The editors of three of the UK's best selling celebrity magazines have told the inquiry into media ethics that just because a celebrity appears in their magazine, 'it should not be open season on them!'.
Magazine editors Rosie Nixon of Hello!, Lucie Cave of Heat and Lisa Byrne of OK! appeared together before the Leveson Inquiry.
The trio said they would not just print photographs of a celebrity without checking on the circumstances in which that picture was taken, in a bid to ensure there was no invasion of privacy.
The inquiry into press standards has previously heard from a number of high profile figures, who claimed to have suffered repeated harassment from freelance 'paparazzi' many of whom sell their pictures to celebrity
magazines.
As Lord Justice Leveson flicked through copies of the magazines, Hello!'s Rosie Nixon told him her publication would not publish pictures they were suspicious about.
She said the picture editor would check the circumstances surrounding the photograph and the magazine would only deal with photographers Hello! had a relationship with and could trust.
The inquiry was told that Hello!, along with OK! magazine had most of their content pre-approved by the celebrities who feature in their titles.
Nixon revealed that 70% of the material in her magazine is pre-agreed, while OK!'s Lisa Byrne said 80% of the content in her magazine was pre-agreed.
However, the evidence from Heat's Lucie Cave differed on that aspect, as she claimed Heat did not generally give celebrities copy approval.
Cave was asked what she would do if her publication was contacted by the subject of a story who did not want to appear in the magazine.
Cave said: 'If it was a big story for our readers about a couple that have split up for example and we feel it is important to tell our readers about it, we take the stance that we still would publish it. However we will work with the PRs.'
Hello! editor Nixon said: 'If somebody does not want us to run something we do not run it. We would not get access to a big event in their lives in the future if we have done something to upset them.'
Lucie Cave also revealed that it was not unusual for some celebrities to make money from selling posed pictures to celebrity magazines.
Carine Patry Hoskins, Counsel to the Inquiry asked: 'To what extent are photos in your magazines staged? Not by you - but where the celeb is clealy aware that photos are being taken.'
Cave replied: 'Heat magazine is one of the only magazines to point out when we think a celebrity is aware a shoot is being done.'
The Heat Editor added: 'Some reality TV stars make money from set up photos. But we will point it out to the reader because we like to peel back the curtain to show how the celebrity machine works.'
She was also questioned about pictures which recently appeared in her title of Simon Cowell on a yacht with a woman.
Cave said: 'We did not check with Simon Cowell in this instance. But we know from working with him that he enjoys the lifestyle that goes with his celebrity and we took the decision that he is clearly playing up to
the paparazzi that are there.'
OK! editor Lisa Byrne defended her publication's tendency to suggest on the front cover it had secured a detailed interview with an individual, when it clearly had not.
The inquiry was shown an example of a front page which appeared to suggest OK! had an interview with the Duchess of Cambridge to mark her 30th birthday. There was no interview inside.
Byrne said there had been 'no intention to mislead'.
She also expressed concern that Lord Justice Leveson's eventual inquiry findings might unfairly penalise the celebrity magazine industry.
She said: 'Our readers are happy, the celebrities are happy. If someone comes with a ridiculous edict we would have to follow, I would be unhappy.
We have not done anything wrong, nothing illegal. If we were affected it would be really terrible for us.'
