Rebekah Brooks is still allegedly on News International's payroll. Photo: PA
A big song and dance was made of Rebekah Brooks’s belated decision to resign as the chief executive of News International as the phone-hacking scandal engulfed Rupert Murdoch’s empire, but it has not had any great effect upon her standard of living. I am reliably informed that she remains on the company payroll.
“My understanding is that Rupert has told her to travel the world on him for a year and then he will find a job for her when the scandal has died down,” whispers my informant.
When I call News International to inquire if Brooks is still on the payroll, they refer me to her personal publicist at Bell Pottinger. “We’re offering no comment on your query regarding Rebekah,” Steve Double tells me, helpfully.
Eamonn Holmes’s adviser
After he had his lawyers prevail upon the impressionist Jon Culshaw to desist from lampooning him for being fat, Eamonn Holmes, the Sky News presenter, has turned to Antonio Carluccio for dieting tips.
The generously proportioned restaurateur, who has lately lost some pounds himself, says Holmes sought his counsel after a recent interview. “I told him it was quite simple,” Carluccio said at opening night of Napoletango at the Coliseum.
“It is simply a matter of recognising that a stomach is actually quite small and you can get by with smaller portions.” Carluccio added that he then felt Holmes’s arm. “It was as thick as my leg,” he marvelled.
Somewhat ironically, I was taken out to a rather good lunch by a Sky News press officer the last time I noted what a big chap Holmes is. At this rate, I am going to end up every bit as big as the Michelin Man himself.
Kevin Bakhurst’s fury
Mandrake trusts that you all know who Kevin Bakhurst is as the BBC grandee is inclined to have his “do you know who I am?” moments.
A punter, who ill-advisedly concluded a recent chat with Bakhurst on a social networking site with the question “who did you say you are?”, certainly got the sharp edge of his tongue.
“Yes, I am something at BBC News – the Controller, as you say,” Bakhurst harrumphed. “And you are?” The poor wretch was too scared to identify himself for fear of recriminations.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/active/8684463/Phone-hacking-Rupert-Murdoch-tells-Rebekah-Brooks-to-travel-the-world.html
