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Legal
Former MC Ultra manager denies involvement with Tulisa sex tape
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 1 August 2012
One of the men accused of being involved with the distribution of that sex tape featuring ex-N Dubz singer Tulisa Contostavlos, Chris Herbert, the former manager of her ex-boyfriend Justin Edwards, from whom the video originated, has said that he actually advised the MC not to try to sell the video.
As previously reported, the video surfaced online in March via a website selling the six minute recording for $5.99 a download. However, it was quickly taken offline after lawyers for the ‘X-Factor’ judge gained a court order against the London company operating the website that was distributing the footage. Last month Contostavlos settled with Edwards after he offered his “sincere apologies” for making the video available online.
Herbert, who lost his job as an advisor on ‘X-Factor’ due to the scandal, told The Sun earlier this week: “I’m so sorry. My reputation and business has been ruined by these unsavoury people. I never tried to make a penny. I am so sorry to her for any part I may have played in this horrible saga. I was disgusted by the whole thing and from day one advised Justin not to do anything with the tape. I even got a lawyer to tell him he would be sued. I tried to protect him because he was my client but I never made or asked for a penny. To be honest, I wish I’d never set eyes on the idiot”.
But a spokesman for Contostavlos told The Daily Mail: “If Chris Herbert were genuinely sorry, he would be saying nothing. One ‘sorry’ does not make up for all the upset caused to Tulisa. This trauma to Tulisa was compounded by the defendants, before admitting their lies, allowing claims this was a Tulisa publicity stunt which was 100% never the case”.
Providing further comment on the whole thing, Herbert subsequently told BBC Newsbeat: “Back at the end of 2011, Justin was, kind of, not getting any traction with him as an artist, so he came to me [saying he had] this sex tape of Tulisa and that he planned on releasing it or otherwise monetising it. I said to him: ‘Look, that is absolute career suicide, you shouldn’t be doing it, don’t get involved in it'”.
He continued: “[Then] Justin came back to me in about February and said: ‘I’m ignoring your advice, despite what you said I’m going to go ahead with this anyway. And furthermore I’ve found some cowboys that are going to join an enterprise with me to put it out there'”.
Countering Herbert’s latest claims, Tulisa’s lawyers say that they have “substantial” evidence – including signed documents – that he was actively involved in the whole process. But when this was put to him by Newsbeat, Herbert said: “[That’s] nothing to do with me at all. There’s nothing that I’ve signed, I’ve not joined any enterprise to do it. There’s evidence that is incorrect, which can be challenged with [other] evidence, such as an allegation that I turned up at a meeting to conspire with [the people behind the distribution of the video] when I was actually out of the country”.
He admitted, however, that “five or six emails” to the other defendants do exist. On these, he said: “I was making demands, on behalf of Justin, for legal indemnity, because I knew Justin was gonna get sued”.
The other men accused of distributing the video have not as yet been named.
