Latest news with #Ayling
Cosmopolitan
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
Kidnapped model Chloe Ayling says newly diagnosed health condition could explain why nobody believed her story
Chloe Ayling has divulged more information as to why her astonishing kidnapping story was not initially believed. The 28-year-old made headlines back in 2017 when she attended a staged photoshoot in Milan, only to be injected with ketamine, stuffed into a suitcase and have her kidnapper demand a substantial ransom. Ayling's manager received a series of photos of the model, then just 20, scantily clad and unconscious, with demands that €300,000 (the equivalent of around £260,000) was paid to ensure her safety. If demands were not met, Ayling was to be sold off into sex slavery. While Ayling was freed after six days, the model, who has now spoken out in a new BBC documentary, admits it has not been easy rebuilding her life following the ordeal. In Chloe Ayling: My Unbelievable Kidnapping, Ayling explains that she is still plagued by the fact people don't believe her story. However, she adds that a recent autism diagnosis may have helped explain why many – including law enforcers – initially approached Ayling's story with a dose of skepticism. Reflecting on her childhood, Ayling says in the documentary: 'I had a lot of difficulties with communicating 'I'd react in the wrong way. If I was being told off I would smile. I just had the wrong reactions to things. 'My mum would come with me on school trips because I wouldn't be able to say what I wanted or express how I was feeling. For ages I just said I'm not an emotional person, but now I realise that no matter now hard I try, I just can't [express emotions].' When Ayling initially returned home following the ordeal, she spoke out about the horror she experienced – but her flat, emotionless delivery saw people question the authenticity of events. Others pointed towards the fact Ayling went shopping with her kidnapper, and speculated whether the kidnapping was an elaborate publicity stunt, or even whether Ayling had been in on the abduction all along. However, these theories are entirely unfounded; Lukasz Herba, who claimed to be a trained assassin and part of the 'Black Death' gang was found guilty of kidnapping and initially sentenced to 16 years and nine months in prison – reduced to 11 years following an appeal. Ayling, who received a diagnosis confirming she was on the autism spectrum disorder during the three-part documentary, does not hold a grudge against those who did not believe her. 'I can't really be mad at people for not understanding, when I didn't really understand it myself,' she says. Since the ordeal, Ayling took part in 2018's Celebrity Big Brother, where she placed 11th. She now shares son Ashton, with her former partner Conor Keyes, and shares content on social media and on her OnlyFans page. Chloe Ayling: My Unbelievable Kidnapping is available to view on BBC iPlayer Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper's Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
NZ Herald
7 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Free Speech Union's bid to reshape InternetNZ: The results are in, with a late twist
A surge of people duly joined InternetNZ (annual dues: $21). As of February 1, the incorporated society had 383 members, a number its chairman Stephen Judd said had been stable for years. By the time of its board election and annual meeting last week there were 4462 eligible voting members. Things hung in the balance, with it not being clear how many of the newcomers had answered Ayling's call and how many were aiming to counter the FSU incursion. Auditor Grant Thornton says 62.4% of eligible members cast votes – up from 43% last year. FSU wins one of two open seats, none of 12 motions Two of eight board positions were up for grabs, with 13 candidates in contention. Ayling won one of the open seats with 929 votes. The other was picked up by Dylan Reeve (1372 votes), whose varied career includes being the creative partner to journalist David Farrier, who will never make the FSU's Christmas card list. Reeve, 45, who has researched and published articles on online fraud, abuse and conspiracy theories, has often questioned why companies like Facebook don't do more to enforce their rules – and why various authorities don't do more to clamp down on illegitimate or harmful content. A second FSU-affiliated candidate, Christchurch lawyer Douglas Brown (a member of the FSU's council), failed to get elected. In a twist, Ayling quit as FSU chief executive on Saturday. No reason was given for his departure after four years in the role and he could not be immediately reached for comment. All candidates stood as individuals, so his FSU resignation does not impact his new InternetNZ role. The FSU announced over the weekend its chief executive Jonathan Ayling had resigned, with no reason given. The ginger group's deputy chairwoman Jillaine Heather was named temporary CEO. The board election was followed by InternetNZ's annual general meeting, which was held online and attracted about 1000 people. FSU supporters David Farrar and retired District Court judge David Harvey put 12 motions, each seeking changes to InternetNZ's constitution. None were carried. InternetNZ board elections are only held once a year, meaning any FSU takeover was always going to be a long-term project. Critic turned insider Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how Reeve goes as an insider. Notwithstanding the FSU's rhetoric, InternetNZ has traditionally advocated for a 'free and open' internet and defaulted to a hands-off approach. The aftermath of the Christchurch mosque massacres, when it took 'emergency measures' to make certain sites effectively inaccessible to New Zealanders, was an outlier. Stephen Judd is chairman of InternetNZ, which had income of $15.1 million last year, mostly through wholesaling .nz addresses. The funds go to technical admin to keep our internet running smoothly, plus education and community grants. Former domain name system (DNS) engineer Reeve, who has been notably methodical and even-handed in his various investigations of harmful content, has at times questioned why InternetNZ has taken so long to act against the likes of malicious .nz sites registered with fake details, including, 'parking fee' site recently imitating Auckland Transport and another pretending to be footwear maker Vans. InternetNZ's Domain Name Commission says it acts to review a site's registration if it receives a complaint. Reeve told the Herald the AGM included some ideas for more proactive measures against sites run by bad actors. But that was outside his motivation for seeking an InternetNZ seat. 'I stood for the board because I felt that a well-resourced reactionary group was trying to take control and it wasn't something I was comfortable with,' he said. 'I'm curious to see how things will progress now that most of their efforts to exercise their power have fallen through.' Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald's business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New docuseries about kidnapped model announced after previous series filmed in Bolton
A new documentary series about a glamour model who was kidnapped is set to air - following a previous series about her which was filmed in Bolton. New BBC Three series Chloe Ayling: My Unbelievable Kidnapping will see the eponymous model recount, in her own words, the ordeal of her 2017 kidnapping. Giving her first documentary interview since her abductors' conviction, Chloe revisits the story of her time in captivity and tries to come to terms with what took place, the media reaction and why many people refused to believe her. No release date has yet been announced. This comes after the airing of dramatisation Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story last year. The show, which was partly filmed in Bolton, on the Oldhams Estate and in Le Mans Crescent, followed her abduction and time in captivity, as well as the subsequent court case that put her kidnappers in jail. Filming for Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story in Selkirk Road in Bolton (Image: Newsquest) In the summer of 2017, it was reported that then-20-year-old glamour model, Chloe, had been kidnapped in Italy by an international criminal gang known as Black Death. Turning up for what she believed to be a photoshoot in Milan, she was grabbed from behind, drugged and bundled into a bag before being taken to a remote farmhouse and handcuffed to a chest of drawers. There, Ms Ayling was told she had six days before she would be sold as a sex slave as part of a dark web auction. Read more: The Bolton locations where new true-life BBC gripping drama was filmed Read more: Powerful court scenes being filmed in Bolton for true life crime drama Read more: Cameras roll on a Bolton estate to the excitement of residents A scene from Kidnapped, shot on the Oldhams Estate Despite the terrifying circumstances, was able to convince her captors to let her walk free and into the hands of the local authorities. Eight years on, Chloe now wants to challenge any remaining doubters and finally put the past behind her. Through probing interviews with those involved, the series separates fact from perception and looks at the press coverage of this extraordinary case, the public reaction and asks how a survivor became a suspect. Speaking about the series, Chloe said: "I'm delighted BBC Studios are telling my story - not only in my own words, but also through the voices of those directly involved. "For years, people have doubted me, often because they don't understand what really happened - or who I am. "I think this documentary truly unravels and dives deep into who I am, the events of the kidnapping, as well as the intense media aftermath that tried to define me. I think people will finally see through the headlines."
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Documentary ‘to unpack the truth' of Chloe Ayling kidnapping
Model Chloe Ayling has said a new documentary about her kidnapping ordeal 'truly unravels and dives deep' into what happened to her. Chloe Ayling: My Unbelievable Kidnapping is a new three-part documentary series which will see Ayling revisit her time in captivity in 2017 and explore how it continues to shape her life. The British glamour model was abducted after arriving at an address in Milan, Italy, for a modelling job. Ayling was held in a farmhouse near Turin while a 300,000 euro (£265,000) ransom was demanded. Her captors told her she would be sold as a sex slave as part of a dark web auction, but she was eventually able to convince them to let her walk free and into the hands of the local authorities. Polish national Lukasz Herba and his brother, Michal Herba, were subsequently jailed after an Italian court convicted them of kidnapping Ayling. But the model faced headlines claiming she had faked her ordeal, and was accused in court of being involved in a publicity stunt to further her modelling career. In her first documentary interview since her abductors' conviction, Ayling recounts in her own words what happened, along with the media reaction and why many people refused to believe her. Ayling said: 'I'm delighted BBC Studios are telling my story – not only in my own words, but also through the voices of those directly involved. 'For years, people have doubted me, often because they don't understand what really happened – or who I am. 'I think this documentary truly unravels and dives deep into who I am, the events of the kidnapping, as well as the intense media aftermath that tried to define me. 'I think people will finally see through the headlines.' Executive producer Katharine Patrick said: 'This series enables Chloe to unpack the truth of what happened to her eight years ago, allowing her to process the ordeal she's been through in an honest and unflinching way, and make sense of the person she is now as a result.' The series will air on BBC Three and iPlayer next month.
Business Mayor
08-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
25 years on, how did my recommendations to British Airways shape up?
Sign up to Simon Calder's free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder's Travel email In May 2000, I offered some well-intentioned advice to the new BA boss. 'How to turn around an Ayling airline', read the headline in Conde Nast Traveller . The article I wrote 25 years ago this month comprised recommendations to British Airways for life after its chief executive, Bob Ayling, departed. Did BA follow my advice? Ditch Concorde 'Flying a very old, noisy and thirsty plane only half-full of passengers is bad business,' I wrote. 'Environmental concerns over pollution and noise could force Concorde off the Heathrow-New York route anyway.' Tragically, two months later, an Air France supersonic jet crashed shortly after taking off from Paris CDG and the British Airways Concorde fleet was grounded while the investigation took place. In November 2001 BA resumed supersonic flights, but these ended less than two years later. Hive off Gatwick I recommended a 'new, cohesive, low-frills airline' called BA Gatwick. For shorthaul services, that is what British Airways Euroflyer has become. BA's longhaul links from Gatwick, too, squeeze more passengers in than from Heathrow. 'Reduce the fares on the new airline to 80 per cent of the corresponding Heathrow prices, reflecting the lower costs (and appeal) of Gatwick,' I added. That is largely reflected in fares to destinations served by BA from both Heathrow and Gatwick. Keep cool about Sir Richard Branson Virgin Atlantic's founder had scored some great publicity hits during the Ayling era, such as flying a blimp emblazoned 'BA can't get it up' beside the British Airways London Eye – which was on its side due to construction problems. I suggested that BA would be better off cooperating with its rival. Subsequently, the Office of Fair Trading alleged the two carriers had been too cooperative – to the extent of fixing prices. Four former and serving British Airways executives were taken to court. The case collapsed through lack of evidence. Sell off your corporate HQ Waterside, BA's space-age headquarters, was and is big and expensive. But it now also houses IAG, the company that owns British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia of Spain. It is set to be demolished anyway if Heathrow's third runway ever goes ahead. Admit defeat against the Channel Tunnel At the time, BA was flying 26 times a day between London Heathrow and Paris, and 10 times a day between Gatwick to the French capital. Today there are just a dozen flights, all to/from Heathrow. But my half-baked suggestion that Eurostar might run trains direct from Belgium and France to Heathrow unsurprisingly didn't happen. Charge realistic transatlantic business class fares They were unsustainably high, I asserted. In May 2000, a London-Los Angeles Club World fare was about 20 times more expensive than economy. This month, the cheapest business class return (£11,764) is 29 times pricier than a seat at the back of the same plane (£402). So that went well. I further predicted that 'the restrictive Bermuda II agreement, which keeps Heathrow closed to most US airlines' would be gone by January 2001. In the event it wasn't replaced by an open-skies agreement until 2008, and anyway, British Airways is still charging premium fares for the posh seats. Read More Cyber attack causes further chaos for M&S shoppers So much that I didn't spot… BA becomes 'London Airways' In 2000 British Airways had a vast (and unwieldy) UK domestic network, largely based in Birmingham and Manchester. In a bid to make it profitable, the operation was rebranded as a budget carrier, BA Connect, in 2006, but a year later was handed over to Flybe, which itself went bust in both 2020 and 2023. Sale of Go Within six months, the new chief executive, Rod Eddington, had announced the sale of Go. BA's young no-frills airline had been launched to compete with easyJet, which later swallowed it up. Cabin crew strike For almost two years, British Airways and its cabin crew were engaged in a deep and painful industrial dispute. In 2009, BA decided its crew costs were unsustainably high. Understandably, the Unite union wanted to stick with its hard-won pay deals and benefits. After many strikes and High Court battles, a settlement was reached involving a new 'mixed fleet' operation hired on less favourable terms. Since Covid, everyone is mixed fleet. Africa and Australasia cutbacks The rise of the Gulf carriers, particularly Emirates, hit BA's African, Australian and New Zealand operations hard. African capitals have disappeared from the network. And from a high point of serving Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Auckland and Christchurch with 747 jumbo jets, British Airways has shrunk to one daily 777 to Sydney. BA's largest shareholder in 2025 is Qatar Airways, which owns one-fifth of the carrier. London City expansion When London City airport opened in London's Docklands in 1987, it was regarded by British Airways as a sideshow. By the 21st century, though, the growth of Canary Wharf meant that it became an important element of the BA mix – with, for a time, a 'son of Concorde' business-class only operation to New York (via Shannon in Ireland).
