ELTON RAGE AT MIRROR'S SPENDING SPREE SCOOP; Letter led to split with friend.
Byline: NIC NORTHELTON John was "incandescent" with rage after The Mirror exposed his wild spending sprees, a court heard yesterday.
Two years ago we exclusively told how the star once spent pounds 527,849 in one day, and ran up regular monthly credit card bills of pounds 250,000. We also published a letter from worried accountants Price Waterhouse warning that his companies were running out of funds.
Former lover and manager John Reid, 51, revealed yesterday that Sir Elton was so enraged by publication of the letter it eventually led to the end of their 28-year relationship.
He told the High Court: "The day the letter was published I was in New York, and Sir Elton rang me at 7am. He was incandescent with rage."
Mr Reid said Sir Elton believed someone from his company JREL had sold the information. He said: "He told me in no uncertain terms to find out how it had happened."
As a result he instructed Andrew Haydon, then JREL managing director, to hire private investigators to discover if the letter was leaked.
Mr Reid said: "I was very angry about it, too. For a couple of weeks, there was terrible tension between myself and Elton, and within the office structure. Everyone was under suspicion."
It was later discovered the note was passed to The Mirror by a man who had found it amongst Sir Elton's rubbish.
Mr Reid added that publication of the letter in January, 1998, "kicked the year off quite badly" in terms of his relationship with the star.
The next month, Sir Elton failed to invite him to the palace for his knighthood. "That upset me," he said.
Weeks later, Mr Reid flew to Australia to help organise a tour.
He said: "By this time, things were really frosty between me and Sir Elton. I heard he had been asking staff if they thought I was dishonest." The last time he saw or spoke to the 53-year-old star was March 18, 1998.
Mr Reid said he frequently discussed with Sir Elton his "inability" to control spending. He said: "His general reaction was 'I earn plenty of money - don't tell me how to spend it'."
Sir Elton is suing Mr Haydon, 45, and PricewaterhouseCoopers - formerly Price Waterhouse - alleging negligence in handling his financial affairs. Both vigorously deny the claim.
The singer has already accepted pounds 3.4million from Mr Reid, who he accused of "swindling" him over touring costs. The London hearing continues.
CAPTION(S):
REVEALED: Mirror's sensational exclusive that enraged big-spending Elton; ROWS: Mr Reid yesterday - he told of "terrible tension" with Elton; BEFORE SPLIT: Mr Reid and Elton
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| Publication: | The Mirror (London, England) |
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| Date: | Dec 5, 2000 |
| Words: | 440 |
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