A few weeks ago, I received an email from a well-known male celebrity – a household name – who, in recent years, has been exposed for partaking in some ‘bad behaviour’.
I would go into more detail but, for reasons that will become clear, I cannot.
This celebrity had been irked by a story I had written about his misdeeds. He has form for getting in touch directly with journalists and, after it was published, he emailed me telling me that my words had consequences – and that one day I would have to live with the knowledge that I had pushed someone over the edge.
Knowing of similar messages he has sent to fellow writers, I could only presume he was talking about his own mental health.
I am unable to share his identity: he labelled the letter with an instruction that it was ‘not for publication’. But I also know that this individual has a history of giving journalists negative stories about his colleagues and other celebrities in a bid to damage their reputations.
He is not alone in playing the mental health card.
Another British male star of equal prominence has been furious at how he has been portrayed in the media following claims that he has cheated on his partner (he is a generally deeply unpleasant individual). He instructed his lawyers to email me: ‘Every time Katie Hind writes about our client, it affects his mental health.’
Welcome to today’s new form of celebrity injunction, where male celebrities – and they are almost always men – will attempt to stop their misdemeanours being revealed by claiming that they are suffering from mental ill health, even in some cases threatening to take their own life.
Wynne Evans’s crisis PR briefed the Press that his client was ‘in a bad way’
He used the same PR as Italian dancer Graziano Di Prima, who was sacked by Strictly last July
Former BBC heavyweight Huw Edwards released a statement through his wife to say he was suffering mentally
Of course, some of these individuals no doubt do suffer from serious mental illness. But it is curious that, in a society that is increasingly aware of mental health conditions, these celebrities only choose to share their woes once they are caught.
Only last week we saw this unsettling phenomenon play out in the case of Wynne Evans, the Welsh radio presenter and Go Compare star-turned-Strictly amateur, who was exposed by The Mail on Sunday for using the vile term ‘spit-roast’ – slang for a three-way sex act – towards the show’s presenter and former professional dancer Janette Manrara.
Three days after his comments were revealed, he was axed from the Strictly tour and revealed he would be taking time off from his regular BBC Wales breakfast show. Evans’s next move was text-book: he hired a crisis PR who briefed the Press that his client was ‘in a bad way’.
In fact, he used the same publicist, Mark Borkowski, who represented another Strictly star, Italian dancer Graziano Di Prima, who was sacked last July for kicking his partner Zara McDermott during rehearsals.
Borkowski attempted to stop further coverage of this story by speaking to BBC News. He told viewers Di Prima had ‘literally cut himself off from civilisation,’ adding: ‘I think that’s a wise thing to do, supported by his wife. He’s coming to terms with his mental health issues.’
We were later briefed by Borkowski that the dancer was back home in Sicily, having apparently lost everything.
Of course, it’s terribly sad if Di Prima feels that way. But I have seen the video clip of the moment he kicked Ms McDermott – and his behaviour was truly shocking. He could have hurt her badly.
When I was referring to this clip in a story I was writing and approached Borkowski for comment, I received two copies of a legal letter: one via email, the other hand-delivered, reminding me of Di Prima’s mental health.
Of course, had he not kicked his partner, none of this would have been necessary. His ‘mental health’ came into the equation only when he was caught.
Another example is the disgraced ex-This Morning host Phillip Schofield, who wept in an interview with BBC presenter Amol Rajan in the days after he admitted to having had an affair with a much younger runner on the ITV show. (Before this appearance, Schofield had lied about his behaviour to me and the Mail when we tried to expose it – until finally admitting to his misconduct in an unprecedented mea culpa to this newspaper.)
When he sat down with Rajan, he weepily addressed viewers, saying: ‘Do you want me to die? Because that is where I am at,’ and went on to share how his daughters have effectively been on suicide watch.
‘My girls saved my life,’ he said. ‘They’ve been by my side for a month because they’re scared to let me out of their sight… and they said to me, “Don’t you dare do this on [our] watch.”’
In last November’s one-man reality show, Cast Away, Schofield again attacked those who had exposed his affair. He compared himself to Caroline Flack, the troubled X Factor presenter who took her own life at her London flat in 2020 after being accused of beating up her boyfriend.
‘How much do you want a man to take, and are you truly only happy when he’s dead?’ Schofield asked. ‘This is how Caroline Flack felt… and it didn’t stop.’
Even my fellow journalists who had supported the presenter throughout his ordeal were furious he mentioned Ms Flack.
Then there was BBC heavyweight Huw Edwards who, after it was revealed he had been paying a younger man for explicit pictures, put out a statement through his wife Vicky Flind that he was mentally unwell. ‘The events of the last few days have greatly worsened matters. He has suffered another serious episode and is now receiving in-patient hospital care where he’ll stay for the foreseeable future,’ she said.
As a result, the media were too nervous that he may have been wronged to reveal the fact that he had later split from Ms Flind. That is, until he pleaded guilty to ‘making indecent images of children’ in Southwark Crown Court.
On another shocking occasion, I heard that a star (who, again, I cannot name) had been behaving appallingly towards a woman. When I attempted to write about it, his lawyer sprang into action to tell me he was on suicide watch. I spiked my story – but, days later, he was back at work.
While I was sorry he was suffering, the fact is he was able, via his expensive lawyers, to stop his terrible behaviour from becoming public. He is still working today. Devastatingly, the woman involved is not, because she is so damaged by his actions.
The list goes on.
During my 20-year career covering showbusiness, I have never experienced so many attempts to shut down legitimate reporting by citing mental health problems.
Perhaps it’s a cheaper way of silencing the Press than a superinjunction – and certainly more straightforward to enforce.
But it is preventing reporting of some very serious misdemeanours by the rich and famous. And that is simply not right.
