Max Clifford told a jury yesterday that he attended "sex parties" hosted by actress Diana Dors but denied that they amounted to celebrity "orgies".
Giving evidence on the opening day of his defence at Southwark Crown Court against indecent assault charges, the British public relations executive admitted to extramarital affairs with four women, including a French model and a television dancer.
The court was told that the size of his manhood would play a key part in his defence, as his accusers had variously described it as tiny and "enormous", but a doctor who measured Clifford would testify he was "average" in size.
Clifford, 70, told Southwark Crown Court that he had been guilty of "slap and tickle" in his office, but had never assaulted anyone. He told police that the "swinging sixties" were different times, when behaviour that would now be frowned on was considered acceptable. He denies 11 counts of indecent assault against seven women and girls.
Clifford, who married in 1967, agreed that he had written about attending "sex parties", sometimes hosted by Dors, the actress from Swindon once considered Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe.
"Yes, they were referred to as sex parties in my book because the word 'sex' is sensational and sex sells," he said. "But they were not orgies, it wasn't everyone having sex."
Four times-married Dors, who died in 1984, admitted hosting sex parties at her Berkshire home, where celebrity guests would be encouraged to have sex with aspiring young actresses. Dors' son, Jason Lake, alleged that the bedrooms were rigged with cameras and that his mother would watch the films later.