Bab 391: Chapter 391: Distorting Truth and Falsehood
Understanding the situation, Lou Wasserman nodded and asked, "What kind of settlement terms?"
Barry Gordon replied, "Daenerys Entertainment will give up on establishing a film production base in Toronto."
"Permanently?"
Barry shook his head. "Three years."
Lou Wasserman fell silent again.
Such settlement terms were merely a face-saving concession for the three major unions.
Having controlled MCA for so many years, Lou was very aware that building a film production base overseas was not an easy task.
Filming in California might incur higher costs and face various union restrictions, but it benefited from a very stable and mature film production system.
By contrast, venturing into an unfamiliar region often brought many challenges: lack of cooperation from local governments, difficulties posed by residents, price gouging by merchants, and even harassment from gangs. These issues usually resulted in the production team spending more than intended.
Daenerys Entertainment managed to get numerous concessions and cooperation from the Australian government because of the powerful local connections of Simon Westeros's wife's family. However, Simon was naive to think he could easily replicate this model in Toronto.
Hardly anyone would think of Simon Westeros as naive.
Thus, the plan for Daenerys Entertainment to build a film production base in Toronto might have been merely a bargaining chip to pressure the three major unions from the start.
The unions backed down proactively, and Daenerys Entertainment conveniently used this uncommitted chip as a step for the unions to descend upon, without any real loss to themselves.
Barry Gordon took a few more puffs of his cigar, seeing Wasserman silent, he asked proactively, "Lou, what are you going to do?"
Lou Wasserman, feeling irritated, simply extinguished his cigar and said, "Looks like, in the end, this studio will have to be handed over to the younger generation."
He had hoped the lawsuits from the three major unions would put enough pressure on Daenerys Entertainment. He planned to use his resources to continue creating obstacles for Simon Westeros at the media and government levels, forcing him to give up this acquisition or at least continue to hold control of MCA.
However, the much-anticipated resistance from the three major unions ended up being overwhelmingly passive, and they beat a retreat after just two weeks.
At MCA, aside from the board firmly controlled by Lou, he didn't hold many advantages. Most shareholders preferred to cash out quickly, fearing a downturn in the US economy could continue to drive down MCA's stock price. Given the current economic trend in the US and an imminent war situation, this possibility was very real.
Lou Wasserman felt that if he continued to play his hand, Simon Westeros would soon target him personally.
Perhaps, just like the accusations of 'abusing power' against the three major unions.
Lou Wasserman could almost imagine that Daenerys Entertainment's accusations against him would likely also involve abuse of power. He certainly wanted to retain his power; after all, in Hollywood, Steve Ross, Martin Davis, Michael Eisner, Sherry Lansing, and others did the same.
Those who have tasted power usually instinctively seek more and are rarely able to give it up easily.
Speaking of which, that young man, only 22 years old this year, would undoubtedly become the most powerful person in Hollywood over the next few decades. Moreover, from what Simon Westeros had shown during the recent series of events, he was certainly capable of wielding his power.
22 years old.
It was hard to imagine why someone who should have just stepped out of college was so extraordinarily talented.
Thinking about his own middle-aged son who still hadn't made anything of himself, Lou Wasserman felt even more defeated.
The two old men sat in the office chatting sporadically when the door was knocked. The secretary poked her head in, pointing to the television in the corner of the office, "Mr. Wasserman, there's something you might want to see."
Lou nodded, and the secretary came in to turn on the TV, quickly switching to a local channel in Los Angeles.
A news conference was being broadcast on the screen.
Lou Wasserman saw Matthew Broderick sitting at the panel and roughly understood the situation.
This was also one of Michael Ovitz's backups.
After Simon Westeros became famous, the incident where he alone broke five legs in Hollywood also became a fun story to tell around the industry, and people generally knew the details. Since the victims were not exactly innocent, neither Ovitz nor Wasserman had thought about using this strategy.
Unexpectedly, several young men had come forward.
Now, watching the conference, where the young man without dentures looked sunken and tearfully narrated his tragic experience, Lou Wasserman almost believed it.
Including Matthew Broderick and Mark Stein, who had several teeth knocked out by Simon's elbow, the five had completely distorted the truth. They claimed that a few years ago, because of some arguments at a bar, the extremely
vindictive Simon Westeros had secretly tracked and ambushed them, eventually not only breaking their legs but also, afterwards, biting back and demanding compensation using Matthew Broderick's reputation as leverage.
Matthew Broderick, at the height of his career back then due to several blockbuster films, had to cough up $500,000 to avoid damage to his reputation.
However, after Simon Westeros became famous, he didn't stop pursuing them, resulting in Matthew Broderick's career being completely destroyed, with no film offers in over a year.
Regarding the journalists' initial doubts about why Simon dared to attack six men alone, Mark Stein, with his sunken lips making him appear pitiful, said that Simon had carried a baseball bat while they were unarmed. Moreover, Stein displayed a report from earlier in the year showing Simon single-handedly KO'ing ten professional fighters in a Melbourne boxing ring, proving he had the capability.
At the end of the press conference, Mark Stein and the others announced they were suing Simon Westeros in the Los Angeles County Court for long-lasting severe physical and mental trauma, seeking a total of $1 billion in damages. Matthew Broderick was even more audacious, demanding $10 billion in compensation.
As the reporters at the venue heard this, they nearly erupted.
Even journalists who knew some industry secrets forced themselves to believe the absurd claims of these guys. If the $500,000 had indeed been used by Simon to produce "Run Lola Run," and considering Simon's current fortune of $21 billion stemmed from that, the implications were massive.
Watching the young men leave amidst media frenzy, Lou Wasserman, who had patiently watched the entire press conference, couldn't help but feel contemplative.
Barry Gordon, as the president of the American Actors' Guild, knew a bit about the incident and looked at Wasserman, asking, "Did you arrange this?"
Lou shook his head, "I knew about it, but I didn't arrange it."
How could he arrange something that everyone in the circle knew the truth about?
Lou Wasserman hadn't thought about completely turning the truth upside down like those young men because the matter was too scrutinizable.
But on second thought, Lou somewhat understood, including Matthew Broderick, these people had nothing left to lose. By making a big deal with a press conference, they gained the upper hand. Even if their argument was somewhat flimsy, the public tended to sympathize with the underdog.
After all, Simon Westeros was simply too powerful.
The video of Simon taking on ten people in Melbourne earlier in the year had amazed many. Such a formidable guy indeed dared to attack six people alone.
After all, he had brought a baseball bat then.
Barry Gordon saw Wasserman's denial and looked back at the TV screen, chuckling, "Anyway, it's another spectacle to watch."
Lou Wasserman also smiled.
Simon Westeros had meticulously navigated the acquisition of Daenerys Entertainment, solving many of the obstacles they faced, making it impossible for Wasserman to counter effectively. Now, facing these young men who had completely shed their dignity in their absurd entanglements, Wasserman was curious to see how Simon would untangle this web.
In this era, one of the main features of investments targeting large telecom industry giants is stability. The telecom industry had developed for a century, investing in monopolistic industry giants like AT&T and the seven smaller Bells, which wouldn't yield excessively high returns nor face significant losses.
These types of companies' stock prices were likely to fluctuate with macroeconomic trends, and with the ongoing economic downturn in the US, since Westeros Corp. wanted to acquire Bell Atlantic at a 30% premium, many investors holding shares in the company were not clinging tightly to them.
Therefore, when the Bell Atlantic board reached an agreement with Westeros Corp., the subsequent shareholder vote, under the careful operation of Simon's team, also went through smoothly.
Then, the acquisition needed to be reviewed by the US Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) overseeing the telecom industry.
After arranging matters in Los Angeles, Simon had been traveling between New York and Washington on the East Coast to lobby government departments for approval.
Although the Department of Justice is part of the presidential cabinet, with the attorney general nominated by the president, the Bush administration clearly didn't have a great fondness for Simon. However, this department wasn't entirely controlled by the White House.
In the early November mid-term elections, the Democratic Party had a sweeping victory, gaining the majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Also, within the Justice Department, there were Democrats holding senior positions, ensuring that Westeros Corp.'s acquisition of Bell Atlantic wouldn't face one-sided obstacles.
As for the FCC, it was even more favorable for Simon.
Being an independent government agency, the FCC was directly accountable to the US Congress, not under White House jurisdiction.
Moreover, the Bush family was a very seasoned political family. Unless necessary, they wouldn't seriously offend a super-
wealthy individual with significant social influence like Simon. Plus, Westeros Corp.'s acquisition of Bell Atlantic wasn't expected to disrupt the industry's landscape; there were no monopolistic concerns.
Thus, this acquisition was almost a foregone conclusion.
During these days from late November to early December, Simon was more about reorganizing and consolidating his connections in the US political arena through the Bell Atlantic acquisition.
When Simon heard the news of the press conference held by Matthew Broderick and others, he had just finished dining in Washington with US Congressman David Melrose, with whom he had previously made contact.
Janet, who had fully experienced the original incident, was furious over the phone, vowing to severely teach those who distorted the truth a lesson, asking Simon not to worry about this matter as she intended to handle it personally.
The world has never lacked distortions of truth and falsehood, Simon knew after hearing the details. Although angry, he wasn't too disturbed deep down, and indeed, he didn't have the capacity to manage this issue, so he casually agreed to let Janet handle it.
On the other hand, Matthew Broderick and his group had clearly concocted their story with care. Although not perfectly seamless, it was plausible enough, and coupled with the media's nature of loving sensational stories, the issue quickly escalated.
Of course, Daenerys Entertainment wouldn't let the situation ferment one-sidedly and immediately counteracted in the media.
Unfortunately, the original incident hadn't left any official records in the police system; the conditions of the people involved were too dire, even to the point where no statements were recorded. After a quick settlement between the parties, the police, influenced by Broderick's operations and preferring to avoid further issues, didn't pursue the matter further.
With Broderick and others taking the initiative and gaining the upper hand, each party had their say, and it seemed likely to devolve into a situation akin to Rashomon.
After the press conference, the local media in Los Angeles soon exposed further demands from the young men.
Mark Stein and the others, citing long-term physical and mental trauma they suffered, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Court, seeking a total of $100 million in damages. Matthew Broderick went even bigger, demanding a whopping $1 billion in compensation.
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