I blogged on the news that Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills are getting separated on Gone Hollywood this morning. The story, while interesting to some, is pure pop culture news without much social significance.
Now, however, they have held a press conference whining that it’s all the media’s fault.
Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his second wife, Heather Mills McCartney, said Wednesday that they are separating after nearly four years of marriage, blaming intrusion from the media and insisting their split is amicable.
[…]
“Separation for any couple is difficult enough, but to have to go through this so publicly, especially with a small daughter, is immensely stressful,” it added. “We hope, for the sake of our baby daughter, that we will be given some space and time to get through this difficult period.”
[…]
On Wednesday afternoon, McCartney posted a message on his personal Web site, saying he was very upset over suggestions that Mills McCartney had married him for his money. “It’s been suggested that she married me for the money and there is not an ounce of truth in this,” he said in the post. “She is a very generous person who spends most of her time trying to help others in greater need than herself. All the work she does is unpaid, so these stories are ridiculous and completely unfounded. I’m very sad to see that some insensitive people would choose a moment like this to spread these vicious rumors.”
[…]
“Although some of these articles can be funny, there are others that are plain malicious and you need to be strong not to be hurt by some of the cruel suggestions that flow from these peoples pens,” the statement said. “The media sometimes suggests a rift between my kids and Heather, but in fact we get on great and anyone who knows our family can see this for themselves,” McCartney wrote.
Now, I sympathize with his pleas for privacy and avoiding vicious gossip. Still, McCartney has been an international superstar since literally before I was born. And I was born before his wife. It’s not as if the man doesn’t know the territory by now. And he managed to keep his first marriage together for over thirty years, until her sad passing, during the heyday of his fame.
Update: Don Surber apparently didn’t get the memo.
