EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Don’t call me Yoko! David Furnish on the fight for control of Elton John’s empire
He is the husband who caused acrimony when he took over the management of Sir Elton John’s affairs, but David Furnish declares, Please don’t call me Yoko.
Film producer Furnish, 59, was tasked by the celebrated pop star, 75, with sorting out his business affairs.
However, he soon made enemies by getting rid of many of the singer’s long-time staff, leading to comparisons with Yoko Ono, who was blamed with breaking up The Beatles after she married John Lennon.
‘That was more when I took over the management role,’ Furnish now says. ‘Inevitably, when you write a business plan, you look at the team. Do we have the right team to bring this vision to life? Because we’re moving into new media and skillsets.
Film producer Furnish, 59, was tasked by the celebrated pop star, 75, with sorting out his business affairs
‘I had to make some changes to the team and that’s never a popular thing to do.’ Of the ‘Yoko’ nickname, he explains: ‘It wasn’t so much Elton saying it as what other people were saying.
‘Elton doesn’t call me that now. We have a wonderful team, everyone is sharing the vision.’
Sir Elton — estimated fortune £395 million — promoted Furnish to chief executive of his music and management company, Rocket. Among those who subsequently departed was the singer’s long-time public relations man Gary Farrow.
Negative stories later appeared, the recurring theme being that Furnish had taken over Sir Elton’s life. One even suggested Furnish’s cost-cutting exercise had turned the Rocket Man into ‘an eccentric Howard Hughes’ type figure, likening him to the late sex-, power- and publicity-obsessed but reclusive eccentric American filmmaker.
Sir Elton called the claims ‘bull****’, insisting changes were only not popular ‘because people don’t like being gotten rid of’. He added that the employees ‘had to fall by the wayside because they were useless’.
Farrow has since said the decision to leave was entirely his own.
He soon made enemies by getting rid of many of the singer’s long-time staff, leading to comparisons with Yoko Ono, who was blamed with breaking up The Beatles after she married John Lennon
The Californian-born entrepreneur, 50, who wore a plunging dress designed by Giacomo Cinque, turned out with fellow model Jodie Kidd, in a monochrome frock
Caprice, 50, takes the plunge in daring dress
Once voted the world’s sexiest woman, lingerie model Caprice Bourret was determined to dress up for the Cazoo St Leger Festival.
‘I’m dressed over the top and I don’t care,’ Caprice tells me at the races in Doncaster. ‘It’s such a nice day. I got the baps out and the legs out.’
The Californian-born entrepreneur, 50, who wore a plunging dress designed by Giacomo Cinque, turned out with fellow model Jodie Kidd, in a monochrome frock.
Today is Ladies Day and Caprice boasts: ‘I think I’m the most glamorous person at the races. Let’s celebrate that we look good. Why do I have to look dowdy and almost dead just because I’m in my 50s?’
As Rishi Sunak ponders his future, I do hope his parents aren’t nursing grievances against those who failed to back their boy in the leadership contest — such as plain-speaking Tory MP Royston Smith. ‘I decided to take no part in the process,’ says Smith. A bit of a blow for Dr Yashvir and Usha Sunak — who live in Southampton, where Smith is an MP.
Hoppen window shopping after Sienna’s ‘taste’ snub
Hollywood star Sienna Miller recently revealed that she had chosen to use her friend Gaby Dellal, rather than her former stepmother, the celebrated interior decorator Kelly Hoppen, to renovate her Buckinghamshire cottage.
Adding insult to injury, Sienna explained that Dellal had the ‘best taste’ of anyone she’d ‘ever met’.
So perhaps Hoppen, 63, who’s known as the ‘queen of taupe’, was looking for potential future clients when she was spotted studying the window of a West London estate agent.
Hoppen was accompanied by retired businessman boyfriend John Gardiner, with whom she lives in London and Oxfordshire.
Hoppen was accompanied by retired businessman boyfriend John Gardiner, with whom she lives in London and Oxfordshire
Perhaps Hoppen, 63, who’s known as the ‘queen of taupe’, was looking for potential future clients when she was spotted studying the window of a West London estate agent
Strictly star Daisy Lowe has found her perfect partner.
The model, 33, has got engaged to property developer Jordan Saul, 28, who proposed during a stroll.
‘We took this picture moments before Jordan asked me to marry him,’ says the daughter of Pearl Lowe and rock star Gavin Rossdale. ‘I said, “F*** yes”.’
Her exes include The Crown star Matt Smith.
Strictly star Daisy Lowe has found her perfect partner. The model, 33, has got engaged to property developer Jordan Saul, 28, who proposed during a stroll
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