Nigella Lawson is threatening to sue a London PR executive who published a blog claiming the pictures of her being grabbed by the neck by her estranged husband Charles Saatchi were staged for publicity purposes.
Lawson's law firm Schillings has written to Richard Hillgrove demanding he remove the post which, it said, include statements that she "wilfully misled the public, acquaintances and others by knowingly orchestrating an 'assault' as a cynical PR exercise".
Schillings said his blog also claims Lawson was "feigning distress" at the assault, something it added is "entirely untrue and grossly defamatory".
The Schillings letter to Hillgrove has demanded that he immediately remove the post and the tweet linking to the post.
They also demanded an "immediate publication of an apology" on his Twitter account. "Failure to act swiftly will only aggravate the damage," said Schillings.
Hillgrove, who runs his own company, Hillgrove PR, said he has no intention of removing the post and is prepared to go to court.
"I assume I'm going to be libel action, but I think it's grossly unfair the way he [Saatchi] has been treated," he said.
He has already received two letters from Lawson's lawyers but said: "Most media commentators have had lots to say and have not been asked to take it down … This is a gross over-reaction. Why should I be crushed and threatened?"
He said he has not spoken to Saatchi about the incident.
Saatchi and Lawson announced they were divorcing earlier this month, just weeks after the pictures showing him with his hand around her neck during a row outside Scott's restaurant in Mayfair appeared.
In a statement to a newspaper he said he was disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that he abhorred violence of any kind against women and that he has never abused her physically in any way.
Lawson has not issued any statements since the incident.
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