Within the spring of 2023, subscribers to the British native way of life journal Somerset Life had been eagerly anticipating their April version – a Gardens Particular promising high suggestions for green-fingered readers and the most effective locations to see seasonal bluebells.
However when the journal landed on readers’ doormats, a narrative larger than blooming gardens of south-west England was on the quilt. In what gave the impression to be a world unique interview, the Hollywood A-lister Johnny Depp had confessed his love for the bucolic county. Greater than that, he had purchased a secret hideaway within the space.
By no means sluggish to pounce on a narrative concerning the controversial Pirates of the Caribbean star, the nationwide and worldwide tabloid media hungrily reproduced information of Depp’s English bolt-hole. The story went viral.
The British superstar bible Hiya! gushed over the star’s idyllic 12-bedroom property, that includes “a walled backyard and even its personal dairy farm”. The US weekly journal Individuals advised readers that Depp was “having fun with the quiet life in England”. The Unbiased lured readers into the story, promising that the star had “opened up about his newfound introverted way of life”.
The story was all of the extra intriguing for having been revealed in probably the most unlikely of locations: the pages of the regional month-to-month journal. The six-page characteristic said: “It’s true that he additionally purchased an property of 850 acres close to Kingston St Mary which incorporates what is named Somerset Mansion.”
There was just one drawback: in accordance with these near Depp, he hadn’t.
Within the days that adopted, publicists for the actor performed a frantic recreation of whack-a-mole, attempting to right the story they are saying is inaccurate, however which unfold like wildfire.
Intriguingly, the journalist behind the story was not one which Depp’s individuals recognised. “The entire thing was unusual,” mentioned one supply near the star.
The writer was, actually, a little-known English freelance journalist referred to as Bernard Bale. The story of how he got here to land his Johnny Depp story – together with a litany of different starry interviews – offers a uncommon perception into the engine room of superstar journalism, and is each bit as intriguing because the considered Jack Sparrow tending a Somerset backyard.
A trawl by way of superstar tales revealed beneath Bale’s byline reads just like the guestlist for the glitziest of Hollywood galas – if the gala was being held in a neighborhood diner.
A non-exhaustive listing of these quoted in his items contains Barack and Michelle Obama (2019), Jennifer Aniston (2019), Céline Dion (2019) and Barbra Streisand (2020) – and all, fairly remarkably, within the Scottish Sunday Submit.
Somerset Life readers with longer reminiscences could have recalled a chunk in 2018, when the journal boasted how “Bernard Bale talks to Hollywood A-lister Nicolas Cage about his choice to make our county his house”.
And if his obvious prolific entry to A-list stars wasn’t sufficient, Bale appeared to have a line into probably the most distinguished UK politicians of the day, too.
In February 2022, Rishi Sunak was stewarding the UK financial system by way of the monetary upheaval brought on by the worldwide pandemic, however regardless of all this, the chancellor appeared to have discovered time for an interview with Canine Right now.
{That a} politician could search to woo the canine vote is much less stunning than it might appear – British individuals actually love their canines.
However when requested how Sunak made time for such a small outlet on the peak of Covid, sources near the would-be PM mentioned that no person may recall an interview with both Canine Right now, or with Bale. “This can be very unlikely. He was chancellor and nobody who would know can recall this,” they mentioned.
In October 2022, Bale’s byline was once more on a chunk that said Tom Cruise, “arguably the world’s most well-known actor”, had taken “outing of his busy schedule to speak solely to Derbyshire Life”. In February 2024, the Yorkshire Dalesman journal posted on its social media that whereas Pickering and Scarborough had been a good distance from Hollywood, in its article: “Sir Ben Kingsley chats with Bernard Bale about his #yorkshire roots.”
However after the Guardian made queries concerning the above tales, sources near the celebs concerned mentioned they might not recall an interview happening. A supply near Kingsley mentioned he has “not completed an interview with this particular person”. A spokesperson for the Dalesman mentioned all its freelance submissions had been topic “to rigorous editorial checks and revealed in good religion”.
To this point, so curious. So how did Bale land these coveted interviews? Following the path of how journalists supply their tales is, by necessity, a tough enterprise. Reporters don’t reveal their sources as some extent of precept, and when requested a number of occasions to verify how he had landed these interviews, Bale declined. He mentioned he had spent a lifetime establishing a valued skilled popularity primarily based on belief, integrity and credibility, leading to “a whole lot of interviews and even friendships” through the years.
It’s clear that on this planet of showbiz journalism, there are various methods to do enterprise. There are, undoubtedly, brokers, managers and sources who will transient on behalf of their high-profile shoppers in a method that may be spun up into interviews. Some individuals the Guardian spoke to described Bale’s “old-school” capacity to do enterprise with PRs. And as any harassed reporter will testify – writers have little management over headlines or how tales are billed on social media.
What’s extra, not all these we contacted in relation to Bale’s work raised questions. The editor of Canine Right now, for instance, mentioned there had by no means been any complaints about his work – which seem to incorporate two interviews with Barack Obama. A number of options contained scoops that had been later damaged within the mainstream media, which appears to corroborate the accuracy of his sources, they added.
So who’s Bernard Bale, the person who appears to bridge the hole between the Hollywood Hills and the Derbyshire Dales?
On his LinkedIn profile, Bale writes that his “writing profession started on the age of 13 when his work was accepted – and paid for – by a neighborhood newspaper in west London. From that humble starting got here a profession that has engulfed nationwide newspapers and magazines and each aspect of journalism and writing besides frontline struggle correspondent.”
He describes himself as a “author, TV and radio broadcaster, speaker, voice actor, PR and advertising marketing consultant, co-owner of Chucklesworld Ltd and world sports activities and leisure and customer sights associate”. However delving into newspaper archives means that that is solely a small a part of his story.
An early look in newsprint was not, actually, as a author.
A narrative within the Each day Mirrorof July 1978 suggests {that a} Bernard Bale – bearing a placing resemblance to the now older journalist – grew to become embroiled in a “zoo love tangle” at Cleethorpes zoo wherein he was reported to have run off with the daughter of a trapeze artist.
In some unspecified time in the future, Bale seems to have left the circus behind in favour of publishing superstar interviews. In March 2022, Derbyshire Life – a stablemate of the Somerset title – revealed an “unique interview” by Bale with George Clooney with the headline “Why George Clooney is a fan of Derby County”.
The Guardian understands that Bale had offered many different superstar interviews with stars who had a hyperlink to Derbyshire – all the time with a fast turnaround. He had intimated to editors that he had a relationship with Clooney, and prompt he may get quotes from him about Derby County.
Within the article, Clooney was quoted as saying: “‘I watched just a few video games on TV and regularly I started to know soccer higher and commenced to look out for Derby County’s video games and outcomes. I’ve been watching ever since.”
The irresistible mixture of big-time superstar and comparatively small city membership within the Clooney article set off one other nationwide information frenzy.
The Solar picked up the Clooney story the following day. It revealed one other “unique” with the headline: “Hollywood star George Clooney has claimed that he would like to buy Wayne Rooney’s Derby County facet”. It featured an image of Clooney in a Derby County shirt with “Ocean’s 11” on the again.
The Solar scoop was heavy on fan delight: “It’s unbelievable. However it’s additionally completely terrific. I’m gobsmacked,” mentioned Derby fan Matthew Porter, 32. Even the native MP for Derby North, Amanda Solloway, chipped in: “[It] could be sensible if George Clooney who loves soccer and has a ardour was to purchase [the club].” The story gave the impression to be primarily based on the precise quotes revealed in Derbyshire Life, none of which, by the way, appeared to again up the grabby headline.
The Guardian couldn’t attain George Clooney’s press workplace for remark. Bale has prompt that a few of the methods his work has been offered didn’t match the way in which they had been initially pitched – and that he can not management how editors show his writing. He mentioned he has stored data of most of the interviews he has labored on, and is “not chargeable for the presentation or enhancing”, including that “any assertion or inference that [he] personally [has] misled any reader” was inaccurate and defamatory.
The Guardian understands that after publication editors of the Derbyshire journal had been approached about considerations concerning Bale’s work for a distinct title.
On the time they had been readying one other six-page interview from Bale, this time with Keira Knightley. Requested about quotes within the Knightley story, he mentioned that they had come through certainly one of her brokers, and ultimately the journal determined to not publish.
Derbyshire Life’s editor, Nathan Fearn, mentioned that Bale had periodically provided options for the publication on a contract foundation. Nevertheless, in July 2023, the publication had change into “conscious of points that had arisen with certainly one of Mr Bale’s interviews for a distinct title”.
He mentioned: “His work has not been utilized by Derbyshire Life since.”
As for Somerset Life, the supply of the Johnny Depp story that’s nonetheless carried by nationwide information web sites within the UK, the Guardian understands that Bale had written dozens of superstar interviews with out grievance for its pages, and that editors on the publication had been beneath the impression that he had spoken with well-known individuals. However after being contacted by Depp’s representatives and discussions with Bale, he was advised that his companies as a contract journalist would not be required. A spokesperson for Somerset Life declined to remark.
The Guardian has seen no proof that the interviews weren’t obtained legitimately, however sources near the celebs say they don’t recall talking with Bale. Bale says that he has “stored copies of most of the authentic articles and emails pertaining to articles submitted” and that he has “greater than sufficient proof, testimonials and so forth to show [his] integrity”.
Bale has had, in accordance with his personal promotional materials, a six-decade profession as “one of the crucial skilled and profitable writers of our time”. Pushing 80, he seems to nonetheless have loads of power for broadcasting on a web-based radio station, turning round books and producing superstar tales. The Guardian understands he could have extra coming down the road. The subsequent one? Look out for Lionel Messi.
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