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Original poster

Paula Yates as represented in the Michael Hutchens doc

106 replies

lolaflores · 04/01/2020 16:28

I only caught up with this the other day and felt that Paula Yates didn't get a particularly even handed representation. She behaved badly to her ex husband and doesn't deserve any medals for that.
Apart from anything, the relationship was compressed into a couple of minutes. Their relationship was probably more high profile than lengthy but she had a child with him yet the details seemed so rushed through and there was a lot to take in.
No one spoke on her behalf. The voices of the other women were heard but it seemed that there wasn't anyone there for her so no account of what happened for her went unremarked.
The media were absolute trash to them both and the awful clip of her on HIGNFY was shown. They were both hounded so horribly.
It was all a horrible car crash but so many people were damaged and I felt sorry for her kids having to watch that 2D version of her.
I know she is and was divisive but has she or will she ever be rehabilitated?

OP posts:
MarySidney · 04/01/2020 18:39

....radio silence in the Geldof household,

I've always thought Geldof must have had super injunctions banning reporting of anything relating to his daughters. Don't blame him if he did; whatever any of their parents may or may not have done, they were entitled to privacy as they were growing up.

Yetanotherwinter · 04/01/2020 18:43

She WAS an awful parent. She took drugs around her kids. @Sallycinnamum you are absolutely right, none of them came out of it very well. That her daughter should die in the same way was so sad.

2020BetterBeBetter · 04/01/2020 18:45

I read her autobiography years ago and at the time she didn’t even drink, much less do drugs. Terribly sad, her death and her daughter finding her dead.

I find it unlikely that she went from being a teetotaller who didn’t take drugs to a dead heroine addict in such a short space of time considering her age and length of time in the industry.

It’s not sad that her daughter found her dead and on her eldest daughter’s birthday. I’d go as far as to say it was selfish. She was a drug addict who died whilst in sole care of a toddler and with three other young children. Just think what that sort of thing does to a child? She should have put them first and sought help.

oohnicevase · 04/01/2020 18:48

What channel is it on?

Todaythiscouldbe · 04/01/2020 18:56

It was on BBC2, you can watch it on iplayer

ElspethFlashman · 04/01/2020 19:04

Well opium in a Smartie tube was found in her and MHs home. They said it was planted. But then they would say that, wouldn't they?

It's generally believed he introduced her to drugs. He drank a lot, took a lot of drugs. He had a very very strong personality. I suspect he was a lot to handle.

Ginger1982 · 04/01/2020 19:18

"It’s not sad that her daughter found her dead and on her eldest daughter’s birthday. I’d go as far as to say it was selfish. She was a drug addict who died whilst in sole care of a toddler and with three other young children. Just think what that sort of thing does to a child? She should have put them first and sought help."

Agreed.

NaturalBlondeYeahRight · 04/01/2020 19:26

Bob talks to some Australian news guy here. Quite ‘woe is me’ but he speaks pretty well about Michael and Paula.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKAiQsC0PGU

Original poster
lolaflores · 04/01/2020 19:28

No argument. Should have sought help and had all the resources to do so but addiction being what it is, even with all that in place, it doesn't happen.
I just think the documentary was not even handed. They both brought havoc and chaos.

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feelingverylazytoday · 04/01/2020 20:12

Some people do still like her, OP, and I'm sure there were plenty of nice things to say about her, but facts are facts. She did use heroin while she was caring for a very young child, and she did cheat on her husband (and I believe it wasn't just with Michael Hutchence, there were others as well). People aren't just going to forget about those things.

noodlenosefraggle · 04/01/2020 20:21

They did get some friends to speak for her during the documentary though. I think they got Kathy Lette and someone else to give their version of events. I think one of them blamed the housekeeper for letting the police in where they found the opiates. I don't know who else could speak for her. Her children were very young when she died.

RonaldMcDonald · 05/01/2020 05:08

Yes prior to knowing MH she was a non drinker or drug taker
A very Mummy mummy
I think possibly bored silly....
However I do get the feeling she is blamed for his decline and death whereas we know he was a heavy drug user with a brain injury prior to meeting her
I hate the woman as destroyer trope

MiniGuinness · 05/01/2020 05:29

Oh she was a totally mummy mummy. She wrote books about the inane shite you find on here (she probably would have loved the boring parts of this website; names, conception, etc)
He changed her, she was very vulnerable. I also hate the vilification of women in situations like this. It is pure misogyny.

goldenwarbler · 05/01/2020 06:55

OP @lolaflores
Don't think it's been mentioned already but there was an episode of desert island discs (available on the bbc sounds app) with jo fairley (founder of green & blacks chocolate) talks a lot about her best friend Paula Yates

Original poster
lolaflores · 05/01/2020 07:59

I read the Gerry agar book mentioned by a poster earlier

Dear Christ.
They were toxic for each other. Totally.
And I feel certain something happened to her mentally and she became obsessed with him and being with him. The drugs started and the whole thing was a perfect storm. Nothing was going to stop it from happening. She sounded out of her mind towards the end. Awful

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Tableclothing · 05/01/2020 08:09

There must be an unbiased story about her

I'm not sure there's ever been an unbiased story about anyone.

Oblomov20 · 05/01/2020 08:29

I can't understand pp's viewpoint. She was so mucked up. As was he.

Original poster
lolaflores · 05/01/2020 08:46

@goldenwarbler thanks. I will have a listen.

OP posts:
Original poster
lolaflores · 05/01/2020 08:52

She died in 2000. 20 years ago and it seemed like yesterday till I read the book. The comments in the book from press of the time. The sun mirror and all the rest would have made the hardest personality curl up and fall to pieces. She played the game herself though and manipulated all round her.
Eddy Agar revealed some shocking stuff. So dark and warped.
The book started out feeling totally loaded and by the end I didnt know who to feel sorry for.

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Sagradafamiliar · 05/01/2020 09:02

So many inaccuracies along this thread, ages, timelines etc. She wasn't even a drug addict. The coroner stayed at the inquest that she wasn't.

Clawdy · 05/01/2020 09:08

She was interviewed after MH's death, and was insistent that his death was not suicide, because he adored her, and would never have left her, or their daughter, because he apparently "loved her every little fart". I remember thinking what a weird phrase to use, and what that poor little girl would think watching it years later, and hearing her mother describe what sort of sex he liked. I do think for Paula,it was all about herself, and she couldn't accept that he didn't want to carry on living with her.

wowfudge · 05/01/2020 09:29

As no one ever knows what a relationship is like, other than the people in it, it is also possible that PY felt guilty about MH's death. May go some way to explaining her own death. She was always a self-publicist.

longwayoff · 05/01/2020 09:38

I thought it treated her quite kindly. From chaos comes chaos. The details of her life are best left to those that know them.

longwayoff · 05/01/2020 09:47

Prior to knowing MH she said she was a non drinking no drugs supermum. That is not true. PY would knock up a book proclaiming expertise on any subject you like, doesn't mean it was true. PY loved the tabloids and the income she derived from them. She was a skilled manipulator.

RhinoskinhaveI · 05/01/2020 10:00

I've always liked her