Ferne McCann has broken her silence following claims she made disparaging comments about acid attack victim ex-partner Arthur Collins.
In a statement shared with MailOnline, the reality star, 32, called the scandal a “harassment” campaign against her, as well as offering her sympathies to those offended by the comments.
The mother-of-one was forced to speak out after an anonymous Instagram account leaked voice memos allegedly sent by Ferne, in which a woman’s voice labels one of Arthur’s victims a “silly b****”.
It has been claimed they were referring to Sophie Hall, who reached the final of a Miss England final 15 months after the sickening attack and bared her scars.
Speaking out: Ferne McCann insisted she has the ‘deepest sympathy’ for acid attack victim Sophie Hall after she was accused of branding her a ‘silly b***h’ in alleged leaked voice memos (pictured last month)
The account responsible for sharing the audio previously indicated that more voice notes, reportedly from Ferne, would be sent over the next 24 hours.
Breaking her silence on the scandal, a statement released by Ferne’s representatives read: “These voicemails are part of a wider harassment campaign designed to intimidate and discredit Ferne.
“They are the subject of an ongoing investigation being carried out by Essex Police and as such Ferne cannot comment other than to say that she offers her deepest sympathies for the distress and harm this situation is causing Hall.”
A source close to the former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Star previously told MailOnline that the messages have been “spliced together” from separate recordings in an attempt to “destroy her”.
Slur: It has been claimed the voice notes referred to Sophie Hall, who reached the final of a Miss England pageant 15 months after the sickening attack and bared her scars
Sophie, 27, who was badly scarred when Ferne’s then-boyfriend Arthur threw acid in a London club in 2017, has called on ITV to “take action” and hold her accountable.
Sophie, who Ferne allegedly referred to as ‘a stupid b***h’, told The Sun she had spent five years building her confidence and ‘now in just minutes all my hard work has been shattered by these damaging voice notes .”
The acid attack victim slammed the First Time Mum star for being “cruel and evil” and has questioned why she should still be “given the platform to tear others down”.
“ITV needs to address what has been said by Ferne. She needs to be held accountable and so are they,” Hall told The Sun. “ITV needs to take action not just for me, but for other leaked voiceovers. The ones who were body shaming and so unkind.’
Sentenced: Ferne’s ex Arthur Collins is currently serving a 20-year sentence after throwing acid at an East London nightclub in April 2017, injuring 14 people
In the midst of the scandal, the filming of Ferne’s reality series has been paused.
Ferne McCann: First Time Mum started in 2017 and followed the star as she prepared to welcome her first child after her split from Arthur. The series has since charted her life as a single mother to daughter Sunday, five.
A source told MailOnline: “ITV is not currently filming Ferne’s series but is in contact with her and continues to offer support.”
An insider told The Sun that ITV is now waiting to see ‘how it goes’, adding: ‘ITV was due to start filming the next series of her show First Time Mum in the coming weeks, but now it’s all up in the air.
“Conversations are ongoing about when the program can resume in light of everything that has been going on.
“ITV have spoken to Ferne about the situation and they will continue to speak to her to see where they go from here.”
Shock: Filming for Ferne’s ITVBe series has been paused following the claims and after Sophie spoke out about her experience (pictured today)
On Thursday, friends of the reality star rallied around her to blast “sick” claims she made the “disgusting” comments
The source explained: ‘Ferne is devastated by the content of these voicemails. This is part of an ongoing hate campaign against her.
“The latest message has been stitched together from various WhatsApp recordings.
“The messages are about four or five years old and out of context. The person who releases the private voice recordings is trying to destroy her.
“The fact that they kept the private voicemails for so long and are now releasing them shows what kind of sick person they are. It’s not just hurting Ferne, it’s hurting the people it’s talking about. Ferne is very aware of that too.
One to watch: Ferne McCann: First Time Mum started in 2017 and the series has charted her life as a single mother to daughter Sunday, Five (pictured on show)
The source continued: “The truth is Ferne has huge sympathy for Arthur’s victims and what they’ve been through. She admires their courage.
– The police are continuing their investigation into who is leaking and editing the messages.
“Ferne will be interviewed again to help try to catch the perpetrator.
“Her legal team has advised her that she cannot speak at this time while investigations are ongoing.”
Ex: Ferne accused of making ‘disgusting’ comments about one of ex-boyfriend Arthur’s victims in recently leaked voice memos (pictured 2017)
Collins is currently serving a 20-year sentence after throwing acid at an East London nightclub in April 2017, injuring 14 people.
The former scaffolder – the father of Ferne’s daughter Sunday, five – was convicted of five counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, and nine counts of actual bodily harm against 14 people, including model Sophie.
The voicemail posted by the anonymous account, which claims to have been sent by Ferne, discussed Sophie’s entry into the 2018 beauty pageant.
A woman’s voice can be heard saying: ‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, the silly b***h has made a dress… A papier-mâché dress out of newspaper clippings from the event’ (Sophie is pictured competing in a competition)
A woman’s voice can be heard saying: ‘I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, the silly b***h made a dress… A papier-mâché dress out of newspaper clippings from the event.’
In another post, the woman says: “She’s probably going to win it. I’m not going to lie, just because the event and the awards she’s been in or the beauty pageant, whatever.”
“They probably love all this free press for their event so they’ll probably fix it, she’ll win it.”
The Instagram account had previously been suspended after Ferne reported it to the police when it released posts allegedly from the reality star in which she branded her former TOWIE friend Sam Faiers, 31, a ‘fat c***’ and ‘narcissistic b**ch’.
Sam and Ferne, who starred together in The Only Way Is Essex, have been friends for over 20 years.
Falling out: Ferne has been embroiled in an ongoing feud with Sam Faiers, 31, after audio was leaked which allegedly saw Ferne branding her pal a ‘fat c***’ (formed together in 2019)
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