But I really like him. The column was classic Taki: provocative, arrogant, and self-incriminatory. Reading these words, the historian and novelist Lisa Hilton, an occasional Spectator contributor, was appalled. Hilton decided that she had to say something—not least because in , at his chalet in Switzerland, Taki had tried to rape her.
This is a story about impunity—how a certain type of person, if he is rich enough, and well connected enough, and adept enough at disguising his misconduct as a lifestyle choice and his bigotry as humor, can get away with almost anything for a very long time.
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For half a century, Taki, who is now 87, has propagated racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism to thrill his readers and demonstrate his own superiority and untouchability. We Should Be So Lucky. The first is crisp dismissals of frumpy women, ghastly poor people, and the tedium of political correctness. The second is name-dropping—financiers, aristocrats, and fashion designers feature heavily—as if proximity to fame somehow alchemizes everyday bigotry into sparkling titillation.
The frisson was in not just that he did it, but that he so obviously got away with it. Something about Taki is reminiscent of Donald Trump. In a culture alert to dog whistles, he gets out a foghorn. He has made himself into a caricature, and has made tolerating his actions a loyalty test. Like the former president, Taki compulsively shows off his wealth. But in the fall, 50 years of largely consequence-free boasting collided with the dry precision of the Swiss legal system.
On October 5, a judge found Taki guilty of attempting to rape Lisa Hilton. Taki has refused to accept the judgment against him and insisted throughout the trial, with Trumpian indignation, that he was the victim of a political plot. The reaction to the verdict within British media circles has been surprisingly muted—a columnist of long standing has been allowed to slink away, with barely a whisper of condemnation.
