Jeremy Clarkson's ex-wife has said it was "terrifying" when she discovered the Top Gear presenter had taken out an injunction over a book she planned about "knowing someone famous".
Giving evidence to a parliamentary committee, Alex Hall defended the right of family members and former lovers to write publicly about their lives with celebrities.
She told MPs and peers who are examining the issue of privacy and the way injunctions work: "Why should I not be allowed to talk about my life? It is a free country."
But she clarified: "There is a moral issue as a married couple not to publish certain aspects, or salacious detail."
Ms Hall said her marriage to Clarkson ended before he was famous but she "maintained a relationship" with him.
The Joint Committee on Privacy and Injunctions heard how she texted the TV host to tell him she was planning a book "about knowing someone famous like that and the impact it had had on my and my family's lives".
Ms Hall said she hoped to write a "witty self-help book" but described how Clarkson told her: "I won't have anyone write anything about me. I have a right to privacy."
Ms Hall explained how a week later she received a late-night injunction that left her "shaking".
She said: "I had no idea about what to do with this injunction, it was just terrifying."
She added: "He assumed because I am a shy mini mouse I would do nothing about it. He assumed I would kowtow to the bullying and not fight it."
The committee heard she could only afford to oppose the injunction by seeking help from lawyers acting on a no-win, no-fee basis.
But Ms Hall then described how Clarkson suddenly removed the injunction, describing his behaviour afterwards as "hugely cavalier" and traumatic for her family.
When quizzed about what public interest would have been served by her book, she responded: "It's not a public interest thing.
"But the public would be interested in my different perspective being married to Jeremy Clarkson."
She also reduced the committee to giggles responding to a question about how the whole saga might change the book's content. "I suppose there's another chapter now, isn't there?" she replied.
Her lawyer Charlotte Harris from Mischon de Reya Solicitors agreed that the current system of injunctions meant "there are abuses on both sides" and backed the idea of mediation as one way to solve that.
The evidence session is expected to be the last held by the committee, which is due to report on the issues of privacy and injunctions at the end of the month.
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