Top News Online
FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/EPA
Lawson walked into court with her head held high, amidst accusations of drug abuse from her two former assistants.
LONDON — Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson admitted Wednesday in a U.K. court that she had taken cocaine a handful of times. But she denied habitually using illegal drugs and accused her ex-husband of spreading that allegation to savage her reputation.
Lawson said ex-husband Charles Saatchi, a wealthy art dealer and advertising mogul, had threatened to destroy her if she did not clear his name after he was photographed gripping her throat outside Scott’s restaurant in London, a widely published image that was soon followed by a divorce.
“He told everyone that he was taking cocaine out of my nose at Scott’s when he knows that is a lie,” Lawson said, testifying at the trial of two former assistants accused of fraudulently using the couple’s credit cards.
But when pressed for details, Lawsn first said she used cocaine twice and then added she did the drug six times with her first husband, John Diamond, when he was terminally ill with cancer. She then testified she used the drug on an additional ocassion in July 2010, by which time she was married to Saatchi.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
The British ‘domestic goddess’ claimed Saatchi said he would ‘destroy’ her if she didn’t defend him after photos surfaced showing his hand around her neck in June.
RELATED: NIGELLA LAWSON ABUSED DRUGS FOR YEARS, FORMER ASSISTANTS CLAIM IN COURT
“I have never been a drug addict. I’ve never been a habitual user,” she insisted.
Lawson, 53, appeared as a prosecution witness at the fraud trial of Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo, longtime employees who worked as nannies, cleaners and assistants in the couple’s home.
Coverage of the trial has focused more on the couple’s failed 10-year marriage and their tempestuous home life than on allegations that two women working for them were living the high life at the couple’s unknowing expense. Defense lawyers for the employees have suggested that Lawson ignored the Grillos’ lavish expenditures in return for their silence about her drug use.
Nigella Lawson walks into court in the trial of her former assistants, the Grillo sisters, who are accused of stealing money from Lawson and Saatchi during their 10-year marriage.
Known for her sensuous TV manner and “domestic goddess” image, Lawson said Saatchi had spread “false allegations that I was a habitual user and drug addict” who snorted cocaine daily.
RELATED: NIGELLA LAWSON THANKS FANS FOR SUPPORT WITH DESSERT RECIPE
“People who do that are a lot thinner than I am,” she said. “I have never been a drug addict. I have never been a habitual user.”
Lawson said she taken cocaine half a dozen times with her first husband, John Diamond, while he was dying of cancer. And she took it once again in July 2010 at a time when “I felt subjected to acts of intimate terrorism” by Saatchi.
Jean-Paul
In June, Saatchi was photographed with his hand around Lawson’s neck. The photo caused a media firestorm and led to the couple’s divorce after 10 years together.
“A friend of mine offered me some cocaine and I took it,” she said. “It completely spooked me.”
Lawson also said she had “smoked the odd joint” starting in the last year of her marriage to Saatchi.
She said she had been reluctant to testify in court because she had already been subjected to a campaign of “bullying and abuse” from Saatchi, whom she divorced in July following the throat-grabbing incident.
Oli Scarff/Getty Images
The TV chef’s highly publicized divorce from ex-husband Charles Saatchi has somewhat overshadowed the trial against the former couple’s assistants.
“He said to me at the start that if I didn’t go back to him and clear his name he would destroy me,” Lawson said.
“He started spreading false allegations of drug use,” she added. “I have been put on trial here … and in the world’s press.”
The Grillos — sisters from Calabria in southern Italy — are accused of using credit cards loaned to them by Lawson and Saatchi for household expenses and then spending 685,000 pounds (more than $ 1 million) on luxury clothes, accessories and visits to high-end hotels.
RELATED: NIGELLA LAWSON’S ASSISTANTS SHOPPED LIKE CRAZY: PROSECUTOR
STEFAN WERMUTH/REUTERS
Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo told the court that Lawson authorized their spending in exchange for silence about the celebrity chef’s alleged drug abuse.
Lawson told a jury at Isleworth Crown Court in London that Elisabetta Grillo had been “a rock” who helped her overcome the trauma of her first husband’s death in 2001. But she said the 41-year-old Grillo — known to the family as Lisa — has left her family feeling betrayed.
“I loved Lisa. My children loved Lisa,” said Lawson, who had showered Grillo with gifts, including a 7,000-pound set of false teeth. But she said her employee’s behavior became increasingly bitter and unkind to Lawson’s children.
Lawson was read a list of expenditures by the Grillos, including nights at luxury hotels and purchases from Yves St Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana and Chanel. She denied authorizing them.
“It’s very difficult when you find out that someone you have loved and trusted could behave in that way,” Lawson said, her voice breaking. “In my heart of hearts I do not believe Lisa to be a bad person. But I believe her to have not a very strong moral compass.”
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Charles Saatchi arrives at the London court in the trial against his former assistants. The art mogul previously said he ‘believes every word’ of the Grillo sisters’ accusations of Lawson’s drug abuse.
RELATED: CHARLES SAATCHI ‘HEARTBROKEN’ OVER NIGELLA LAWSON
Lawson appeared composed but tense as she was questioned about her marriage in often testy exchanges with defense lawyer Anthony Metzer.
“I don’t see why my marriage is pertinent to you,” she snapped.
She said she had treated the Grillos like family, but disputed the lawyer’s claim that Elisabetta Grillo was a surrogate mother to her two children.
“My children do not need a surrogate mother,” she said.
