Chloe’s Mr Wrong is a tawdry lesson of our times
Yes, mighty tough being a dad, no matter what your status might be. Dad-nextdoor, billionaire dad, absent father, doting dada, everyday pops, celebrity pa? Your power and position in the outside world boils down to a helpless bubble of nothing when your beloved little girl, your number one daughter, falls in love with a bad boy.
so can we find it in our hearts to feel a teensy bit sorry for sir Philip Green this week? And please don’t all shout NOOO! at once.
His daughter Chloe (26) is weeks into a steamy relationship with ‘hot felon’ Jeremy Meeks, the 33-year-old criminal-turned-model who became an object of lust when Californian police posted his mugshot online.
He might have nice cheekbones and pretty blue eyes, but Jeremy isn’t just a bad boy. He is the baddest bad hat in Bad Hat City. He is the tattooed, shaven-headed former gang member who has been in jail several times and has a history of violence and thieving.
He is also married with small children and a wife who waited for him while he was in jail — only to be swiftly dumped when the first available heiress sashayed across his toxic path, apparently at May’s Cannes Film Festival.
‘Are you in love?’ Meeks was asked this week, as he sauntered through Los Angeles with his arms around Miss Green. ‘Yes,’ he replied. Uh oh. Your basic daddy nightmare.
sir Philip must have been hoping for a, relaxing summer on his 300ft yacht, Lionheart. For it has been a torrid 12 months in Green-land: pre-tax profits at his fashion empire down nearly 80 per cent to £36.8 million, turnover down 17 per cent, personal reputation as shredded as a pair of Topshop jeans. still, he kept his knighthood by the tightest of squeaks, so praise be for small mercies.
All that nasty business with BHs pensions and select committee grillings is finally behind him. Phil was looking forward to grilling sausages on his teak decks and grilling himself in the fleshpots of the Mediterranean, with nothing but sunshine and good times ahead. sadly, it was not to be.
Likethe black smoke over the south of France from the terrible forest fires, a black cloud is blotting out his fun, killing his vibe, harshing his mellow, keeping him awake at night. And its name is Jeremy Meeks.
i imagine sir Philip minesweeping cocktails and breaking out into a lavish sweat every time he thinks about Chloe and Jeremy. The billionaire is said to be ‘in denial’ about his beloved daughter’s affair. Friends have been brusquely told by him the relationship is just a ‘holiday romance’.
Yet that is hardly a comforting thought, especially when one considers Chloe has been on holiday for the last four years. At least.
Meeks first went viral in 2014, despite the fact that the police notes accompanying his photos described him as ‘one of the most violent criminals’ in the area. He has been jailed for illegally possessing firearms, criminal street gang activity, car theft, negligent driving, identity theft and beating up a 16-year-old boy ‘to a pulp’.
However, his criminal history wasn’t what attracted millions to pay attention online — it was his ‘stunning eyes,’ ‘those cheekbones’ and ‘his abs, though’.
Few — and certainly not Chloe Green — found it horrifying that someone with such a violent past could go on to be embraced by the fashion world and end up earning a fortune from his looks. But is there any shame in public life any more? Just ask Philip Green.
New photos show Jeremy and Chloe doing happy couple things; relaxing poolside, sunbathing on yachts, driving around in supercars, exiting nice restaurants. it’s not too hard to imagine who is picking up the bill for all this international high living, and i doubt that, ultimately, it is either of them.
Meanwhile, Chloe has the air of an overlooked cat who’s got the double- whipped clotted cream, forever draped around her Jeremy like flypaper on a maypole.
Look at her, the poor kid. she is bewitched, thrilled, doomed. some reports say she has a Jeremy-inspired tattoo on her bikini line that reads ‘can’t stop, won’t stop’. Few believe it to refer to her consumption of doughnuts.
Meeks, who was last week busy posing in the window of Topshop’s LA store, has become a star of sorts in America. He has 1.2 million followers on instagram and a solid following among the kind of dopey women who write to prisoners on death row and still wouldn’t say no to O.J., even now.
Yesterday, one fevered celebrity website asked: ‘is Jeremy Meeks using heiress Chloe Green for her money, or is he really into her?’
Well, that is the half a billion-dollar question in this tawdry tale of our vacuous times; a saga in which a degenerate is forgiven everything, just because he happens to be handsome. in this shallow world, good looks cancel out bad deeds and nothing matters, except looking hot on instagram.
Meeks claimed to have found religion in prison and briefly described himself as a God- fearing man and a Christian. Tell that to his wife of eight years Melissa, or to stepdaughter elianna, stepson Bobby, and sevenyear-old son Jeremy Jr.
snuggled in the arms of her Mr Wrong, lovestruck Chloe says this is just the beginning. Pacing the deck of the Lionheart, daddy looks out over troubled waters and fears the worst. Or does he?
After all, Meeks continues to be a successful model, with his notoriety and his relationship with Chloe attracting even more headlines. if big daddy knows one thing, it is that all is fair in love and business, but especially business.
especially now.