Stephen Gately’s record label makes official complaint about Jan Moir article

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Polydor, the record label which represents Boyzone, has made a formal complaint over the Daily Mail’s controversial opinion column about Stephen Gately’s death.

It has written to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) but has not given any further details about the complaint.

The column was written by Jan Moir, who called Gately’s death “sleazy” and unnatural”. She added that his death “struck a blow” at the “myth” of civil partnerships.

The star died from natural causes in a flat in Majorca. Moir’s column was published last Friday, the day before his funeral.

After links to the online article were circulated on the internet, more than 22,000 people complained to the PCC – the highest number ever received by the body.

According to the Guardian, Polydor’s complaint is similar to many of those already received and cites issues of accuracy and intrusion into grief. A PCC spokesman told the newspaper it was considering the new complaint.

The PPC, whose chairman Paul Dacre is the editor of the Daily Mail, usually only deals with complaints from those directly affected by articles.

However, it is currently deciding whether to investigate the unprecedented number of complaints.

So far, Gately’s family have not made a complaint.

Along with the huge number of complaints, big brands such as Marks & Spencer and Nestle asked for their advertisements to be removed from the web page, although the newspaper had already decided to take them down.

Denying she was homophobic, Moir later released a statement saying: “In what is clearly a heavily orchestrated internet campaign I think it is mischievous in the extreme to suggest that my article has homophobic and bigoted undertones.”

Post mortem examination results show Gately died from pulmonary oedema, or a build-up of fluid in the lungs. His funeral was held last weekend.

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