When I meet new people - on dates, at parties, on holiday - and they ask what I do, I take great pride in answering that I am Celebrity Director at Grazia. I have worked in the showbiz sphere for a decade, having started out in PR before moving into newspapers and magazines, and I find the world of the A-List absolutely fascinating. Many people echo the sentiment, and they have questions. Top of the list? Who are your sources?
Obviously, I don't say. It's rule number one to protect sources, whether they are sharing snippets about celebrities or leaking an explosive government dossier. But what I can say is that if some of their names ever did come out, you would be shocked. Sometimes, as in the slasher movies of yore, the call is coming from inside the house.
Recently, extracts from new book Finding Freedom claimed that Meghan Markle used to actively court press in her days as an actress, and informed the paparazzi of her whereabouts on occasion. Last month, Rebekah Vardy alleged that Coleen released stories about herself to tabloid journalists. I don't know if that's true in either case, and the Rebekah v Coleen case is continuing, but anyone who thinks that sort of tactic is absurd needs to know that it is actually rife throughout the industry.
People ask me if the quotes from 'close friends', 'insiders' or 'sources close to' certain celebrities are actually just made up by opportunistic journalists to fit certain narratives. And while I'm sure that does occur, I've never witnessed it first-hand. Rather, celebrity journalists have little black books full of acquaintances, friends and contacts who offer genuine, accurate insights and reveal unknown scoops. Sometimes, all you have to do is ask. But it gets more extreme than that.
If you ever wonder how the paparazzi found out that an A-List couple were having a romantic al fresco dinner in a leafy pocket of London, more often than not it's because they have been tipped off. Sometimes, it's a call from a publicist who hopes that a front page photo of their client with a Hollywood star might be enough to clinch a high profile new role or campaign. Often, it's the celebrity themselves, who may have negotiated a free handbag, a car or even a holiday in exchange for a few snaps.
Some are not beyond ringing news desks or magazine editors, to personally inform them of a new shred of gossip. Many celebrities cherish privacy, of course, but others thrive off attention, especially at the beginning of their careers. As their fame wanes, their calls may not be returned. If their star rises, they may regret ever entering the maze at all.
When Coleen began to suspect that her private problems were being offered to a newspaper, she says she was upset and distressed. But she is not the only one to have information allegedly shared, sometimes for money, but often for clout or to stay in favour with influential editors. Often it's about hoping that, in sharing intel now, you will be looked after - protected, even - when your own private problems become known. Some talent will give you news of their break-up or career misfire because they know that a less sympathetic title will find out eventually and they want to release it on their own terms. An agent might give you a scoop on their A-Lister's divorce - always a big seller - with the understanding that you will give another of their clients some column inches when they need it.
In my time in the field, I have received phone calls, emails and DMs from relations of celebrities, sharing stories about their famous siblings (and in one case, offspring). I've been tipped off to new celebrity relationships by the people who've just been broken up with and left behind, seething and in need of vengeance. News of a major casting choice for a film has been broken to me by the actor who didn't get the job and hoped that the leak may inconvenience the production team. I once received a call from someone saying their famous nemesis was very, very ill and that I should break the news of their inevitable death. I let that one lie.
Peers at other magazines and newspapers tell me that they receive the same sorts of correspondence, and balk when some of the more famous culprits complain of privacy concerns in glossy magazine profiles. I can count at least five celebrities who have expressed anger at being followed everywhere in such interviews, when in fact they spent the early days of their careers calling the paparazzi themselves. To be honest, I can see where they're coming from, and I don't agree with some other journalists who say that celebrities - Meghan Markle, for example - don't have a right to privacy when they have courted attention in the past. One can, in my opinion, withdraw this permission. You can realise that you have entered a complicated game, and decide that you don't want to be a part of it anymore. You are entitled to say 'that's enough now, I played along, but I'm done.' But I do wish that, just once, some of these people would own up to the fact that they were active participants at one point.
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