Charles Saatchi courts trouble with his publisher

Charles Saatchi, the husband of Nigella Lawson, has issued a High Court writ against his publisher.

Charles Saatchi has issued a writ at the High Court in London against his publishers, Phaidon Press Photo: REX

Tim Walker. Edited by Richard Eden

The Telegraph, 27 Aug 2011

So reclusive that he does not attend even his own parties, Charles Saatchi has, nevertheless, felt compelled to become involved in a very public dispute.

The husband of Nigella Lawson has issued a writ at the High Court in London against his publishers, Phaidon Press.

Saatchi, who is this country’s biggest collector of contemporary art, claims that part of his agreement with the publisher is void and unenforceable.

His contract with Phaidon is, he claims, a restraint of trade because it seeks to ban him from working on other projects with different publishers. The owner of the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea says he made two agreements with Phaidon in 2009 for books provisionally called The More You Like Art The More Art You Like and Questions by Charles Saatchi.

According to the writ, a section of the agreement prevents him from preparing, editing or licensing any work which forms part of the two books, or which might compete with the titles, for the life of the agreement. A judge is due to decide whether this amounts to an unreasonable restraint of trade.

Phaidon published his much-talked-about 2009 book My Name is Charles Saatchi and I Am An Artoholic. His wife, the television cook, has brought out nine successful titles.