GERI Halliwell was left “heartbroken and humiliated” after hundreds of sex messages sent by husband Christian Horner to staff were leaked.
The Spice Girl, 51, landed in Bahrain on Thursday night just as the bombshell messages began to spread around the world.
6
Geri Halliwell knew about the employee at the center of her husband Christian Horner’s texting scandalCredit: Shutterstock
6
Horner was filmed in Bahrain practice with driver Max Verstappen as he prepares ahead of qualifyingCredit: AP
6
The Sun has learned that Geri knew about the employee at the center of the texting scandalCredit: AFP
She plans to be with the Red Bull F1 boss at the pre-race schedule for today’s Grand Prix in a public show of solidarity. But sources last night said she was left “distressed and devastated” by the scandal, which Horner, 50, has repeatedly downplayed.
A devastating trove of texts sent anonymously to F1 bosses and media houses confirmed that Horner had sent inappropriate messages behind Gera’s back, despite being cleared by Red Bull’s investigation.
A source close to the pop star, who was on a private jet to Bahrain when the messages emerged, told The Sun: “Geri is heartbroken and feels extremely humiliated. She believed him when he tried to downplay the scandal.
“He always told her that he didn’t do anything wrong. This is really going to hurt Geri, who has put everything into their marriage.”
READ MORE ABOUT THE SEXTING SCANDAL
Meanwhile, The Sun has learned that Geri knew about the employee at the center of the texting scandal. A Red Bull insider said she even approved of a woman working in Horner’s team.
Dragged to crisis talks
It was also claimed yesterday that the employee was “unhappy” after the messages were leaked and believed the investigation into his conduct was “one-sided”.
The friend said: “We hear each other every day and she is very unhappy – of course. In her way of thinking, everything is one-sided and she is crucified.”
Horner was pictured yesterday in training in Bahrain with driver Max Verstappen preparing ahead of qualifying.
He always told her that he had done nothing wrong
A source close to Geri
It has been reported that the Red Bull boss – who has won 13 world titles since taking charge of the team in 2005 as a 31-year-old – has been invited to crisis talks with F1 bosses. The tension was palpable down in the paddock, with Red Bull team members avoiding mention of the simmering scandal beyond the odd whisper.
Horner was seen walking from the hospitality area to the team garage, stopping only to check his phone and sign autographs for the waiting kids.
Christian Horner breaks his silence on alleged leaks
An F1 source said last night that Red Bull staff feared there could be more leaked messages.
The team boss refused to comment on the leaked WhatsApp sexts. Some of the dirty messages were reported last night, including a request for a “Santa selfie”. He also regularly joked about Spanx, telling the woman she looked “hot” in them.
In the second, Horner begins by asking, “May I confess?” He then describes a private jet trip to Dubai where he claims his wife pulled him “out of control”.
Pesters woman for photos
She interrupted him, guessing that he had to cut short to the bathroom.
He confirms her suspicions and says that he would have preferred her to be there with him. Horner also pesters the woman for photos. In another exchange, the pair have an innocent discussion about a travel document photo. Horner then writes, “You could send me a picture,” followed by a winking face emoji.
At one point, the employee asked her boss how he would feel if Geri was texting someone like that.
I will not comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations
Christian Horner
Horner also repeatedly asks the woman — who works with him at Red Bull’s headquarters in Milton Keynes — to delete their chat history.
The woman apparently got tired of her boss’ requests for pictures and sexy chat, according to the Whats-App file. The leak appears to be consistent with the original allegation of alleged “sexually suggestive” messages sent by Horner.
It was later claimed that an internal investigation into the team boss was into “controlling and coercive” behavior towards the woman.
On Thursday, after the messages were leaked, a defiant Horner said in a statement: “I will not comment on anonymous speculation, but to reiterate, I have always denied the allegations. I respected the integrity of the independent investigation and cooperated fully with it every step of the way.
“It was a thorough and fair investigation by an independent specialist solicitor and she concluded, dismissing the complaint that had been lodged.”
There is no suggestion that sexually explicit images were included in the leaked WhatApps.
Geri, who married Horner in 2015, rose to fame in the 1990s with the Spice Girls, whose hits included Stop. She is expected to be with her husband at the first race of the season today, along with Thai billionaire Chalermo Yoovidhya, who owns 51 percent of Red Bull.
Red Bull Racing declined to comment.
6
Texts sent anonymously to F1 bosses and media outlets confirmed Horner sent inappropriate messages behind Gera’s back, despite being cleared by Red Bull’s investigationCredit: PA
6
Geri, pictured with Horner on the grid at the Monaco GP, was not seen on the track in BahrainCredit: Getty
6
The defiant F1 boss joined colleagues at the first race of the seasonCredit: AP
How Christian Horner’s shocking lyrics were leaked
By Ben Hunt
It was an anonymous email sent and designed for maximum impact.
It landed in my inbox almost 24 hours to the minute since Christian Horner was cleared of any wrongdoing following an internal investigation by Red Bull.
Other names included Liberty Media boss Greg Maffei, which owns the rights to F1. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 CEO Stefano Dominacali.
F1 team bosses were also included for good measure. Like Max Verstappen’s father, Jos.
It was from an anonymous sender, the title was just the date – ‘February twenty-ninth’.
In it was a link to a Google Drive with 79 files that claimed to be evidence from an independent investigation.
There’s no way of knowing whether they were real or fake, but regardless, it sent another shockwave through the F1 paddock before this season had even started.
Horner was sitting on the team during the second practice session in Bahrain when the email went down.
After the session, he walked out of the team garage and into the hospitality unit where he stayed as the nuclear fallout began.
He survived the outcome of an internal investigation into misconduct following a complaint from a female colleague.
He wonders if he will survive this public humiliation again – again, regardless of whether they were real or fake.
Just hours earlier, McLaren CEO Zak Brown and Mercedes boss Toto Wolff called the sport’s governing body, the FIA, demanding transparency.
“I just read the statement, which was pretty basic,” Wolff said. “My personal opinion is that we can’t really look behind the curtain.
“There is a lady in the organization who talked to HR and said that there was a problem and that it was investigated and yesterday the sport received a message that everything is fine, we looked into it.
“I believe that with the aspiration to be a global sport, on such critical topics, it needs more transparency and I wonder what is the position of the sport?
“We are competitors, we are a team and we can have our personal opinion or not. But it is more like a general reaction or action that we as a sport need to evaluate, what is right in that situation and what is not.
“Are we talking with the right moral approach, with the values based on the speculation that exists? As a sport, we can’t afford to leave things vague and opaque on critical topics like this, because this will catch us back.”
Brown added: “Ultimately it is the responsibility of the organizers of Formula 1, the owners of Formula 1, to ensure that all the racing teams and the staff and the drivers and everyone else involved in the sport operate in the way that everyone lives by.
“I don’t think it’s about the roles and responsibilities of the teams. It’s up to the FIA and Formula 1 to finally decide and ask what they think gives them the level of transparency they need to ultimately come to a conclusion, and we just have to count on that fulfill that obligation to all of us.”
The emailed dossier will only add to that pressure in the form of scrutinizing Horner – who has always denied the allegations.
It also puts Red Bull in an awkward position.
If the emailed file is legitimate and contains elements from the initial report, which have been thoroughly examined and presented by an independent CC, then this is certainly nothing new to them and their decision to stay with their team leader stands.
The twist that simply now that they went public would likely see criticism that they intended to keep their report private to save face.
Regardless of the outcome, it’s a mess for the world champions. Reports of a conflict between Horner and Verstappen’s father have grown in recent weeks.
So it was interesting that Jos Verstappen was in the paddock wearing a team jacket and seemed indifferent to the chaos going on around him
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education