Friday, May 20, 2011

Pete Doherty claims Mark Blanco was 'alone' just before he died

May 20, 2011 12:16

Libertines man speaks about death case he was linked to

Photo Gallery: Pete Doherty
Photo: Pete Doherty at Snaresbrook Crown Court, May 20, 2011 
PA

Pete Doherty has written a new blog in which he claims that the Mark Blanco, whose 2006 death he had been linked with, was alone just before he died.

Blanco died after falling from a balcony at a London party The Libertines man was also attending. Doherty was implicated after an inquest into the actor's death in 2007 heard that the singer asked his minder Jonathan Jeannevol to "have a word" with Blanco after he had "annoyed" him. Doherty was also apparently seen on CCTV running away from Blanco's body.

Earlier this month it was announced that Doherty will not be charged over the death, although Blanco's family are still considering launching a private prosecution against him.

Now, writing on his blog at Albionrooms.com, the frontman claimed that neither he nor anyone else was with Blanco directly before he died. "When he fell or jumped he was alone," he wrote. "That is what happened. He either fell or was making an extreme point about the nature of life imitating art."

He also wrote in more detail about the events of the evening. "The night that he died he was intensely agitated and extremely hyper-active and intoxicated," he claimed. "He was ejected from Paul's [Roundhill, Doherty associate] flat because of his aggressive and loud attempts to belittle me and assert his view that I was a hyped up pop star and he was a talented actor."

He added: "Paul was dismayed that his friend was showing me this side of his character when in reality we could have been friends and exchanged ideas, combined creative energy and generally used the sometime 'crack den' as a thriving studio of literary and artistic output that it occasionally was."

Doherty also wrote about Robyn Whitehead, his friend who died in 2009. He is appearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court today (May 20) for sentencing for cocaine possession – a charge that was made following a police investigation into the death.

In the blog he claimed he had not been responsible for providing her with drugs. "I did not lead her astray at all," he wrote. "I loved her. I left her the day before she died pissed off that I wouldn't give her any drugs. Print that you twisted bastards. Print that she asked me for years to inject her, to score for her, to sleep with her on acid, to get into blackmagic sex rituals… never, never, never."

He added: "Once I banged her up, four years ago, when I found her doing it to herself [taking drugs] with a blunt needle and dirty spoon and I made sure she did it safely as she was doing it anyway. That was four years ago. After that I refused to allow her to use crack or heroin or drink to excess which was her main danger."

Check NME.COM later on today for the result of Doherty's sentencing.

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Lily Allen to honeymoon at Glastonbury - Tabloid Hell

May 20, 2011 10:33

The 'retired' popstar will head to Worthy Farm after her wedding

Lily Allen will snub luxury resorts and exotic locations to spend her honeymoon at Glastonbury after she marries fiancé Sam Cooper next month.

The pair have chosen to spend their honeymoon period in the VIP section of the festival, which takes place on Worthy Farm, June 24-26, reports The Sun.

Organiser Michael Eavis told the paper the news at yesterday’s (May 19) Ivor Novello Awards ceremony in London. He said: "Lily's coming down for her honeymoon. We'll look after her – she'll get well treated. I've known her since she was tiny. She's such a star. I’d love to get her out of retirement. I'm really looking forward to her wonderful wedding."

But Allen herself was not so enthusiastic about her wedding, taking to Twitter.com/lilyroseallen to let rip. "Tip of the day: don’t ever get married," she wrote. "Everyone involved (or not as the case may be) turns into a cunt. Is there a train station for Gretna Green?"

She later calmed down, tweeting: "All fine now. The cunts are safely back in their boxes."

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Queens Of The Stone Age: 'Our record will be done by the end of the year'

May 20, 2011 8:29

Josh Homme says band are heading back to the studio after they finish European tour

Queens Of The Stone Age will finish their sixth studio album later this year, frontman Josh Homme has said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 1, Homme said the band were heading straight back to the studio after they headline The Other Stage at this year’s Glastonbury festival.

Homme said: "We're going to take our one last break that we would get for a month, come back and do Glastonbury, then immediately jump in the studio. Our record will be done by the end of the year. We have enough songs."

Asked about the new direction of the album, Homme said it was unlikely to involve a radical new sound, as the band don’t "feel they have anything to prove." He said: "We're at a weird moment where we really don't feel like we have anything to prove. We just want to play to the people that are into us and we want to play right at them."

The band are booked to do a US tour in July and early August, with Homme indicating that these would be the first live dates where the band didn’t play the whole of their debut album in full, as they have been doing for the last few months.

He said: "I'm not going to lie: I'm sick of doing the first record. We've never played the same set list before."

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