Singer Rita Ora has said that her controversial 30th birthday party, which she threw in London while the UK was still in a strict lockdown in November 2020, changed her life for the better.
The now-34-year-old singer celebrated at Casa Cruz restaurant in Notting Hill alongside celebrity guests including Cara and Poppy Delevingne, and TOWIE star Vas Morgan.
She should have been isolating following a trip to Egypt.
Ora was heavily criticised for the flagrant breach of government guidance at the time, which stipulated that indoor gatherings of more than six people were banned for everyone in the country.
The restaurant鈥檚 general manager, Scottie Bhattarai, said in court there were between 15 and 20 people at the party and that he鈥檇 accepted 拢5,000 from Ora鈥檚 team for use of the premises because 鈥渉e was greedy鈥.
Speaking to The Sun, Ora said the incident caused her to take a long look at her behaviour.
鈥淚 just really was living every day like it was my last, with no care about what was going to happen the next day,鈥 she said, adding she regretted not being 鈥渁 bit more considerate鈥 of herself and others.
Ora explained she 鈥渘ever really understood鈥 the responsibility she had as a public figure to behave ethically. 鈥淚 think a lot of people were looking up at me, looking for me to give them a lot of answers, and I didn鈥檛 mentally digest that,鈥 she said.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 hard for me too. I think for anyone in my position to wake up one day and you鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, wow, I have all these people that are depending on me to really give them inspiration鈥. I鈥檓 also human.
鈥淏ut now I feel like it鈥檚 something that I take pride in.鈥
Per The Sun, Ora sees the backlash to her lockdown party as the catalyst for her move towards a more mindful lifestyle and greater consideration of others.
The 鈥淏lack Widow鈥 hitmaker apologised for flouting lockdown rules at the time, saying the event was a 鈥渟pur of the moment decision鈥 she was 鈥渄eeply sorry鈥 for.
鈥淭his was a serious and inexcusable error of judgement. Given the restrictions, I realise how irresponsible these actions were and I take full responsibility,鈥 she said.