David Yelland was allegedly slapped over the head by Noel Gallagher after trying to prove he was a genuine Oasis fan at a 1990s party in London’s West End, according to former Sun showbusiness correspondent Dominic Mohan.
The encounter is recalled in Mohan’s memoir, 1996: My Backstage Pass To The Wildest Year Of Britain’s Wildest Decade, published by HarperCollins in April 2026. Mohan was working alongside Yelland at The Sun when the incident is said to have taken place. ([dominicmohanmedia.com](https://dominicmohanmedia.com/blog/?utm_source=openai))
Yelland, then the newspaper’s editor, had not been invited to the gathering, which was attended by Gallagher and models Kate Moss and Helena Christensen. Mohan says the editor nevertheless “stumbled in” and asked to be introduced to the Oasis guitarist.
According to Mohan’s account, Yelland insisted that he was a fan of the band. Gallagher allegedly responded: “What? You’re the actual editor of The Sun? You bald ***t.”
Yelland then claimed to have seen Oasis perform at Madison Square Garden. Gallagher is said to have challenged him to name the opening song from that concert.
When Yelland could not remember, he reportedly attempted to establish a different connection, telling Gallagher that he was also a committed Manchester City supporter.
Gallagher then asked who had scored the winning goal when Manchester City were last promoted to the top division. Mohan says Yelland again failed to answer, before Gallagher slapped him around the head.
The anecdote has resurfaced after Yelland, 63, made a widely criticised error involving Conservative MP James Cleverly. He mistakenly described Mr Cleverly as Liz Truss’s Chancellor, confusing him with Kwasi Kwarteng.
Mr Cleverly responded on social media: “David, I’m the other black one.” Yelland later said that making “an admittedly idiotic error then saying sorry does not make you a buffoon”.
Whether Gallagher’s alleged slap was intended as a joke or a genuine rebuke is unclear, and there is no suggestion that the episode resulted in any formal complaint. Mohan presents it as one of the more colourful encounters from the celebrity-fuelled world of British showbusiness during Oasis’s 1996 heyday.
