Charles Saatchi revealed Nigella’s “guilty secret” in a letter to Isleworth Crown Court during a fraud hearing against two of the celebrity chef’s former assistants.
Dubbing his former wife “Hi-gella”, Saatchi said Nigella was so “off her head” on drugs, she let former assistants Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo spend more than $500,000 on taxis, flights and designer clothes.
“I am concerned that Miss Lawson gave the defendants permission to use the accounts for personal purposes whilst under the influence of drugs and/or that Miss Lawson has no credible recollection of events as a result of drug abuse.”
The Grillo sisters supported Saatchi’s allegations, telling the court Nigella allowed them to spend whatever they wanted on her corporate credit card in exchange for keeping their silence about her drug habit.
Saatchi and Nigella had been due to testify together but he sent her an email on October 10 to say that he had changed sides after the former assistants sent him written statements detailing their version of events, including explosive claims Nigella had been giving drugs to her 19-year-old daughter Cosima, known as Mimi.
“They will get off on the basis that you and Mimi were so off your heads on drugs you allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked,” Saatchi’s email to Nigella read.
The Grillos full statements – in which they make numerous drug allegations against Nigella, which Saatchi says he “believed every word” – have not been read out in court.
Judge Robin Johnson will now rule on whether the fraud trial should be abandoned. If it goes ahead, Nigella will be questioned in court about her alleged drug problems.
Nigella hired Elisabetta Grillo, 41, in 1999 to help care for her daughter Cosima and son Bruno. Her sister Francesca, 35, was hired in 2003.
Both were sacked in July last year when Saatchi discovered massive their massive expenditure on Nigella’s credit card.
Initially, the sisters made no mention of the drugs claims but changed their story in October, making an official statement via their lawyers.
The sensational drugs claims were first raised in a hearing earlier this month but the judge ruled them inadmissible and banned reporting of them.
After Saatchi came forward to say he believed the claims, the judge ruled they were admissible and could be revealed.
The Grillos lawyers have strongly denied claims they approached Saatchi’s legal team to ask if the charges could be dropped if they made drugs allegations against Nigella.
