Chapter 852: Shocking the World

In mid-October, the Artists Management Agency, headquartered on Wilshire Street in Beverly Hills, officially declared bankruptcy. It would merge with Nancy Josephson's ICM, while the aging Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob entered full retirement.

However, this news completely failed to capture Hollywood's attention. Even Duke only took a single glance before putting it out of his mind.

This outcome had been inevitable since the day ICM, CAA, and William Morris agreed to jointly poach the Artists Management Agency's clients. Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob had practically stepped off the Hollywood stage three years earlier; the so-called "Emperors of Hollywood" had long since faded into obscurity.

The other three firms had essentially hollowed out the Artists Management Agency's roster of major and high-potential clients, leaving behind an empty shell long ago.

Opponents like this no longer warranted Duke's attention. Michael Ovitz and Martin Bob leaving Hollywood in such a dismal state was simply the inevitable changing of the guard in this industry.

Although they had competed against him for years, it wasn't in Duke's nature to run up and mock two old men. This wasn't a life-or-death duel. He had won years ago, so naturally, he no longer cared about them.

Myths always shattered eventually, and the false halos hyped up by the media always faded.

Not just in this life, but even in Duke's previous one, countless real events had fully proven that anyone who claimed Michael Ovitz controlled Hollywood definitely had a screw loose.

Compared to the quiet curtain call of Michael Ovitz and the Artists Management Agency, another piece of news was being heavily hyped by the media, leaving even Hollywood stars fearing for themselves.

After a lengthy investigation, the British Government announced formal inquiries and hearings into News Corporation. The "Phone-Hacking Scandal" could no longer be covered up, and News Corporation and Rupert Murdoch became the targets of universal condemnation.

The media revealed that the homes and phones of several Hollywood stars had been wiretapped, including superstars like Tom Cruise. However, Duke had long known the bottomless hypocrisy of the news media that so often preached fairness and justice, and he had taken targeted precautions far in advance.

Still, the incident dragged Duke's production crew into the fray. Sienna Miller, who played Miranda Tate, was a primary victim of the "Phone-Hacking Scandal." To avoid affecting the shoot, Duke simply adjusted the schedule, postponing Miranda Tate's scenes until Sienna Miller resolved her troubles.

Although it was far from collapsing completely, Rupert Murdoch's empire trembled in the storm. The century-old tabloid Weekly World News met a sudden death, the former news director of Downing Street was taken away by the police, and unease flickered in the Prime Minister's eyes... To borrow a popular tabloid catchphrase: the death of News of the World shocked the world.

However, this was not the end of the story, but merely the beginning of a new chapter.

And all of this started with a prince's knee.

Five years ago, the story of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, injuring his knee was exposed by News of the World. Only a few close confidants inside the royal circle knew about the incident. Where did the tabloid get its information?

Thus, the Phone-Hacking Scandal dragged in the British Royal Family.

The British Royal Family had indeed declined, but no one could underestimate the power of the Windsor Family. Those who did, like Diana and Murdoch, all paid the price.

From Britain to North America, media outlets not affiliated with News Corporation were practically all kicking their rival while it was down. The opportunity to trample a competitor was simply too rare to pass up.

Time Warner was no exception. Without any prior communication, they tacitly joined forces with the other North American media conglomerates, continuously applying pressure on News Corporation through both public opinion and concrete action. Even though Time Warner and News Corporation had mostly cooperated in the past, when such an opportunity arrived, capital would always make the choice most advantageous to itself.

Previously, Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation had always wanted to acquire Time Warner, but it never came to fruition. The Department of Justice Antitrust Division was an insurmountable hurdle.

The outbreak of the Phone-Hacking Scandal ensured that Rupert Murdoch's acquisition ambitions could only remain in the planning stage.

Furthermore, other media conglomerates were pressuring the Federal Government, fighting hard to split News Corporation into two entities: a media group and Twentieth Century Fox. Even if the Murdoch family still controlled the two separated companies, Rupert Murdoch would never be able to wield them as seamlessly as an extension of his own arm again.

Capital competition never had allegiances, only interests.

Just like Walt Disney, whose internal relationships were always a tangled mess, an overly powerful News Corporation inherently did not align with Duke's interests. He naturally wanted to see News Corporation split up, and within the Warner Board of Directors, he was one of the many members advocating for the suppression of News Corporation.

Rupert Murdoch had built his fortune in Australia, and News Corporation's strongholds spanned both Britain and America. The major North American media conglomerates didn't have the slightest inclination to lend a helping hand to their peer; instead, they were more proactive than anyone else in kicking their fallen rival.

In late October, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Los Angeles Field Office and the Los Angeles County Police Department launched a joint operation, arresting the infamous "Eye of Hollywood," Anthony Pellicano. Armed with search warrants, they raided Pellicano's properties in Burbank, West Hollywood, and Orange County, discovering over two million dollars in cash, a stash of weapons, and thousands of hours of wiretap recordings.

Notably, while investigating Pellicano's emails, the police found a massive trove of correspondence with the New York Post, implicating numerous wiretapping incidents and scandals.

Subsequently, the police held a press conference to present a portion of Pellicano's wiretapping evidence. Although they didn't explicitly announce which Hollywood stars had been targeted, panic instantly rippled through Hollywood.

The evidence they did release pointed straight at News Corporation's New York Post. The wiretapping scandal, heavily sensationalized by the North American media, swiftly spread across the globe.

Given the ongoing Phone-Hacking Scandal in Britain, it wasn't hard for the public to deduce that wiretapping was a widespread practice for News Corporation.

Just a day later, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced it was taking over the Pellicano case. The emails exchanged between him and the New York Post didn't just involve Hollywood public figures, but also several members of Congress and the families of the September 11 Attacks victims!

The September 11 Attacks were a permanent scar in the hearts of the North American public. With concrete evidence dragging News Corporation into the matter, the public's fury was palpable. Hordes of families of the September 11 Attacks victims took to major media outlets to demand the Federal Government thoroughly investigate the incident, and Congress even held a special session just for this...

Impacted by this, News Corporation's stock plummeted. It was clear someone in the market was shorting their shares. In just over a week, nearly ten percent of News Corporation's market value evaporated. It was obvious that several major media conglomerates had teamed up with Wall Street's opportunistic vampires to rapidly suppress News Corporation's stock.

The once endlessly glorious News Corporation was completely engulfed by the storm.

As the investigation deepened, more and more British and American celebrities appeared on News Corporation's wiretapping list.

Scotland Yard in Britain and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in America subsequently released a list of wiretap victims totaling up to 6,000 people.

This included British Royal Family members Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice of York, Prince William and Prince Harry, actress Sienna Miller, British Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Tessa Jowell and her husband, and football stars Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, among others.

On the American side, the victims included renowned actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the famous band Linkin Park, the families of fallen US Military soldiers, as well as several unnamed members of Congress and state senators, among others.

The British Parliament also held its first hearing on the "Phone-Hacking Scandal." Murdoch and Wendi Deng attended in person to face questioning. Just as the inquiry was drawing to a close, an unexpected incident occurred.

During the live broadcast, a man in a plaid shirt sitting in the back row of the public gallery suddenly stood up. He walked briskly to the witness stand and smashed a paper plate full of shaving foam at Murdoch.

Everyone else froze. No one realized they should stop the attacker, or perhaps no one truly wanted to. Murdoch seemed paralyzed in his seat, and the police failed to react immediately.

Like lightning, Wendi Deng leaped from her chair. Lunging forward, her right arm carved an arc through the air as her right palm slapped viciously across the attacker's face...

Just like that, right on live television before audiences across the entire Western world, the old husband and his much younger wife put on a "show of affection."

Following the unexpected incident at the hearing, massive numbers of reports about Wendi Deng's leaping defense of her husband quickly surfaced in the media. Some said she had displayed extraordinary courage and deserved the title of "Wife of the Year." Others commented that "Wendi Deng's swift reaction put the slow-to-respond courtroom police to shame." News Corporation's own publication, The Guardian, claimed she had demonstrated the true meaning of a model couple at the hearing.

Through television, the footage of Murdoch's attack was broadcast to the public. This effectively alleviated the anger of the government and the masses regarding the wiretapping scandal, and the situation facing Murdoch and News Corporation improved to some extent. A well-known public relations expert even opined that News Corporation's recent hiring of a famous American PR firm to improve its corporate image wasn't nearly as effective as Wendi Deng's single slap.

It was undeniably a brilliant piece of crisis public relations.

However, the major media conglomerates in North America would never give up this opportunity to suppress their competitor. A weakened News Corporation was exactly what served their interests.

Two days later, the latest issue of Vanity Fair published Wendi Deng's diary, which had been mailed in anonymously. It unreservedly exposed Wendi Deng's infatuation with Blair.