It’s kind of ironic - and by ironic I really mean annoying – when people try to do something good but miss the big picture. Take Paul McCartney for example. The former Beatle is a staunch vegetarian. I’m not sure if staunch is normally used to describe a vegetarian… generally I think of it more in terms of political parties. But that is just how much of a vegetarian the man is.

McCartney is a big supporter of the earth, the environment, and green causes in general. Though he seems to generally be referred to as a vegetarian, he might actually be a vegan, as it’s been noted that he doesn’t wear anything made of animal products. It would just depend on his specifics. So while Paul generally seems pretty good about walking the walk, he missed the big picture when he recently ordered a hybrid car (to be more environmentally friendly) from Lexus, which was then flown to the UK from Japan. Not shipped, flown.

The former Beatle has long been an outspoken advocate of environmental causes and animal rights. He is a vegetarian who won’t even wear leather shoes. But now he’s being criticized for having a hybrid Japanese car flown to him in Britain rather than having it sent by ship. It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. The car in question is an $158,000 Lexus LS 600h, a luxury sedan that offers both high performance and a reassuring “green” patina because it uses a hybrid system that relies on an electric motor at low speeds.

Best of all, it was to be a gift from the Lexus car company, which sponsored McCartney’s 2005 tour of the United States. But environmentalists quickly pointed out that the use of a cargo plane to deliver the car to England completely offset any environmental gains resulting from the car’s use. “It’s like driving the car 300 times around the world,” says Gary Rumbold, the director of the British branch of co2balance, which helps businesses and individuals gauge their carbon emissions footprint.

McCartney’s spokesman, Stuart Bell, confirmed that the musician had received the car as a gift and that it had been flown to Britain, but said he could not comment about the decision to use a plane until he had all the details.

[From the Huffington Post]

It’s possible McCartney wasn’t involved in the transportation arrangements of his car, but clearly someone wasn’t thinking the idea through clearly enough. Flying an environmentally friendly car to its final destination completely negates any good the car will ever do. Some sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach tells me we will hear some ridiculous commentary from Heather Mills’ cow-chewing-its-cut mouth in the next few days.

Here’s Paul posing for photographers as he leaves home in the rain, sheltered by a large blue umbrella in London on April 24th. Images thanks to WENN.

In case you needed more reason to dislike Heather Mills, here’s another one. She, who of all people should know how important prosthetic legs are, has reneged on her promise of £10,000 to supply a pair to a Russian train accident victim. Maria Rybkina was befriended by a British couple named Inna and Robin Barrett, who decided to help her raise funds for prosthetic legs.

After trying to raise funds themselves the Norwich couple contacted Mucca’s amputee charity—and were stunned to get a personal call back.

Robin recalled: “She said brightly, ‘Hello, this is Heather Mills-McCartney’. We spoke for a long time.

“Heather said she would personally get Maria some really good artificial legs, which would cost around £5,000, and cosmesis—the silicone cosmetic covering—which would be another £5,000.

“She promised she would also provide all the medical support needed to get her walking again. She told us that because her charity only helped victims of landmines, she would support Maria from her own personal finances.”

Mucca, 40, then met Maria in Moscow, during a visit to Russia with Sir Paul, who was playing a concert in St Petersburg.

Afterwards Mucca sent Robin an email saying: “I will pay for Maria’s costs agreed in advance and paid directly to the clinic. Please email me the price.” In another she said: “Email me costs individually and I’ll get money to you.”

News of the World

Heather never made good on the cash.

The good news is that eventually Maria did get a new set of legs after the Barratt’s raised £5,000, including £2,000 of their own money, for a set of uncovered prosthesis.

While I understand that Heather has undergone some very stressful times lately, with her long divorce and heavy television schedule, it is really awful to promise someone that you will help them with something they so desperately need, and then not follow through with the promise.

Heather lost her own left leg below the knee in a traffic accident.

While looking for information of Heather I stumbled across this article in the London Times, where Chris Terrill (Heather’s first fiancé) writes an open letter to Paul McCartney, where he talks about her ‘elastic relationship with the truth’ and how she left him for Sir Paul 6 days before their wedding, telling her friends that Chris was gay. Interesting reading.

Heather Mills is shown at Heathrow Airport on 4/22/08, thanks to WENN.

Heather Mills might be annoyed that she only received $40 million in her divorce settlement - hardly enough to keep her in multiple homes, staff and the latest couture, but she did get a payday higher than most lottery jackpot winnings. One of the high paid hookers who used to work with Mills recently gave an interview for British television in which she says Mills planned to leave McCartney if he didn’t marry her, and that she bragged about giving the former Beatle an ultimatum. She also put down McCartney to her former co-hooker, calling him “an old man” with “big tits”

Denise Hewitt, who worked as an escort with Heather in the Eighties, said the former model spoke openly in the early stages of their relationship of plans to push Sir Paul to propose.

Miss Hewitt, who revealed her friend had been determined to marry the former Beatle, also lifted the lid on claims about the months the pair allegedly spent working as £10,000-a-night prostitutes.

In an interview to be aired tonight on Channel 4, Miss Hewitt claimed: “She said, ‘I’ll give him an ultimatum and if he doesn’t marry me within say eight months, ten months, I’m going to leave him’.”

She said Heather had made disparaging remarks about her future husband’s age, saying: “Well look at me, I’m marrying an old man with bigger tits than me.”

[From The Daily Mail]

Mills’ former friend also talked about how they would sleep with wealthy middle eastern royalty and receive expensive gifts along with their customary $20,000 a night fees. It’s clear how Heather honed the skills that helped her get her scheming hooks into Sir Paul:

Miss Hewitt, 44, said: “We went into high class prostitution behind closed doors and nobody knew about it…[Adnan] Kashoggi, Kerry Packer and one of the Royal princes of Saudi, they were the big fish and there were a couple of others that were classed as Heather’s sugar daddies.

‘We used to get a lot of jewellery as gifts - rings, watches, Bulgari bracelets, cars. The world was our oyster. We enjoyed it.

‘No one knew what we did and we didn’t expect it to come out. I don’t look on it as sleazy. It was experincing something we couldn’t have experienced if we hadn’t done this.

[From The Daily Mail]

Paul McCartney learned the hard way that Heather Mills was a deceitful manipulative woman, but he probably figures he got off easy. $40 million is less than 5% of his net worth, by some estimates, and he probably would have paid much more to be rid of the harpy if he had to. Now everyone pretty much knows she was a sex worker as well as a liar. If the stories that came out about her when she first separated with Paul seemed too far-fetched, Heather’s actions generally make it seem like they’re true - even without witnesses.

Heather Mills is shown at the Miss USA Competition on 4/8/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

Someone seems to be trying to say something nice about Heather Mills here – but they don’t quite pull it off.

The former glamour model won a $50 million divorce settlement from the former Beatle last month (Mar08) and has since spent time in the U.S. judging the Miss USA beauty pageant - fitting in a visit to the Big Apple during the same trip.

And Mills was reported to be viewing properties in the prestigious Greenwich Village area of the city.
But now the 40-year-old’s representative Michelle Elyzabeth has hit back at the rumours - declaring that Mills can’t afford a New York home.

She says, “She doesn’t have that much money. It’s a lot of money to a regular person, but once you want to start supporting good causes, that money goes really quick.”

Contact Music

So, Heather loves charitable causes so much, that was why she was hankering for the cash from Sir Paul. I think even the most glamour-loving of us could probably afford to spend a bit of a $50 million fortune on an apartment. Maybe Sir Paul will even pay for it himself – anything to have Heather permanently stationed on the other side of the Atlantic ocean. Until now he probably hasn’t appreciated how far that really is.

I also sort of get the impression that her publicist is hinting that $50 million wasn’t a very generous divorce settlement, particularly given that Heather isn’t a ‘regular person’. What does that mean?

Heather has in the past been contradictory about moving to the United States – first saying she’d like to move to LA, then saying she couldn’t move Beatrice away from her father, before apartment shopping in Greenwich village.

Of course, there is one way that Heather could get some money for charitable causes that wouldn’t dip into her hard-earned divorce money – get a job and earn it. You’ve said in the past that you aren’t a gold digger – prove it!

“Eighty-five percent of my income goes to my charity. The word gold digger doesn’t go with that. If I was a gold-digger, I would have a lot of money in my bank account. I’d be worth millions and millions.”

She also says she didn’t marry McCartney for his money: “I’m a good mother. I’m a good person. I fell in love for the right reason. I fell in love unconditionally.”

Despite her reputation, Mills says she’s received an outpouring of sympathy. “I have had so much public support,” she says. “People hugging me in the streets. I didn’t know that many people cared. You get to know who your friends are and I haven’t lost any friends.”

[November 2006 interview with Extra, via People]

Maybe the issue is that no co-op board will have her in their apartment.

The judge in Heather Mills’ divorce case mentioned in his ruling multiple times that she was less than believable, and called her “distasteful,” “explosive,” and “volatile,” explaining how she failed to make a case that she was owed hundreds of millions. According to Heather it was Paul’s lawyer who wronged her, and she tried to make her point by dumping a jug of water over her on the last day in hearings. Outside of court that day, after having doused Paul’s lawyer Fiona Shakelton, Mills said “she has called me many, many names before meeting me when I was in a wheelchair.”

Now Mills is explaining her childish antics, and bragging about how great it was on an interview with Britain’s GMTV this morning. She even took a dig at Shakelton’s age:
“I cleansed and baptized her. I thought she looked fantastic - I thought it did her the world of good and now I’m getting lots of offers to restyle the hair of women of her age.” [via The Huffington Post]

And Mills couldn’t resist talking about her ex husband’s love life. McCartney was most recently spotted vacationing with his new girlfriend, American Nancy Shevell, in Antigua. He has also been linked with American actress Rosanna Arquette:
“I think he’s got three different girlfriends so I wish all the girls the best of luck. Better them than me.”

Mills is also fighting for transcripts of the court hearings to be released, hoping that it will air her grievances against Paul in a more efficient manner. She calls the coverage of her divorce “one sided.”

Just when you thought this woman couldn’t get any more annoying, someone gives her a platform and she takes it, flailing around and yelling at the top of her lungs. She’s like the paranoid village idiot of the media age. Everyone is out to get her, she’s always right, and she’ll tell you about it ad nauseum, creating general amusement for all.

To say that Heather Mills doesn’t know the meaning of graciousness would be quite the understatement. But clearly the vindictive woman (with a mouth that looks like a cow chewing its cud) has decided that she’s going to make every second of ex Paul McCartney’s life as miserable as she possibly can, even if she has to use their daughter to do it. As long as Heather’s making people miserable she’s happy, and that’s all that really matters. Heather’s been forced to let Sir Paul take daughter Beatrice, 4, on vacation next week to a lovely hotel in Morocco. But of course she couldn’t let a nice time just be a nice time.

Fussy Heather Mills has issued an amazing list of dietary demands for daughter Bea while she is on holiday with Sir Paul McCartney. She has faxed the five-star La Gazelle d’Or hotel in Morocco - where Macca plans to take the four-year-old next week - with EIGHT pages of instructions on what she can and can’t eat.

Heather, 40 - who recently won a £24million settlement from Sir Paul, 65 - is adamant that Bea’s strict vegan regime should be maintained. A source said: “Paul booked the break for some quality time with Bea. Now he’s found out that Heather has been driving the hotel staff mad, faxing both the head chef and manager instructions and recipe suggestions for Bea. Paul is furious. He is perfectly capable of looking after his own daughter - especially after successfully bringing up his other children on vegetarian diets.”

[From the Mirror]

Since Heather couldn’t be there in person to ruin the day, it seems that she’s relying on technology to do the job for her. It’s hard to say if she’s just freakishly controlling (obviously she is) or if she’s actually trying to be a total bitch. That’s probably a good question to ask about Mills in general. Is she trying to be such an annoying, bitchy, universally hated woman, or is it just who she is and she honestly has no clue? Either way, when a person is so controlling that she starts fax-lecturing the staff of a hotel on how to do their jobs to her specifications, it’s time someone figure out a way to muzzle the cow.

Here’s Heather Mills at her divorce hearing on March 17, 2008. Not that you’d want to see a lot of her – but she’s making some sort of hideous expression with her mouth in each and every photo. I literally could not find one photo from that day where her mouth and jaw weren’t in some bovine-esq shape. Maybe she should try closing it once in a while. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Paul McCartney, still reeling from the court drama of his divorce, rushed to the bedside of longtime friend and Beatles tour manager Neil Aspinall over the weekend to see him in his final moments. Aspinall, who began as the Beatles’ tour bus driver and in later years managed the band’s Apple Corps, died after a battle with lung cancer late yesterday.

The man known throughout the music industry as “the Fifth Beatle” has died from lung cancer.

Neil Aspinall, who controlled The Beatles’ music empire for more than 40 years, passed away in hospital in New York yesterday.

Sir Paul McCartney flew to the U.S. on Saturday to be at the bedside of the 66-year-old as his condition deteriorated. It is understood he had battled the disease for past two months.

Aspinall started work for the band as the £1-an-hour driver of their battered blue Commer van. He became their confidant and accountant, as well as contributing to some recordings, playing percussion on Magical Mystery Tour and singing backing vocals on Yellow Submarine.

In 1968 he took over Apple Corps, the company set up to manage the Beatles’ business interests.

In a statement released on behalf of Sir Paul and Ringo Starr and Beatle widows Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, the company said: “As a loyal friend, confidant and chief executive, Neil’s trusting stewardship and guidance has left a far-reaching legacy for generations to come.

“All his friends and loved ones will greatly miss him but will always retain the fondest memories of a great man.”

[From the Daily Mail]

Neil was a smoker earlier in his life, but his family reported that he quit years ago- although it would seem not soon enough. Neil leaves behind his wife of 39 years and five children, including one he fathered with the mother of former Beatle Pete Best.

Note by Celebitchy: I remember when it was big news last year that this guy retired and was very surprised to hear of his death. RIP Neil. I know he wasn’t a full-fledged Beatle, but there are only two surviving members now, Sir Paul and Ringo Star.

McCartney and his lawyer, Fiona Shakelton, whose hair was wet after Mills threw a pitcher of water over her in court
The UK Telegraph has excerpts from the judge’s ruling on the Mills-McCartney divorce, and it’s a damn good read. The Judge outlines the way that Heather lied about her financial situation before she met Paul, blamed him for not supporting and advancing her career when the opposite was true, and generally said she was exaggerating and fibbing throughout. The judge also made it clear that Heather’s behavior in court, in which he caught her out in several lies, influenced the final amount of the settlement she was given. Mills walked away with $33 million in cash and $15.6 million in assets from her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney yesterday. McCartney’s fortune is estimated at from $800 million to $1.65 billion.

So much for Heather bragging that she saved $1.2 million by not using a real legal team in court. She probably cost herself $10 million more with that asinine move, and reading between the lines it sounds like she annoyed that judge every day he was on this case.

In his full ruling on the McCartney divorce, the judge was highly critical of Heather Mills’s evidence. Mr Justice Bennett wrote:

“The husband’s evidence was, in my judgment, balanced. He expressed himself moderately though at times with justifiable irritation, if not anger. He was consistent, accurate and honest.

“But I regret to have to say I cannot say the same about the wife’s evidence. Having watched and listened to her give evidence, having studied the documents, and having given in her favour every allowance for the enormous strain she must have been under (and in conducting her own case) I am driven to the conclusion that much of her evidence, both written and oral, was not just inconsistent and inaccurate but also less than candid. Overall she was a less than impressive witness.”

Addressing Miss Mills’s claim that Sir Paul failed to contribute to her charity work:

“I have to say that the facts as I find them to be do not support the wife’s case. Within two months of the parties meeting in May 1999 the husband donated £150,000 to the wife’s charity (the Heather Mills Health Trust). In December 2002 and again in December 2003 the husband made a gift of £250,000 outright to the wife, thus plainly giving her the opportunity to make donations to charity.”

He concluded:

“I find that, far from the husband dictating to and restricting the wife’s career and charitable activities, he did the exact opposite, as he says. He encouraged it and lent his support, name and reputation to her business and charitable activities. The facts as I find them do not in any way support her claim. “Compensation” therefore does not arise.”

And he attacked Miss Mills for exaggerating how much money she needs to live:

“These items in her budget which I have touched upon above, illustrate generally speaking, how unreasonable (even generously interpreted) are the claimed needs of the wife. In the absence of any sensible proposal by the wife as to her income needs I must do the best I can on the material I have.

“If the wife feels aggrieved about what I propose she only has herself to blame. If, as she has done, a litigant flagrantly over-eggs the pudding and thus deprives the court of any sensible assistance, then he or she is likely to find that the court takes a robust view and drastically prunes the proposed budget.”

Making his final financial ruling, the judge again criticised Miss Mills for making exaggerated, unsubstantiated demands:

“If the wife considers that my adjudication to be unfairly low, then I would say this. In the end it is for the applicant in ancillary relief proceedings to make a rational and logical case for the award that is sought. If an applicant puts forward an excessive, indeed exorbitant, “claim” which then she (or he) attempts to moderate by way of open offers, but which offers still fail to be supported by rational and logical bases, then the applicant has only herself (or himself) to blame if the court awards much less than what the applicant expects.

“This case is a paradigm example of an applicant failing to put a rational and logical case and thus failing to assist the court in its quasi-inquisitorial role to reach a fair result.”

[From Telegraph.co.uk via Gossip Rocks]

Heather Mills said she was oh so happy with her $33 million and now there’s word that she plans to move to the states and annoy the fuck out of the Americans with the help of sneering lawyer Gloria Allred. Maybe if she would have kept her lawyers for her divorce case she would have even more money to use to get attention for how she’s been personally wronged by just about everyone she’s dealt with in life.

Heather did get her petty revenge on McCartney’s lawyer, Fiona Shakleton, by throwing a jug of water over her in court yesterday. She was said to have done it after learning that she was only going to take home $33 million. Mills has accused Shakleton of calling her names, and during her impromptu press conference yesterday and on Larry King Live she was careful to add that Shakleton was supposedly mean to her “when I was in a wheelchair.”

The final numbers are in for the Mills McCartney divorce settlement, and The Daily Mail overestimated slightly this weekend with their prediction of a $50 million lump sum payment plus child support. Mills will get $33 million plus $15.6 million in assets. It’s a lot of money but is only a fraction of her husband’s net worth, which the judge put at $800 million but Mills claims is closer to $1.65 billion. Mills was married to McCartney for four years and they have a four and a half year old daughter, Beatrice.

Mills gave a long rambling press conference after she left court this morning. She said she was pleased with the settlement and talked about how smart she was for handling it herself and saving £600k which will now go to charity. She didn’t seem to grasp that she could have been awarded even more money if she would have kept her high-powered legal team. She also talked about how she was wronged by McCartney’s divorce attorney, and said “Fiona Shackleton [McCartney’s lawyer] has very sadly handled this case in the worst manner you could ever imagine. She has called me many, many names before meeting me when I was in a wheelchair.”

Ms Mills also launched an angry outburst against her husband’s victory on where their daughter would live and how much she would get each year.

“Beatrice gets £35,000 a year. She is meant to travel B-class when her father travels A-class.

“Paul has always wanted Beatrice to go to a state school. He insisted that he wanted us to move to that area [East Sussex] - £35,000 includes £17,000 for school fees.”

“He tried to get our daughter with joint residency, even though we had gone 50-50. In that way he has got everything he wanted, but that’s what powerful people get.”

Ms Mills complained about the judge’s assessment of her husband’s wealth.

“He also said that Paul is only worth £400 million. Everyone knows that he has been worth £800 million for the last 15 years.

“Paul has always wanted it public because he wants to look like generous Sir Paul.”

“I was locked out of every home. I really hope now that me and my daughter can have a life and not be followed every day. Apart from one television thing I have stayed quiet for 21 months. If the judgment had been kept private I would not be out here speaking.”

She added: “I can’t leave England. Believe me if I tried to go he’d have an injunction on me in a second.”

Describing herself as a “campaigning girl” she called on people to represent themselves in court but urged couples to do their best to resolve their problems immediately.

She said: “I’m so glad it’s over, it was an incredible result in the end to secure mine and my daughter’s future and that of all the charities that I obviously plan on helping and making a difference with - because you know it has been my life for 20 years.

“Obviously the court do not want a litigant in person to do well, it’s against everything that they ever wish, so when they write the judgment up they’re never going to make it look in favour.

“But all of you that have researched know that it was always going to be a figure between £20 and £30 million, Paul was offering a lot less than that, which you’ll see in the judgment, and very much last minute to put me and Beatrice sadly through this … incredibly sad.”

[From The Daily Mail]

Wow, Heather Mills, your daughter was so wronged by only getting $70k a year to live on. That’s just $35,000 after school fees. How is she ever going to eat and clothe herself? I don’t suppose you could spare some of that $33 million plus you just got to go toward your daughter’s travel expenses so she doesn’t have to fly coach business class. Having to attend public school and travel second class are such hardships for a child.

Unlike Heather Mills, Sir Paul just said “Thank you” and waved as he left court.

Update: thanks to commentor nylon for pointing out that Heather was bitching about “B class,” not coach. “B class” probably means business class. That’s even less of a complaint.

Also, here’s a clip of part of Heather’s speech outside court. Thanks to MSNBC and Redlasso.

If you are a woman who is lucky or conniving enough to snare a billionaire, the key to ensuring your future wealth is to get knocked up as soon as possible. Heather Mills married billionaire musician and widower Sir Paul McCartney, who is reported to be worth £825 million, $1.65 billion USD, in June, 2002. Their daughter Beatrice was born in October, 2003. In May, 2006 they announced their official separation. Reports put Heather Mills’ lump sum divorce settlement at £25 million, or $50 million USD, an amount that was determined by the judge and is expected to be officially announced on Monday.

That makes around $17,000 a day for every day Mills was with McCartney. She will also receive a “maintenance” payment, or child support, every year until Beatrice is 18. The exact amount Mills will receive in child support may be kept private by the courts, but it could be £1.5 a year, or $3 million USD, which would bring her final settlement up to around $93 million USD.

Heather Mills is to receive a divorce settlement of up to £46million from Sir Paul McCartney.

The former model will get an immediate lump sum payment of £25million from the ex-Beatle.

But she has told friends she also hopes to be given maintenance of up to £1.5million a year as the main carer of the couple’s four-year-old daughter, Beatrice, until the girl turns 18.

Since it is directly related to Beatrice however, the maintenance figure may never be made public in the settlement handed down by High Court judge Mr Justice Bennett.

Miss Mills, 40, had been fighting for £2.5million a year from 65-year-old Sir Paul to cover such costs as security for her and her daughter.

But she is understood to be expecting much less in the final agreement, which is also linked to a confidentiality clause.

Mr Justice Bennett is yet to officially tell either party his decision on the level of any annual payment – if indeed any is given.

Details of the settlement were reportedly contained in a preliminary High Court judgment sent to the estranged couple and their legal advisers this week.

The official verdict will be handed down on Monday, bringing an end to one of the most costly and acrimonious divorce battles in British history. Legal bills alone could be as high as £10million.

The judge sent each team of lawyers his preliminary judgment on the lump sum this week under strict orders not to reveal the contents.

Neither party is likely to object to the basic details being divulged.

A source said: “On an analysis of the case law, Mills was always going to receive around £25million. I think it’s fair to say the judge has not erred from that.

[From The Daily Mail]

We’ll have to see on Monday if this is true, as the Daily Mail has been incorrect with previous scoops on the Mills-McCartney divorce.

If this story is accurate, the woman that quickly became one of England’s most hated will be walking away with about 3% of her ex husband’s net worth along with substantial ongoing child support, and more than enough to live on for the rest of her life. The real test now is how much Mills, an ardent animal rights activist, will give to charity and if she will start her own charity with this windfall.

Whatever she does, I think I speak for a lot of people by wishing that she would keep a low profile. The public is fed up with seeing her sneering mug all over the papers. She’s said that she might move to Poland or the Czech Republic, but it’s doubtful she’ll be happy living out of the spotlight. She’ll want us to watch her spend that money. Look for a trip to LA in Mills’ immediate future.

Heather Mills is shown outside of court on 2/18/08. Paul McCartney is shown outside of court on 2/14/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

Update: The official settlement in the Mills McCartney divorce was $33 million plus $15.6 million in assets.