free of charge at the luxury health spa Champneys earlier this year.

The revelations, published on the front page of the Sunday Times, will pile further pressure on the Metropolitan police commissioner, who has been under attack since he admitted employing Wallis on a fee of £1,000 a day, just hours after the former News International executive's arrest last week in connection with the phone-hacking inquiry.

The revelations are particularly damaging for Stephenson because Wallis, known to his Fleet Street colleagues as "the Wolfman", was also retained by Champneys to manage its public relations. A spokesperson for the Met said the commissioner was unaware of Wallis's connection with the Hertfordshire spa when he accepted its hospitality.

Stephenson and his wife stayed on full board over a five-week period while he recuperated from hospital treatment. In a statement, the Met said the meals and accommodation, estimated to have been worth around £12,000, were arranged and paid for by the spa's managing director Stephen Purdew. The statement describes Purdew as a "personal family friend".

"Following his operations, the commissioner stayed with his wife at Champneys Medical from Monday to Friday over a period of five weeks earlier this year where he underwent an extensive programme of hydro- and physiotherapy. This enabled him to return to work six weeks earlier than anticipated. As with many officers, the Met paid the intensive physiotherapy costs."

The commissioner's stay will be declared in the Met's hospitality register, due to be published shortly.

The London Assembly chair Jeanette Arnold, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, which supervises the force, said she was "flabbergasted". "Yesterday the confidence was low, today my confidence in him is completely shattered," she said.

Stephenson has also come under pressure to resign over his handling of the hacking scandal and his decision to hire Wallis. The Labour MP Chris Bryant tweeted on Saturday evening: "I am firmly convinced now that the Metropolitan police was corrupted to its core by NI [News International]. Stephenson and [John] Yates have to go." Yates conducted the 2009 review of the police investigation into hacking at News of the World and concluded that it did not need to be reopened.

Read More

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks is in line for a seven-figure severance package after resigning.

Senior colleagues have estimated her pay-off will be in the region of be around £3.5m.

The size of the figure will leave a nasty taste in the mouths of the journalists who blame her for losing heir jobs following the collapse of the News of the World.

The final editor of the paper, Colin Myler, is also set to to be in line for a bumper pay-off - estimated at £2m after the paper produced its last-ever edition on Sunday.

Two of the company's senior lawyers - Jon Chapman and Tom Crone - will both get around £1.5million, the Independent reported today.

Les Hinton, 67, chief executive of Dow Jones, the U.S. arm of Murdoch's monopoly and publisher of the Wall Street Journal, became the most senior figure yet to resign last night.

And he too expected to receive a hefty sum.

The financial settlements will include gagging orders to stop executives discussing company matters outside of any public inquiries or criminal proceedings.

Lower down the ranks around 200 News of the World workers are waiting to find out if they will be made redundant.

Many will be hoping to get work on a mooted replacement Sunday red-top produced by News International.

All eyes will be on Mrs Brooks as she appears before MPs this Tuesday at the House of Commons, alongside Rupert Murdoch and his son James.

Read More

Gordon Brown has accused The Sunday Times of blagging

The former prime minister alleged last week the newspaper had used illegal blagging methods to access his bank account and private legal details as it researched an article about his purchase of a flat from Robert Maxwell.


In a speech in the Commons, Mr Brown even accused News International of having links to the 'criminal underworld'.
The media company emailed the ex-Labour leader with a strong denial of his claims and asked him: 'Where is your evidence for your charge that The Sunday Times paid "known criminals" to work against "completely defenceless people"?'
This prompted an angry reaction from Mr Brown, who insisted he had never made that accusation.
He said: 'An email from The Sunday Times seeks, among other things, to manufacture claims which were never made and to distort those that were. The letter is being referred to the police.
'Unsurprisingly much of the letter attempts to diminish the culpability of News International for their methods of acquiring information.'
Mr Brown had earlier complained about a story regarding his son Fraser's health that appeared in another News International publication, The Sun.
The tabloid denied claims made in other papers that it had accessed confidential medical records as a source for the article and both The Guardian and Daily Telegraph subsequently printed apologies

Read More

'Sir' Paul Stephenson the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, likes a drop of bubbly you know, especially in the company of his News Corporation cronies.

'Sir' Paul Stephenson the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, likes a drop of bubbly you know, especially in the company of his News Corporation cronies.  Fancying himself as one of the powerful elite too, Stephenson stayed at the swish Champneys in Tring, Hertfordshire while recovering from a broken leg in January this year.  It only cost a mere £12,000 which is a snip in Stephenson's world.  However, one of Stephenson's chums, Neil Wallis, the former deputy editor of the News of the World who was arrested last week in connection with the phone hacking scandal coincidentally managed Champneys. Sir Paul had already courted suspicion over his decision to employ Mr Wallis as a media consultant to the Met police until he quit in September 2010 amid further revelations of phone hacking.   It now seems that there are many a 'cluster' of nice little earners around for the privileged few. The Sunday Telegraph has revealed today how Sir Paul was offered hospitality by News International on 15 different occasions.  And it doesn't stop there. 

Met police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and his deputy Tim Godwin dined some thirteen times with senior News Corporation officials during the period when the force was responsible for investigating News of the World phone-hacking. These included a dinner with Neil Wallis in September 2006, when he should have been regarded as a genuine suspect and another in September 2009.   Perhaps we should not be quick to judge; our policing literati might be partial to a glass or two of champers you know.  It's hardly a crime-is it?

Read More

Royal Theatre leader criticised for protecting ballet dancers by brushing drug problem under rug

The culture minister, Per Stig Møller, has told the Royal Danish Theatre’s leadership on that it needs to deal with the mounting controversy surrounding allegations of widespread cocaine abuse at the Royal Ballet.

The culture minister’s comments followed on the heels of sharp criticism on Thursday of Royal Danish Theatre managing director Erik Jacobsen for dismissing the allegations of drug abuse at the Royal Ballet, which falls under his leadership, as “undocumented” rumours.

Earlier in the day, Møller himself had also downplayed the controversy, calling the allegations an “internal personnel affair”. Later, however, as criticism from opposition politicians grew, he changed that message and urged Jacobsen to “take care of the problem”. Møller emphasised that he was confident they would deal with the issue properly.

The accusations of rampant cocaine use by the ballet’s dancers and  appeared first in an internal study commissioned by the Royal Danish Ballet itself and completed on March 15. In the report several anonymous employees claim that cocaine abuse is widespread at the ballet. They also complain of mismanagement and unprofessional, temperamental leadership from Hübbe.

In a written statement to the press early Thursday morning, Jacobsen criticised the employees who spoke anonymously in the report, writing that the other dancers and director “don’t deserve this anonymous suspicion”.

In addition to the allegations in the study, four dancers from the Royal Danish Ballet speaking to Jyllands-Posten newspaper on condition of anonymity said the stories of widespread drug abuse were true.

“After the premier of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (in 2010, ed.) four or five young dancers came down in the elevator from [Hübbe’s] office. The youngest was 19, and they told everybody in the room that they had just done cocaine with [Hubbe],” one dancer told Jyllands-Posten.

None of the four dancers who spoke anonymously with Jyllands-Posten reports actually ever seeing Hübbe take cocaine.

Hübbe is quoted in the internal report as saying: “Nobody lives in New York for 15 years without trying cocaine.”

At a company meeting held to address the allegations in the study, Hübbe allegedly offered to take a urine test on the spot, to prove he was not on drugs. The Royal Danish Theatre’s leadership did not take him up on the offer.

“We can’t throw suspicion on people in that way,” Jacobsen told Jyllands-Posten, “In a society governed by the rule of law we are obliged to take people at their word, even if there are well-documented complaints.”

The Social Dem’s culture spokesperson Mogens Jensen led the opposition in calling on Møller to bring the Royal Danish Theatre and Jacobsen to task on taking the report seriously and explaining why he was sure there was nothing behind the allegations in the study, reports Berlingske newspaper.

The drug allegations come at a time when the Royal Danish Ballet was just celebrating the major accomplishment of having completed in June its largest US tour in 50 years.

 

Read More

Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of Rupert Murdoch’s News International, is set to be questioned under police caution over her role in the phone hacking scandal which brought down the News of the World.

Mrs Brooks, who was said to have twice offered to resign and twice been refused, will be asked to explain what she knew about the hacking of mobile phones belonging to celebrities, victims of crime, terrorism and even relatives of soldiers killed in action.
Senior executives at News International are understood to have been warned by the Metropolitan Police that their chief executive will be expected to present herself at a London police station to give a full account of the extent of her actions during the period from 2000 to 2003 when she was editor of the now disgraced paper.
Mrs Brooks will also be asked to clarify whether she authorised payments to police officers in return for information.
"We’ve been told that Rebekah will be questioned by the police in connection with their inquiries over the conspiracy to hack phones and making payments to officers. There has been contact from the police to prepare the company for this," a senior News International source said.
"There is a lot of anger here that she has seemed to be untouched by the fallout that is seeing good, innocent journalists lose their jobs, but it was always going to be a matter of time before the police turned to her."

The latest revelations will be a severe blow for the 43 year-old, whose career has taken her from a secretary at the News of the World to the helm of one of Britain’s most powerful companies.
Her rise saw her cultivate an unparalleled network of contacts in Parliament, the media, business and entertainment – allowing News International to wield enormous influence on the political and cultural life of Britain.
The guest list at her wedding to former jockey Charlie Brooks two years ago read like a Who’s Who of modern Britain, with Gordon Brown, the then Prime Minister, in attendance alongside David Cameron, Cherie Blair, Rupert Murdoch, and Guy Ritchie.
But the charm with which Rebekah Brooks works a room is underpinned by a determination evident throughout her rise.
She grew up in a middle class home in the village of Daresbury – nestled between the industrial Cheshire towns of Runcorn and Warrington.
Mrs Brooks, an only child, attended Appleton Hall County Grammar School and it was here, at 14, that she decided to become a journalist. She began working weekends at Eddy Shah’s Messenger Group in Warrington, "making tea and helping out".
After taking her A-levels she travelled to Paris, where she found a temporary job on the architecture and art journal L’architecture d’Aujourd’hui. Her Who’s Who entry claims that while in the French capital she attended the Sorbonne. Rather than a full degree, she appears to have enrolled on a six month culture, literature and language course for foreign students.
Back in the UK, Mrs Brook’s first break came with the help of a friend of her father Robert. The friend was one of a number of former Daily Star executives hired by Mr Shah to run his new tabloid, The Post. He got her a job as a secretary, but she displayed a hunger to make a name for herself.
Her then colleague Tim Minogue, now a journalist on Private Eye, said: "She was very bright, very intelligent, but instead of taking memos she was always bombarding the features editor with ideas for stories. I’ve never met anyone so ambitious."
One of her early triumphs came when she volunteered to drive 900 miles in 48 hours in her ageing Renault 5 to pick up a crate of an "aphrodisiac beer" form a Strasbourg brewery, which The Post wanted to give away as a prize.
It was this sort of mix of dogged determination and initiative that helped make her name when, aged 20, she moved to London and joined the News Of the World, first as a secretary and then a feature writer on its Sunday magazine.
Mrs Brooks rose to become the paper’s deputy editor, forging a strong friendship with its editor, Piers Morgan. She was quickly spotted by Rupert Murdoch, who admired her drive and unswerving loyalty to the company. So close did they become that the pair regularly swam together when he was in London and she came to be regarded as his fifth – and favourite – daughter. In 1998 she was appointed deputy editor of The Sun, before returning to the News of the World as editor in 2000.
It was around this time that the practice by News of the World journalists, and private investigators hired by the paper, of hacking into people’s mobile phone mailboxes grew to "industrial" proportions.
In 2003 she became The Sun’s first female editor and one her first day ran a picture of topless Page Three model Rebekah Parmar-Teasdale, captioned "Rebekah from Wapping, 22", a sign she had put aside reported objections to Page 3.
The previous year she had married Ross Kemp, the EastEnders actor. In a bizarre incident in 2005 she was arrested after allegedly assaulting Mr Kemp, though police released her without charge. She reportedly walked into her office the next day – straight from the police station – asked "much going on?" then declared that she had personally supplied a great front page story for Rupert Murdoch, who was in London at the time.
In June 2009 – the same month The Guardian broke the phone hacking story which would come back to haunt her and destroy the News of the World – it was announced that she would become News International’s chief executive from the following September.
At the same time Mrs Brook, said never to forget a name, was moving in elevated social circles. She attended the Prince of Wales’s 50th birthday party at Highgrove and counted the Blairs among her circle of friends. It was Mrs Brooks to whom Mrs Blair revealed her pregnancy with her son Leo. There were dinners with Bono, the campaigner and U2 singer, and a "sleepover" with Sarah Brown at Chequers.
Following her divorce from Mr Kemp, she married Charlie Brooks. The couple are at the heart of what has come to be known as "the Chipping Norton set", which includes the PR mogul Matthew Freud, his wife Elizabeth Murdoch, Rupert’s daughter, along with Mr Cameron and his wife Samantha, whose constituency house is close to the Brooks’ country home in the Oxfordshire town. Others in the set include Alex James of Blur, Sir Anthony Bamford, the founder of JCB, and Emily Oppenheimer Turner, of the De Beers diamond dynasty.
But it is her friendship with Mr Cameron – and the influence it brought News International – which has now become one of the most controversial aspects of the News of the World affair.
The pair are said to have gone riding together and in February this year it was disclosed that Mr Cameron had spent an evening during Christmas at the Brooks’s. The revelations reinforced the impression that News International had undue access to Britain’s political elite and Downing Street was forced to deny that the subject of Mr Murdoch’s controversial takeover of Sky had been discussed.
Among the guests that evening is thought to have been Andy Coulson, Mrs Brook’s successor as editor of the News of the World, who was arrested on Friday in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking.
Mr Coulson is now on police bail, the paper they both edited is gone and Mrs Brooks is set to be interviewed by detectives. The ultimate networker now faces the ultimate challenge – surviving the phone hacking scandal.

 

Read More

David Cameron and Rupert Murdoch are swept up in a public fit of morality

No scandal is a scandal until the suffix “-gate” is applied to it, and on Thursday’s Newsnight, it was none other than Bob Woodward, half of the original Watergate reporting team, who christened the News of the World hacking story “Rupert-gate”. The closure of Britain’s highest-selling newspaper would never have happened without the tenacity of the Guardian. But, in truth, All the Proprietor’s Men was an astonishing role reversal in which politicians did for the press, as the press has so often done for them.
In this case, the equivalent of Woodward and his collaborator Carl Bernstein were Tom Watson, the Labour MP for West Bromwich East, and Chris Bryant, who represents Rhondda. In public perception, Andy Coulson is John Dean, the White House counsel who was the initial scapegoat. James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks are playing the parts of Haldeman and Ehrlichman, Nixon’s closest aides. Was there a whistle-blower deep in the heart of Wapping? A Lunchtime O’Throat? And, of course, the cover-up, rather than the original alleged illegalities, is fast becoming the story. What did the police know and when? How did all this information come the way of journalists in the first place? Well, you know the answer: follow the money.
Thereafter, the analogy begins to falter. Watergate ended in Nixon’s fall and national disgrace. Rupert Murdoch, with characteristic determination, is flying in to London this weekend to get a grip on the crisis, and to ensure that those who say his time is past are proved wrong. This is not the first time the 80-year-old tycoon has faced such adversity, and those who despise him would do well not to confuse their longing for his downfall for its likelihood. This is not Murdoch’s first rodeo, and it won’t be his last.
The British people, as Macaulay famously observed, love their “periodical fits of morality” – and this one is a belter. It enabled Hugh Grant, who has campaigned against hacking, to act out for real on Question Time the scene in Love Actually in which he tells the bad-guy US President where to go – except in this case, of course, the bad guy was the press. The audience loved it. You just knew that the actor was going to be dancing around jauntily to the Pointer Sisters’ Jump as soon as the show was over. For that reason alone, this must never happen again.
But it is more than a collective moral outburst. In a sense, Murdoch is a victim of the very cultural revolution he helped to bring about. We are no longer a deferential nation and, aided by the information revolution, we insist on seeing the inner wiring of our institutions and professions. The bankers were first; then the political class, with the expenses scandal. Now it is the turn of the media. It’s not the morals of red-top journalists that have changed. It’s our collective desire for absolute transparency, to confront the warts on the body politic, to see the cloven hoof.

Although it is journalists who face the most immediate moral, commercial and investigatory pressures, the intensity of the moment is making huge demands of politicians. Ed Miliband had a good week. I disagree with some of the detail of what he said: I think, for instance, that Rebekah Brooks is staying in post as CEO of News International so she can see the whole ghastly thing through (and there is certainly more to come), rather than because she imagines she is above judgment. But there is no doubt that the Labour leader caught the collective mood first and best. This was his “Diana moment”, akin to Tony Blair’s public response to the death of the Princess in 1997.
In David Cameron’s defence, he was in Afghanistan and then flying home in a C-17 as the story was breaking: shades of Tony Blair learning of Dr David Kelly’s death in 2003 on the plane to Japan. Such are the cares of office, the price a Prime Minister pays for his necessary absences from the Westminster bearpit. Those around Cameron insist that he is now making the running and that – given the generally favourable press the PM enjoys – he has a lot more to lose than Miliband by proposing tougher regulation of the media.
The two inquiries he has launched must be seen to investigate fearlessly and comprehensively what happened, and to assess with rigour and fairness what should happen now. Public anger must be assuaged. At the same time, it would be hideous if the outcome of this scandal was a neutered press, no longer able to publish the stories that somebody, somewhere doesn’t want you to know. I’m with Jefferson: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” Cameron would not go that far. But I doubt he wants to be remembered as the Prime Minister who regulated the best print media in the world into sullen irrelevance.
Second, and whatever the pressures, he must be scrupulously fair on the BSkyB deal. Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, is rightly obsessed with due process, as he must be as he ponders this quasi-judicial decision. Legally, he can only form a judgment on “plurality” – that is, the variety and diversity of the media. But he is also obliged to consider every submission sent to him in the consultation process, which will now, for obvious reasons, take many months. Quite distinct from the Government, the media regulator Ofcom is clearly straining at the leash to judge whether News Corp remains “fit and proper” to own BSkyB. The whole deal hangs in the balance, in all its complexities. Yet the blunt political truth is that, if the takeover goes through, Cameron will pay a heavy political price.
Third, the PM faces stern criticism this weekend and beyond over his decision to employ Mr Coulson. Does the hiring of the former News of the World editor show bad judgment? Some will say so: among them those who, in other contexts, are the most outspoken champions of “rehabilitation” and “second chances”. Mr Coulson has already had to resign twice, although by common consent he was a talented editor and a very capable director of communications in No 10. He has been arrested, but not, at the time of writing, charged; innocent, you may recall, until proven guilty.
This is indeed the PM’s greatest test to date, and one that will run and run. In the great political game, it is his very soul and personality that are on trial. Judgment matters, and it is inevitable that Cameron’s will be questioned. But let me be the one to say it: integrity and loyalty are important, too. And personally, I would rather have a Prime Minister who still calls his friend a friend when the going gets tough, than a craven leader who throws him to the wolves. In the ferocious days ahead, true leadership will be shown by those who can distinguish between morality and mob rule.

 

Read More

Robbie Williams blasted for bad language in Take That live shows

THE Take That tour may be a complete sell-out – but the Robbie Williams’ solo section has caused a mini-walkout.

Families have stormed off in protest at his foul-mouthed outbursts and crude gestures, which they say don’t fit with the rest of the family-friendly show.

The singer, 37, emerged on stage for his five-song solo stint on Tuesday night at Wembley Stadium and said: “Can’t believe you’re f****** here.”



He then imitated rolling a cannabis joint before repeatedly sticking two fingers up at the rain-drenched crowd.

The star, who gets to play on his own every night on the Progress tour while his bandmates remain backstage, then said: “Let me introduce myself, my name is Robbie f****** Williams.”

Launching into Rock DJ, he then thrust his hand down his trousers and later said: “Taxi for Robbie. I’d like to get fake tan on my hands and touch a few breasts.”

In case anyone missed the message, he then added: “I want to make you all horny and menstrual.”

It’s not the first time he’s blurted out something controversial on the tour. During a previous show he said: “I just did coke and slept with a whore – but that’s what super-injunctions are for.”

One fan, Julie Smith, from London, said: “I had to put my hands over my daughters’ ears. It was disgusting.

“He spoilt it for the rest of the band, who are true professionals, with all the attention-seeking and histrionics.

“It got to the point where we left during his segment and came back again when he was off.”

Another dad said: “You shouldn’t have to hear the f-word so many times in front of your kids. I’ve been to other Take That shows and this was something else.”

And a fan wrote on a website: “He was offensive and rude, said the f-word at least 12 times and stuck his hands down his trousers. There were many very young children in their audience (some aged only eight, nine or 10) and this was truly inappropriate.”

Music critics have also questioned his on-stage antics. One commentator said: “Something appears to be up with Robbie Williams. The man-band’s black sheep has been, true to boggle-eyed form, treating audiences to his unique brand of erratic behaviour.”

Last night music insiders claimed the fans’ backlash could cause divisions in the band. But a source close to Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Mark Owen said that was not true.

Robbie yesterday told how he “likes swear-words”. In a blog posted after the gig, he wrote: “I know they are frowned up (sic) and the refuge of the uneducated but so be it.... F***, f******... can’t be beaten....”

He then claimed he enjoyed introducing himself as “Robbie f****** Williams”, adding: “You have no idea how good it feels in front of 80 thousand people... it’s liberating and a statement of intent.”

The star, who has battled with drink and drugs in the past, claimed he has “little control over what comes out of my mouth, which always makes things interesting”.

Robbie’s spokesman declined to comment.

Read More

I'd rather smoke crack than eat cheese from a can

HOLLYWOOD super chef Gwyneth Paltrow shocked viewers by telling Jonathan Ross: “I’d rather smoke crack than eat cheese from a can” on stage this week.

The foodie, 38, was chatting about her cookbook at the Roundhouse Studios for the iTunes festival on Tuesday when she revealed she’s banned her kids from McDonald’s.

“I take them to Pizza Express because I think that’s much healthier,” she said. “Don’t tell them there are toys!”


Sidestepping questions about her hubby, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Gwynnie, who says she can “eat any man under a table”, revealed plans to start a channel of cookery programmes on an iPhone app – but you might wanna buy some plonk before giving her recipes a go.

“I drink constantly while I’m cooking,” she says. “Wine, either colour.”

Well, it’s better than crack.

Read More

Pete Doherty has been released from prison after serving just SIX WEEKS of a six-month sentence.

The rocker, 32, was jailed on May 20 for possessing cocaine - his third jail stint related to his drug use.

He had been filmed smoking a crack pipe with heiress Robyn Whitehead, 27, just days before she died of a drug overdose. The society beauty had been making a documentary about Libertines frontman Doherty.

His release from London's Pentonville has been branded an insult to her family.

Kate Moss's ex-boyfriend announced his freedom on Tuesday in a cheery message on his website. The note read: "On this bright sunny morning Peter was released from prison and thanks everyone for their valued support." A friend said last night: "Pete is over the moon."

But anti-drugs campaigner Shielmor Twomey said: "It makes it worse for the family of Miss Whitehead. It is an insult."

Doherty, of Camden, North London, is said to have a tag and curfew.

Read More

Cheryl Cole has allegedly told her ex husband Ashley that he will need to spend some money if he wants her back.

The former X Factor judge has reportedly said she wants a brand new family home, a custom-built recording studio and a diamond ring if he wants to marry her.

The Girls Aloud singer's wish list is said to include a home in Los Angeles, a `top secret' wedding ceremony abroad and "no-expense-spared" second honeymoon.

A source supposedly told The Sun: "If Cheryl is to face public scrutiny over taking Ashley back, she wants to know he's prepared to put his money where his mouth is.

"Ashley has got no choice. He may have got Cheryl back but it comes at a significant price."

The Chelsea defender is also thought to be looking at holiday homes in Dubai for them to use.

The footballer is said to be determined to have a second chance with Cheryl.

The insider added: "Cheryl and Ashley are not a done deal yet. They've not slept together or even kissed. He has so much to prove to win her back."

Read More

Ten alleged lovers of the footballer Rio Ferdinand were named at the High Court in London yesterday.

The women were included in official court documents after Ferdinand launched a legal battle over claims by a lover that she had a 13-year-affair with the Manchester United star.
Ferdinand, 32, has brought his case for misuse of private information over a Sunday Mirror article in which interior designer Carly Storey gave her account of their 13-year relationship in return for £16,000.
His QC, Hugh Tomlinson, said his client should be awarded a maximum of £50,000 damages if he wins his privacy action, the High Court heard.
Mr Tomlinson, said he would also seek a worldwide "contra mundum" injunction if the England and Manchester United centre back prevailed over MGN Ltd.
He told Mr Justice Nicol: "This is not a trivial case. This is a case of a particularly important nature in the sense that it is not often that someone who is written about in such a way in the press has the courage to take them on in a court case.

"If the court was to award a small sum of damages it would, in the circumstances, be entirely inappropriate."
After hearing closing speeches, the judge reserved his ruling and said it might not be given before the end of July.
Ferdinand has branded the April 2010 piece - "My affair with England captain Rio" - a "gross invasion of my privacy", and said he had not met Ms Storey for six years by the time it appeared.
The article, which was produced in court in a redacted form, claimed that Ferdinand ended the relationship within days of being handed the skipper's armband in February 2010.
MGN claims it was in the public interest to run the story about Ferdinand, who replaced John Terry as England captain, before Terry was reinstated by manager Fabio Capello this year.
Its counsel, Gavin Millar QC, said that Ferdinand was appointed England captain on the basis of being reformed and responsible.
In fact, as the article said, this was not the case.
"Moreover, once appointed, the claimant had tried to ensure that he would not meet the same fate as John Terry by quietly eradicating Ms Storey from his life."
He said the case was not really about Ferdinand's privacy but about the effect on the public image he had so painstakingly constructed, and was without merit.
Mr Millar provided a list of ten names of women Ferdinand was alleged to have been involved with.
Mr Tomlinson dismissed the idea that the article contributed to a debate about the England football captaincy.
He said: "A moment's analysis reveals that if the debate is supposed to be over the issue of whether the England football captain should be an upstanding figure along the lines of the great men of yesteryear, Bobby Moore and Billy Wright, then the obvious contribution to that about Mr Ferdinand is clear - he is not a man with a spotless past, it is well known.
"By far the most important question mark placed over his captaincy related to his failure to attend a drugs test. That was extensively debated in the newspapers and he was deservedly punished for it.
"But, to say, because of some general interest, that the England football captain should have the morals of a bishop, to say that for that reason then anything goes when the private life of a footballer is in issue, is manifestly a fallacious argument.
"The answer is very simple. This is private information and there is no public interest in its publication, and that is the end of it."

Read More

Relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan may have been victims of News of the World phone hacking, lawyers said tonight.

The Ministry of Defence was seeking clarification from Scotland Yard as sources said families of dead servicemen were being contacted by detectives over the scandal.

News International said it would be "absolutely appalled and horrified" if there was any truth in the allegations and it would be immediately contacting the MoD.


MPH Solicitors - whose clients include Samantha Roberts, widow of one of the first Britons killed in Iraq in 2003 - said they were called today.

"We have been contacted this morning in connection with a possible phone-hacking on our clients, and Geraldine McCool, arising out of high-profile military inquests in 2006/2007," a statement said.

"We are making efforts to verify this information."

A News International spokesman said: "News International's record as a friend of the armed services and of our servicemen and servicewomen, is impeccable.

"Our titles have campaigned in support of the military over many years and will continue to do so. If these allegations are true we are absolutely appalled and horrified. We will be contacting the MoD immediately to try and verify the situation."

The new twist in the ongoing saga for the Sunday tabloid sparked fury amongst relatives of dead servicemen.

Graham Knight, whose son Ben was killed in the Nimrod explosion in Afghanistan in 2006, said: "It's disgusting but it doesn't surprise me."

Ms McCool, a senior lawyer who represented Mrs Roberts and was instructed at the inquest of Lance Corporal Michael Pritchard, said there was no evidence to show confidential information was obtained through hacking.

She added: "Whilst this developing story continues to shock and concern I confirm that I have never seen a news article that gave rise to concern that information had been obtained through illegal phone-hacking.

"Solicitors are cautious when leaving messages due to client confidentiality and my military clients and their families come from a background that works on a 'need to know' basis.

"I sincerely hope that any future revelations do not involve our clients and that full disclosure of the extent of this diabolical practice is now made."

Sgt Roberts, from Shipley, West Yorkshire, was accidentally shot dead by one of his own men when UK troops opened fire during a riot near Basra, just three days into the war.

Read More