Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Charles Bronson’s ‘son’ says they faked relationship for six years for publicity stunt

‘Charles Bronson is not my father. I am a PR agent,’ says George Bamby

Laura Parnaby
Thursday 30 March 2023 19:26 BST
‘Charles Bronson is not my father’: 'Son' of notorious prisoner says it was six-year publicity stunt

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.

A man who claimed to be Charles Bronson’s son for six years has now said they are not related and that they faked the relationship as part of a six-year publicity stunt.

George Bamby said he agreed to fake the relation in order to gain publicity for the notorious prisoner, adding that he “made loads of money” from it.

The self-described “PR agent” made the comment during an interview with TalkTV about Bronson losing his Parole Board bid to be freed from jail.

Mr Bamby said Bronson – who changed his surname to Salvador in 2014 – approached him six years ago asking if he would help “get loads of publicity for him and make sure he wasn’t forgotten about”.

He told TalkTV that he “didn’t even tell my wife, I didn’t even tell my family”, adding: “My wife is sat here now and she looks horrified.”

(TalkTV)

He said: “Me and Charlie together made up the story that he was my dad.

“Charles Bronson is not my father. I am a PR agent. I’m a marketing person, and I’m the UK’s number one paparazzi.

“I’ve not told anybody this for six years and it’s been an absolute bane of my life.”

He added: “Me and Charlie, for the last six years, have made loads of money, we’ve had loads of fun, we’ve created loads of stories, we’ve done loads of ridiculous things, we’ve manipulated the media, we’ve manipulated the prison service.

Charles Bronson lost a Parole Board bid to be released from prison
Charles Bronson lost a Parole Board bid to be released from prison (PA)

“I got into the maximum security services in four different prisons as a journalist.

He denied he had any regrets but said: “It’s taken a real toll on my life, I didn’t even tell my wife, I didn’t even tell my family, I’ve not even told my friends. This is the first time now that any of my family and friends are going to hear about it. My wife is sat here now and she looks horrified.

“But when you’re doing a job like this which is so high profile, you can’t start telling people what you’re doing.”

Mr Bamby said the profits were split between him and Bronson’s consultant, because people serving jail time are not legally allowed to make money.

When asked for an interview by the PA news agency, Mr Bamby said to “refer to the (TalkTV) interview”, adding: “I’m off on holiday”.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in