Former White Stripes drummer Meg White has become the unwitting subject of a bizarre controversy after the U.K. tabloid The Daily Mail secretly followed and photographed her friend in Detroit, mistakenly believing she was White — even after the woman told the scandal sheet it had the wrong person.
The British rag published an article and more than a dozen photographs of the woman on August 6, boasting that it had found the “reclusive female music megastar” and would reveal her “secret new life,” including what it claimed were the first public images of White in 17 years. Instead, The Mail had been following and photographing a completely different person: a friend of White’s.
According to The Mail’s own account, the newspaper approached the woman after following and photographing her and accused her of being the former White Stripes drummer. She laughed and told the reporters they had mistaken her identity.
The outlet published the story anyway, with senior reporter Joe Hutchison writing that the newspaper ultimately concluded the woman was White because she politely responded “thank you” after being complimented on the White Stripes’ music.
I can also assure you that Meg is well and is living the private life she chooses and deserves in Detroit.”
The Mail has since quietly removed the article and photographs from its website without issuing a correction or editor’s note explaining their disappearance.
More than a dozen photographs showed the unsuspecting woman getting out of a vehicle and socializing with two other people outside a Detroit restaurant. A music-label executive who worked on multiple White Stripes releases and is close friends with both White and the woman who was photographed told U.K. newspaper The Guardian that neither woman knew she was being followed.
“Neither Meg nor the friend that was pictured had any idea they were being stalked and, if they had, they for sure would not have voluntarily chosen to be featured in anything having to do with The Daily Mail,” the executive said on condition of anonymity.
The source also confirmed that White is well and continues to live privately in Detroit.
“I can also assure you that Meg is well and is living the private life she chooses and deserves in Detroit,” they added.
White has maintained an exceptionally low public profile since the White Stripes split in 2011. The drummer, whose playing was hailed for its raw power and use of space, was named one of Rolling Stone’s 100 greatest drummers of all time in 2016.
When the White Stripes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, White declined to attend and instead sent a message of gratitude through her former bandmate, Jack White, the electric guitar innovator celebrated for his use of unconventional vintage guitars
“I spoke with Meg White the other day, and she said that she’s very sorry she couldn’t make it here tonight,” White said in his acceptance speech, “but she wanted me to tell you that she’s very grateful. And to all of the folks who supported her in all the years, it really means a lot to her.”
The Mail offered no explanation for why it continued to pursue and photograph the woman after she had told its reporters they had the wrong person.
The newspaper’s error was subsequently confirmed by singer-songwriter Karen Elson, Jack White’s ex-wife. In a since-deleted social media post, Elson identified the photographed woman as a friend of Meg White and described her as someone “who we also love tremendously.”
Representatives for Meg White did not respond to The Guardian’s requests for comment.
