Media whips up Mosley scandal
2008-07-09 10:30
The Max Mosley sex scandal has returned to mainstream media headlines, as the FIA president this week began his privacy and defamation case in London against British newspaper News of the World.
Veritable hundreds of press reports took notable interest in the 68-year-old Briton's appearance in the High Court witness box, as he openly admitted to enjoying sadomasochistic "parties" with paid women for nearly fifty years.
The Financial Times made the inescapable observation that the new media attention "raises fresh ... doubts" about Mosley's continuing role at the head of the world governing body of motoring clubs and motor sport.
The British international business newspaper also said the trial raises "fresh questions about whether he is fit for office".
Like the celebrity-scandal newspaper News of the World, the British tabloid press gleefully focused again on the previously low-profile Mosley, who has a "bizarre sex life", according to the Daily Mail.
The media reports quote Mosley as playing down things like the bleeding caused by whippings, with the Daily Star headlining: "F1 chief hooked on spanking for 50 years".
The Daily Mirror's headline was "Motor racing chief Max Mosley: I love to be spanked".
Mosley's court appearance also breathed life into the claims that his "party" had a Nazi theme, for which he is seeking unlimited punitive damages.
In court on Tuesday, two of the five prostitutes denied the orgy had a Nazi theme.
Video evidence played in court, however, depicted one woman saying: "We are the Aryan race, the blondes", to which Mosley responded that he did not hear or recall.
"The fact that someone mentioned they're Aryan doesn't ipso facto mean Nazi," the newspapers quote Mosley as saying.
"It's a throwaway line in a general scenario. If that's the only thing you can point to, it's not much, is it?" he added.
The respected Guardian newspaper headlined its take on Monday's court proceedings as 'Max Mosley: Aryan doesn't mean Nazi'.
