Madonna: No pub after all

As Olive points out in the comments section down there, The Publican carries a denial about the 'Madonna buys the pub' story:

The singer’s UK publicist told ThePublican.com reports that the couple had spent around £2.5m on the Punchbowl in Mayfair were “not true at all”.

Spokeswoman Barbara Charone said: “There’s no truth in it at all. I told the papers that on Friday but they decided to run it anyway. That's the tabloids for you.”

Well, yes, but as Madonna's spokespeople denied she was in Malawi to adopt a baby seconds before she scooped David Banda up and made off with him, it's perhaps unsurprising that a "denial from a spokesperson" doesn't cut much ice with the tabloids. Certainly not to the extent that they'd get in the way of a good story.

Still, reassuring that there might be one building left in the neighbourhood she doesn't buy up.