Were you as shocked as I was to see those photos of Nigella Lawson being manhandled by her husband in a restaurant window?  This was so disturbing on so many levels, I hardly know where to start…

Nigella Lawson –even the sound of her name is so mellifluous — Brilliant, beautiful, forthright …Women want to be her-men want to be with her. The first time I read about her it was an interview for her first cookbook. The former model described creating one salty-sweet recipe after a night in bed with saltines in one hand and chocolate chips in the other, alternately chowing down. Who couldn’t love a woman who said that?

Well, it turns out her husband, Charles Saatchi, can’t–or, at best, loves to beat her up.  Domestic abuse is all about manipulation; as the head of a billion dollar worldwide advertising business, Saatchi would know a thing or two about manipulation. It is very evident from the photos how very good he is at manipulating Nigella into permitting this abuse. Even strong powerful women get abused by their spouses.

In the photos, Nigella looks sad and ashamed and afraid. Not shocked or outraged, as her reaction would have been had this been the first time he got physical. As it turns out, Nigella was abused by her mother as a child. Perhaps she thought she ‘deserved’ to live with someone who continued the abuse. In discussing her mother last year, she said: “I never thought I could please her.”

Just look at the body language in the photos. When wolves show dominance to one of their pack, they will take its nose between their jaws. And the term ‘leading someone by the nose’ came about because IT HURTS when your nose is pinched and twisted like that and any one who has such a grip on you can lead you wherever he wills.

Saatchi thought the greenery at the window screened him from the paparazzi
and the alcove shielded them from other patrons. Too bad he didn’t look behind him, where the photographer had a perfect view of the assault. Those that condemned the photographers for not jumping in to physically prevent the abuse? Pssshhht. Bearing witness with visual proof was the best thing the photographer could do. Now the world knows what a perfect shit Charles Saatchi is.