Jun 9, 2008 2:05 pm US/Pacific
Winehouse Apologizes As Her Husband Pleads Guilty
LONDON (AP) ―
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Singer Amy Winehouse later stood outside her north London home, telling paparazzi that she was sorry, adding: "I don't want to play anything down, but I'm the least racist person going."
Scott Gries/Getty Images
Amy Winehouse denied that her singing of a slur-filled ditty made
her a racist Monday, the same day it was learned that her husband — who
videotaped the performance — pleaded guilty to assault and other
charges that could cost him more jail time.
The video, taken by Blake Fielder-Civil sometime before his arrest
late last year and published Sunday by the News of the World, shows
Winehouse and another woman sitting on a couch, singing a string of
racial epithets to the tune of the children's song "Head, Shoulders
Knees and Toes."
Fielder-Civil, holding the camera, is heard encouraging them to sing
it, insisting afterward he "wasn't recording it ... I swear on my
life." The video goes on to show Winehouse passed out on the couch.
Winehouse later stood outside her north London home, telling
paparazzi that she was sorry, adding: "I don't want to play anything
down, but I'm the least racist person going."
Fielder-Civil, 26, was being tried in London on charges of attacking
pub landlord James King, and then conspiring with King to have the
landlord withdraw as a witness.
Fielder-Civil and three-co-defendants pleaded guilty last week, but
a court order barred reporting the pleas because King is scheduled to
face a separate trial. Judge David Radford lifted the reporting
restriction Monday.
Winehouse and Fielder-Civil married in Miami in May 2007. He was
arrested in November and has been in jail awaiting trial ever since.
Winehouse has become an international star since she released the
Grammy-winning album "Back to Black" in 2006. But her music has been
overshadowed by reports of her drug use, run-ins with the law and
tempestuous relationship with Fielder-Civil.
Winehouse's spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday from The Associated Press.
Fielder-Civil faces a maximum of five years in prison for the
assault charge. Perverting the course of justice — the equivalent of
obstruction of justice in the U.S. — carries a maximum sentence of
life, though that is unlikely to be imposed in this case.
The defendants are due to be sentenced later.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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