Charles Saatchi has spoken out about the controversial images that show him placing his hands around the neck of his wife, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson.
Nigella’s millionaire art collector husband was pictured repeatedly placing his hands around her neck and appeared to be choking her as the pair dined at a London restaurant. Pictures of the incident were printed in Sunday People.
Saatchi told the UK’s Evening Standard newspaper that his hands were around his wife’s neck to “emphasise my point” as they discussed their family in what he described as a “playful tiff”.
“About a week ago, we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children, and I held Nigella’s neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point,” he said.
“There was no grip, it was a playful tiff. The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place. Nigella’s tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt.
“We had made up by the time we were home. The paparazzi were congregated outside our house after the story broke yesterday morning, so I told Nigella to take the kids off till the dust settled.”
Saatchi has since been cautioned by London police, who began investigating the incident following the release of the images. The 70-year-old handed himself in to a central London police station after the images made headlines around the world.
“Although Nigella made no complaint I volunteered to go to Charing Cross station and take a police caution after a discussion with my lawyer because I thought it was better than the alternative of this hanging over all of us for months,” he said.
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