Taylor mentee Kathy Ireland said that the film star had not only been a part of an underground network that specialized in giving experimental HIV drugs to patients, but that her palatial home in Bel-Air was a “safe house” for those battling the epidemic.
“A lot of the work she did, it was illegal, but she was saving lives,” Ireland said. “It was in a time when it was not something to do. Business associates pleaded with her, ‘Leave this thing alone.’ She received death threats. Friends hung up on her.”
Taylor used her own money to fund the operation, according to Ireland, who said: “She would sell jewellery, there [were] transfers of money, sometimes there would be a paper bag and there would be money [in it].”
Ireland said Taylor was aware she too could have been caught and prosecuted for her activities.
“She thought she might but she wasn’t afraid,” Ireland said. “She’d go to jail for it. Elizabeth and fear? Not in the same sentence. Fearless.”
Mother Therwhosa?