Was that actually intended though, I thought it was autoerotic asphyxiation gone wrong.... :unsure:

 

That was the opinon of (the 1980/90s British cross of Courtney Love & Cheryl Cole) Paula Yates which was spread across the tabloid media at the time in several paid interviews.

 

However:

 

The New South Wales Coroner determined that Hutchence's death was the result of suicide. The Coroner's Report states: "An analysis report of the deceased's blood indicates the presence of alcohol, cocaine, Prozac and other prescription drugs. On consideration of the entirety of the evidence gathered I am satisfied that the deceased was in a severe depressed state on the morning of the 22nd November, 1997, due to a number of factors, including the relationship with Paula Yates and the pressure of the on-going dispute with Sir Robert Geldof, combined with the effects of the substances that he had ingested at that time. As indicated I am satisfied that the deceased intended and did take his own life."

 

In 2000, Patricia Glassop and Tina Hutchence, Michael's mother and half-sister, gave an interview on "This Morning" asserting that Paula Yates had made threats of harming herself and the baby if Michael Hutchence did not marry her on more than one occasion; and, that they believed she said this again on the morning of his death, directly precipitating his suicide.

 

Kym Wilson and her then boyfriend Andrew Reyment were the last people to see Michael alive as they left him at 4:50 A.M.; he was still awaiting a phone call from London concerning whether Yates would be able to bring his daughter Tiger to Australia. Michael Hutchence's last outgoing phone calls were to his manager, Martha Troup, and his former long-time girlfriend, Michele Bennett, who stated that Hutchence was crying, tired and said he needed to see her. Bennett arrived at his door soon after at approximately 10:40 A.M. but, there was no answer. The message he left for his manager was "I've f-ing had it." Hutchence's body was discovered by a hotel maid at 11:50 A.M.

 

Hutchence's sister and mother were exposed as shameless gold-diggers after Hutchence's death - they were many-years estranged when he died, and even Hutchence's late father went on record to say he didn't think he intended to kill himself and to ignore any claims by his ex-wife.

 

And I agree - and I also think the comparison to Courtney Love for Paula Yates was cruel - Yates was a talented, intelligent and highly successful journalist - talent, intelligence and sucess are 3 things you could never accuse Ms Love of.....

 

And has the British tabloid press ever had more blood on their hands than when Yates died? She was publicly crucified by the gutter red-tops over her alleged affairs whilst married to 'Saint' Bob Geldof..... yet he got off with nothing more than a 'best Dad in the world' tag... despite his particularly cruel treatment of Yates throughout their marriage (she even had to ask to use the telephone!). Geldof is a loathesome, foul-mouthed bully who was a horrendous husband and father - up until Yates died.

 

And remember, it was Geldof who caused the upset on the morning Hutchence died - by going to court attempting to stop Yates taking her children to Australia that Christmas....

Hutchence's sister and mother were exposed as shameless gold-diggers after Hutchence's death - they were many-years estranged when he died, and even Hutchence's late father went on record to say he didn't think he intended to kill himself and to ignore any claims by his ex-wife.

 

And I agree - and I also think the comparison to Courtney Love for Paula Yates was cruel - Yates was a talented, intelligent and highly successful journalist - talent, intelligence and sucess are 3 things you could never accuse Ms Love of.....

 

And has the British tabloid press ever had more blood on their hands than when Yates died? She was publicly crucified by the gutter red-tops over her alleged affairs whilst married to 'Saint' Bob Geldof..... yet he got off with nothing more than a 'best Dad in the world' tag... despite his particularly cruel treatment of Yates throughout their marriage (she even had to ask to use the telephone!). Geldof is a loathesome, foul-mouthed bully who was a horrendous husband and father - up until Yates died.

 

And remember, it was Geldof who caused the upset on the morning Hutchence died - by going to court attempting to stop Yates taking her children to Australia that Christmas....

 

I think we are going to have to strongly agree to disagree here.

 

This Yates you are describing as "talented, intelligent and highly successful journalist" first break was when she posed naked in Penthouse magazine by utilizing the notoriety of her (acting, as we now know her paternal father was Hughie Green) father Jess Yates, who was known as "the Bishop" and presented the ITV religious programme Stars On Sunday, BEFORE she got a job as a music journalist, writing a column called "Natural Blonde" in the Record Mirror and therefore began to meet pop and rock stars including the lead singer/songwriter of the Boomtown Rats.

 

As for her literature, well I guess Rock Stars in Their Underpants & Sex With Paula Yates are literature classics on a par with Angel Uncovered & Sapphire by Katie Price.

 

As for her marriage forget the tabloids, I think the very fact that our legal courts enabled Bob Geldof to obtain full custody of his own three daughters says something.

 

Especially on today of all days when this story has broken: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertain...0-1225831541883

 

So our British courts regard Kerry Katona as a fit mother to keep custody of her children, yet they did not regard Paula Yates as a fit mother. Says it all doesn't it.

I think it's you who has been blinded by the tabloids, thisispop, not me.

 

Paula Yates was a fantastic lady - witty, clever and beautiful... your sarcasm on her writing fails to mention the hundreds of columns she wrote for both tabloids, broadsheets and magazines, and the 2 books you pick of her numerous releases are her most tongue-in-cheek and whimsical - both of which I own as a matter of fact, and both, regardless of subject matter, written in her own acerbic, wry and deeply funny style.

 

It's too easy to write her off as a dumb blonde who hung off rock star's arms - that's the 'official' portrait lapped up by many, surprisingly including yourself, it seems.

 

So she posed nude for Penthouse. So what? Wasn't posing naked the way many, many women got their break in entertainment? And still is to some degree.

 

The reason Yates lost custody of his children was simple - Michael Hutchence. It's well documented Yates barely even drank before meeting him, nevermind took drugs, something she was always extremely dismissive of before they got together. Her decline was plain to see after she hooked up with him - especially after his death. And the way she was relentlessly hounded after Hutchence died was shameful, utterly utterly shameful. It was a public flogging, an execution for the salivating masses - and the whole circus made me feel physically sick.

 

There's one man to blame for the death of 2 people here - and he's currently residing in a ghastly country pile in Kent, swimming in his multi-millions, whilst goading us about not giving enough money to the starving.

 

So yes, Richard, I think we are going to disagree quite strongly here....

 

There's one man to blame for the death of 2 people here - and he's currently residing in a ghastly country pile in Kent, swimming in his multi-millions, whilst goading us about not giving enough money to the starving.

 

eh?...you blame geldof?.. why? i was under the impression that yates left him of her own accord and wasnt dumped or driven out by him. her choice to leave, her choice to shack up with hutchence, her choice to drink and take drugs.

 

i broadly agree with you though about your opinion of her.

Yes, I absolutely blame Geldof for the deaths of both Yates and Hutchence.

 

Remember, 'Saint' Bob is one of the most powerful men in the entertainment business - plus one of the richest - he has contacts very high up in the media - and it was, strangely enough, this very same media that crucified his wife when she finally left him after years of him controlling her every move.

 

It was 'Saint' Bob who made the phone call to Hutchence the morning he died - angrily refusing to let the children go to Oz for the Christmas holidays - and also 'Saint' Bob who took legal action to prevent the kids leaving the country.

 

There's also the issue of the drugs found in a Smarties tube under Yates's bed - something she all along, right up until her death, blamed on a plant from the Geldof camp to further taint her public image - and to distance herself from her children who Geldof was cruelly using as a weapon against her.

 

Yates was known as someone who got drunk on a glass of wine and who loathed drug taking up til she met Hutchence, and no, Geldof didn't force her to use drink and drugs at all - but I think his controlling of her life, even after she finally left him, contributed to her downward spiral.

 

 

Yes, I absolutely blame Geldof for the deaths of both Yates and Hutchence.

 

Remember, 'Saint' Bob is one of the most powerful men in the entertainment business - plus one of the richest - he has contacts very high up in the media - and it was, strangely enough, this very same media that crucified his wife when she finally left him after years of him controlling her every move.

 

It was 'Saint' Bob who made the phone call to Hutchence the morning he died - angrily refusing to let the children go to Oz for the Christmas holidays - and also 'Saint' Bob who took legal action to prevent the kids leaving the country.

 

There's also the issue of the drugs found in a Smarties tube under Yates's bed - something she all along, right up until her death, blamed on a plant from the Geldof camp to further taint her public image - and to distance herself from her children who Geldof was cruelly using as a weapon against her.

 

Yates was known as someone who got drunk on a glass of wine and who loathed drug taking up til she met Hutchence, and no, Geldof didn't force her to use drink and drugs at all - but I think his controlling of her life, even after she finally left him, contributed to her downward spiral.

 

I kind of agree with a lot of this tbh... Geldof did a lot of good with regards to famine in Africa... Doesn't mean I'd want to live with the bloke though....

 

I would say that Geldof was quite a bullying, domineering character tbh... A lot of the stuff I've read about him actually backs up a LOT of what Russ has said here....

 

I fell for the "Saint Bob" hype, then I woke up when I started to read around the issue... The man is no Saint... In fact, he's a stinking hypocrite....