Guido understands that Johann Hari’s close friend, protégé and replacement at the Indy “Laurie Penny” could be about to get caught up in a similar quote fabrication scandal. With the Indy’s terrible handling of one star’s demise, Guido does not imagine that their new £25,000 per annum columnist could, or would, receive the same leniency afforded to Hari.

https://twitter.com/#!/brianwhelanhack/statuses/192003767342870528

Hari slayer Brian Whelan is up to something, but many have long suspected that the “voice of a generation” was actually listening to voices in her head. Take this correction to her infamous Guardian article about her alleged time spent taking her clothes off on a stage:

“This article was amended on 8 July 2009. Changes were made to the second paragraph to make clear that the author was not persuaded by the managers of a local burlesque troupe to get into stripping, but did so voluntarily. The Burlesque troupe, with which the author performed, created a new format for the show after the Edinburgh 2005 run, not before, as the article originally suggested. The sentence beginning “Peeling off my fluffy underwear…” was moved from the end of the relevant paragraph to the beginning to correct this impression.” The words “after I left” were added before “as my troupe became more successful” to make clear that Laurie Penny did not perform in the new show.”

If you read the article without the words “after I left”, it is a riveting personal read and once added it becomes clear that the second half is almost totally embellished. Guido is confident that the Indy would have done a full and thorough check up of their recent hire in the wake of the Hari scandal. Once was bad enough, but twice…

UPDATE:

Laurie gets in touch to state that she's not on £25k at the Indy but a mere 22. Happy to correct the record.

— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) April 17, 2012