Husky-voiced broadcaster Mariella Frostrup (pictured), who caught the eye of George Clooney in his pre-Amal days, has criticised the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment and inequality
Husky-voiced broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, who caught the eye of George Clooney in his pre-Amal days, has criticised the #MeToo campaign against sexual harassment and inequality.
The 55-year-old describes ‘my own growing unease about jumping on a driverless train that is fast creating a Communist-era putsch — where the guilty, the slightly guilty, the possibly guilty and the entirely guilt-free are all crammed into the same Pandora’s Box’.
The #MeToo social media protest became a global phenomenon following the revelations surrounding sex predator Harvey Weinstein. ‘The female solidarity in evidence for #MeToo is very welcome but armed with only slogans, dresses and accusations, are we sure justice is being served?’ adds Frostrup.
‘I believe in “innocent until proven guilty” — unlike the current fashion.
‘Over history, the outraged mob has drawn our attention to injustices, but rarely is it the key to lasting change.’
While actresses wore black dresses at the recent Baftas in solidarity with #MeToo, Frostrup was delighted actress Frances McDormand defied the trend.
‘Was I the only person who let out a low-level whoop when Best Actress Frances McDormand took to the stage in her colourful costume,’ asks Frostrup, ‘and later in the week emitted a loud groan when Jennifer Lawrence’s plunging, anatomy-displaying gown stood out for all the wrong reasons among the sensibly dressed male cast?’
Frostrup, a mother of two who is married to human rights lawyer Jason McCue, has previously said she misses the male attention she used to enjoy when younger.
‘When you get to my age, you think any attention is welcome,’ she said, ‘and you feel really stupid you turned it down in the past by thinking: “Don’t say that about me, I am a feminist.”’
The outgoing High Commissioner for Brunei Darussalam bid farewell to the Queen’s representative, the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, at St James’s Palace this week.
He was billed in the Court Circular as ‘His Excellency Major General Dato Paduka Seri Haji Aminuddin Ihsan Bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin’.
Let’s hope he didn’t have to be introduced by his full name.
Former newsreader Angela Rippon, 73, clearly has no intention of going gently into the good night.
‘There used to be a view that people should grow old gracefully, retire from public life, sit in a chair and crochet blankets. I was never going to do that.
‘I’m not conventional and I love trying new things. That’s what I mean by “ageing disgracefully”. I go to places and meet people most would give their right arm to. It’s never occurred to me to retire.’
Sadie and kids push boat out for swimmer launch
She was once the decadent party-loving queen of the Primrose Hill set, but now Jude Law’s ex-wife Sadie Frost has handed the baton on to the next generation.
She posted this picture online of herself larking about at the launch of her Frost French swimwear line with daughter son Rafferty, 21, and daughter Iris, 17, and captioned it ‘couple of kooks’ .
She posted this picture online of herself larking about at the launch of her Frost French swimwear line with daughter son Rafferty, 21, and daughter Iris, 17, and captioned it ‘couple of kooks’
Sadie, 52, married Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp when she was 22 and left him for Hollywood heartthrob Jude Law. She and Jude divorced in 2003 after six years of marriage, allegedly following a ‘wife-swapping’ episode with designer pal Pearl Lowe and her husband, drummer Danny Goffey.
Sadie has one son, Finlay, 27, with Kemp, and three children with Law: Rafferty, Iris and Rudy, 15. Last month she revealed she had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
An article on November 5, 2016 entitled ‘How loved up Gary Lineker and his ex Danielle shocked fellow passengers with their amorous display on-board a British Airways flight’ reported claims made by a third party that Gary and Danielle had engaged in lewd and inappropriate sexual behaviour in a public place in front of young children.
While the article was published in good faith, we have since been informed by Gary and Danielle, and accept, that these claims are false.
We apologise for any distress and embarrassment caused.