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Original poster

To wonder why Ava Vidal's allegations aren't in the news? (trigger warning)

30 replies

loonyloo · 09/10/2018 21:53

I've recently been following the comedian Ava Vidal on twitter. Her 23 year old daughter sadly committed suicide in April and has not yet been buried. Since then, Ava has been saying on twitter that her ex-partner groomed her daughter from the age of about 11. Ava alleges that the ex wouldn't leave her daughter alone after they split up, and that things got so bad she ended up sending her daughter to live with her mother (i.e., the daughter's grandmother) in Barbados when she was 15. The ex then followed the daughter out to Barbados, where he allegedly ingratiated himself with the family, and continued his relationship with her daughter, even taking her on trips to the US.

At some point Ava became estranged from her daughter. When the daughter was 18, she moved back to London and moved into the ex's house. She started using the ex's surname, and he refers to her as his daughter. Ava says that the ex got her daughter into drugs and prostitution. Ava is now involved in a court case with he ex over control of her daughter's body and right to bury her. She has been saying that a Tory donor is bankrolling her ex's case.

This has hardly been in the news, and I'm really not sure why. I get that these are all unproven allegations and the media have to be careful about reporting around legal cases, but it seems strange to me that it's had so little coverage - even before the MeToo stuff papers have run stories about allegations before (Woody Allen, for example) and Ava is relatively well-known, not megastar famous but famous enough. The media could easily report on it and just use the word 'allegedly', couldn't they? They do that all the time. I don't think I'm explaining this very well but there's something about the lack of coverage that makes me uneasy and I can't put my finger on why. What makes these allegations different to other allegations?

The only thing that has been in the mainstream media is this article in the DM just over a week ago, along with a similar one in the Sun: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6222831/Third-mystery-death-linked-celebrity-mental-health-clinic-year.html
regarding the inquest into her daughter's death at a private hospital. It identifies the Tory donor as her daughter's 57-year old 'boyfriend', and refers to the ex as her 'unofficial stepfather', but there is no mention of Ava's allegations.

Some of Ava's tweets can be read here threadreaderapp.com/thread/1032872193791799296.html
and
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1007896057962024960.html

OP posts:
Neshoma · 09/10/2018 22:11

Not everything can be in the news.

Original poster
loonyloo · 09/10/2018 22:17

Well, yes, Neshoma, not everything can be in the news. But much of the media in this country deems stories of the "so-and-so is on holidays with her own husband" as somehow newsworthy, so it's not like they're that stuck for space/resources.

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MrsCurly · 09/10/2018 22:19

It's very difficult to report an ongoing court case. You can't just report what you like and bung 'allegedly' in front of it.

Sambasam · 09/10/2018 22:31

It’s a really strange strange case and set of circumstances and the prostitution/grooming/celebrity/politics/wealth links feels like straight out of a tv series like Scandal, it’s tabloid gold but heavily restricted and I have wondered why

Original poster
loonyloo · 09/10/2018 22:32

Not even to report that a case is taking place, MrsCurly? Genuine question, not being goady. I just don't get why it's okay to report on stuff like the allegations made against Kevin Spacey (as in the reports before he made a statement that pretty much corroborated them), for example, but not this.

Is it because Ava's allegations involve an actual ongoing legal process? Whereas with a lot of the MeToo stuff formal legal proceedings aren't necessarily being started? But then why was it okay to (for example) report on Rolf Harris's case?

OP posts:
Original poster
loonyloo · 09/10/2018 22:41

That's exactly what I mean Sambasan! It is tabloid gold so it makes me wonder why not a single outlet has touched it.

OP posts:
Neshoma · 09/10/2018 22:45

Just because you find the case interesting doesn't mean everyone does. I've never even heard of Ava Vidal.

MrsReacher1 · 09/10/2018 22:47

Is it just the mother's allegations though? If so it will be hard to prove since the daughter is dead. Also it seems as if the daughter left the mother and was estranged from her. She was 23 and made her own life, she went NC with her mother for whatever reason. If she made no allegations herself it is even harder to prove child abuse.

It may well be true but the papers can't run that without a bit more to go on.

Original poster
loonyloo · 09/10/2018 22:55

"Just because you find the case interesting doesn't mean everyone does. I've never even heard of Ava Vidal"

So? I didn't say everyone would find it interesting. Most people are interested in some news items and not others. And whether or not you've heard of Ava Vidal isn't really relevant. She's been on Mock the Week so she is reasonably high profile. There are bound to be plenty of people I've never heard of, but that doesn't mean they're not known to other people (both at the z-list reality star end of the spectrum to the more high-brow end).

I'm not saying I'm surprised it's not front page news, I'm saying I'm surprised a well-known comedian's daughter's death was not reported in the mainstream news until 5 months after the fact. That's before you even get to the allegations Ava has been making.

OP posts:
longwayoff · 09/10/2018 22:56

Loonyloo, mrs reacher is right. There are no criminal charges to answer, just unproven and unsubstantiated allegations which, if published as fact, would lead to expensive legal action. In fact, expect this thread to be taken down soon. I wish Ava well, its a devastating loss for her, but I would be surprised if its possible to further this legally.

Original poster
loonyloo · 09/10/2018 23:16

Ok, I'm not explaining this very well, I know it must seem like I'm being deliberately obtuse. I understand that they are allegations. I just don't understand why other stories about other allegations can be published, but not this. Look at the allegations against Ronaldo, for example. They are not being published as fact, just being reported as allegations. Coercive control and grooming, which is what Ava is alleging, are criminal offences. I suppose what I'm asking is where is the line defining when you can report and throw the word 'allegedly" in front, and where you just can't report at all?

To answer your question, Mrsreacher, I've only seen the mother's allegations. She does say social services were involved at one point, but then that's an allegation as much as the rest of the story really.

OP posts:
moita · 10/10/2018 04:02

I read about this on Reddit - bizarre story.

I really think if the daughter had been a pretty white blonde it would have got more traction in the press.

Sambasam · 10/10/2018 04:02

There was clearly a super injunction fight to even get the story about her death published 5 months later, Ava insinuated it on Twitter. There is a lot more to this and a lot more sinister than lack of interest

kmc1111 · 10/10/2018 05:11

With Spacey and Ronaldo victims came forward. In this case the person speaking up is the mother of a woman who never made any claims of being a victim while she was alive.

There’s a vast difference between speaking to and reporting on claims made a possible victim and reporting on claims made by someone who knew a possible victim. Especially when the person they claim was abused is dead and will never be able to speak on it.

Hellomatey001 · 10/10/2018 06:00

I havent heard about this case. Where did you first hear about this OP?

FlyingElbows · 10/10/2018 06:14

This reply has been deleted

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BoneyBackJefferson · 10/10/2018 07:04

As has been said there are many sides to this story and the one that really counts will never be heard.

And as such its just gossip, hearsay and people that don't get on having a pop at each other.

Ghanagirl · 10/10/2018 11:46

I’ve just looked at the links and it all sounds very odd

Buster72 · 10/10/2018 13:17

Seems to be a lengthy history here and conflicting stories around what has happened to the body.
IF the press do report on it they may well end up prejudicing the case and opening up to libel actions.
A sad tale indeed and ultimately a young woman has died. I am not sure what will come of all the muck taking.

jimmyhill · 10/10/2018 13:25

It's not news because:

Ava Vidal isn't very well known

Her late daughter wasn't famous

Nor is he ex partner.

So it's really just a lurid and tragic story about people who aren't in the public eye.

DisrespectfulAdultFemale · 10/10/2018 13:31

It's not news possibly because there is little in the case that is in the public interest. It's not timely, it doesn't highlight a wider problem, there were no failings of any kind of formal safeguarding system, there were no problems of warnings not being heeded by social services, none of the people involved were public figures etc.

It was a personal tragedy for the mother which is awful but is not, in this case, newsworthy.

Hellomatey001 · 10/10/2018 14:02

I have looked this up online. A tragic story to read with some disturbing allegations.

I am convinced that it is legal considerations that have stopped wider reporting. The Daily Mail did report on the daughter's death so presume they are aware of the allegations involved but given the libel laws I think are probably being very cautious about what is being reported.

Original poster
loonyloo · 10/10/2018 17:49

I really think if the daughter had been a pretty white blonde it would have got more traction in the press.
I think there might be something to that, moita

OP posts:
Original poster
loonyloo · 10/10/2018 17:50

With Spacey and Ronaldo victims came forward. In this case the person speaking up is the mother of a woman who never made any claims of being a victim while she was alive.
That is a fair point, kmc111

OP posts:
Original poster
loonyloo · 10/10/2018 17:52

I came across it on Ava's twitter page, Hellomatey001. I'd Googled her, can't remember why now, and ended up reading her tweets about it.

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