Chapter 852: Shocking the World
In mid-October, the artist brokerage management company headquartered on Wisher Avenue in Beverly Hills officially declared bankruptcy and merged with Nancy Josephson's ICM, and the aging Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob also fully retire.
It's just that this news didn't attract Hollywood's attention at all, and even Duke just glanced at it before forgetting it.
From the day when ICM, CAA and William Morris reached an agreement to jointly poach corners of artist management companies, such an ending has been doomed. Since three years ago, Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob have actually withdrawn from Hollywood The once so-called Hollywood emperor has long since fallen to the point where no one cares about it.
The main customers and potential customers of the artist brokerage management company have basically been hollowed out by the other three companies, leaving an empty shell a long time ago.
Such an opponent can't make Duke pay attention to it. Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob left Hollywood in a down-and-out attitude, which is also the inevitable change of old and new in this circle.
Although the other party has competed with him for many years, with Duke's character, he would not be interested in mocking the two old men. This is not a life-and-death duel. He was the winner many years ago, so naturally he will not care about them anymore. .
Myths will eventually be shattered, and the false aura promoted by the media will also fade away.
Not only this life, but even Duke's previous life, countless real events have fully proved that those who say that Michael Ovitz can control Hollywood must have problems in their heads.
Compared with Michael Ovitz and the artist management company that ended quietly, another piece of news was hyped up by the media, and even Hollywood stars were in danger.
After a long period of investigation, the British government announced a formal investigation and hearing on News Corporation. The tapping door could no longer be concealed.
media disclosure. The homes and phones of many Hollywood stars have been tapped, including superstars like Tom Cruise, but Duke has long been aware of the true nature of the so-called news media that advocates fairness and justice. targeted measures.
It's just that the incident still involved Duke's crew. Sienna Miller, who played Miranda Tate, was the key victim of Bugging Gate, so as not to affect the filming. Duke simply made adjustments to the shooting, postponed Miranda Tate's related scenes, and waited for Sienna Miller to solve these troubles before shooting.
Although it is far from falling, Rupert Murdoch's kingdom trembled in the wind and rain, the century-old tabloid World News Weekly died unexpectedly, the former news director of Downing Street was taken away by the police, and the prime minister's eyes revealed Uneasy...to paraphrase a popular tabloid catchphrase: The death of the News of the World shocked the world.
However, this is not the end of the story, but only the beginning of a new chapter.
And all this. It all begins at the prince's knees.
Five years ago, the news about William, the Duke of Cambridge's knee injury was exposed by the News of the World. Only a few insiders knew about it. Where did the tabloid get the news from?
As a result, the wiretapping door involved the royal family.
The British royal family is indeed in decline. But no one can underestimate the strength of the Windsor family. Those who underestimated have paid the price like Diana or Murdoch.
Media not affiliated with News Corp, from the UK to North America. Almost all are beating the dogs in the water. This kind of opportunity to step on competitors is really rare.
Time Warner is no exception. Without any communication with other media groups in North America, they joined together tacitly and continued to put pressure on News Corporation in terms of public opinion and practical actions, even though the two media companies were more cooperative before. But when this kind of opportunity comes, capital will make the choice that is most beneficial to itself.
Prior to this, Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation had always wanted to acquire Time Warner, but they never realized it. The Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Justice was a threshold that they could not cross.
The outbreak of wiretapping also made Rupert Murdoch's idea of mergers and acquisitions only in the planning stage.
Moreover, other media groups are putting pressure on the federal government to split News Corporation into Media Group and Twentieth Century Fox. Even if the two companies after the split will still be controlled by the Murdoch family, they will never Rupert Murdoch can't be manipulated like he is now.
There has never been a competition among capitals, only interests.
Just like Walt Disney whose internal relationship has been unable to straighten out, no matter how you look at it, an overly powerful News Corporation does not actually meet the interests of Duke. He certainly wants to see News Corporation split up. Inside Time Warner's board of directors, it is also one of the many directors who advocate suppressing News Corporation.
Rupert Murdoch started in Australia, and News Corporation's headquarter spans the United Kingdom and the United States. The major media groups in North America have no awareness of helping their peers.
In late October, the Los Angeles branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles County Police Department jointly arrested the famous Hollywood Eye Anthony Pellicano. Houses in Bank, West Hollywood, and Orange County found more than $2 million in cash, weapons, and thousands of hours of wiretapping records.
In particular, police investigations of Pellicano's emails uncovered a large number of correspondence with the New York Post that involved numerous wiretappings and scandals.
Subsequently, the police held a press conference and presented some of Pellicano's wiretapping evidence. Although they did not announce which Hollywood stars had been wiretapped, everyone in Hollywood was in danger.
Among the released evidence, the spearhead was pointed at the New York Post owned by News Corporation. The wiretapping scandal, which was hyped up by the North American media, quickly spread to the whole world.
It is not difficult for the public to imagine Lenovo's wiretapping in the UK today, and wiretapping is almost a common phenomenon for News Corporation.
Only one day later, the FBI announced that it had taken over the Pellicano case, because the emails between him and the New York Post not only involved Hollywood public figures, but also some members of Congress and the families of the victims of the 9/11 incident!
911 is an eternal scar in the hearts of the North American public. Now that News Corp. has been involved with definite evidence, the public’s anger can be imagined. A large number of family members of 911 victims appealed to the federal government on major media outlets. The government thoroughly investigated the incident, and Congress held a special session for it...
Affected by this, the stock price of News Corporation plummeted. It was obvious that some people in the market were short selling the shares of News Corporation. In just over a week, News Corporation evaporated nearly 10% of its market value. The group united with the gang of vampires on Wall Street, and quickly suppressed News Corporation's stock.
News Corp., which was once glorious, has been completely caught in the storm.
As the investigation deepened, more and more British and American celebrities appeared on News Corporation's wiretapping list.
Scotland Yard in the United Kingdom and the FBI in the United States successively announced a list of 6,000 wiretapped people.
These include members of the British royal family Eugenie and Princesses Yorkby Beatrice, Princes William and Harry, actress Sienna Miller, British Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Tessa Jowell and his wife, football star Ryan Ryan Giggs and Paul? Scholes and so on.
In the United States, the victims include well-known actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the famous band Linkin Park, families of US soldiers who died in action, and several unnamed congressmen and state senators.
The British Parliament also held the first hearing on the Bugging Gate incident. Murdoch and Wendi Deng attended the scene in person and accepted the questioning. Just as the questioning was drawing to a close, an accident happened.
During the live broadcast, a man wearing a plaid shirt and sitting in the back row of the auditorium suddenly stood up, walked quickly to the witness stand, and threw a paper plate full of shaving foam at Murdoch. go.
Everyone else was stunned. No one realized that the attacker should be stopped, and perhaps no one really wanted to stop it. Murdoch seemed to be frozen in his seat, and the police did not react immediately.
At this moment, Deng Wendi jumped up from the chair like lightning, flew forward, drew an arc in the air with her right arm, and slapped the assailant's face with her right palm...
In this way, the old couple and the young wife staged a love show in front of the audience in the entire Western world on live TV.
After the accident at the hearing, a large number of reports about Deng Wendi flying to protect her husband appeared in some media. Some people said that Deng Wendi showed extraordinary courage and should be awarded the title of Wife of the Year; The sluggish police in the courts pale in comparison”; and The Guardian, which is owned by News Corp, said she demonstrated what it means to be a model couple at the hearing.
Through television, the attack on Murdoch's watch was presented to the public, which effectively alleviated the anger of the government and the public over the wiretapping incident. The situation facing Murdoch and News Corporation has been improved to a certain extent. It is believed that News Corporation hired a famous American public relations company to improve its corporate image not long ago, but it is not as effective as Deng Wendi's slap.
This is definitely a very beautiful crisis public relations.
However, the major media groups in North America will never give up this opportunity to suppress competitors, and a weakened News Corporation is in line with their interests.
Two days later, the latest issue of Vanity Fair published Wendi Deng's diary, which was mailed anonymously, unreservedly revealing Wendi Deng's love for Blair. (to be continued ~^~)
PS: Ask for monthly and recommendation tickets!
