I have been asked to post this email conversation here:
"Dear OTRS,
I have responded to the requestor explaining the "No legal threats" policy regarding editorial requests, and he asked that I forward his message below for editorial review. This is regarding BLP issues with a specific section that mentions him in this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Bell,_Baron_Bell
He also followed up with this for further clarification:
“ By way of assistance for your volunteer response team I highlight the Wiki entry with the relevant paragraphs from Drum magazine, it is plain for all to see where the mistakes have been made:
Compare the current Wiki version:
“An alternative view of what happened was published in The Drum on 5 September 2019. It stated Bell had a genuine desire to help the Indian-descended Guptas from being discriminated against in South Africa. However, Bell suffered a stroke in 2016 and was put on three months medical leave. James Lehrle, head of Bell Pottinger’s Geo-political team, and Victoria Geoghegan took over the campaign in his absence. They set up the fake Twitter accounts accusing white businessmen, such as Johann Rupert, of "white monopoly capital". When Bell returned from medical leave, he attempted to force Lehrle to step down and when he refused, Bell resigned from the company. After the story broke in 2017, Johann Rupert claimed Bell was "the only person to have acted with honour in the entire affair."[31]
To the Drum article:
“However, soon after the win, Tim had a stroke and was on three months medical leave. James used Tim’s absence to ensure the account was run exclusively by his Financial PR Team, under Victoria Geoghegan, who had no experience of this type of work. This was simply a case of an unabashed turf war over revenue and nothing to do with what was in the client’s - or even the agency’s - best interests.
Victoria and her team set up over 100 fake Twitter accounts accusing white South African businessmen of ‘white monopoly capital’, including Johann Rupert, owner of Richemont, who was a Bell Pottinger client. Can anyone who has a modicum of knowledge of Tim Bell, who was vehemently against the likes of Twitter, consider he would be behind doing such a thing to his lifelong friend? This was PR as narrated by Tom Sharpe.
When Tim returned from sick leave and saw what was going on, he had a stand-up row with James telling him he had to resign the account. When James refused, Tim told the Board they had to do so immediately, or it would bring the company down. When they failed to act, Tim felt he had no choice but to resign from the company he had dedicated 30 years of his life building and which had his name on the door. This was in 2016. In 2017, the story broke about Victoria’s Secrets, which resulted in Bell Pottinger being expelled from the PRCA and the firm going into administration.”
It should actually read like this, in order to be accurate:
An alternative view of what happened was published in The Drum on 5 September 2019. It stated Bell had a genuine desire to help the Indian-descended Guptas from being discriminated against in South Africa. However, Bell suffered a stroke in 2016 and was put on three months medical leave. CEO James Henderson used Tim’s absence to ensure the account was run exclusively by his Financial PR Team, under Victoria Geoghegan. Victoria and her team They set up the fake Twitter accounts accusing white businessmen, such as Johann Rupert, of "white monopoly capital". When Bell returned from medical leave, he had a row with James telling him he had to resign the account and when he refused, Bell resigned from the company. After the story broke in 2017, Johann Rupert claimed Bell was "the only person to have acted with honour in the entire affair."[31]
I hope this helps."
The current Wiki version is libellous, hence my contacting the Wiki legal team. Many thanks.
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