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| Rebekah Brooks cleared in phone hacking trial: How the flame-haired Murdoch lieutenant became the most powerful woman in the British media | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| And so after months of high drama at the Old Bailey, Rebekah Brooks will be cast not as the villainess but as an innocent dupe in the film scripts of the hacking scandal. | And so after months of high drama at the Old Bailey, Rebekah Brooks will be cast not as the villainess but as an innocent dupe in the film scripts of the hacking scandal. |
| A “Not Guilty” verdict may not have been the outcome film producer Gene Kirkwood hoped for after he optioned rights to a 2012 Vanity Fair magazine profile which introduced Ms Brooks to the American public and attempted to unravel the enigma of this remarkable British newswoman. “She’s a great story,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “Her rise...is almost like Great Expectations – with a moral.” The magazine article talked of its subject’s “incandescent ambition” and was headlined “Untangling Rebekah Brooks”. | A “Not Guilty” verdict may not have been the outcome film producer Gene Kirkwood hoped for after he optioned rights to a 2012 Vanity Fair magazine profile which introduced Ms Brooks to the American public and attempted to unravel the enigma of this remarkable British newswoman. “She’s a great story,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “Her rise...is almost like Great Expectations – with a moral.” The magazine article talked of its subject’s “incandescent ambition” and was headlined “Untangling Rebekah Brooks”. |
| With her distinctive glorious corkscrew mane, the most famous woman in the British media is often described as Titian-haired and, as with many red-haired subjects of the Venetian master, she has held the public transfixed. | With her distinctive glorious corkscrew mane, the most famous woman in the British media is often described as Titian-haired and, as with many red-haired subjects of the Venetian master, she has held the public transfixed. |
| She exercised a similar hold over some of the most powerful men in the worlds of politics and media. She will be wondering how they might help her now. | She exercised a similar hold over some of the most powerful men in the worlds of politics and media. She will be wondering how they might help her now. |
| The men she has charmed included the Prime Minister David Cameron, who we know sent her friendly texts - including one that talked of his “fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun” ride on her horse. Tony Blair was so close to her that he was privately promising to act as her “unofficial adviser” when the hacking scandal was at its height. They were in almost daily contact and often signed off texts with an x. | The men she has charmed included the Prime Minister David Cameron, who we know sent her friendly texts - including one that talked of his “fast, unpredictable and hard to control but fun” ride on her horse. Tony Blair was so close to her that he was privately promising to act as her “unofficial adviser” when the hacking scandal was at its height. They were in almost daily contact and often signed off texts with an x. |
| Her contact with Downing Street increased further when Andy Coulson was appointed Mr Cameron’s Director of Communications in July 2007. The Old Bailey heard that Brooks regarded Coulson as her “very best friend” and that the pair had an intermittent extra-marital affair over many years. | Her contact with Downing Street increased further when Andy Coulson was appointed Mr Cameron’s Director of Communications in July 2007. The Old Bailey heard that Brooks regarded Coulson as her “very best friend” and that the pair had an intermittent extra-marital affair over many years. |
| Most importantly all, she has enjoyed the unconditional backing of Rupert Murdoch. Observers were amazed at how he treated her almost like a daughter. He has reportedly kept her on the payroll, encouraging her to travel the world at his expense. It will be to him that she will surely turn first in planning her future career. It could be that – like Rupert’s son James – Rebekah will be found a new role in the US, where the fallout from phone hacking has not been so great. | Most importantly all, she has enjoyed the unconditional backing of Rupert Murdoch. Observers were amazed at how he treated her almost like a daughter. He has reportedly kept her on the payroll, encouraging her to travel the world at his expense. It will be to him that she will surely turn first in planning her future career. It could be that – like Rupert’s son James – Rebekah will be found a new role in the US, where the fallout from phone hacking has not been so great. |
| Her network is extensive. Along with key friends such as the PR man Matthew Freud, Brooks assembled the “Chipping Norton set”, an exclusive clique of political and media figures which mingled at social gatherings in the Cotswolds, where she lived with her racehorse training husband Charlie. | Her network is extensive. Along with key friends such as the PR man Matthew Freud, Brooks assembled the “Chipping Norton set”, an exclusive clique of political and media figures which mingled at social gatherings in the Cotswolds, where she lived with her racehorse training husband Charlie. |
| In an article in the society magazine Tatler in 2009 it was revealed that the couple liked to fly to Venice for lunch at Harry’s Bar before enjoying a spot of shopping and heading back to London in time for dinner in Jermyn Street. Weeks later, fresh revelations in The Guardian about the extent of phone-hacking at the News of the World threw her into a tail spin. | In an article in the society magazine Tatler in 2009 it was revealed that the couple liked to fly to Venice for lunch at Harry’s Bar before enjoying a spot of shopping and heading back to London in time for dinner in Jermyn Street. Weeks later, fresh revelations in The Guardian about the extent of phone-hacking at the News of the World threw her into a tail spin. |
| Watch Brooks' departure from court | |
| When Scotland Yard made its original hacking arrests in 2006, the then Rebekah Wade had already had a sparkling career as a tabloid journalist, becoming the first female editor of The Sun. But her star was not ascending and, indeed, there was speculation that she might lose her job after a succession of scoops by the rival Daily Mirror, then edited by her former News International colleague Piers Morgan. One critic noted that while the Sun editor presided over an unhappy ship, the News of the World team under Coulson was “buzzing with self-confidence” just along the corridor. | When Scotland Yard made its original hacking arrests in 2006, the then Rebekah Wade had already had a sparkling career as a tabloid journalist, becoming the first female editor of The Sun. But her star was not ascending and, indeed, there was speculation that she might lose her job after a succession of scoops by the rival Daily Mirror, then edited by her former News International colleague Piers Morgan. One critic noted that while the Sun editor presided over an unhappy ship, the News of the World team under Coulson was “buzzing with self-confidence” just along the corridor. |
| Yet, months later, her friend Coulson was obliged to resign over that first wa ve of hacking allegations. Brooks survived her wobbly period at The Sun and – despite falling circulation figures – was promoted in 2009 to chief executive of News International, making her the most powerful woman in British newspapers. | Yet, months later, her friend Coulson was obliged to resign over that first wa ve of hacking allegations. Brooks survived her wobbly period at The Sun and – despite falling circulation figures – was promoted in 2009 to chief executive of News International, making her the most powerful woman in British newspapers. |
| When the company’s largest-selling title, the News of the World, was closed down in disgrace two years later, Rupert Murdoch was adamant that no blame should fall on his adored protégé – even if her immediate boss during the handling of the scandal, Rupert’s second son James, was facing calls for his own resignation. “I’m not throwing innocent people under the bus,” he said, after rejecting her offer to quit. | When the company’s largest-selling title, the News of the World, was closed down in disgrace two years later, Rupert Murdoch was adamant that no blame should fall on his adored protégé – even if her immediate boss during the handling of the scandal, Rupert’s second son James, was facing calls for his own resignation. “I’m not throwing innocent people under the bus,” he said, after rejecting her offer to quit. |
| Tony Blair advised Rebekah Brooks to launch a 'Hutton-style' inquiry into phone hacking at the News of the World as the issue erupted into a criminal and political scandal in 2011, the jury heard Brooks, 46, has been a longstanding servant of the News Corp empire. After school in Warrington she briefly lived in Paris and her Who’s Who entry says she studied at the Sorbonne (where she attended a language course). It was an indication of her resourcefulness and uncompromising ambition. Brooks worked for Eddie Shah’s Messenger Newspapers in Warrington before joining the News of the World as a secretary at the age of 20. A little more than a decade later, she had become editor. | |
| Throughout her career, colleagues have been impressed by her relentless, mesmerising networking. Such talents are likely to serve her well as she seeks to rebuild her career, although as the mother of a two-year-old daughter she may choose to pursue the family life she has been denied by the central part she and her husband have had in what has been termed “The Trial of the Century”. For two years, she faced the prospect of bringing up her child in a prison mother and baby unit. | Throughout her career, colleagues have been impressed by her relentless, mesmerising networking. Such talents are likely to serve her well as she seeks to rebuild her career, although as the mother of a two-year-old daughter she may choose to pursue the family life she has been denied by the central part she and her husband have had in what has been termed “The Trial of the Century”. For two years, she faced the prospect of bringing up her child in a prison mother and baby unit. |
| During the Old Bailey proceedings, Brooks’s barrister, Jonathan Laidlaw QC, complained that his client was being portrayed as an “arch-criminal” starring in a “pantomime”. If she remains on the stage of British life there will be many who will continue to hiss and boo at the sight of her. But at least this still enigmatic figure is free to come and go as she pleases. | During the Old Bailey proceedings, Brooks’s barrister, Jonathan Laidlaw QC, complained that his client was being portrayed as an “arch-criminal” starring in a “pantomime”. If she remains on the stage of British life there will be many who will continue to hiss and boo at the sight of her. But at least this still enigmatic figure is free to come and go as she pleases. |