Nikkigate

TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
edited December 2012 in MI6 Headlines & Feedback Posts: 9,117
Fellow Bond fans and believers in freedom and democracy can I alert you to something which may just be a computer glitch or may be something altogether more sinister.

Some of you may have been following the thread about Nikki Van der Zyl and her book over the last few days.

Sir Rog apparently wrote a foreword for this and then for some reason rescinded it at the 11th hour. At the same time Nikki was banned from attending Bond events and summarily dropped by Bondstars the company that organises such events.

Now I dont know the woman from Adam and have no axe to grind in her favour or against her but following several veiled comments from JamesPage (who as you all know runs the site) it seems that she is totally persona non grata in the Bond world yet no one wants to say why.

This is not the issue though. If Nikki (who strikes me at face value without having ever met her as a fairly harmless person who made a worthy contribution to the series) is to be airbrushed from history for reasons people wont (or perhaps cant for legal reasons?) disclose then fair enough we'll just have to live with it.

My problem stems from the fact that when I just posted on this thread:

http://www.mi6community.com/index.php?p=/discussion/3978/the-secret-bond-girl-unknown-artist-dubbed-the-voices-of-007s-best-known-beauties-but-know-shes/p2#Item_41

which is now on page 2 the website didnt bump the thread back up to the top as it does normally when someone makes a new post. I posted on another thread and this bumped to the top fine but when I posted again on the Nikki thread it refuses to bump back up and consequently even though people want to discuss the matter it is falling down the threads into obscurity faster than QPR.

Now perhaps I'm reading far too much into this but the thread was working fine yesterday and if the Mods really wanted the topic not to be discussed then just deleting the thread entirely or making up some spurious reason to lock it would make more sense.

I'd be interested if anyone else posting on the Nikki thread can get it to bump back up to the top and also if the Mods can offer any reason why this thread in particular (which has clearly been unpopular with certain people from the start) should suffer this glitch which I have never seen before.

However the overall sense I get is that someone doesnt want us discussing the matter at all and although perhaps the reasons why Nikki has been treated this way by the Bond community cannot be disclosed to us, attempts to prevent us discussing the matter at all sit very uneasily with me indeed.

I feel like I might be Woodward and Bernstein but as I say it also might me a storm in a teacup and I might end up looking like Gary Bushell!

But where might this end if principled men dont make a stand?

First they came for Tamahori and I didnt speak out
Then they came for Halle Berry and I didnt speak out
Then they came for Jack White and Alicia Keys and I didnt speak out
Then they came for the double take pigeon and I didnt speak out
Then they came for the Wizard and there was no one left to speak out!

If the Wizard suddenly disappears from the forums in the night I hope others will follow in my footsteps and break down this wall of fear and intimidation so that one day all Bond fans can be free!!

Also it would be a nice touch if someone were to erect a statue to remember me when I'm gone. :))
«1

Comments

  • edited December 2012 Posts: 12,837
    Nice QPR joke.

    Anyway that seems like a pretty sneaky way of shutting down a dicussion without actually closing it. I didn't know mods could actually do that.

    Not sure why people don't want it being talked about. Conspiracy!
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,350
    Well said @TheWizardOfIce. You've got guts for posting this.
  • edited December 2012 Posts: 12,837
    James Page Knows lots but doesn't seem to like to share it. Me and other people asked him what happened to getting two Bond games and we got a reply saying "plans were changed"

    I asked what the plans were and I got no response. This seems like the same sort of thing.

    It'll be intresting to see if what happens to this thread.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited December 2012 Posts: 9,117
    James Page Knows lots but doesn't seem to like to share it. Me and other people asked him what happened to getting two Bond games and we got a reply saying "plans were changed"

    I asked what the plans were and I got no response. This seems like the same sort of thing.

    Quite. Respect to JamesPage for running the site and I dont want to antagonise him and get booted off but his involvement with the disastrous 007 Legends (wasnt he some sort of consultant - please someone correct me if I'm wrong here) and now this suggest that power corrupts.

    I dont know if he makes a living out of this or what but I think he gets a few perks and if I was him I'm afraid I'd be exactly the same. Sorry but for all my principled statements above if I could get tickets to the premiere etc I wouldnt give a rats ass about selling you guys and freedom of speech down the river!

    Its his site I guess he can run it how he likes - although we have the illusion of democracy on the forums its actually a dictatorship remember - but the bloke has put in a lot of graft over the years I'm sure and without him we wouldnt be here so I'm not going to criticise him, its just for a site supposedly independent of EON and Sony it does seem that some external forces are at work.
    I just wonder why with all the slagging off people such as Babs, Brozza, Craig, Activison, P&W etc etc someone as seemingly innocuous as Nikki should provoke such a reaction?

    Obviously we dont know all the facts. How about setting up some sort of anonymous 'Deep Throat' account JamesPage so you can spill the beans without anyone knowing it was you?
  • edited December 2012 Posts: 12,837
    Remember we had a member on here who worked on SF? Well I was told that people at EON do actually read these forums.

    Anyway to be fair, he does do a good job with the site and maybe he's not allowed to share info like this and the video game. But I'd prefer it if he said that instead of posting vague responses and stopping threads from bumping.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Remember we had a member on here who worked on SF? Well I was told that people at EON do actually read these forums.

    Really? So why has it taken them over 10 years to sack P&W and why is the gunbarrel still at the end of the sodding film?

    If you're reading Babs or MGW feel free to PM about any of the above or why Nikki is so despised!
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    What if EON has people on these forums?! /:)

    Like I have always said.

    JamesPage= MGW
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    JamesPage= MGW

    Definitely not.

  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    RC7 wrote:
    JamesPage= MGW

    Definitely not.

    It's called a sense of humor. Their 50% off for the holidays. Get 'em while they're hot.
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    RC7 wrote:
    JamesPage= MGW

    Definitely not.

    It's called a sense of humor. Their 50% off for the holidays. Get 'em while they're hot.

    Naturally I was joking also. Even I wouldn't believe people on this forum would buy that, apart from a few maybe :)
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    RC7 wrote:
    RC7 wrote:
    JamesPage= MGW

    Definitely not.

    It's called a sense of humor. Their 50% off for the holidays. Get 'em while they're hot.

    Naturally I was joking also. Even I wouldn't believe people on this forum would buy that, apart from a few maybe :)

    But still, that would be incredible. We can dream. 8->
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117

    RC7 wrote:
    RC7 wrote:
    JamesPage= MGW

    Definitely not.

    It's called a sense of humor. Their 50% off for the holidays. Get 'em while they're hot.

    Naturally I was joking also. Even I wouldn't believe people on this forum would buy that, apart from a few maybe :)

    Balje is MGW - 100%!
  • RC7RC7
    Posts: 10,512
    RC7 wrote:
    RC7 wrote:
    JamesPage= MGW

    Definitely not.

    It's called a sense of humor. Their 50% off for the holidays. Get 'em while they're hot.

    Naturally I was joking also. Even I wouldn't believe people on this forum would buy that, apart from a few maybe :)

    Balje is MGW - 100%!

    =))
  • Posts: 3,333
    I don't think we'll ever get to hear EON's response to Nikki's accusations. As James Page states: "Publisher dropped the book also" which means they are so powerful they can stop an ex-employee from discussing their work on a Bond film. I don't know who the publisher was but I bet it wasn't in their best interests if they continued with the publication. So much for publish and be damned!!
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    bondsum wrote:
    I don't think we'll ever get to hear EON's response to Nikki's accusations. As James Page states: "Publisher dropped the book also" which means they are so powerful they can stop an ex-employee from discussing their work on a Bond film. I don't know who the publisher was but I bet it wasn't in their best interests if they continued with the publication. So much for publish and be damned!!

    So what are her accusations then? Surely more than she got dropped from Bondstars because Shirley Eaton didnt want her there?

    I'm going to end up having to buy her book at this rate. Perhaps thats what its all about? JamesPage is on 10% so they are trying to drum up a bit of controversy?
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited December 2012 Posts: 28,694
    Maybe she reveals some shocking revelations in the book that could negatively affect EON?
  • It does seem odd that certain things are being kept in the shadows, possibly in an attempt to stop chatter spreading about them in the fan community. This is the first I've seen of the Nikki article, so huge props to @TheWizardOfIce for bringing it to my attention.

    It does seem slightly odd that it was hidden. I really like this forum, its a great intellectual place to discuss all things 007 so it seems strange that certain things are being covered up or glossed over by those in higher powers. After all we are here to dissect the world of 007 and this story is an important aspect of that legacy.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    I just recently tried tot bump the thread Wizard linked. He's right, it doesn't work.
  • Posts: 469
    Fair play for this - looks like it's a case of who you know not what you know :-\"
  • ggl007ggl007 www.archivo007.com Spain, España
    Posts: 2,535
    WOW, I´m really interested in this affair... What happened with Nikki? Why is she banned? When is her book out??
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,946
    Interesting. Now i missed all the controversy 'round Nikki as well. Anyone with just a bit of a clue, or just the basic story, around? This thread seems to bumb up just fine ;)

  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited December 2012 Posts: 9,117
    This thread seems to bumb up just fine ;)

    Yeah well theyre hardly likely to compound their earlier error with the first thread - that would look far too suspicious. Of course the irony is that the first thread probably would have died a natural death anyway for lack of info but by hamfistedly trying to stop us discussing it they have created the very shitstorm they wanted to avoid.

    I wont be surprised if someone has been tampering with my brakes to shut me up and I skid off the road on the way to work tonight. Or perhaps the damage is already done and I've just eaten a bellyful of polonium?

    As expected there is just a deafening silence from the mods and I imagine that will remain the case until they lock it for some jumped up reason.

  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 7,946
    Well, I guess you'll be allright with the polodium, the stuff is kind of hard to get ;)

    Anyway, as the other thread indeed doesn't bump up, here's my post from there:
    JamesPage wrote:
    @TheWizardOfIce the others involved in this saga have too much class to start tittle-tattling to the Daily Mail and the likes. Publisher dropped the book also. Read between the lines...
    There are ways of explaining what kind of problems Bond-organisers might have without naming and shaming. Personally, I find little of what Nikki says in her interview unkind. One might not agree with what she says, but you can say that as well. The deafening silence and requests to 'read between the lines' are only making it worse. Now it really seems there's a 'darker force' working. Of course there are two sides to a story. There always are. I think EON would do well to make a statement, even if it was in general terms, of what is going on.

  • edited December 2012 Posts: 3,333
    Apparently her book is only available online at her website. She does seem genuinely shocked that Sir Roger Moore has withdrawn his permission for her to use the Foreword he had so kindly written for the book and wonders who were the "Persuaders" that made him change his mind without so much as an explanation. It does seem that Nikki has been completely frozen out of Bond's world without any reason being given.
  • This is indeed an odd situation which has possibly put some people, such as Sir Rog in a difficult position. I can only think that either the Bond powers that be have warned him off for what ever mysterious reason or she has done something to personally piss him off.

    Either way its unfair on Sir Rog as some might make out that he is being petty? Who knows?
  • Posts: 5,745
    My thoughts:

    8-|
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited December 2012 Posts: 28,694
    Rog wouldn't do that unless he was told. He is too much of a gentlemen for doing it for his own reasons, considering he already wrote the foreword, obviously having wanted to do it. I think EON has a hand in this particular cookie jar.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited December 2012 Posts: 9,117
    Rog wouldn't do that unless he was told. He is too much of a gentlemen for doing it for his own reasons, considering he already wrote the foreword, obviously having wanted to do it. I think EON has a hand in this particular cookie jar.

    Also interesting is why JamesPage and MI6 are so keen to keep it quiet? They have no affiliation to EON (well officially!). Have they been got at as well as Rog?

    It all seems rather petty, its not like shes Kevin Mcclory. Unless of course Nikki has got some real dynamite to reveal?

    I can only imagine some sort of liaison with Cubby as being worth going to such efforts to discredit her.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,459
    If what she has written is libelous or discrediting (that is all I can think of that would upset people) they (those mysterious powers that be) should state that it is just that. Make a statement why they disavow her claims or whatever. Or let her publish and take her to court. But being sneaky doesn't work; certainly not in the long run, not in this day and age. And it takes away the dignity and sense of purpose of all sides. Just unpleasant and I do not see how this hushing up of her is necessary.
  • acoppolaacoppola London Ealing not far from where Bob Simmons lived
    edited December 2012 Posts: 1,243
    This Nikki lady seems so harmless that it does not give me a nice feeling that at her age she has to put up with this.

    And Roger withdrawing his consent is strange. He writes the foreword then changes his mind? He is not playing Bond anymore so how could it harm his career?

    Has anyone read her book?, because I can only imagine there are some revelations in there that paint a darker picture of the organisation.
This discussion has been closed.