Tulisa ‘bragged she was able to supply drugs’

Former X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos helped to supply cocaine to an undercover reporter who promised he could help the singer crack the movie business, a court has heard.

Reporter Mazher Mahmood, dubbed the “fake sheikh”, posed as a wealthy film producer called Samir Khan and met the former N-Dubz star in Las Vegas and at the luxury Metropolitan hotel in London’s Mayfair, jurors heard.

He promised the 26-year-old singer he could “get her a part in a big movie that was coming up” with Leonardo Di Caprio as her possible co-star, and she was keen to be “in his good books”, prosecutor Tim Cray told London’s Southwark Crown Court.

Contostavlos then allegedly boasted that she could “sort out” drugs for a boys’ night out at a London strip club she was arranging for him.

She put Mr Mahmood in touch with her rapper friend Mike GLC who supplied the cocaine at a late-night rendezvous at London’s five-star Dorchester Hotel, jurors heard.

The singer also allegedly bragged that she used to be part of a gang who sold crack cocaine and that her ex-boyfriend was a cocaine dealer.

But the illicit drug deal was taped and exposed in a front-page story in the Sun on Sunday newspaper last May, the court heard.

Mike GLC, whose real name is Michael Coombs, 36, pleaded guilty on Monday to supplying half an ounce (13.9g) of cocaine – which tests later showed was at 37% purity – for £860.

But Contostavlos continues to vehemently deny helping to broker the deal.

Opening the case, Mr Cray told jurors: “When the defendant had got involved in this drugs supply, she believed that Samir Khan was a film producer, a movie producer, a big shot.

“She thought he could get her a part in a big movie that was coming up and it seems that she was keen to be in his good books and be friendly with him.”

Mr Cray said Mr Mahmood was staying in France, where he was posing as a high-flying producer.

He first arranged to meet Contostavlos in Las Vegas in March last year, and in May the pair met at the Metropolitan Hotel in Mayfair, during which they discussed whether Contostavlos was more suited to the film role than Kate Winslet or Keira Knightley.

Mr Cray told the court: “During the talk at the Metropolitan Hotel, the defendant said she used cannabis to help get to sleep and that she had connections to drug dealers.

“She then went on to say that one of her ex-boyfriends was a major cocaine dealer and that, back in her young days, she had been part of a gang that sold crack cocaine.”

He said Mr Mahmood arranged to fly to London from France for a night out at a strip bar later that month, and received a call from Contostavlos at 10.30pm on May 21 to arrange it, when talk turned to whether cocaine would be available.

The case continues.