After Lleyton Hewitt and Rove McManus, it is American naturalist Terri Irwins management team that has slammed Australian womens magazines, claiming that they are just fabricating stories after her hubby Steve Irwins tragic death.
Melbourne, Feb 28 : After Lleyton Hewitt and Rove McManus, it is American naturalist Terri Irwin's management team that has slammed Australian women's magazines, claiming that they are just fabricating stories after her hubby Steve Irwin's tragic death.
The magazine namely 'New Idea' has been accused of creating false stories about the late 'Crocodile Hunter' star's family just to keep their celebrity-focused agenda in place.
Both manager John Stainton and Australia Zoo director Wes Mannion have denied to comment on magazine reports about a bitter family feud between Terri and her father-in-law Bob Irwin, saying they were not part of the family and it was not their role to do so.
"Where do they get this stuff from? It's silly but if you comment on it, it just gives it more fuel. One minute they're saying it's me having an affair with Terri and the next it's Wes having an affair with Terri. They just make it up and say sources close to the family and friends said it," news.com.au quoted Mr Stainton, as saying.
He added: "It's just absolute bulls**t. I don't know how anyone could take them seriously. I mean one week Terri's devastated by something and the next week she has an inner glow. They just like to keep it going. Every couple of issues there's something in about them - it's just part of their philosophy. You can't hand any credibility to New Idea and I think it's sad all that's been going on. There are many issues a lot more important than trashy rumours in New Idea.
While according to Mannion, he had not been able to speak with Terri due to hectic schedules.
"She just got back from Indonesia. They (magazines) just print this stuff all the time I just felt it was really silly to target this poor 68-year-old bloke. OK, Bindi and Terri and so on, but Bob has never been one to relate to the media - he's not a fan (of media). We'll put this to bed at some point but we've not even had the chance to discuss it. This sort of stuff comes through so repeatedly and we deal with some things and some things we don't bother with. I mean that one about John and Terri (having an affair). I rolled around laughing for three or four days and I've been paying him out every day since," he said.
New Idea claimed that rumours of differences between Bob and Terri rose weeks back after an argument over the direction of the zoo and its growing focus on commercialisation and Bindi's career. It was mentioned in the article that even though it was Bob who founded the wildlife zoo at Beerwah, Terri banned him after a dispute over its direction.
Bob started the zoo with his late wife Lyn Irwin before it was inherited by his son Steve. He has always kept a low profile even before the Wildlife Warrior was killed by a stingray barb in 2006. However, just after the tragedy hit the family, he buried his pain to face the media first on behalf of Terri and his grandchildren, Bindi and Robert Junior, until she was ready for taking the reins in her hands.
Bob said at the time that he would have to recover from his son's death because Steve will want his work carried on and "I might be able to fill in until Bindi and Bob are old enough to take over."
It's not just Terri who has had an issue with tabloid magazines. Hewitt and McManus have both condemned their content in recently.
ANI