We usually only publish five stories a day on the weekend, but this story warranted a sixth. Nigella Lawson – everyone’s favourite effervescent, stunningly gorgeous TV chef who has never made a dish that wasn’t delectable – was literally choked by her husband, the billionaire art collector Charles Saatchi. This incident happened IN BROAD DAYLIGHT outside a London restaurant, where photographers snapped plenty of photos and lots of people witnessed the incident… and not a goddamn one of them intervened. Lovely.
The Sunday People published the original photos and the following story:
Fellow diners and passers-by at Scott’s in Mayfair were shocked to see the advertising multimillionaire reduce his celebrity wife to tears.
Saatchi launched a tirade of angry words. Four times he grasped her around the neck with Nigella, 53, looking powerless and petrified.
At first he used only his left hand, then both. At one stage he tweaked her nose then pushed both hands in her face. Twice Nigella jerked her head backwards as if in fear.
Several times she nodded intently while the conversation became more and more heated.
By the end of the meal she was clearly distraught and in tears.
A couple on the adjacent table, who briefly chatted with Nigella earlier, turned round and gasped in alarm as they saw her in distress.
She dabbed her eyes on a linen napkin as Saatchi tapped his cigarettes impatiently on the table.
Nigella then downed her glass of red wine in one gulp and began to talk, her voice trembling.
She seemed to be trying to pacify her husband, placing a hand on his left wrist as it lay on the table.
At that moment she leaned over and kissed his right cheek.
“It was utterly shocking to watch,” said one onlooker. “I have no doubt she was scared. It was horrific, really. She was very tearful and was constantly dabbing her eyes.
“Nigella was very, very upset. She had a real look of fear on her face. No man should do that to a woman. She raised her voice and got angry but at the same time was trying to calm him down, almost like you would try to calm down a child.
“The kiss was a strange thing. He was being intimidating, threatening.
“And yet she kissed him. She appeared to be a woman who loves him but was clearly unable to stop him being abusive, frightening and disrespectful to her.”
This is disgusting. It’s also disgusting that these asshole “onlookers” could speak well enough to give a story to a fucking paper but not enough to stand up and ask if she was okay. What did they think, Saatchi was going to stand up and shoot them or something? Give me a break. A woman gets attacked – by her own husband, no less – in broad daylight and amidst plenty of people and NO ONE HELPED HER. Nice, people.
I seriously have no faith in the world, sometimes.
What’s awful about this story is that this won’t be the first time Nigella’s been abused by this asshole, and the fact that she tried to placate him shows that she’s scared of him and has been through this before. Girl, no. You need to divorce his ass and be your beautiful self WITHOUT a dude who thinks it’s totally fine to put his hands on you. Fuck that. Fuck this whole story. I hope she can get out soon. :(
Oh wait – this is DEFINITELY not the first time this shit has happened. Here there are in December 2012 at the same restaurant, discussing Saatchi’s book where he tries to get her to be quiet (the whole story and more pics are at The Daily Mail):
What the hell? Also, some reports have said that Nigella’s 17-year-old son was seen taking suitcases out to a waiting taxi, so maybe this was enough of a wake-up call to get her out (even if it was just out of embarrassment). Scotland Yard are said to be investigating the incident, which, uh… doesn’t really need investigation considering the proof is in black and white. Ugh, THIS WORLD.
You can just look at the man’s face and see what an evil dude he is. It shows. Interesting. Did she marry for money or for love? Why would she tolerate that?
OMFG!!!!! He needs a swift kick in the dick. She seems like a wonderful person; she is beautiful and clearly supportive. This asshole needs to get over himself.
He will never get over himself. He is a narcissistic wife beater. He is emotionally retarded and cannot change due to mental defect. She needs to make a new choice and ditch that asshole.
Good point. Hopefully she will do some asshole ditching and find someone who isn’t abusive, and hopefully hotter. She could do better than this dude in a lot of ways.
I blame Rihanna! But seriously why is she with that old psycho? What is wrong with these women!?!
OR Maybe they were filming a “What would you do?” show..
I had something happen to me in public that absolutely stripped me of any sense of security that I ever had about being in a public place. It is so shocking and sad, yet I believe it. I hope she gets the hell out of there.
What does he do when they’re behind closed doors??
Sadly, people watched because they like to watch.
Reminds me of the stupidest book I picked up, read 50 pages and threw it in the garbage…..Fifty Shades of Grey shows just how disturbing our culture is – that watching a dominant jerk like that – treat a woman like that – as if for show. Books like this numb our senses. I am calling another “Collective Bullshit” on the people who watch something like this.. OMG. I don’t care how rich or “powerful” someone is – someone needs to step up and say something or get the management. It’s sick and sad – but people like to watch and read. I personally won’t participate. I’d speak up to violence to women if it was in my face. It’s a community effort when its in public. What the hell is people’s deal? Gheesh.
It’s called the Bystander Effect.
Uh, Fifty Shades of Grey is about a CONSENSUAL relationship. Too bad you don’t understand the difference.