The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Baron Cohen and Fisher ‘put rackets down’ on marriage
Elected representatives given red mental health cards after a speech caused a ‘psychiatric emergency’
COUNCILLORS have been given cards by a local authority that allow them to leave meetings for mental-health reasons.
The Liberal Democrat-run Wymondham town council in Norfolk brought in the measures in response to a recent incident in which a long-standing councillor Tony Holden used his 45-second resignation speech to accuse fellow members of “achieving nothing”.
Joe Barrett, a 25-year-old Green councillor, said that the speech triggered a “psychiatric emergency”, which meant he had to leave the meeting for 20 minutes. He has now proposed the new red card system, which was unanimously approved by fellow members at a meeting this week.
But the measures have been criticised, including by Mr Holden, who has described his former colleagues as “fragile” and said that democracy would suffer as a result. The new system will allow councillors to hold up cards to indicate they need to leave the room for mental-health reasons.
Mr Barrett initially suggested red cards should be used, but other councillors decided they should instead raise their name cards, because of the “negative connotations” of red cards.
Once they have raised their cards, councillors will be able to go to a specially designated room, where they will be provided with water and advice on “grounding techniques”, such as breathing exercises.
Suzanne Nuri-Nixon, the council chairman, said: “The system will allow people to indicate to me that they need to leave the room in a more formal way.
“People shouldn’t have to ask to leave a meeting – this isn’t a classroom. This is just a way of showing a bit of respect and will make us more inclusive.” She said a meeting may be suspended if it is appropriate to check on a councillor’s welfare, but that would not normally be the case and proceedings will usually continue in the member’s absence.
Mr Barrett said Mr Holden’s resignation speech in February triggered a “psychiatric emergency”, which meant he had to leave for 20 minutes and take prescription medicine. The speech only lasted 45 seconds before it was cut short by one of its targets, Ms Nuri-Nixon, after Mr Holden told the council: “You have achieved nothing.”
Mr Barrett, who is autistic and has ADHD and PTSD, was not one of the targets of Mr Holden’s accusations but said his words had caused him to have a “serious dissociative episode”.
Mr Barrett, who was elected in May last year, said the criticisms had been “catastrophic” for him and the situation had been worsened by the lack of a “perceived means of escape”.
“He didn’t do anything directly to me, but his behaviour broke our agreement as a council by making this attack,” Mr Barrett said. He added: “It is difficult for me to leave a meeting as I feel that I need to give a reason or an excuse, which can sometimes be difficult to explain. This will make the town council a more inclusive environment and offers a means of escape if it is needed.”
Mr Holden – who apologised to Mr Barrett for any inadvertent distress – has criticised the new measures and feels he is being unfairly blamed for the incident, which he claims has been blown out of proportion.
“If you can’t stand the heat, you need to get out of the kitchen,” he said.
“I don’t know if they’re a bit wet or just trying to find a meaning in what they’re doing. They’re using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.
“The council isn’t fit for purpose. They’re fragile and have lost their way. I’m being used as a scapegoat.”
SACHA BARON COHEN and Isla Fisher have used a picture of themselves in tennis gear to announce that they have divorced.
The British actor, 52 and the Australian actress, 48, revealed that they jointly filed to end their 14 years of marriage last year.
They made the news public on Instagram yesterday, when they shared a picture of themselves posing in a white tennis kit and wrote: “After a long tennis match lasting over twenty years, we are finally putting our rackets down.
“In 2023 we jointly filed to end our marriage. We have always prioritised our privacy, and have been quietly working through this change. We forever share in our devotion and love for our children. We sincerely appreciate your respecting our family’s wish for privacy.”
The pair married in 2010 and have three children, Olive, 17, and Elula, 13, and a nine-year-old son Montgomery.
It comes days after Rebel Wilson, the Australian actress, made a series of claims about Baron Cohen in her memoir, which was released in the US.
Wilson claimed she felt as if the British comedy star “sexually harassed” her on the set of the film a spy action comedy released in 2016 and titled
in the US, in which she played his on-screen girlfriend.
She had previously released a statement saying she had “worked with a massive a--hole” and vowed that she “will not be bullied or silenced with high-priced lawyers or PR crisis managers” from editing out the claims from her book.
Baron Cohen denied the claims as “demonstrably false”. His spokesman said: “While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of
Two months ago, Fisher discussed her Valentine’s plans with Baron Cohen on
saying: “Every year Sacha does give me a card that’s like, ‘Happy Valentine’s from ... ’ and then there’s a massive question mark.
“As if anybody else would send me ... as if I have any other Valentine’s. I’m a mother of three. I mean, I’m always like, ‘Ooooh. So many men.’” Fisher also joked in 2022 that she and Baron Cohen had been a couple for “probably 200 years” if judging “by Hollywood standards”.