There's so much to this Alan Barnes/Katie Cutler/Claire Barber PR story that I'm struggling to get my head around it. I don't know whose side I'm on anymore.
Yesterday the news broke that lovely Katie Cutler who raised £330,000 to help disabled mugging victim Alan Barnes was almost £7,000 in debt to a PR firm she hired to raise the profile of her charitable work.
When a reporter asked Alan if he would be helping Katie out he said he'd give her a small amount, £10, to help her repay it. Now, at the time many people, myself included, said 'what a stingy bastard'. I said it loads.
Now, however, The Metro reports that Claire Barber, the CEO of the PR firm Katie is in debt to, has said that her company was paid £550 a day to try and make Katie a celebrity and get her to appear on shows like Celebrity Big Brother. So, you know, she could hopefully make a lucrative career promoting diet tea on Instagram. The dream.
'Don't cry, Katie. Here, look, I've got a tenner for ya'. Credit: PA
Katie has denied the allegations, and stands by what she originally said, that the firm was hired to help her launch her own charity. Katie told the BBC that Claire's firm agreed to do the work pro-bono until the charity was fully set up.
What do you think, lads? Is Alan right to only offer a tenner?
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Featured image credit: PA
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Charity