Status Anxiety | 26 November 2011

Watching Steve Coogan giving his testimony to the Leveson inquiry on Sky News, I was intrigued by his argument that, unlike some, he’s never entered into a ‘Faustian pact’ with the press. The implication is that those who have, like Katie Price, are fair game. Not an argument for a universal right to privacy, then, but a qualified right that would only apply to celebrities that shun the limelight.

The obvious objection to this is that either everyone should be entitled to a right to privacy or no one should. It cannot be contingent on not returning phone calls from the Daily Mail’s showbiz desk. But, actually, I think Coogan may be on to something here. It’s not that the right to privacy isn’t universal. It’s more that celebrities trade in a part of it in return for fame and fortune. Where Coogan is wrong is in thinking that this only applies to Page Three girls and the like.