The transcripts of the official inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press. More…
Thank you.
I'd just like to add that this is not a case -- the press tried to portray it that way -- in terms of people with a high public profile, or celebrities, if you like -- it's not the Steve and Hugh show. It's -- we're here, and not with ...
Yes, because people have a right to privacy. People have a right to -- and people shouldn't be punished just because they have a high profile.
I think so, yes, because --
Yes, and I would also add that transgressions need to be punished meaningfully, because I'm sure that newspapers -- some newspapers factor in potential damages when they decide to run a big story. They can afford to take the hit. So that -- in that respect, it doesn't work.
I don't want to come up with -- I'm not an expert on what mechanism should be in place. I mean, I wish that there was no need for regulation outside the press. I wish the press were able to regulate themselves. I would like that. But they've ...
Yes.
Mm.
Yes, it can, it can. It's expensive and it's unwieldy, but yes, it can be done if you have the time and wherewithal.
I would say it's not a fair observation. It's -- you know, denials and corrections, again, after the damage has been done. The damage has been done. It can't be undone. It can be mitigated, and that's all I tried to do.
But had I not done that, it would have been damaging, and initially it was. I had to, you know, contact certain people and tell them the truth. And once I'd done that, the damage was avoided.
Once I'd done that, they quickly realised there was no substance to the story.
The reason they realised it wasn't true was because I had to make representations to people to illuminate them as to what the facts were.
As I've said in my statement, it did have an initial negative effect, quite damaging.
I think it covers the same ground as the article in the Sunday Times. The cat's out of the bag. It doesn't do to come over all "poor old me, the tabloids won't leave me alone". It doesn't particularly endear you to people, so in an ...
Yes, indeed.
Freelance. And this was for the magazine, to clarify.
And is a friend of mine.
Yes, and it was arranged by my publicist and the journalist is a -- was a friend of mine.
It was, again, supporting something -- it was definitely something, a film or something. Yes, it was a film I had -- I did in America that's called "Hamlet 2" that I was promoting.
Sorry, I don't have the -- oh, is this -- I have it, sorry.
Yes. If the ways of righting them were easier -- I mean, there's two issues, I would say. One is closing the stable door after the horse has bolted is -- only does so much good. You can't put the genie back in the bottle, so I'd rather these ...
Given a choice between constantly engaging with the press and trying to mount some sort of campaign of self-justification and saying nothing and retaining a little privacy, even though there's misinformation out there, I choose the latter. It's the lesser of two evils.
Yes. I mean, if I can elaborate on that --
(Nods head)
I beg your pardon.
Sorry?
Well, I very rarely take action about these things because -- I could expend a lot of time and energy on the existing systems of redress, but I don't want to channel all my energies into this. I'd rather spend my time writing and doing what I do for ...
I'd rather not talk about it, but if you're doing an interview, you don't want to come across as being curmudgeonly or precious and you want to support the film, so you try to be agreeable and open and not obstructive. But would I rather not talk ...
Yeah, yeah.
And when you do an interview like this, you -- once the cat's out of the bag, as it were -- I was sort of covering ground that's already in the public domain. I certainly wasn't doing an expose and spilling my guts. I was talking about things that ...
Not particularly. I mean, it's -- you know, when you do an interview -- again, this was to support a movie. I didn't choose to. It was part of the set up, I was told --
The something else is the ...
A little, but it's Piers Morgan, so I suppose it's what -- you know, it's what you expect when he interviews you. So a little, yes.
Mm-hm, mm-hm.
I can't recall. He may have done. He may have taken notes. I can't -- I can't recall. I can't remember, is the answer. He may have done. He may have done.
I've not read it for some time.
It was after midday.
Mm-hm.
Yes. He chose the venue.
Yes, yes.
Sorry, I'm not sure that that date is correct, the first date.
