Some time ago, an agent to the stars, or at least someone claiming to be an agent to the stars, contacted me because Coleen Rooney was very unhappy about inaccurate quotes attributed to her on Wikipedia. She wanted the record putting straight, and according to her agent, or someone claiming to be her agent, she wanted the quote correcting.

Wiki: “Rooney has offended animal lovers with her wardrobe of fur and snakeskin items. Claiming that the animal lovers are overlooking the animals primary reason for existence to make clothing, she asserted that “these animals were put here for a reason, and if you don’t understand that, then go to Primark, because you’re probably just jealous.”

What she actually said was: “these animals were put here for a reason like, and if you don’t understand that, then go to Primark, because you’re probably just jealous.”

The omission of “like” made her look aloof and insensitive.

A few weeks later, Simon Cowell’s agent, or at least that’s what he said, contacted me. Simes was really very very unhappy about a quote attributed to him on Cheryl Cole’s wiki entry.

“I knew she [Cheryl] was going to be good because she speaks like normal people speak. People can relate to that. And I think that is the best sign of a judge.”

The correct version is:

“I knew she was going to be rather good because she speaks like normal people speak. People can relate to that. And I think that is the best sign of a judge.”

Of course, I took no fee for putting this right.

Soon Cheryl Cole’s agent, or someone claiming to be Cheryl Cole’s agent, contacted me on the very same subject.

Wiki: “Cole has described the incident [assaulting Sophie Amogbokpa occasioning actual bodily harm] as something she “regrets”, although she stated that from her point of view she didn’t “attack” the woman but was defending herself. In an interview withQ magazine she said: “As much as I regret that situation, I didn’t attack someone. I defended myself. My brothers taught me: if someone hits you, you hit them back. That’s still how I view it and that’s what I’ll teach my kids.”

What she actually said was: “As much as I regret that situation, I so didn’t attack someone. I defended myself. My brothers taught me: if someone hits you, you hit them back. That’s still how I view it and that’s what I’ll teach my kids.”

It’s important that celebrities aren’t misquoted in case vulnerable young people get the idea that they are greedy vain abnormalities who assault cloakroom attendants, dress themselves in endangered species and pontificate about what ordinary people like.