LONDON — Writer J.K. Rowling and actress Sienna Miller gave a London courtroom a vivid picture on Thursday of the anxiety, anger and fear produced by living in the glare of Britain’s tabloid media, describing how press intrusion made them feel like prisoners in their own homes.
The creator of boy wizard Harry Potter told Britain’s media-ethics inquiry that having journalists camped on her doorstep was “like being under siege and like being a hostage.”
Miller said years of car chases, midnight pursuits and intimate revelations had left her feeling violated, paranoid and anxious.
“The attitude seems to be absolutely cavalier,” Rowling said. “You’re famous, you’re asking for it.”
The pair were among a diverse cast of witnesses — Hollywood star Hugh Grant, a former soccer player, a former aide to supermodel Elle Macpherson and the parents of missing and murdered children — who have described how becoming the focus of Britain’s tabloid press wreaked havoc on their lives.
Prime Minister David Cameron set up the inquiry amid a still-unfolding scandal over illegal eavesdropping by the News of the World tabloid. Owner Rupert Murdoch closed down the newspaper in July after evidence emerged that it had illegally accessed the mobile-phone voice mails of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims in its search of scoops.
Rowling, 46, said media interest in her began shortly after the publication of her first novel in 1997 and soon escalated, with photographers and reporters stationed outside her home. She moved after stories and photographs revealed the location of her house.
“I can’t put an invisibility cloaking device over myself or my house, nor would I want to,” Rowling said. But, she added, “it feels threatening to have people watching you.”
Rowling said she had always tried to keep her three children out of the media glare and was outraged when her eldest daughter came home from primary school with a letter from a journalist in her backpack.
Miller, who became a tabloid staple when she dated fellow actor Jude Law, said the constant scrutiny left her feeling “very violated and very paranoid and anxious, constantly.”
“For a number of years, I was relentlessly pursued by 10 to 15 men, almost daily,” she said. “Spat at, verbally abused. I would often find myself, at the age of 21, at midnight, running down a dark street on my own with 10 men chasing me. And the fact they had cameras in their hands made that legal.”
