Éclair woman pledges money for farmers
18 February 2000
Éclair woman pledges money for farmers
By Johann Tasker
THE woman who attacked farm minister Nick Brown with a chocolate éclair has pledged to give farmers some of the money she made from selling her story to a tabloid newspaper.
Birgit Cunningham hit the headlines after smearing the éclair over Mr Brown in protest at his handling of the farm crisis.
She subsequently sold her story to the Mail on Sunday after it emerged that she had lived a glamorous life in Hollywood
She dated actor Kevin Costner and once shared a flat with actress Elizabeth Hurley.
In the past, newspapers have paid thousands of pounds for similar stories.
Ms Cunningham declined to say how much money she was paid, but pledged to make a donation to the Small and Family Farms Alliance, an organisation run by Cornwall farmer Michael Hart.
Mr Hart had helped Ms Cunningham write an open letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair, drawing attention to the plight of family farms, which was printed alongside the Mail on Sunday story.
Mr Hart was contacted by Ms Cunningham while she was working as a researcher for The Ecologist magazine.
He said: “I was unaware that it was her who had done the chocolate éclair job.
“It just so happened that I was in London to meet up with various pressure groups the following day.”
Mr Hart arrived at Paddington station and phoned Ms Cunningham to arrange a meeting. Previously he had never met her in person.
“She told me that the Mail on Sunday wanted her to write the open letter and asked me for my help.”
He said Ms Cunningham asked for facts and figures about the farm crisis because she had been researching the subject for two months.
It was only later when Ms Cunningham offered to make a donation that Mr Hart realised she was getting paid for the story.
He said: “I did not particularly want to get paid, but said the SFFA, which is struggling for funds, would be very grateful if she made a donation.
How much it is or when, I do not know. She said she will donate some of the money which she is being paid herself.”
The SFFA has 400 members and is affiliated to other similar groups.
Mr Hart said he was 99% sure that Ms Cunningham was genuine, but was not 100% behind her way of drawing attention to the farming crisis.
“If she wants people to take her seriously, she has now got to act seriously,” he said.
The Ecologist magazine, which employed Ms Cunningham on a freelance basis, has distanced itself from her activities.
She no longer works for it.
Ms Cunningham said: “I think that donating most of the money to Mr Hart was the least I could do because he seemed to be doing a lot of hard work.”
Earlier this week, she posed for photographers feeding a chocolate éclair to a pig at a farmers vigil at Parliament Square in London.
- Get the message across – Max Clifford, FWi, 11 February, 2000
- Éclair woman sets up food website, FWi, 07 February, 2000
- That cake attack – good news for all, FWi, 04 February, 2000
- NFU Conference Roundup, FWi, 03 February, 2000