Domestic goddess Nigella Lawson is refusing to cooperate with Vanity Fair as they delve into the “real” reasons for her split from husband Charles Saatchi.
The magazine is set to reveal “the truth” behind the 53-year-old celebrity chef’s divorce from the 70-year-old art dealer in the wake of photographs that showed him with his hands around her throat at a London restaurant back in June.
Vanity Fair reporter Kevin Goldman has flown to London to interview the former couple’s friends and associates, but Nigella has said she will not take part in the article.
“No stone has been unturned, Vanity Fair wanted to get to the bottom of such an abrupt breakup and why the end of the marriage was agreed so quickly,” a source told the UK’s Daily Mail newspaper.
“Kevin has spoken to a lot of associates of both Nigella and Charles.”
Meanwhile, Saatchi is threatening to sue his ex-wife for $800,000 in a court case to “reveal the truth” about the break-up.
While Saatchi accepted a caution from police at the time of the incident, his friends say he’s presently unable to explain the real story behind the pictures due to legal reasons.
But he has now warned Nigella’s lawyers that he’ll sue her to clear his name unless she voluntarily comes clean.
“Charles has been painted as the villain in all this – millions of people are convinced he was assaulting Nigella,” a source close to Saatchi says.
“But there are very genuine reasons for why he was holding on to her. She has never given a public account of what was happening.”
While Nigella has maintained her silence about the split, a source close to her says Saatchi’s allegations are untrue.
“The seriously defamatory claims are, of course, denied,” the source said.
Nigella is the second public figure of late to refuse to work with Vanity Fair.
Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow has also refused to work with the publication, which is now about to publish tell-all article about the actress.