I’m glad that the error was straightened out, and nice for H&M to be able to point out that it was not their error, but the State of CA’s error.
But the earlier press surrounding this error was IMO glaringly inappropriate, making this into a much bigger deal than it was, and seemingly trying to stir public sentiment against H&M. I guess that’s what sells newspapers, but it’s this kind of excess that makes you really question everything you read and wonder what kind of spin is being put on things.
Props to Gavin Newsom for setting the record straight.
““And I just want folks to know, not only are they in compliance, it was a technical paperwork issue that was wildly overhyped, and with respect, I hope people that ran those headlines run this headline, that it was a very typical, technical issue around paperwork that persists for so many others as well,” Newsom continued.
"And they’re in full compliance and they’re a celebrated organization that does great work in the state of California. So I wanted to clarify that, because that’s important, and I just thought there was a little bit of a piling on that was deeply unfair," he said.”
Will Lewis…is a name linked to Harry’s UK phone hacking case and Rupert Murdoch. Now he’s involved with a bit of controversy at the Washington Post.
“The newsroom is reeling after back-to-back stories outlining Lewis’ attempts to kill negative stories related to Prince Harry’s lawsuit in the U.K., which alleged Lewis helped cover up News U.K.’s phone-hacking into celebrities including Harry and actor Hugh Grant. The New York Timesreported on Wednesday that Lewis criticized then-executive editor Sally Buzbee’s plan to publish a story on the lawsuit involving Lewis, while NPR revealed on Thursday that Lewis promised the outlet an exclusive interview unveiling his business plans if it didn’t move forward with a December story outlining the U.K. case.”
Last night the ESPY awards were given out and Harry received the Pat Tillman Award for Service. He did a lovely job accepting the award with humility and grace. It’s inspiring to see the impact the Invictus Games has for servicemen and women.
Interesting interview on British TV. I think this demonstrates the difference in attitude between Harry and the rest of the Royal Family, whose strategy is “never complain, never explain”. In the end I don’t think this is a good thing for him to obsess about, however much he suffered. I don’t understand how he thinks it would be a “public service” for the Royal Family to be fighting the press in court:
Key passage:
Harry told me his determination to fight the tabloids had been “a central piece” in the breakdown of his relationship with his family.
“Anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press,” he says.
“I’ve made it very clear that this (legal action) is something that needs to be done. It would be nice if we did it as a family.
"I believe that from a service standpoint and when you are in a public role, that these are the things that we should be doing for the greater good.”
When I ask him what he thinks of his family’s decision not to fight public court battles as he has, he replies: “I think everything that’s played out has shown people what the truth of the matter is. For me, the mission continues, but it has caused… part of a rift.”
As the saying goes, “choose your battles wisely”. Of course he’s suffered but does it make sense to alienate himself from his family to pursue a fight where there’s no ultimate victory? Even if he wins in court, the press are never going to leave him alone, or only write positive things about him.
And what does Meghan think about all this? If you were his wife, why would you encourage him to fight this battle when it’s clear it will deepen the rift with his family? Unless you don’t actually want him to reconcile with his family (and live in England, take on royal duties, etc).
Maybe she sees this court case as a solid and lasting legacy that she and Harry can take credit for - something that required courage and bravery on their part and where they could stand apart from the royal family.
Disrupting British tabloid culture and punishing them for the wiretapping/blackmail/payola stuff is a creditable achievement. It’s a scourge of British society. Probably more of a legacy than posing in pretty hats and riding in horse drawn carriages…
This would not be an achievement that will earn credit with the British public, who enjoy the tabloid gossip. Look up the history of Private Eye which regarded being sued for libel as the best PR they could get. Maybe they’d get credit amongst a few actors and celebrities who’ve suffered similar indignities.
But it’s interesting that you mention “standing apart” from the Royal family.
Yes very true! I’m not British but I lived in London for years and I was a regular consumer of the tabloids.
But for H &M it’s an achievement that will earn credit with themselves
And yes I can see Meghan supporting anything that allows Harry to carve out a more singular identity for himself. I don’t say that in a shady way, I think as a wife she probably wants him to be a man in full all on his own, so she probably supports anything that will set him apart from the RF.
It’s not the same. He is fighting the fact that he was wiretapped and hacked (along with others). My view of the tabloids is that if you are a public figure you need to expect to be followed around, photographed and have less than flattering stories/photos published. It comes with the territory. You should not have to have your phone tapped or your devices hacked. While many find Harry’s oversharing distasteful, it was not information he came by through wiretapping or other illegal means.
Of course, what he did is not illegal but he also shared information that was shared by other parties in the privacy of their home with the absolute expectation of this information not being made public. IMO, claiming the moral high ground is disingenuous.
To me it seems delusional to say the rift is because of his fight with the tabloids – does he not think his book, Oprah interview, etc. was the bigger issue?
I love how everybody is harping on Oprah interview and a book, but the rift was there long before those. It’s almost a favored tool now to make them out as terrible people because they did an interview and a book when in reality they were treated miserably by press and family long before that happened. And the same people who think they are terrible people because of the book and an interview are the same folks who though they were terrible people before because of whatever other reasons hate press was giving them before.
And yes, if somebody was discussing a skin color of my baby, I would be livid.
I’d have a lot more sympathy for the high profile hacking targets if the large majority of them hadn’t left their mobile phone voicemail passwords set at “0000”.
I’ll never side with the tabloids, they stink and they were already found guilty of all of this almost twenty years ago. They hacked William & Kate over a hundred times I think, he did sue then, received a settlement, tabloid The News of the World was put out of business due to the scandal.
I have sympathy for the royals who feel like they already litigated this, years ago.
I find a lot of what Harry says to be grandstanding and either dumb or manipulative. He called William’s settlement a secret. It wasn’t a secret- it was in the news. He also seems to conflate the press’s animosity toward him now with the hacking then. I don’t doubt they are guilty but…the hacking was stopped years ago so I’m not sure what his end goal is? I don’t think this will put Murdoch out of business.
I think the only people any of this is news to is the American audience.
I hope he gets his settlement or decision and can move forward with his life. But I find it all pretty tedious and the coverage fatuous. You see however much meat there might be here - alllll they want to focus on his relationship with the royals. So it’s just feeding the beast and making more money for the tabloids, at the end of the day.
