Rita Ora is being forced to isolate by the Australian government, after landing in Sydney this morning. The singer was marched into a 14-day quarantine by armed police, after which she will be a judge on The Voice Australia.
This follows a scandal earlier this week, where police revealed her team offered Casa Cruz resturant £5,000 to break lockdown rules for Rita’s 30th birthday. Her security team also asked for CCTV cameras to be turned off during the party. CCTV hard drives were wiped two days after the party, a licensing hearing at Kensington and Chelsea Council heard. Rita Ora has declined to comment.
Rita Ora has previously apologised for breaking lockdown rules when she threw a party on 28 November 2020 for her 30th birthday. The party consisted of around 30 of Ora’s friends and included celebrities such as Cara and Poppy Delevingne. At the time of the party the UK was in a national lockdown where restaurants were allowed to be open for takeaway and delivery only and people were only allowed to mix indoors in groups of six or less.
In an apology for breaking lockdown rules, Ora apologised on her Instagram story saying: “It was a spur of the moment decision made with the misguided view that we were coming out of lockdown and this would be OK.”
A week before the party, Rita Ora had flown to Egypt for a private perfomance, she returned on 22 November and should have isolated for two weeks. Her party, held on 28 November, meant she had not completed her two weeks isolation.
In an Instagram post on 27 November, Rita Ora said: “Thank you for all the love it felt weird not doing anything for my bday so being me I dressed up and ate cake.”
Scottie Bhattarai, a staff member at Casa Cruz, told the police Ora’s team called him on the day of the party saying they wanted to use the venue for “drinks and nibbles”. He added that the venue was offered £5,000 to host Ora and her friends. He apologised for being “greedy” and was “fully aware the event breached coronavirus regulations”.
The venue has been accused of breaching licensing rules by not allowing police in and failing to provide CCTV footage. Casa Cruz also allegedly locked fire doors during the party, a breach of health and safety regulations.
The licensing committee is considering whether to revoke the licence of the restaurant.
Scottie Bhattarai has been fired and the restaurant’s parent company said it would be upgrading the CCTV system so footage could not be tampered with in the future.
Words by Sanjana Rao.
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