The Sunday Telegraph‘s Ros Reines has long towered above her competitors as the most outspoken and influential of Sydney’s gossip columnists. Marketed by the Tele as “the columnist they can’t silence”, the muck-raking matriarch delights in pulling celebrities off their pedestal. From slamming former Biggest Loser host AJ Rochester as an “attention-seeking yo-yo dieter” to getting into Twitter stoushes with her subjects, Reines is not usually shy about saying her piece.

But a tantalising trail of leaked emails, obtained by Crikey, has achieved the impossible: the so-called “tabloid terror” has been silenced. Although Reines refuses to talk about them, they offer an intriguing look into the murky world of gossip writing. And they go to the heart of one of the perennial questions journalists face: how close should you get to the subjects you write about?

Here’s the context. It was 2005 and Reines, writing for the biggest-selling paper in the country, was the harbour city’s undisputed queen of gossip writing. Meanwhile, business partners Mark Keighery (the founder the Marcs clothing label) and Theo Onisforou (a cattle ranch owner and property developer) were working hard to build the profile of their upmarket jeans label Diesel. Two years before, the pair had opened the first dedicated Diesel store on Oxford Street, Paddington.

Reines mentioned both men in her columns at the time. Keighery was described as an “inspirational fashion identity and anti-cancer warrior”. Onisforou was hailed as “the man who is almost singlehandedly revitalising Paddington”.

But the emails obtained by Crikey suggest her involvement with Diesel — and the two men behind it — went beyond mere column fodder. In an email dated May 18, 2005, then-Diesel publicist Belinda Frame told Mark Keighery:

“I have just received an invoice from Ros of $15,000 for the period of 18th of May to the 27th of July 2005. I believe that this would be the second payment for assistance that she has been providing Diesel. Ros has been a great support in directing me to the right media to contact, stories to pick up on, and celebrities to watch and each week I have been sending the press releases from Ros to JJ to view and approve.”

In the email, Frame goes on to propose Reines be involved on “more of a ‘consultant’ basis”. This would leave Frame and a colleague to write press releases while Reines would analyse their writing and develop media management strategies.

In an email, Keighery responded that “this was never agreed with Roz — this amount [sic] to 85k per annum”. In a hand-written note, Onisforou writes that he does not support Reines “being employed any further: please advise her of that”.

Crikey has no evidence, nor do we suggest, that Reines received any money from Diesel or that her writing was influenced by any relationship with the company or its owners.

Although the columnist has not responded to repeated requests to answer questions by phone and email, sources say she has privately denied receiving any money from Diesel. A News Limited spokesman declined to comment when quizzed about the emails.

When asked whether Reines acted as a paid or unpaid consultant for Diesel in 2005, Theo Onisforou responded: “No.” He said he would need the originals to consider whether he had written the note. Marcs founder Mark Keighery died in 2008. Belinda Frame, who no longer works for the company, declined requests to comment.

CLARIFICATION: The original version of this story said Ros Reines was scheduled to speak at the Sydney Institute on Tuesday night. Crikey now understands the talk has been postponed, with no replacement date announced.