Bill Wyman, former member of the Rolling Stones, faced backlash in 2019 after a film festival cancelled his appearance due to concerns surrounding his relationship with a teenage girl in the 1980s.
Wyman was scheduled to participate in a Q&A session at Sheffield Doc/Fest and the European premiere of a documentary about him called The Quiet One.
However, both appearances were cancelled following an online backlash.
The controversy stems from Wyman’s involvement with Mandy Smith, whom he met in 1984 when she was just 13 years old and he was 47.
Prosecutors had considered pressing charges against Wyman two years later but ultimately decided against it.
In 1989, when Smith turned 18, the couple got married, only to divorce two years later.
The Quiet One provides insight into Wyman’s life as one of the founding members of the Rolling Stones.
In response to the criticism, festival organizers stated, “We appreciate you bringing this issue to our attention.
Our management is taking it seriously.”
As a result, Sheffield Doc/Fest decided to cancel screenings of The Quiet One and the associated Q&A session with Oliver Murray and Bill Wyman.
Tickets that had already been purchased will be refunded.
In 2013, Wyman revealed that he had offered to be interviewed by the police during the height of celebrity s** scandals, but they declined his offer.
“I went to the police and the public prosecutor and asked if they wanted to talk to me or meet up, but I received a message saying, ‘No,'” Wyman said.
“I was completely open about it.”
Wyman left the Rolling Stones in 1992 but returned to perform at the band’s 50th anniversary shows at London’s O2 Arena in 2012.
So, who is Mandy Smith and where is she now?
Now 51 years old in 2022, Mandy Smith is a former English pop singer and model.
Smith allegedly began a relationship with the 47-year-old Wyman when she was just 13 in 1983.
She met Wyman at the BPI Awards in 1984 when she attended with her older sister Nicola.
At the time, Smith was only 13 years old.
In his 1990 autobiography, Wyman wrote, “She took my breath away… she was a woman at thirteen.”
Their relationship became public two-and-a-half years later when Smith reached the legal age of consent in the UK, which is 16.
Shortly after getting married, Smith moved out, and the marriage officially ended in divorce after 23 months.
Smith received a settlement reportedly worth $880,000.
To further complicate matters, Wyman’s son Stephen from his first marriage married Smith’s mother, Patsy, who was 46 at the time.
However, they split after two years.
In 1993, Smith married footballer Pat Van Den Hauwe, but the marriage also lasted only two years.
In 2001, she was briefly engaged to Vanity Fair model Ian Mosby, and they had a son named Max Harrison Mosby.
Smith had a brief career as a pop singer and released several singles in the 1980s and 1990s.
While she didn’t achieve a top 40 hit in the UK, she had minor successes across Europe.
In recent years, Smith has chosen to live a more private life.
She moved to Manchester, where she worked as a single mother and co-founded a PR company called Kiss PR with her sister Nicola.
In 2010, Smith publicly advocated for raising the age of consent in the UK from 16 to 18, stating, “People might find it odd coming from me, but I believe I know what I’m talking about.
You are still a child, even at 16.
You can never regain that part of your life, your childhood.
I never could.”
