Watch the latest episode of our exclusive interview between actor and comedian John Cleese and private investigator turned whistleblower Daniel “Danno” Hanks.
Danno recently hit the news for coming clean about targeting Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for the tabloids, and in our exclusive new interview series goes into detail about some of his most high profile targets, including John Cleese himself!
In this episode, John Cleese discovers that Mail on Sunday journalist Caroline Graham tasked Danno Hanks to target Cleese and his family four times between 2008 and 2010.
In 2008 Graham paid Hanks to target Cleese’s daughter Camilla with an intrusive criminal and civil case check, despite Camilla already agreeing to an interview.
TRANSCRIPT
TRANSCRIPT
John Cleese: Hi. Here I am again, talking to Danno about the British press and the stuff that they get up to. Now, my friend Graham Johnson tells me – let me see if I can get this right – that in 2008, which was the year after the Mail people said they’d stop using PIs, they used you to target me.
Danno Hanks: Yeah. It was Caroline Graham. Los Angeles-based editor and reporter. And she got all the big stories…
JC: For the Mail.
TEXT: Mail on Sunday US Editor Caroline Graham tasked Hanks for 20 years, despite his numerous criminal convictions. Graham paid Hanks for at least 4 separate inquiries into the Cleese family between 2008 and 2010.”
DH: She said, “We want you to do a background check.” So I just entered that and the computer spat out everywhere you ever lived. All your relatives.
JC: What was actually illegal about that?
DH: It was basically just your Social Security number,
JC: That’s all?
DH: But it gave them the key to get illegal stuff.
TEXT: The full background check contains a clue that it was illegally obtained: a Social Security Number.
But the Mail was most interested in the huge amounts of private and sensitive information that the report gave up:
-Ex-directory landline numbers
-Confidential mobile numbers
-Home Addresses
-Tracing Friends and Family
-Car reg information
-Company and employment records
-Marriage & Divorce licenses
-Criminal records
-Civil cases
-Voter info
DH: Then they had me go after your daughter because she had some drug thing.
TEXT: On December 4th, 2008, Caroline Graham tasks Danno to perform an intrusive criminal and civil records check on Camilla Cleese, despite her agreeing to the interview, followed by an illegal full background check on John Cleese on December 16th
JC: She talked to Caroline Graham about it quite openly because she wanted to go into show business. She’s a stand up comedian and she wanted to kind of square it. You know? And tell everyone about that. Because now she’s been sober 14 years.
They were trying to stir up trouble because I was criticising the press. And if you criticise the press, they go after you.
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