Elton John upset by diary spoof

Sir Elton John has taken great exception to a sanctimonious spoof in the Guardian which poked fun at his recent White Tie and Tiara Ball. The item, which appeared in the paper’s regular lampoon ‘A Peek at the Diary of…’, suggested that the overheads for the event, which raises money for the Elton John AIDs Foundation, were excessive.

“Naturally, everyone could afford to just hand over the money if they gave that much of a toss about AIDS research – as could the sponsors,” went the spoof, written by Marina Hyde. “But we like to give guests a preposterously lavish evening, because they’re the type of people who wouldn’t turn up for anything less...Once we’ve subtracted all these costs, the leftovers go to my foundation. I call this care-o-nomics.”

Sir Elton, who takes his charity commitments very seriously, got his lawyers to fire off a letter of complaint. The Guardian is considering how to respond.