CHERYL’S VIOLENT PAST COMES BACK TO HAUNT HER
● Cheryl tries to legally block any mention of her infamous 2003 violent assault ● She’s scared of having to eventually explain her past to son Bear ● Fears she won’t ever be allowed to move on from her troubles
She had a stratospheric career after finding fame on a talent show, enjoying pop success, becoming a primetime TV star, landing high-profile modelling contracts and becoming part of an A-list couple with 1D star Liam Payne.
But following a troubled year dominated by their split and a faltering pop comeback that was slammed by critics, Cheryl appears to be struggling to cope with the negativity surrounding her. Last week, it emerged that her lawyers had tried to block any further mention of her conviction for assaulting a toilet attendant in 2003. The shocking incident – which saw her fined £3,000 and given 120 hours of community service – was brought up in a recent interview with the star, who reportedly turned frosty and branded it “irrelevant” and “boring”. Now insiders say the singer is determined to put her troubled past behind her for the sake of her and Liam’s 22-month-old son, Bear. A source says, “Since becoming a mum, Cheryl’s been even more aware of what is published about her. She always knew she might have to explain her assault conviction to Bear one day, but wants to do it on her own terms and hates the idea of him seeing anything online about it as he grows up. “She had hoped that, nearly 16 years on, the whole thing
could be forgotten about. She hated it being brought up again in the interview and asked her lawyers to help prevent it happening again. She knows she can’t change the past, but she just wants to be able to move on.”
The assault has been widely reported in the past and Cheryl – who was found guilty of assault but not guilty of raciallyaggravated assault on Sophie Amogbokpa – even spoke about it in her autobiography Cheryl: My Story. She insisted she’d been acting in self-defence during the incident with Ms Amogbokpa, later explaining, “As the months went on and I prepared for the trial, I started to see that it was not acceptable to have hit her under any circumstances, even in self-defence.”
TERRIBLE IMAGE
Ms Amogbokpa insisted the row had started after Cheryl began taking sweets from her table in the toilet, and that Cheryl had to be restrained by security after punching her. The injury caused swelling and bruising to her eye – she also claimed her vision was temporarily blurred and she was unable to work for six weeks.
During Cheryl’s sentencing, the judge claimed she’d shown “no remorse”, and Ms Amogbokpa publicly stated she had not received an apology.
The source adds, “Cheryl feels she’s said all she wants to about the incident and wants to put it behind her. Her statements in her book were her final words on it, so she’s understandably upset that her past has come back to haunt her. The fear is that whenever the assault is mentioned, it sparks curiosity for people to go online and read through all the details again. She hates being associated with a violent crime and it’s terrible for her image – especially now she’s a mum.”
Speaking to Closer about Cheryl’s legal team’s request to block reporting, solicitor Louise Lambert, from law firm Reviewed & Cleared, tells Closer, “The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act wasn’t designed to prevent the media from mentioning previous convictions, it was designed to help rehabilitated offenders back into employment. Cheryl’s case has been widely reported, including in her book. As a role model in the public eye, there is a strong public interest in being able to report what happened.” Despite the assault charge, Cheryl still managed to carve out a career as the nation’s sweetheart, winning a spot on The X Factor in 2008 and becoming a successful solo star.
But in 2017, she was forced to hit back when transgender model Munroe Bergdorf – who was fired from L’oréal when she claimed that all white people were racist – brought up Cheryl’s conviction in an interview, saying, “But they will hire Cheryl Cole over and over again and give her more and more chances.”
In recent years, Cheryl appears to have lost her “nation’s sweetheart” tag. She suffered criticism after refusing to confirm she was pregnant with Liam Payne’s baby and remaining notoriously private throughout.
And after a four-year hiatus, she saw her return to the spotlight with single Love Made Me Do It panned by fans – it only reached number 19 in the charts before dropping to number 48 days later. Her live performance on The X Factor was also slated.
BACKLASH
The pal adds, “Cheryl’s friends say the backlash is difficult to take. She just wants to get her career back on track, but she battles one criticism after the next. That’s why her assault conviction being brought up again is so annoying.
“She already fears the public don’t support her like they used to, and she doesn’t want them to turn against her completely. She fears she’ll never be allowed to move on from her past mistakes.”
❛ SHE’S SAID ALL SHE WANTS TO ABOUT THE INCIDENT AND WANTS TO PUT IT BEHIND HER ❜