Wednesday 1 June 2005

More Revelation Bombshells
Felt Admits To Being 'You're So Vain' Target

Simon Confirms "Brief Affair" With Former FBI Man

No sooner than he ignited the country with one of the best kept secrets of all-time, W. Mark Felt, the senior F.B.I. official who admitted to being the Watergate scandal's "Deep Throat" source, dropped a second bombshell when he announced that Carly Simon's 1973 hit song, 'You're So Vain', was aimed at himself.

The identity of "Deep Throat", the inside anonymous source for Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein that helped bring down the Nixon White House, was one of the country's longest - over 31-years - and most talked about secrets. Felt's identity was known only to Woodward, Bernstein and Washington Post Editor, Ben Bradlee

Felt, now 91-years-old, acknowledges being "Deep Throat" in an article that will appear in the July issue of 'Vanity Fair magazine. The secret, and sometime classified information that Felt provided The Washington Post, along with the actions of Judge John Sirica and the heated Senate hearings on the Watergate scandal eventually culminated in Nixon's decision to resign in 1974 rather than face impeachment.

As the airwaves burned through the evening, with numerous Nixon henchman, many still defending the Nixon Presidency and the subsequent cover-up of their covert actions, making panel appearances on television and radio, Felt, with a small group of lingering reporters, asked the group if they wanted to hear another admission.

Felt then offered that in 1971 and into 1972, Felt bumped into Simon at an airport layover and struck up a conversation with the young singer. He offered that the two "hit it off" and Felt abandoned his travel plans and flew off with Simon. He said the affair lasted approximately 10-months and the two parted amicably.

Simon, when reached late last evening, confirmed Felt's disclosure.

"I was in a funky period back than and here's this dashing, older man that looked like a diplomat. He totally charmed me, flew me around in government jets, we could get into anyplace we wanted to … It was quite quixotic"

Simon said she wrote 'You're So Vain' "to mark that period" and not as a scorned lover that most people interpreted the song to be.

"I knew from the beginning that it would be a brief affair … I didn't have any illusions and he was always quite the gentleman".

In 2003, Simon, for the 'Possible Dreams' charity auction, offered to reveal the identity of the song's target and NBC Executive Dick Ebersol ponied up $50,000 to win to bid. In August 2003, Simon hosted Ebersol and nine of his friends for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and vodka on the rocks. At midnight, Mr. Ebersol alone learned Simon's closely guarded secret.

"Both secrets were hard to keep" offered a tired Felt.