Nigella Lawson choked in public by her husband, no one cares

[2xx1xy1JD]

He's such a prick.

Look, I get loud, friendly argument and debate. I'm a lawyer, I'm Jewish, I'm married to an Israeli and I've worked in an Italian office. [How's that for maximum number of gratuitous stereotypes in a sentence?] I understand volume and hand gestures.

Grabbing the throat? Never, ever. Repeatedly holding someone's throat is called choking them, and there is absolutely no way to spin "repeatedly holding her throat" and her going off in tears as anything but assault.

[Closed Womb]

Behind the trees and all, I can't blame any passersby for not doing anything. They may not have know it was going on. Surely some in the restaurant should have seen?

But, for all that is good and right in the world, the one person* who should have done something is the damn photographer that couldn't put down the camera long enough to care for a human life. The one person we know, for certain, was aware of the attack. That person.

* you know, the one person other than the husband who could have stopped being an abusive dick at any moment.

[OkToBeTakei]

Wow. Really interested to see how this plays out. My initial thought was 'The Sunday People.' That's a total gossip rag, generally not to be believed. But then I see Saatchi has responded.

This guy is practically a recluse. Not exactly naive to the press, would lend some 'no smoke,' to the story.

[RachelB]

Holy shit. I hope she will be okay. And I am really upset that of all the people there, nobody had her back.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Behind the trees and all, I can't blame any passersby for not doing anything. They may not have know it was going on. Surely some in the restaurant should have seen?

But, for all that is good and right in the world, the one person* who should have done something is the damn photographer that couldn't put down the camera long enough to care for a human life. The one person we know, for certain, was aware of the attack. That person.

* you know, the one person other than the husband who could have stopped being an abusive dick at any moment.

I'm glad, though, that the photographer DID take the pics. While paparazzi are generally worse than useless, in this case she now has solid proof of his abuse. A scuffle could have devolved into the photographer's word against Saatchi's. Now, it's clear to the whole world what Saatchi did. While Nigella may also be feeling mortified about the coverage, it may also prompt her to leave for good.

[PennySycamore]

This is true, in psychology this is known as the "Bystander Effect." In 1964, Kitty Genovese was stalked by a man, then raped and murdered by him. There were multiple people who heard her cries for help and even witnessed protions of the attack, but did nothing to help. Scientists wanted to further study why no one did more to help Genovese during the attack.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bystander_effect

I had a draft half-written about Kitty's murder. I think I first heard about it in a high school psychology class back in 1970. There were something like 38 neighbors who heard her screams and pleas for help. Someone did call the police as the attack began but there reports were unclear, but they didn't respond till too late . A man named Karl Ross did eventually get hold of the cops and they responded pronto. Unfortunately, it was too late for Kitty and she died en route to the hospital. The perp, Winton Moseley, got up in the middle of the night to murder someone and women made easier targets. He actually left the scene of the crime for a few minutes and came back to finish her off. Sadly enough, there was another woman, Susan Zahler, beaten to death in an apartment overlooking the murder scene ten years later. Once again, people heard her screams and did nothing.

FWIW, Mosley is incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility in New York. The likelihood he'll ever get out are approaching zero. He's 78 and has never shown an ounce of remorse for murdering Kitty or the two other women he killed.

[Sumeri]

I know US isn't always the best source, but looks like she took the kids and left :clap:

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-new ... os-2013176

[PennySycamore]

I know US isn't always the best source, but looks like she took the kids and left :clap:

http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-new ... os-2013176

Good for her!

[2xx1xy1JD]

I had a draft half-written about Kitty's murder. I think I first heard about it in a high school psychology class back in 1970. There were something like 38 neighbors who heard her screams and pleas for help. Someone did call the police as the attack began but there reports were unclear, but they didn't respond till too late . A man named Karl Ross did eventually get hold of the cops and they responded pronto. Unfortunately, it was too late for Kitty and she died en route to the hospital. The perp, Winton Moseley, got up in the middle of the night to murder someone and women made easier targets. He actually left the scene of the crime for a few minutes and came back to finish her off. Sadly enough, there was another woman, Susan Zahler, beaten to death in an apartment overlooking the murder scene ten years later. Once again, people heard her screams and did nothing.

FWIW, Mosley is incarcerated at Clinton Correctional Facility in New York. The likelihood he'll ever get out are approaching zero. He's 78 and has never shown an ounce of remorse for murdering Kitty or the two other women he killed.

Super Freakonomics makes the case that the behavior of the bystanders in the apartment building was misreported:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/superfreakon ... b9rfpyKK80

[Rescinded and Mended]

we were taught in school to be specific in our cries for help if we're ever attacked. As in, don't shout "help!", shout "you, man in the blue jacket, help me!". It supposedly makes it harder to ignore for the person.

That makes good sense - much harder to walk away if the plea is personal. I think a lot of people would have a hard time living with themselves if they walked away from an attack and the victim was horribly assaulted and died.

Slightly OT, I learned about Damien Hirst in art class. I've always thought his most widely recognized work of art was a bit ridiculous, "For the Love of God." Hirst comes from money, and spent $20 million constructing a human skull composed of platinum and diamonds. Some argue it represents the belief that you can't take material wealth with you when you die, others, the idea that consumerism will endure even when aesthetic ideals vanish from this world. At any rate, Hirst auctioned the skull off for 5 times what he spent on creating it. To me, it represents a ridiculous waste of resources, but maybe others get more artistic value out of the piece than I do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Love_of_God

[ladyaudley]

Saatchi tries to spin Nigella and the kids (who aren't children. They're 19, 19 and 17) as his doing and benign, too:

"The paparazzi were congregated outside our house after the story broke yesterday morning, so I told Nigella to take the kids off till the dust settled.""

EDIT:

just saw a tumblr post about this and it included this picture:

http://24.media.tumblr.com/5c0ae2b2541e ... o1_500.jpg

note that she's wearing a different outfit in it! This wasn't an isolated incident.

[fundiefan]

Why didn't the photographer go say something rather than snapping pictures?

The article seems to take an extremely light approach to the events.

I hope she feels reverberation from the public display and uses it as strength to get the fuck out.

[GolightlyGrrl]

Poor Nigella. This is horrifying. I can't believe some didn't rush to her aid or do something to help. I'm glad people didn't have this attitude when I was being mugged and beaten and was crying out for help. Thank goodness for decent people who do want to help and most importantly, DO!!!!!

I hope Nigella gets out of that mess and gets the help and support she needs.

Now I'm just waiting for someone like Sunshine Mary to remark on this saying Nigella deserved this or secretly wants to be abused.

[littlemommy]

Yeah, Lori and Sunshine Mary will praise the husband for being a strong, dominant leader and speculate that Nigella had fantastic, submissive make up sex that night.

[NurseNell]

..at least not enough to do something.

Warning: pictures are horrifying and potentially triggering.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ni ... ee-1955564

Are they fundamentalists? I've never heard of them.

[So Many Lies]

this is terrible. unfortunately, I think it's worth noting that this is Charles Saatchi we're talking about, and I'm not holding my breath he'll be in any real legal trouble. for those that might not know, besides being a multimillionaire Saatchi is basically the king of the contemporary art world. if he sponsors an artist that's pretty much it-they are automatically an overnight success. he is/was "responsible" for Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, and Jenny Saville to name a few. for those not involved in the art world, those are BIG names, Damien Hirst in particular who is valued at something like 215 million pounds, which is obviously insane for a business man, let alone an artist. so as sad and unjust as it may be, a man with as much money and power as Saatchi probably isn't going to be doing much in the way of jail time anytime soon.

My thoughts exactly. Some people already knew about this "temper"...they kind of tip toe around him. But he's the man, extremely well-connected, and he won't be doing any jail time. No one will say anything, especially if they want to stay in their chosen careers.

[tanksmom]

I was ticked about this story before but now I'm just really pissed off. Who the hell does he think he is to put his hand over her mouth much less choke her so she can't talk. This is the shit that the fundies want to make common place. Don't like what your woman has to say, shut her up and if she doesn't stop when you won't let her speak than she was asking for it right?

This story makes me all sorts of ragey. Run Nigella and don't look back. You are a wonderful example of what you can do with your life, don't let this douchenozzle get the better of you.

[FlorenceHamilton]

This is what my first husband did to me. We were both high profile professionals in our community. When it became public, I was the one who was shamed and eventually pressured to leave the community.

This is a reality that still boggles my mind.

[tabitha2]

http://t.entertainment.msn.com/uk-polic ... os?toc=ent

[OkToBeTakei]

http://t.entertainment.msn.com/uk-police-looking-into-nigella-throat-grab-photos?toc=ent

Your move Nigella. I hope she does the best for herself.

[tanksmom]

Sorry for the multiple posts but "a playful tiff" WTF is that? You choked out your wife in full view of the public and are trying to cover your ass. I don't know what the hell you call a "playful tiff" but where I come from that is flat out assault!

[NurseNell]

What was he doing to her nose? I couldn't figure that one out.

[OkToBeTakei]

What was he doing to her nose? I couldn't figure that one out.

Looked sore! Photos are very difficult to interpret. But even here it is being reported he was cautioned. So it means somebody reported.

Press does have it's uses. Even a scum rag like 'The Sunday People.'

[laura oz]

What was he doing to her nose? I couldn't figure that one out.

I believe in Saatchi-land that's called "playfully tweaking". She should run like hell. If he does that in public, what does he do in private?

ETA I just read that she took her kids and left. Thank God. :clap: I hope she stays strong.

[tenth muse]

What makes me furious is the difference in attitudes. If it had been a random man walking into the restaurant and attacking Nigella- it wouldn't have been a 'private matter'. It would have been a huge deal in the restaurant and I bet you the police would have been called.

Oh, but it's her husband. That makes it okay.It's just a domestic.

I can't believe people still think like that.