Celebrity chef, Nigella Lawson, arrives at Isleworth Crown Court in London, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013.LONDON – Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson admitted in court Wednesday that she had taken cocaine, but denied being a habitual user. She accused her ex-husband of trying to “destroy” her, during a lacerating day of testimony that laid bare a materially affluent but deeply troubled marriage.
Lawson said her former husband Charles Saatchi, a millionaire art collector, spread drug rumors about her after he was photographed gripping her throat outside Scott’s restaurant in London. The widely published image ignited harsh criticism of Saatchi and was soon followed by their divorce in July.
“He told everyone that he was taking cocaine out of my nose at Scott’s when he knows that is a lie,” Lawson said, testifying at the fraud trial of two former assistants. She said her ex-husband spread “false allegations that I was a habitual user” who snorted cocaine daily.
“People who do that are a lot thinner than I am,” she said. “I have never been a drug addict.”
Lawson, 53, was appearing as a prosecution witness at the trial of Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo, longtime employees who worked as nannies, cleaners and assistants in the couple’s London home.