Rita Ora paid venue to breach Covid-19 lockdown guidelines, police say

Rita Ora's lockdown birthday party is turning out to be a very juicy affair

During the summer Rita Ora decided to throw a last minute birthday party to celebrate turning 30 when London was in lockdown. That didn't stop the singer from organising a little get together in a restaurant in Notting Hill for some well known VIP guests. It has just been revealed that the CCTV cameras at the restaurant in Notting Hill were turned off for a period of time to hide the identity of some of the guests who were coming in. According to reports it was Ora's entourage of security guards who requested that the cameras be switched off. Police in London are trying to get the venue’s licence revoked for its breach of lockdown rules. Scottie Bhattarai, one of the staff at Casa Cruz, gave a statement to a council officer after the party, saying he gave the go-ahead for the restaurant to be used. He said Ora's entourage called him on his personal mobile phone at about 5.30pm on the day of the party and asked if they could use Casa Cruz for "drinks and nibbles". Bhattarai said the representatives offered £5,000 and that most staff were on furlough, so he made the call and opened Casa Cruz privately to “facilitate the event”. Rita's party started at around 7pm with a small group. A little later there were about 20 people there, according to Bhattarai. It's reported that the guests included Cara Delevingne and her sister Poppy. After her party was made public the singer took to Instagram at the time to apologise, saying: “I feel particularly embarrassed knowing first-hand how hard people have worked to combat this terrible illness and being fully aware of the sacrifices that people and businesses have made to help keep us all safe. Even though this won’t make it right, I want to sincerely apologise.” The case is ongoing.