Irish Tabloid to Be Shut Over Topless Kate Pics

Journalists union blasts 'over the top' reaction
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 17, 2012 2:12 AM CDT
Irish Tabloid to be Shut Over Topless Kate Pics
Brit media mogul Richard Desmond says he taking "immediate steps" to shut down the Irish Daily Star after the paper reprinted photos of a topless Kate Middleton.   (euronewsfr)

They don't mess around with nude royals in the UK. An Irish tabloid is about to be shut down by its British media mogul owner after the paper reprinted photos of the topless duchess of Cambridge. Some 120 people work for the Irish Daily Star, which is based in a Dublin suburb, reports the Irish Times. It's jointly owned by the Independent News Media and Northern Shell, a company controlled by Brit Richard Desmond. "I am very angry at the decision to publish these photographs, and am taking immediate steps to close down the joint venture," Desmond says. "The decision to publish these pictures has no justification whatever."

Irish Daily Star editor Michael O'Kane defends publication of the photos. "She's not the future queen of Ireland, so the only place this is causing fury seems to be in the UK," he tells the BBC. "She's one of the most photographed people in the world, and she decides to partially disrobe on a balcony where it can be seen from a public road, and she's stunned now. Of course people are going to be interested in this." The National Union of Journalists is calling on Desmond to reconsider his decision to shut down the paper, branding it an "over the top reaction," reports RTE. Kate's problems are just beginning. An Italian gossip magazine owned by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi plans to print a 26-page spread on the topless photos today, and YouPorn has offered an "open check" for any racy photos that French publication Closer held back. (More Ireland stories.)

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