It's funny how life turns out sometimes. One day, you're forcing your personal assistant into rehab because you believe they've been leaking stories to the press, and then thousands of days later, you're being portrayed as a rather unreasonable employer by the very same person. Life's crazy.
The Guardian reports that Mary-Ellen Field - Elle Macpherson's ex-aide - had this to say during her Leveson Inquiry testimony:
"'The hacking of Elle's phone led to my life being ruined over the five years because I was wrongly punished and ostracised for being the source of the disclosures.' She told the court she enjoyed a good relationship with her fellow Australian until she was suddenly accused by her in 2005 of leaking information. 'I phoned Elle. For the first time ever she was really grouchy with me. "I can't have you speaking to the media", she said.' Field said the model told her at a meeting shortly afterwards: "'I know what's it like to be an alcoholic". I was speechless." She added that Macpherson 'broke me down' until Field reluctantly agreed to attend a rehab clinic in Arizona, Meadows Clinic, used by Macpherson, describing that decision as 'a big mistake... Elle made it out like it was a leisure facility but it was a grade 1 psychiatric facility with men with guns in holsters parading about so it was fairly horrible.' Field said her health deteriorated after falling out with Macpherson suddenly and she eventually had a pacemaker fitted, despite the fact she had 'never been sick or missed a day of work' previously. She considered resigning and suing the firm she worked for, Chiltern, for constructive dismissal but decided against that because she felt she couldn't give up a well-paid job. She and her husband have a disabled child who will never be able to look after himself, Field said."
Wow. Brow beating your aide, who has a disabled child, into attending a grade 1 psychiatric facility - which you've attended yourself due to drink issues - because you think she talked to the press a few times, when in fact they'd hacked your phone? Eeeesh, wouldn't want that story getting out.
Today, we have Sienna Miller and JK Rowling taking to the stand.