L.A. Times in Error About Victoria Beckham's Vibrator

I'm not one of those people who put everything in a newspaper under a microscope, hoping to find a mistake somewhere. But when someone gets the most crucial facts of a story wrong, it is my journalistic duty to point it out.

That brings me to the big story on David Beckham that ran in the L.A. Times on Sunday. The piece, written by Grahame L. Jones, discussed the lavish lifestyle of Beckham and his wife, Victoria, once better known as Posh Spice of the Spice Girls.

David and Victoria shower each other with lavish gifts, the story said. "While Victoria was expecting their third child, Beckham spent $1.8 million for a diamond encrusted sex toy with matching 16-carat diamond necklace."

As fate would have it, I was scheduled to take part in a conference call with Victoria in connection with her one-hour NBC special, "Victoria Beckham: Coming to America," scheduled for 8 p.m. ET/PT on Monday. Though I've spent a lifetime interviewing people great and small, I've never had the privilege of talking to the owner of a $1.8 million sex toy.

When my turn came, I got my chance. "Does the immense value of this item tend to inhibit you from using it?"  I inquired.

And that's when I discovered that, all those Pulitzer Prizes notwithstanding, you can't absolutely rely on the Times.

"It isn't true," Victoria said, her voice calm and measured. "We do buy each other nice things," she admitted, but some things get exaggerated. "I don't have a diamond-encrusted vibrator."

I was so stunned that I completely forgot to ask about the matching necklace.

The NBC special, by the way, starts off with Victoria doing a photo shoot for a fashion magazine in connection with her successful line of clothing. Then it follows her to Beverly Hills, where she shops for a mansion not far from her friends, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.

"I'm just a normal girl from London," Victoria said. The program is a documentary on her activities as she prepares to relocate to Los Angeles, which she describes as "a great place to raise children."

You won't see the kids, though. The Beckhams absolutely forbid photos of Brooklyn, 9; Romeo, 4; and Cruz, 2. "We don't allow any of our kids to be filmed."

And you definitely won't see the vibrator.

Posted by Barry Garron

Comments

[Joe Bua]

You mean that VH1 special "The Fabulous Life: Celebrity Sex" was lying about the Beckhams' diamond encrusted vibrator?

Really, a great news gathering organization like VH1's Fabulous Life crew got a detail wrong?

Well, how is a source like a The Los Angeles Times supposed to do its job when its highly vaunted research material is flawed?

Shame on VH1 for presenting itself as an unimpeachable news source and lying to its readers.

Oh, that's right, they did nothing of the sort.

LA Times sucks, Tribune sucks, news is not what it once was.