EXCLUSIVE ‘I have the deepest sympathy for her’: Ferne McCann breaks her silence after she was accused of calling acid attack victim a ‘silly b***h’ and brands leaked voice notes a ‘harassment campaign’
- Ferne, 32, broke her silence on the scandal to claim she has been the victim of a ‘harassment’ campaign designed to ‘discredit’ her
- The reality star also said she ‘offers her deepest sympathies for the distress and hurt’ caused to Arthur Collins’ acid attack victim
- Sophie Hall, 27, said Ferne’s alleged remarks ‘shattered’ her confidence and has urged ITV to take action against the TV star
- Ferne’s friends have hit back at claims she made the derogatory comment saying they were ‘spliced together’ from separate recordings
Ferne McCann has broken her silence following claims she made derogatory comments about ex-partner Arthur Collins’ acid attack victims.
In a statement shared with MailOnline, the reality star, 32, called the scandal a ‘harassment’ campaign against her, as well as offering her sympathies to those offended by the remarks.
The mother-of-one was forced to speak out after an anonymous Instagram account leaked voice notes allegedly sent by Ferne, in which a woman’s voice labels one of Arthur’s victims a ‘silly b****’.
It’s been claimed they were referring to Sophie Hall, who reached the final of a Miss England final 15 months after the sickening attack, baring her scars.
Speaking out: Ferne McCann insisted she has the ‘deepest sympathy’ for acid attack victim Sophie Hall after she was accused of branding her a ‘silly b***h’ in alleged leaked voice notes (pictured last month)
The account responsible for sharing the audio previously stated more voice notes, allegedly from Ferne, would be sent over the next 24 hours.
Breaking her silence on the scandal, a statement released by Ferne’s representatives read: ‘These voice messages are part of a wider harassment campaign designed to intimidate and discredit Ferne.
‘They are subject to an on-going investigation being carried out by Essex Police and, as such, Ferne is unable to comment other than to say she offers her deepest sympathies for the distress and hurt this situation is causing Ms. Hall.’
A source close to the former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! star previously told MailOnline the messages have been ‘spliced together’ from separate recordings in a bid to ‘destroy her’.
Slur: It’s been claimed the voice notes were referring to Sophie Hall, who reached the final of a Miss England contest 15 months after the sickening attack, baring her scars
Sophie, 27, who was badly scarred when Ferne’s then-boyfriend Arthur threw acid into a London club in 2017, has urged ITV to ‘take action’ and hold her accountable.
Sophie, whom Ferne allegedly referred to as ‘a silly b***h’ told The Sun she had spent five years rebuilding her confidence and ‘now in just minutes all my hard work has been shattered by these malicious voice notes.’
The acid attack victim slammed the First Time Mum star for being ‘cruel and vicious’ and has questioned why she should still be ‘given the platform to tear down others.’
‘ITV need to address what’s been said by Ferne. She needs to be held accountable and so do they,’ Ms Hall told The Sun. ‘ITV don’t just need to take action for my sake, but for other leaked voice notes. The ones which were body shaming and so unkind.’
Convicted: Ferne’s ex Arthur Collins is currently serving 20 years in prison after he threw acid in an East London nightclub in April 2017 and injured 14 people
Amid the scandal, filming for Ferne’s reality series has been paused.
Ferne McCann: First Time Mum started in 2017 and followed the star as she prepared to welcome her first child following her split from Arthur. The series has since charted her life as a single mother to daughter Sunday, five.
A source told MailOnline: ‘ITV are not currently filming Ferne’s series but are in contact with her and continue to offer support.’
An insider told The Sun that ITV are now waiting to see ‘how it plays out’, adding: ‘ITV were due to start filming the next series of her show First Time Mum in the coming weeks but now it’s all up in the air.
‘Conversations are ongoing about when the show may resume filming in light of all that has gone on.
‘ITV have held talks with Ferne about the situation and they will continue to speak with her to see where they go from here.’
Shock: Filming for Ferne’s ITVBe series has been paused following the claims and after Sophie spoke out about her experience (pictured today)
On Thursday, friends of the reality star rallied around her to slam ‘sick’ claims she made the ‘disgusting’ comments
The source explained: ‘Ferne is devastated by the content of these voice messages. This is part of an ongoing hate campaign against her.
‘The latest message has been spliced together from different WhatsApp recordings.
‘The messages are about four and five years old and out of context. The person releasing the private voice recordings is trying to destroy her.
‘The fact they kept the private voice messages for so long and are now releasing them shows what sort of sick person they are. It isn’t just hurting Ferne, it’s hurting the people being talked about. Ferne’s very aware of that as well.’
One to watch: Ferne McCann: First Time Mum started in 2017 and the series has charted her life as a single mother to daughter Sunday, five (pictured on the show)
The source continued: ‘The truth is that Ferne has huge sympathy with Arthur’s victims and what they’ve been through. She admires their courage.
‘The police are continuing their investigation into who is leaking and editing the messages.
‘Ferne is set to be interviewed again to help to try and catch the perpetrator.
‘Her legal team has advised her she can’t speak out at the moment while investigations are ongoing.’
Ex: Ferne was accused of making ‘disgusting’ comments about one of ex-boyfriend Arthur’s victims in newly-leaked voice notes (pictured in 2017)
Collins is currently serving 20 years in prison after he threw acid in an East London nightclub in April 2017 and injured 14 people.
The former scaffolder – the father of Ferne’s daughter Sunday, five – was convicted of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, and nine counts of actual bodily harm against 14 people, including model Sophie.
The voicemail message posted by the anonymous account, claiming to be sent by Ferne, discussed Sophie entering the 2018 beauty pageant.
A woman’s voice can be heard saying: ‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, the silly b***h has made a dress… A papier mache dress out of the newspaper cuttings from the event’ (Sophie is pictured competing in a pageant)
A woman’s voice can be heard saying: ‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, the silly b***h has made a dress… A papier mache dress out of the newspaper cuttings from the event.’
In another post, the woman says: ‘She’ll probably win it I’m not gonna lie, only because the event and the awards that she has entered or beauty competition, whatever it is.’
‘They’re probably loving all this free press for their event so they’ll probably fix it, she’ll win it.’
The Instagram account had previously been suspended after Ferne reported it to the police when it released posts allegedly from the reality star in which she branded her former TOWIE pal Sam Faiers, 31, a ‘fat c***’ and ‘narcissistic b**ch’.
Sam and Ferne, who starred alongside one another on The Only Way Is Essex, have been friends for over 20 years.
Falling out: Ferne has been embroiled in an ongoing feud with Sam Faiers, 31, after audio was leaked which allegedly saw Ferne brand her pal a ‘fat c***’ (pictured together in 2019)
Source: Read Full Article
