QUICK DISCLAIMER: All views & OPINIONS expressed in Matt's Column are his own and the topics are that of his own choice. Comments are welcome below, however please make them relevant to the topic only.
Despite the seriousness of the on-going phone hacking saga, how pleasantly surprised I was when Charlotte Church gave evidence against Rupert Murdoch and his News-Corp business.
Charlotte looked the professional, confident, elegant and surprisingly charming. She gave her evidence in what seemed to be a truthful and convincing manner, she had basic etiquette and seemed to be nothing like the media drunk she has been made out to be in the newspapers for many years.
She revealed when giving evidence that she had waved a £100’000 fee in order to perform at Rupert Murdoch’s wedding back in 1999 and as a result would be given favourable news coverage in all his news outlets, channels and sources. She stated that she felt “betrayed” by the media tycoon as she felt that the newspapers had “attacked” her throughout her career.
Performing at the wedding could have given her a £100’000 fortune at the age of 13 and Charlotte openly admitted that she wanted to do that, however was persuaded by management to take him up on the offer of favourable news coverage as she was warned that he was a very “powerful man.”
In her witness statement to the Leveson Inquiry into press standards, she said: ‘Despite my teenage business head screaming, 'Think how many Tamagotchies you could buy!!' 'I was pressured into taking the latter option.
'This strategy failed... for me. In fact Mr Murdoch’s newspapers have since been some of the worst offenders, so much so that I have sometimes felt that there has actually been a deliberate agenda.’
Of course this statement was denied by MR Murdoch’s company and instead insisted that her performance at the wedding had always been a “surprise.”
But she replied that Mr Murdoch had personally insisted she should sing Pie Jesu, despite her pointing out it was a funeral requiem – and said she flew to New York on his private jet for the wedding.
Miss Church told the inquiry that her childhood fame made her a ‘bankable commodity’ and exposed her to appalling psychological pressures.
She then ended by saying, that her fame exposed her to illegal phone hacking, blackmail attempts and kidnap plots.
It left her unable to enjoy normal relationships as a teenager, she said, and her first two serious boyfriends both sold intimate stories about her.
Maybe Miss Church has been misjudged? Her drunken escapades have certainly been well documented throughout her career, thus turning her into a media victim and taking away the fact that she is an extremely talented singer. I have always been a fan of her voice (not necessarily her early years!) however, even her latest album release last year was seemingly pointless as the focus was on herself rather than what her next single release was. She just may get her own back on the press it seems!
The phone hacking has turned into something far more serious than anyone first thought when it was first announced surrounding the shamed News of the World. Then again of course it could be said, how on earth else would they get their exclusive stories? A fair point, though solely just the News of the World involved? Certainly not! That aside, I am not ashamed to admit that I really do miss the Sunday mornings of indulging in the News of the World, it just seemed to offer stories of which no other paper has managed to muster up since. News Corps's speedy decision in axing the newspaper may have just been the wrong one... was there any point in stopping the paper so speedily when the issues weren’t even linked to just that tabloid? In the case of Charlotte Church mind, it seems all her years of negative perceptions may now be at an end.
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