Hacked Off research reveals the extent of a 7-day press assault on the privacy and personal life of Jesy Nelson, only months after Ms Nelson spoke about her battles with mental health issues in the BBC documentary “Odd One Out” (broadcast 23rd October 2019).Research from Hacked Off has found that 57 articles were written about Jesy Nelson in just one week (April 8th - 14th), many of which included alleged details of her break up with Chris Hughes which ranged from the speculative, to the intrusive, to the inane. Many relied heavily on rumours and unnamed “insiders” or “friends”. Other articles reported on what clothes she was wearing in pictures on social media.Nelson’s former partner Chris Hughes has alleged that they contain inaccuracies on social media.The 57 articles were found over a 7 day period. As an average, this means that 8 articles about Ms Nelson appeared per day. Across a typical working day, this averages as one new article every hour for a week.Hacked Off Director, Kyle Taylor, said,

“It is disturbing to see publications reporting on intimate details of Ms Nelson’s personal life on such a scale. Elements of the press’ obsession with uncovering peoples’ private lives is intrusive and can have significant effects on the target’s mental health. Attitude of some newspapers, that the private lives of well-known individuals exist for clickbait, shows no sign of changing regardless of the impact it has on those affected. “Every other industry in the UK is properly regulated, from broadcast media, to legal services, to finance. Yet newspaper websites read by millions of people every day get away with intrusive reporting with no recourse for those impacted. Noone should be forced to see the intimate moments of their lives exposed, interrogated and exploited in the pages of newspapers and magazines - least of all someone who has been so open about the mental health challenges they have faced.”

ENDSFor press enquiries contact: sara@hackinginquiry.org and 07554 665 940NOTESHacked Off is the campaign for a free and accountable press, and we work with the victims of press abuse to achieve those aims.A “typical working day” is taken to mean 9am - 5pm.