This much I know
Max Clifford, publicist, 59, LondonGeraldine Bedell
The Observer, Sunday 9 February 2003 Article historyI cost at least
£10,000 a month. Many of my clients are paying a lot more.
I started working for myself 32 years ago, when I was 27. I'd been at
EMI before that, where I'd helped to launch the Beatles. People
thought, 'He must be good: look at the people he's worked with.' My
part in their success was totally nonexistent, but their part in my
success was huge.
Most of what I do is not getting things in the media, it's keeping
things out. The bigger the star, company or organisation, the less
important promotion becomes, and the more important protection.
Is it legitimate to embroider? Yes, all the time. Freddie Starr ate my
hamster, David Copperfield and Claudia Schiffer... I've always had a
very creative imagination and that's an important part of what I do.
I admire very few stars. I would say that Paul Newman and Muhammad Ali
have come to terms with their celebrity and see it for what it is.
But, on the whole, I basically feel quite sorry for them.
What stories am I proud of? I love to believe, rightly or wrongly,
that I played a little part in bringing down the Conservative
government.
My daughter Louise has had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. She was in
hospital on and off for 15 years. She's had hips replaced, knees
replaced, a rod put down her spine, a rib taken out, sleeping with
traction on her legs. Over that time I watched the National Health
Service, one of our proudest achievements, being destroyed. It hasn't
been put right yet, but it takes a long time to revive something
that's virtually dead.
I've heard all kinds of bad things I'm meant to have done, but as long
as the people I love - my wife, my daughter - know the truth, I'm
happy. I don't want to look at myself in the mirror and feel ashamed.
When I took on Mandy Allwood, I believed the only chance she and the
babies had was to stay out of the media spotlight. The spotlight was
going to be there whether I was involved or not. So the medical fees
were picked up by News International and they were given a place out
of the way, poachers being the best gamekeepers and all that. But as I
found out more and more about her partner Paul Hudson... knowing what
I know now, I wouldn't have got involved.
I don't know if something inherent in celebrity makes people
self-destruct, but it's something you often find.
I've never approached a client. I won't pitch for business. It comes to me.
Where I am incredibly creative is with the image of stars. They may be
seen to have women falling at their feet when I know they're gay.
Some of my best friends are madams. With major stars, if there's a
party, I control the party - nothing comes out.
I find it fascinating that we're so obsessed with sex. We're very
puritanical. But that's wonderful for me. Oddly, even the French are
interested in our scandals, though they're not interested in their
own.
The tabloids are a much nastier world than they were. Everyone's
jockeying for everyone else's job and they've got no power because
there are no unions any more, so they're more and more insecure - if
they don't do the story, someone else will.
I like it that I can get justice for people. Gary Glitter wasn't a
satisfactory legal verdict, but he can't go anywhere in the world now
without people being aware of him. That's a result as far as I'm
concerned.
I'm not happy about the grief that Mrs Mellor would have gone through,
but with no disrespect, I think that's down to David rather than Max
Clifford. The affair was out before I got involved.
Some of the nicest, kindest people I've ever known are always at it
with other people.
Money is important to me. Flying isn't that straightforward for us, so
we fly first class, and I drive a Bentley. Louise would have to be
lifted in and out of a car that was lower. But I give a lot of money
away.
If you asked my wife Liz who I look after, she'd have trouble telling
you. She's not very interested at all. She finds the entertainment
world full of very empty shallow people, which is not far wrong.
I love the mischief of it all. There's a little old lady I see every
week called Marjorie. I have a cup of tea with her before I play
tennis and I always give her a few juicy stories. And if there isn't
anything, I make it up.
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