Top British lawyer David Hooper has made a career out of standing up to the powerful and the wealthy, and so when Vanity Fair magazine needed someone to defend its groundbreaking 1995 expose of Mohamed Al Fayed - the first time sexual allegations about him were ever published - David was the natural choice. What happened next was extraordinary, as revealed by David to Phil in this special and exclusive interview.

For two years Hooper faced a small army of private detectives, ex police, spin doctors and various other suspicious characters, all working for Fayed. There was an attempted entrapment, the suggestion of bribes being paid to serving police officers and endless pressure on witnesses. And then, after the tragedy in Paris, both sides withdrew from the case and Fayed was able to carry on - it is alleged - predating on women with little scrutiny for another quarter of a century.

You can buy David's book, and all the books we feature on the podcast here, along with thousands of others...

https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/buying-silence-how-oligarchs-corporations-and-plutocrats-use-the-law-to-gag-their-critics-david-hooper/7539510?aid=12054&ean=9781785908316&

***We now have a Thank You button (next to the 'three dots') for small donations that help support our work***

Looking for the perfect gift for a special scandalous someone - or someone you'd like to get scandalous with? We're here to help...

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ScandalMongers

*** If you enjoy our work please consider clicking the YouTube subscribe button, even if you listen to us on an audio app. It will help our brand to grow and our content to reach new ears.

THE SCANDAL MONGERS PODCAST is also available to watch on Youtube...

https://www.youtube.com/@thescandalmongerspodcast

The Scandal Mongers...

https://twitter.com/MongersPodcast

Phil Craig...

https://twitter.com/philmcraig

You can get in touch with the show via...

[email protected]

(place 'Scandal Mongers' in the heading)

Produced by

PodcastWorld.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.