Max Clifford was 'proud' to keep photos of women he abused, says ex-wife Jo Westwood
The publicist was jailed for eight years and was the first person to be convicted as part of Scotland Yard’s Operation Yewtree investigation
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The former wife of Max Clifford has said the disgraced PR guru “proudly” kept a bin bag full of photos of women as “sexual” material.
Speaking publicly for the first time since Clifford’s conviction on sex assault charges in May, Jo Westwood said she did not attend the trial because her former husband showed her “no respect at all.” They divorced in June.
Ms Westwood, who was married to Clifford for four years, told ITV’s This Morning that her former husband was “proud” of his collection of photos of women he abused.
“Some of them had faces but a lot of them didn’t,” she said. “And they were sexual. And when I said to him how did you get all these, he would say I just used to able to get women to do whatever I wanted.”
The former PA said that she felt “desperately sorry” in particular for one of his victims after finding a letter written to the publicist.
She said: “He showed me the letter and I was horrified. I said, ‘well, I think you should go to the police’ and he said ‘No. I’m not going to the police’.
“I said, ‘well what are you going to do?’ And he said, ‘tear it up and put it in the bin where it belongs’.”
Clifford, 71, was jailed for eight years after becoming the first person to be convicted as part of Scotland Yard’s Operation Yewtree, the investigation into historic sex attacks.