The Daily Mail Followed and Photographed the Wrong Woman While Trying to Find Meg White

The Daily Mail apparently went looking for the famously private Meg White and found someone else entirely. According to a new report from The Guardian, the British tabloid followed and secretly photographed a Detroit woman it believed to be the former White Stripes drummer, then published more than a dozen photos of her in a story promising to reveal White’s “secret new life.” There was just one problem: multiple people close to White say the woman wasn’t her. In fact, the woman reportedly told the Daily Mail exactly that. When a reporter eventually approached her and identified her as White, she laughed and said they had the wrong person. That didn’t end the investigation. The publication took her subsequent “thank you” after being complimented on The White Stripes’ music as evidence that it had found its target. The woman is actually a friend of White’s, according to multiple sources who spoke with The Guardian. One music industry executive close to both women said neither knew they were being followed and photographed. Karen Elson, Jack White‘s ex-wife, also reportedly confirmed the mistaken identity in a since-deleted social media post and criticized the lengths taken to track ...