Simon Cowell's friend Max Clifford banned from Christmas carol concert held at school Few, if any, doors used to be closed to Max Clifford, the ubiquitous public relations man who numbers Simon Cowell among his clients and confidants. Still, he was barred from a Christmas carol concert that took place on Wednesday night. Earlier this month, Clifford was re-bailed by police investigating allegations of sexual abuse. Along with Freddie Starr, the entertainer, he was arrested as part of Operation Yewtree, a Scotland Yard inquiry that was established in the wake of the Sir Jimmy Savile scandal. Both Clifford and Starr have denied the allegations of historical sexual abuse. Clifford lamented: "I thought it was meant to be innocent until proven guilty, but apparently not." Still, he said that Simon Cowell, the creator of The X Factor, was being doggedly loyal. My clients know me, and that is the silver lining, that they've stood by me. I've been getting letters and emails of support from them. Clifford has made allegations of a sexual nature against others in his time, such as Neil and Christine Hamilton. The former Tory MP and his wife accepted damages from him in 2005 after his untrue claims that the Hamiltons had sexually attacked a Grimsby housewife, Nadine Milroy-Sloan. The mother-of-four from Grimsby was jailed for three years in June 2003 for perverting the course of justice. Clifford was fond of the staff on Surrey Life. "Having written for the magazine for the last couple of years, I've got to know the talented, friendly and hard-working bunch that are responsible for the magazine's success," he told his readers. He also dispenses PR advice. "The best PR advice I could give to anyone is anticipation - anticipating a problem, and taking care of it, so it never becomes a problem," he wrote, too.