THE struggles of Liam Gallagher's old clothing brand Pretty Green are well documented – but this week its troubles hit fever pitch.
I can reveal that the finances of the company are now being probed by the Government.
The business buckled while Liam was a major shareholder in the firm and the debts have now run up to almost £18million.
The former Oasis singer wisely offloaded it to JD Sports two years ago.
There are no allegations of wrongdoing, but questions are being asked about just how Pretty Green ran into so much trouble after Liam created it with pals in 2009.
A source said: “Liam is no longer involved in Pretty Green but there are big questions about how the business was run when he was heavily involved.
“The review by government officials will go back to the inception of the business until the current day.
“They are trying to work out just how it came into such trouble.”
Pretty Green was taken over by JD Sports in 2019 after the administrators were called in — and it was hoped the clothing brand could be saved.
It took over the flagship store in Liam’s native Manchester, along with the brand online and wholesale business.
Liam is no longer involved in Pretty Green but there are big questions about how the business was run when he was heavily involved.
However, a number of issues, including the closure of its stockist House Of Fraser, marked the start of the decline of the brand Liam was once so passionate about.
He created the label to allow fans to buy the clobber he enjoyed wearing and previously said he thought up the idea while sitting next to a swimming pool in Los Angeles.
It was initially a huge success and in the first year, trading was reported to be around £4million.
Along with the store in Manchester, Liam also opened one in Japan, where his popularity is huge.
He said of his design process at the time: “If it isn’t cool it gets binned. I know people might buy it anyway and not everyone’s me, but that’s how it is: You’ve got to look at every detail, otherwise you’ll end up selling s**t.”
It is good Liam got out when he did as this is clearly now one very expensive headache.
But seeing a brand you created from nothing crash and burn later down the line must be pretty hard to stomach.
When it comes to Liam’s own bank balance, though, he’s doing just fine.
I told last month how assets in his touring company had almost halved last year after being unable to perform live. But he is still believed to be worth a whopping £50million.
Somehow, I doubt he will ever have to worry too much about his own finances.
Dua is out to A-Mayze
DUA Lipa channelled her inner Sporty Spice after teaming up with a sports firm to front its new campaign.
The Physical singer modelled Puma’s Mayze trainer, fresh from the news she’s nominated for three gongs at next month’s Brit Awards. Dua will also perform at the bash, having flown back to London last week after being in LA for the winter.
But it looks like she is here to stay for a while, as the singer has brought boyfriend Anwar Hadid and their rescue dog Dexter back with her.
A year on from the release of her hit album Future Nostalgia, she isn’t resting on her laurels. Dua is already working on new music.
During a Zoom meeting with fans, she said her next release would be pop, rather than the disco sound.
bizbit
RAYE was nominated for the Brit Awards Best Single last week – but her career is taking off internationally too.
The Secrets singer has hit the big time in Russia, where she is the new face of an ad campaign for the nation’s biggest radio station, Europa Plus.
Back home in the UK, she has been working with MABEL, who boasted yesterday about writing what they reckon will be a big tune.
Alongside a video of the pair on Instagram, Mabel wrote: “Negative Covid tests but we tested positive for writing an absolute banger today.”
Meanwhile, Raye’s little sister AB Keen has been working on Jesy Nelson’s upcoming solo record.
Kanye Netflix and spill
KIM Kardashian has spent more than 13 years spilling every one of life’s twists and turns on telly – but now it is Kanye West’s turn.
The rapper has signed a major deal for a docu-series about his life and career to air on Netflix, which is expected to cover his ill-fated 2020 presidential bid, the death of his mother Donda and the breakdown of his marriage to Kim.
The project, featuring hours of home videos and never-before-seen content, has been sold to the streaming giant in a deal believed to have cost more than £22million, but which promises to be a ratings winner following months of silence from the superstar.
It is being put together by filmmakers Clarence “Coodie” Simmons and Chike Ozah, who have been chronicling Kanye for the unnamed project for the past 21 years, and is expected to hit Netflix later this year.
TAYLOR SPAT
The pair previously helmed the music videos for Through The Wire and Jesus Walks, both of which featured on Kanye’s hit debut album, The College Dropout, in 2004.
From spats with Taylor Swift and Jay-Z to his very public breakdowns, Kanye is one of the most colourful and controversial characters in showbiz.
I have no doubt there will be plenty of bombshell revelations and shocking comments from him in the film, but hopefully there will be plenty of music too.
It is easy to forget he is a 22-time Grammy winner who has sold 160million records when he is spouting off about something on social media.
Visit to lad ends Payne
LIAM Payne has heaped praise on his ex Cheryl and revealed he’s finally been able to visit their son Bear.
The former One Direction star had stayed away because of the pandemic, but in a new interview revealed he had been to see his lad, from a distance.
Liam said: “Cheryl is literally the best person to co-parent with. We spend a lot of time on FaceTime. I’m closer to them than I’ve ever been.
“I bought him some toys yesterday that I showed them on the
FaceTime and it was like, I had to go and travel over and hand the toys over the fence.”
Liam also said he’d started work on new music, two years after the release of his debut solo album LP1. He told Glamour Magazine: “I’m going to the studio later on to record something for the first time in a while.”
Mum's the word, Lola
WORKING with your mother would be a lot of people’s worst nightmare.
But for Lola Lennox, the daughter of Eurythmics legend Annie, it is more like a dream. The rising singing star entrusted her famous mum to help co-produce her latest song, Wherever You Go, which is out today.
And I have to say, the result is splendid. In an exclusive interview about teaming up with her multi-award-winning parent, Lola said: “I was sending songs to different producers and it wasn’t working.
“I was like, ‘This doesn’t sound like me.’ And then me, my mum and my boyfriend Braeden, who is the other co-producer, got together in our home studio set-up and it just clicked.
“I’ve been a spectator of her creativity and her hard work. And it’s really nice that with this, we actually get to kind of have a partnership together.
“We got on really well and don’t bicker much. I feel really lucky.”
Alongside Wherever You Go, Lola is preparing to drop Love Like That in June and will release an EP later this autumn.
If she has an ounce of her mum’s success, big things lie ahead.
Cardi not 'nastiest'
CARDI B was shocked about the outrage over her No1 song WAP last year, insisting far ruder tunes have been hits.
She said: “I was really surprised by it. I don’t understand what’s the uproar about it. I grew up listening to Trina and Khia and f***ing Lil’ Kim. Like, Lil’ Kim says some real nasty st. So do male rappers.
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“I’m starting to see like, damn, this was a real feminist record. I didn’t even know that it was going to be. It’s not the nastiest song I ever heard. This is nothing compared to [Khia’s] My Neck, My Back.”
Read more on The Sun
Talking about the timeline for her new music, she told XXL: “After I finish the album, I gotta make sure I do two epic music videos.
"It takes me a while to do a music video. It takes like, a whole month ’cause I suck at dancing.”
bizbit
SYLVESTER Stallone will not appear in Creed III – making it the first Rocky film he has been absent from.
The Hollywood actor first played the boxing favourite in 1976’s Rocky, returning for five sequels and also the first two Creed spin-offs.
Inside Liam Gallagher's £3.75m very un-rocknroll new home with bookcases, study and summerhousencG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErKynZpOke7a3jq2tmqaUqLWww8GisWhpZGqEdoKRbmaloZGieqity6WYoKCVp3qxvsStq7Jll6eyprqMoKavnaKjuqa602anq6eSmnw%3D