TV CHEF NIGELLA AIDE REVEALS BOOK BUYING SCANDAL, COCAINE USE, & WEED SMOKING

Nigella Lawson being choked in public by husband Charles Saatchi

Nigella Lawson's aides were told to tour round bookshops buying copies of Charles Saatchi's books to help them get on the bestseller lists, as well as cocaine abuse a court has heard.

Elisabetta Grillo, who worked as Miss Lawson's housekeeper for more than a decade, said she would spend $200 on his books four times each week. Other aides were also told to do the same, she said.

 

Miss Grillo, who is accused of defrauding Mr Saatchi out of $105,000 spent on a corporate credit card, was asked about cash withdrawals she made on the card.

 She told Isleworth Crown Court in west London: "I took cash out for different things, to pay my phone bill, I also took cash out to pay for books because Charles wanted to push it up the bestsellers lists.

 

"I took out $200 and we would go around different stores across London four times a week, Waterstones and also Amazon. All of the staff had to do it."

 The court also heard Miss Lawson was “afraid” that Charles Saatchi would think she allowed the aides to spend his money in return for their silence over her drug use.

Nigella Lawson left a trail of cocaine through her house — with the white powder turning up in the bathroom, bedroom drawers and even on CD covers, the ex-personal assistant testified Thursday.

The British celeb chef used the drug “like every three days . . . regularly,’’ Elisabetta Grillo, 41, told a London court, contradicting Lawson’s earlier claim that she had taken the drug only seven times.

“I was cleaning the house, and I noticed little packets on top of the loo, the toilet,’’ Grillo testified, describing one of the many occasions she claims to have found white powder in homes Lawson shared with both her late husband, John Diamond, and ex-husband, high-powered art dealer Charles Saatchi.

Grillo said she found “white stuff’’ on CDs and a credit card, and once opened a drawer to find money, including American currency, “rolled up with white stuff.’’
But pressed on whether she had ever actually seen Lawson do cocaine, Grillo answered, “No.”

The aide also claimed that Lawson smoked pot in front of her children when she was having trouble sleeping.

Asked why she never confronted Lawson, Grillo said, “At the time, I thought it was an embarrassing topic . . . I didn’t want to embarrass myself or her.’’

Grillo and her sister, Francesca, 35, are on trial for allegedly bilking more than $1 million from Saatchi and Lawson, using the couple’s credit cards to buy themselves designer clothing and other extravagances.

The sisters have said the couple let them spend whatever they wanted, as long as they didn’t reveal Lawson’s alleged drug habit.

Lawson has said the fraud trial — and the claims that she’s a cokehead — were concocted by Saatchi because she left him.

Also Thursday, Judge Robin Johnson laid into British Prime Minister David Cameron, who said in an interview that he’s a member of “Team Nigella.’’

Instructing the jury to ignore the comment, Johnson said, “It is of regret when people in public office comment about a person who is involved in a trial which is in progress.’’