Jodie Marsh was so enraged by a YouTuber trying to film her on her farm that she pulled a gun and tried to shoot down his drone, MailOnline can reveal.
The noughties glamour model turned self-styled animal champion is the latest celebrity to be infuriated by a trend among wannabe YouTube and TikTok influencers known as ‘auditing’.
Marsh’s furious encounter with an amateur cameraman echoes that of former Apprentice star Luisa Zissman which MailOnlne revealed earlier this week.
Zissman had turned the tables on chef Harry Holton, an obsessive YouTuber who clocked more than four million views of footage he took of her by drone while she was on private land on her sprawling Grade II-listed country estate.
She worked out his identity then travelled two hours to furiously confront him, threatening to ‘shoot’ Holton’s drone – and Horton was later spoken to by police.
Now MailOnline has learned that Marsh had her own meltdown over the attentions of a rogue cameraman in which she actually tried to open fire on a drone.
The model has been at the centre of an online campaign to have her animal sanctuary closed down – which she insists is being fuelled by false claims that she isn’t looking after her animals properly.
And she claims ‘intruders’ have been illegally flying drones over her five-acre plot at Fripps Farm in Lindsell, and then editing the footage to manipulate fake evidence of animal cruelty.
Noughties glamour model turned self-styled animal champion Jodie Marsh, 46, at her animal sanctuary in Lindsell, which has been at the centre of an online campaign to have it shut down
Marsh was enraged by a YouTuber flying a drone over her Grade II-listed country estate in a bid to ‘audit’ her that she claims she pulled a gun and tried to shoot down his drone
Marsh told MailOnline ‘I would have fired it and I would have shot it out of the sky. I just wasn’t quick enough. I did not fire the gun. The drone was too quick, unfortunately’
So when the 46-year-old former party queen became aware that she was being filmed from the sky she was determined to shoot it down, she says.
When we approached her about the episode she admitted she did not have a gun licence but insisted she hadn’t broken any law.
She told us: ’I would have fired it and I would have shot it out of the sky. I just wasn’t quick enough. I did not fire the gun. The drone was too quick, unfortunately.’
The new trend known as ‘auditing’ that sees creators allegedly harass innocent landowners and security guards to create controversial videos, often using drones.
They are designed to attract hundreds of thousands of clicks and can bring in hefty advertising revenue when viewed on YouTube and TikTok.
The ‘auditing’ trend took off in the US and started to make waves in Britain last year and has self-proclaimed ‘auditors’ quickly attracting subscriber lists in the hundreds of thousands.
And now Marsh believes she is being targeted by auditors who want to use her fame for attention.
She said she believes the drone operators saw her arming herself through the camera on the device and flew it away before she could shoot.
The former glamour model (pictured here in 2005) believes she is being targeted by YouTube ‘auditors’ who want to use her fame for attention
The ‘auditors’ claims that she doesn’t look after the animals at her sanctuary properly, something Marsh vigorously denies
Marsh said the drone had been operated by two ‘weirdo’ men who she says entered her property without permission, leaving her feeling threatened
‘By the time I had loaded the gun it was gone, I wasn’t quick enough.’
She said the drone had been operated by two ‘weirdo’ men who she says entered her property without permission, leaving her feeling threatened.
She explained: ‘I am a female who lives alone…do you know how scary that is to have two big fat adult men come to my house and refuse to leave while flying drones over my home?
‘They were also looking in my windows. As a woman, it is f**** terrifying.
‘I have to hire full-time security because of them. It is costing me a fortune.’
She said she had access to the weapon because she employs security officials who are licensed to have weapons.
And bemoaning her being pursued by so called ‘auditors’ with drones she insisted: ‘It is affecting my human rights, my privacy, it is data protection, harassment and stalking. I will do whatever it takes to protect me and my animals. So I couldn’t care less.
‘If I see a drone and I get a chance to shoot out of the sky, I will.
She said: ‘I am a female who lives alone…do you know how scary that is to have two big fat adult men come to my house and refuse to leave while flying drones over my home?’
A screenshot of the ‘Fripps Farce’ Facebook group, which has over 9,000 members and consistently makes claims that animals at Marsh’s farm are suffering – and is said to have vets and animal welfare campaigners among its members
‘These people are trying to destroy my life. All of that drone footage is edited. They have edited out water buckets, they have edited out disinfectant foot mats. They have edited the horses to make them look skeletal.
‘You have to appreciate that it’s very stressful for me when I’m trying to run an animal sanctuary and I’ve got people telling lies about me all day long, flying drones above my house and stalking and harassing me.’
She added: ‘There is no law against firing a gun. If any one of us wants to shoot a rat on the property, we are more than entitled to. There is no law against it. I go clay pigeon shooting.
‘And I personally couldn’t care less if it is illegal to shoot a drone out of the sky. I will shoot it out of the sky if I see one again and I couldn’t care less because that is an infringement of my privacy.’
Asked if she might feel it is a bit reckless to openly carry a gun around, she responded: ‘Not when you’re trying to shoot a drone out of the sky, I wasn’t waving it around.
‘I was in the army cadets for four years and I was a marksman. I’ve got 99% on my gun tests. I know a little bit about guns.
‘I can strip an SA80 rifle down blind folded in the dark and put it back together again.
‘I am not some imbecile who doesn’t know anything about guns. I certainly know how to use a gun. I’ve done lots and lots of shooting in my time with clay pigeons.
Marsh also claimed that the auditors edited their footage to discredit her, adding ‘they have edited out water buckets, they have edited out disinfectant foot mats. They have edited the horses to make them look skeletal’
‘I’ve got people harassing and stalking me. I’m having to deal with all of this while I’m trying to run an animal sanctuary.
‘It is the scariest thing I have ever experienced in my life. I have the police all over it for stalking and harassment.’
Despite Marsh’s assertions however it is illegal to shoot down a drone.
This could lead to prosecution for criminal damage or you could even be charged with endangering an aircraft in accordance with section 240 of the Air Navigation Order016 which states: ‘A person must not recklessly or negligently act in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft, or any person in an aircraft.’
She said the background to the episode is that she is being trolled online by people who cannot reconcile her racy background posing topless and as a glamour model with her new found vocation caring for animals.
Last year it emerged that she had been refused permission to keep exotic lemurs on the farm following an episode when she took an owl and a meerkat to her local pub.
But she insists that any claims that she doesn’t look after animals properly are malicious and have no foundation in reality.
She said: ‘This has got everything to do with that. If I was Little old Mary from down the road, they would be helping me with my animal sanctuary. But it is because I am Jodie Marsh’
The former glamour model is a passionate animal lover and set up the Fripps Farm animal sanctuary in 2020
Jodie Marsh has gone back to topless modelling on the OnlyFans platform because she says she needed to raise money for her animal retreat
But she said she has gone back to topless modelling now using the seedy platform OnlyFans because she needed to raise money for her animal retreat.
Recently she put a couple of photographs of herself semi naked onto the website and earned £65,000 which was enough to pay for fencing that was required around the sanctuary.
She is now appealing the decision by her local authority to refuse her application for a dangerous animals’ licence, which is needed to legally keep the Madagascan mammals after neighbours raised concerns.
Her appeal is being assessed through an appeal to the courts.
She has a staff of seven and ten volunteers on the sanctuary where around 200 animals are cared for.
But a Facebook group called ‘Fripps Farce’, which has 9,000 members, consistently makes claims that animals at her farm are suffering and is said to have vets and animal welfare campaigners among its members.
The administrator of Fripps Farce told Mail Online that members are deeply concerned about the animals’ welfare, and how donations to the farm were being used.
The admin, who refused to reveal their identity for fear of reprisals from Jodie and her supporters, explained that amongst the group’s members are former employees of Fripps Farm and people who now regret rehoming animals with the ex-glamour model.
The Fripps Farce organiser said: ‘I started the Facebook group about two years ago, when I saw she was hatching chickens, and then posted that she wanted to start breeding meerkats – that’s not the actions of a sanctuary.
‘There’s also been a lot of animal deaths at Fripps Farm, and social media videos show that some of the animals there aren’t being kept in species-appropriate conditions, or given adequate food, grazing and shelter.
‘I’ve been to the RSPCA but they just say they can’t investigate anything based on social media.
‘Many people in the group have reported Fripps Farm to the police on welfare grounds but nothing has been done. They don’t seem to be taking people’s concerns seriously.’
Asked about Jodie’s animal sanctuary, an RSPCA spokesperson said: ‘We’re aware of concerns but we are unable to discuss complaints about specific people and what action may or may not have been taken, for legal reasons.
‘We know this is frustrating but we must comply with the law. We would always urge anyone with animal welfare concerns to report them to our national helpline.’
