So You've Been Publicly Shamed

Chapter 7 opens with a reproduction of an article from the British tabloid News of the World dated March 30, 2008, with the headline “F1 Boss Has Sick Nazi Orgy with 5 Hookers” (129). The story is about Max Mosley, son of infamous British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, who was filmed taking part in graphic sexual role play that involved German prison imagery. Ronson decides to interview Mosley because “[n]obody I could think of had ridden out a public shaming as immaculately as Max Mosley had” (130). Ronson describes the history around Mosley’s parents, Oswald Mosley and Diana Mitford, who were infamous for their close relationships with and admiration for Adolf Hitler during World War II. Mosley tells Ronson that he became part of the motor racing world because no one knew about his family’s history there. He also was involved in the S&M (sadism & masochism) sex club scene because he found it an accepting environment. However, he says, he was always careful because, as an advocate for car safety, he didn’t want to become a target in the way that American politician Ralph Nader had. In 1961, Nader had advocated for mandatory seat-belt laws.