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Catherine and Michael Case Heats Up
A celebrity wrangler for Hello! magazine admits on the witness stand that she lied to the publication about having exclusive rights to the star's wedding.
Originally posted Wednesday February 12, 2003 01:00 PM EST
Things got even juicier in London's High Court Wednesday with testimony regarding the November 2000 wedding photos of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones and their 350 guests at New York's Plaza Hotel.
The newlyweds sold exclusive photo rights to the bash to Britain's OK! magazine for $1.6 million, only to be scooped by unauthorized photos in rival Hello! magazine -- which is now being sued by the Douglases for breach of privacy and damage to their (seemingly flourishing) careers.
But on the witness stand Wednesday, reports the BBC, one of Hello!'s key contributors, the socially connected Marquesa De Varela, admitted lying to a court when she claimed she sold the couple's photo rights to Hello! She claimed that if she hadn't helped Hello! at the time, she would have put her own remunerative relationship with the publication in jeopardy.
Furthermore, the Marquesa said she was acting under instruction from Hello!'s owner when she made the statements -- which had been used at a Court of Appeal hearing in November 2000 to lift the ban preventing Hello! from publishing the wedding photos.
"I was still very concerned as to what I should do because my whole income depended on my relationship with Hello! and Eduardo (Sanchez-Junco, the owner of Hello!)," she said.
The Marquesa, who lives in Uruguay but who maintains offices in London, told the court that when Hello! failed to win the rights, she suggested hiring a paparazzo and that she even assisted in finding one. His work then appeared in Hello!, which hit the newsstands three days before OK! came out with its official wedding photos.
On Monday and Tuesday, Zeta-Jones, 33, and Douglas, 58, appeared on the stand, criticizing Hello! for invading their wedding. The case is now adjourned until Thursday.
The newlyweds sold exclusive photo rights to the bash to Britain's OK! magazine for $1.6 million, only to be scooped by unauthorized photos in rival Hello! magazine -- which is now being sued by the Douglases for breach of privacy and damage to their (seemingly flourishing) careers.
But on the witness stand Wednesday, reports the BBC, one of Hello!'s key contributors, the socially connected Marquesa De Varela, admitted lying to a court when she claimed she sold the couple's photo rights to Hello! She claimed that if she hadn't helped Hello! at the time, she would have put her own remunerative relationship with the publication in jeopardy.
Furthermore, the Marquesa said she was acting under instruction from Hello!'s owner when she made the statements -- which had been used at a Court of Appeal hearing in November 2000 to lift the ban preventing Hello! from publishing the wedding photos.
"I was still very concerned as to what I should do because my whole income depended on my relationship with Hello! and Eduardo (Sanchez-Junco, the owner of Hello!)," she said.
The Marquesa, who lives in Uruguay but who maintains offices in London, told the court that when Hello! failed to win the rights, she suggested hiring a paparazzo and that she even assisted in finding one. His work then appeared in Hello!, which hit the newsstands three days before OK! came out with its official wedding photos.
On Monday and Tuesday, Zeta-Jones, 33, and Douglas, 58, appeared on the stand, criticizing Hello! for invading their wedding. The case is now adjourned until Thursday.
Check out more on... Catherine Zeta-Jones
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