My mole at The Daily Telegraph tells me that “nothing has been settled†yet as to who might edit the paper’s gossip column, Spy, when Celia Walden moves aside to work in the features department in the near future.
Axegrinder knows of at least two people whom the higher-ups at The Telegraph are talking to about replacing her ‒ and one of them comes from the tabloids.
Walden, you may recall, was in charge of the column when the paper was successfully sued by Nicole Kidman late last year over the type of perfume she uses. The paper said Kidman preferred another perfume to Chanel No 5, the fragrance she is paid to promote.
Kidman’s solicitor John Kelly said his client had suffered considerable embarrassment and distress over The Telegraph’s story.
The late Nigel Dempster, legendary Daily Mail gossip columnist, once famously said that every writ he received was like getting a journalistic Oscar ‒ but I’m sure those who look after The Telegraph finances didn’t see it that way.
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