When Heather Mills McCartney says she's being killed by the U.K. tabs, she's not speaking hyperbolically.
In an emotional interview on British morning television, Paul McCartney's estranged wife claims that the media's unrelenting vilification of her is so intense that not only has she received death threats, but the coverage has driven her to contemplate suicide.
"I've had enough," she said at the start of the interview on GMTV. "I've had 18 months of absolute abuse."
Mills McCartney appeared on the program at her own urging, after reading a last-straw story in The Sun over the weekend claiming that fireworks she set off during her four-year-old daughter's birthday party killed a neighbor's dog.
"They've called me a whore, a gold digger, a fantasist, a liar," an emotional Mills McCartney said. "Everyone jumps on the bandwagon and makes money out of my misery.
"I've been close to suicide. I'm so upset about this. I've had worse press than a pedophile or a murderer, and I've done nothing but charity for 20 years."
Mills McCartney said she was contacted this year by police who informed her of "serious death threats from an underground movement...And the press write, 'Heather's crying wolf.' "
"Police came to me telling me I had death threats. That means my daughter's life's at risk, 'cause she's with me all the time. A certain part of the tabloid media created such a hate campaign against me that they put my life and my daughter's life at risk, and that's why I considered killing myself. Because I thought, If I'm dead, she's safe and she can be with her father. And that's the truth."
Mills McCartney went on to say that her thoughts of suicide were fleeting and that it is no longer something she considers, but she still worries for her safety, much like another hounded tabloid target.
"What did the paparazzi do to Diana? They chased her and they killed her."
So convinced Mills McCartney is that a similar fate awaits her, she said on the show that she is keeping a file of press clipping "lies," a portion of which she brought on the morning show to dispel.
"I have a box of evidence that's going to a certain person should anything happen to me, so if you top me off, it's still going to that person, and the truth will come out," she said, looking into the camera.
Chief among the "rubbish" printed about her, she said, are untruths related to the divorce proceedings between her and the ex-Beatle, with most reports claiming she's holding up finalizing the divorce for either a larger monetary settlement or for the ability to sell her story.
"I could sell my story right now. I am trying to protect Paul and my daughter, and I'm being pushed to the edge," she stated.
As for any proposed settlements, Mills McCartney said, "I have been offered nothing. We go to court, nothing to do with that. We go to court over my daughter. These figures are made up—$100 million, $50 million, $20 million, this million. I'm one and a half million in debt in lawyer's fees. I'm gagged at the moment, while the media are fed this spin by a certain corner.
"I have protected my husband, I know everything, and I know the truth."
Mills McCartney says there's a world of difference in how the press treats her and her estranged husband. "It's fine that Paul can walk in [to court] and wave and I'm in hiding and I'm the one who's abused daily.
"I've protected Paul for this long, and I'm trying to protect him, but I'm being pushed to the edge. I don't want my daughter when she's 12 going on the internet and reading this totally one-sided story."
Mills McCartney, 39, also said she hopes to elicit support for her new cause: changing the laws governing tabloid media in European parliament. The onetime Dancing with the Stars contestant is looking to create legislation in which a tabloid retraction or apology is on the same page and of the same size as the original errant story and is also seeking to force tabloids to reveal their phony sources.
"I need to get everybody to petition that they don't want to be lied to anymore by the press. The size of the lie that they print is the size of the apology they print."
As for claims she embraced the press early on in her career or indeed now, when she needs them to promote her latest cause, Mills McCartney adamantly denies the suggestion.
"I never used the press for anything except my charity. When did I promote a record? When did I act for anything? They always say promotion seeker."
Mills McCartney said the one bright light in her past few years was the time she spent in the U.S. and that she would gladly make the transatlantic move were it not for her daughter with McCartney, Beatrice.
"I would live in America in two seconds, but I keep my daughter here to be near her father. You can't imagine what I've done to compromise things."
As for her outburst, Mills McCartney said she knows the press will have a go at her in tomorrow's papers, but that they would be wise to expect more of the same in the future.
"I live in a prison. I have to fight back, otherwise I'll go insane."
Meanwhile, Mills McCartney will be dealing from the fallout from her outspokenness on her own as well. On Tuesday night, on the eve of her media blitz, the activist's publicist parted ways with his client over her planned series of interviews.
"It was definitely the wrong thing to do," Phil Hall told Reuters of her full-scale assault on the tabloids. "I'm very sad about it. We've been through a lot during the past two years and it's a shame."