13 March 1989-7 April 2014
Ex-Loaded editor James Brown worked with Peaches Geldof to launch a celebrity magazine. Sparks flew…
When Peaches died I didn’t want to join the social and media stampede to her graveside. I had worked with her for just six months, five years earlier. People thought I was mad to mentor her for an MTV series about creating a celebrity magazine but she reminded me of her mum, whom I grew up watching on TV. I’d always admired Paula [Yates]’s flirtatious confidence and she’d made my day when she said in an interview: “I know what you Loaded boys want: to lie in bed with a beautiful woman eating crisps and watching Match of the Day.” No one defined it better. If Peaches wanted to make a magazine, the least I could do was help.
She was funny, intelligent and shockingly rude, though never to my colleagues or me. This wasn’t nice if you were on the receiving end – and in the era of Popbitch and Holy Moly, it was all leaked and reported – but she was devastatingly comedic when she put someone down. At an MTV planning meeting I noticed the Bret Easton Ellis-referencing tattoo “Disappear Here” on her arm and suggested it for the magazine’s name. Her manager said: “I suggested that to you two weeks ago, Peaches.” To which Peaches snapped: “Shut up, nobody gives a fuck about anything you say.” It was so outrageous, I’m laughing about it now. Her rudeness was her worst behaviour but also her best; she was like Miranda Richardson’s Queen scolding Nursie in Blackadder.
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