Court lifts ban on pianist鈥檚 memoirs
Print Edition
A British concert pianist whose autobiography was banned because it contained harrowing details of childhood rape that could psychologically harm his son will be allowed to publish the book after the Supreme Court overturned the ban yesterday.
The memoir by James Rhodes had been banned by a lower court after his ex-wife argued that reading it would damage their 11-year-old son, who has been diagnosed with Asperger鈥檚, but the ban was widely criticized as a threat to freedom of expression.
Rhodes, 40, was repeatedly raped by a boxing coach at his school over several years, starting when he was 6, and struggled for years with depression, addiction and self-harm before forging a career in classical music and television.
鈥淎 person who has suffered in the way that (Rhodes) has suffered ... has the right to tell the world about it. And there is a corresponding public interest in others being able to listen to his life story in all its searing detail,鈥 the Supreme Court said in its judgment yesterday.
Rhodes said the publication of the book was important not only to him personally but also to other victims of child sex abuse because it showed there was no shame in speaking out and that it was possible to overcome the trauma.
鈥淚 am relieved that our justice system has finally seen sense and not only allowed me to tell my story but affirmed in the strongest possible way that speaking up about one鈥檚 own life is a basic human right,鈥 he said in a statement.
鈥淚 hope the book will help fellow survivors of rape find the courage to speak up.鈥
The Court of Appeal鈥檚 injunction, issued in August 2014, had not only banned the publication of Rhodes鈥 memoir, titled 鈥淚nstrumental,鈥 but had also prevented him from speaking publicly about some of the graphic content.
The ban was to be in place until the issue came to a full trial, but instead Rhodes appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn the ban and throw out the entire case without trial, which is what it did.
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