After saying goodbye to Taylor, Leon called his driver and took the business van back to the hotel.
As soon as they met in the hotel lobby, Phil started complaining, "Where exactly did you go? The media's smearing of you has reached new heights. It's a premeditated public opinion war! Did you see that article? The guy who wrote it is basically Goebbels reincarnated!"
Leon ignored the old geezer, walked to the lobby lounge area, and ordered a coffee from the waiter. He looked up and saw Tim. "Mr. Tim is here too?"
Tim looked worried. "The group smearing you is professional. I've dealt with this kind of situation before. Michael Jackson's situation was much trickier than yours. Serious media outlets like Fox, CBS, and The New York Times always reserved their most prominent pages for MJ. Our PR department simply couldn't handle it. In the face of this situation, you must show enough strength."
There are still diverse opinions about Michael Jackson's death. His personal physician, Murray, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, and the trial was set to open at the Los Angeles Superior Court on November 7.
Leon always believed it wasn't involuntary manslaughter, but premeditated murder.
Michael Jackson had moved the giant whales lurking in the deep sea of the entertainment industry.
Although he eventually died of cardiac arrest caused by drug abuse, his condition in the years before his death was already very poor.
Under the continuous smear attacks from the media, he bore huge psychological pressure, like a white skeleton that hadn't seen sunlight all year round.
Leon took a sip of coffee, looking indifferent. "Don't worry, I won't turn the public opinion field into Dunkirk, and this isn't my darkest hour either. I'll call Luca later; those damn media outlets can wait for their court summons."
The word "appeasement" never existed in his world.
He decided to have Luca collect evidence and start with those annoying tabloids first.
At the same time, he asked Sean to contact the most famous paparazzi in New York to fish for information and see who was sparing no effort to mess with him.
The article's exposure of using movies to launder drug money—if this really attracted the attention of law enforcement, it would be enough for him to suffer.
He immediately called Sean. Lion's Den Media's Marcus and T-Ray's podcast specially released a draft to whitewash him, minimizing fan loss to the greatest extent.
"Okay~" Tim thought the significance of court summons wasn't great. Those cunning media outlets received countless summons a year.
But driven by profit, they still enjoyed spreading rumors and smearing.
Although Columbia has a powerful PR team and its parent company Sony controls the world's largest music copyright library, it doesn't have its own media giant.
This leads to the fact that when artists under its banner encounter PR crises, their response is far less calm than the other two giants.
"The signing session in the afternoon is very important to you. You have to be prepared to deal with situations that may arise at any time..." Tim said.
Leon hadn't participated in small events like signing sessions for a long time, but the location of this event was special, located at the famous Venice Beach.
It is said that Rockstar's new work Grand Theft Auto V was filmed here. Venice Beach is a holy land for trendsetters worldwide.
Here is the embodiment of the inclusive value of the city of Los Angeles. You can see punk girls with pierced faces, muscular men in pink T-shirts, and wealthy ladies carrying Hermes bags shaking their butts at poor nggas in the open-air gym on the street...
Many of these people are Leon's fan base. Many of them are eager to meet their idol, so Columbia Records arranged this signing session to solidify the West Coast market.
"Situations that may arise? I don't quite understand what you mean?"
"Although I don't know exactly what happened between you, Miss Robbie, and Miss Taylor, you should have seen the news online." Tim waved his hand. "When those people say they want to send you razor blades, you'd better be careful; they are capable of anything."
Leon nodded with a bitter smile. He understood the principle long ago that eating leftist traffic would eventually lead to backlash.
Those lunatics with blue hair and metal studs all over their bodies really are capable of anything. Many extreme woke people would even chop off their own junk.
"I understand." Leon turned his head and snapped his fingers. "Come here, Bonnie. How are the stats for the second episode of The Rap of America?"
He should have paid attention to this important episode last night, but he missed it because he was busy practicing yoga with Taylor.
The views of the first episode had exceeded ten million. As long as the data of the second episode didn't dive significantly, breaking through 6 million views would activate Clause B in the contract.
Netflix would transfer the $50 million licensing fee after verifying all data.
To produce this show, Leon's wallet dried up rapidly. Counting the $6 million on Lion's Den Media's books, he had already paid a high price of $16 million.
However, this huge sum was still insufficient to support the show. The last three episodes would be collaborative battles between the six flying mentors and the contestants.
This wasn't even the most money-burning stage of the show; the final live broadcast of the finals was the highlight.
It was expected to require an investment of at least another $10 million.
Netflix's marketing planning department calculated the budget very accurately. If the view count requirement wasn't met and Clause A was executed, he would likely lose money.
Bonnie stood up from her seat and pushed her glasses. "Compared to the first-day views of the first episode, there was a small decline. It is now very close to 3 million views. Reaching 6 million views shouldn't be a problem."
"Very good~"
The filming plan for Ready Player One had been put on the agenda, and Leon would be very short of money then.
With the $50 million licensing fee paid by Netflix plus the final box office share of Straight Outta Compton, he had full confidence to invest in this big production.
At 2 pm, Leon's convoy appeared at Venice Beach.
As soon as he appeared, the order maintained by security personnel with all their might was instantly disrupted.
The restless crowd impacted the human wall formed by security personnel like a tide.
"Leon! I love you!"
"Oh my God, I can't believe I really saw you; it's like a dream!"
"Look here, baby!" Some extreme female fans directly broke the seal and shook their butts, with stickers of Leon's avatar printed on them.
"Fxxk, these bitches have gone crazy!" Jorge's refrigerator-like body swayed like a piece of paper under the impact of the crowd.
Many of these fans were muscular men from the nearby open-air gym. Radioactive was regarded as a fitness anthem and spiritual nitrogen pump, so Leon also had a large number of fans in the fitness community.
"Everyone calm down... line up." Leon took off his sunglasses and sat down. In front of him was a mountain of records.
About ten minutes later, the crowd shouted until their throats were hoarse before gradually settling down, and the signing session entered the normal procedure.
A black strong man pushed away the girl next to him and rushed to the first place in the crowd.
A bald black head with bulging veins, an arm circumference of more than 50 cm, and shoulders a circle wider than Jorge's, a living copy of bodybuilding ancestor Ronnie Coleman.
The strong man was incoherent with excitement. "Oh my God, I simply love you too much. Because of the song Radioactive, I became obsessed with fitness last year... dreaming of becoming the next Arnold Schwarzenegger."
Leon had no mind to respond to the fans' enthusiasm, just wanting to muddle through quickly, but after seeing the black guy's figure, he couldn't help but say, "It's amazing that you can train like this in one year."
"This is the power music brings me!" The black strong man puffed out his obviously gynecomastia chest. "Of course, a little technology was mixed in... I injected Synthol, Trenbolone, Trestolone, Oxandrolone, Stanozolol, Oxymetholone, Metenolone, Stenbolone, Trenbolone Acetate..."
The blessing of nine kinds of technology left Leon dumbfounded.
Do you have a death wish?
There is a peculiar landscape on Venice Beach: the number of mobile fortresses too fat to walk is as large as that of muscular men.
The former due to excessive intake of high-oil and high-sugar food, the latter per capita technology warriors.
Veterinary drugs used for livestock to gain meat in the past were sold to fitness enthusiasts at tens of times the price. The number of people dying from complications caused by steroid abuse is as high as tens of thousands every year.
"Good luck." Leon smiled awkwardly and handed over the signed record. "Increase the dosage; hope to see you on the Olympia stage soon."
The black guy's eyes lit up, jumping up excitedly on the spot. "You don't know how important your encouragement is to me. I decided to double the dosage!"
Leon didn't know what to say. If the other party really did this, he would probably report to God within three months. Soon he found that the steroid-abusing black guy was already the most normal one at the signing session. Many people behind couldn't be distinguished by gender with the naked eye.
"What's wrong with these guys?"
Leon muttered in his heart. New York is also a base for woke people, but the situation is far less serious than in Los Angeles.
Looking around Venice Beach, there are weird species everywhere. Decently dressed normal people have become rare animals instead.
Just over two years ago, the situation wasn't like this.
As the signing session was nearing its end, cursing suddenly came from the crowd.
The expected situation still came. several young girls mixed in the crowd shouted loudly: "Leon, you scumbag, you and Taylor won't have a future!"
"My bedroom used to be full of your posters, never again. I've stuffed them all into the fireplace!"
"Fxxk you scumbag~"
Saying that, several slippers and bras were thrown over, and the scene was extremely embarrassing for a time.
Leon glanced at the time on his watch. There were still ten minutes left before the agreed end time, but he didn't want to stay in this place for a second longer.
"Let's stop here..."
Surrounded by numerous security personnel, he quickly got into the business van and rushed to the next event location.
Looking at Leon's comical appearance, Phil teased, "I rarely see you so embarrassed."
"I feel spiritually polluted... Do you understand spiritual pollution?"
"I completely understand your feelings." Phil sighed. The various scenes seen at the signing session reminded him of his son. "Listen, you are bound too deeply with the Donkey Party (Democrats). Those guys use the media to brainwash the public and will be reckoned with sooner or later."
Leon shook his head helplessly. After using Charlie to get rid of Diddy, this was the price he had to pay.
Mentioning the media, he suddenly thought of something. At the Los Angeles Times interview, that bald middle-aged man who always stood in the corner smiling.
David Geffen.
He turned his head and asked Phil, "You mentioned David Geffen before. Do you know that guy?"
"Why do you suddenly mention him?"
"Just suddenly thought of asking."
"That guy is a real big shot in the entertainment industry, several levels higher than JAY-Z and Diddy. When I first entered this industry in the 80s, he was already a big figure in the agent industry. He signed Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Lionel Richie..." Phil looked out the window, recalling his youth.
After achieving huge success in the music industry, Geffen turned his attention to the film and television industry.
He co-founded DreamWorks with Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, producing a series of classic works such as Saving Private Ryan and Minority Report, winning countless awards.
"That guy changed the landscape of the entertainment industry. Many times even big shots like Charlie have to listen to his advice." Phil paused, his expression suddenly becoming serious: "No matter why you mention him, just don't provoke this guy. Think about Michael Jackson's end."
In the late 80s, Michael Jackson reached a cooperation agreement with Geffen Records.
At that time, Jackson was already a global pop music superstar, especially after releasing the album Thriller in 1982, he almost reached an unparalleled status.
The cooperation between the two sides was seen as mutually beneficial. Geffen used his business acumen and promotional resources to participate in the release of Jackson's subsequent albums, aiming to win the contract of this phenomenal superstar.
However, this cooperation did not go smoothly. Due to differences in expectations and values, the two eventually parted ways.
In 1996, Jackson completely broke with Geffen Records. Geffen attacked him many times in public.
As a response, he added some lyrics to some works in the History album, obviously responding to Geffen's attacks.
The relationship between the two remained at freezing point until Jackson's death. Geffen still does not allow anyone to mention MJ's name in front of him.
"Just asking. didn't you say before that Geffen is preparing to make a move on the Los Angeles Times?" Leon asked.
"Yes, various rumors about this news have long been flying all over the sky. That gay is even richer than the geeks in Silicon Valley. Spending billions of dollars to acquire a newspaper office is something only he can do."
Chatting here, many clues in Leon's mind suddenly connected.
SB Projects' Braun could rise rapidly in the past five years, relying on the Jewish gang forces behind him.
And David Geffen is the undisputed flag-bearer of the Jewish gang in the entertainment industry.
He never hides his political views on any occasion and has made speeches inciting the "woke movement" many times.
There are even rumors that President Barack's strategic deployment regarding public ideology has his figure dictating behind the scenes.
He and Senator Charlie are so close they almost share a pair of pants.
"Fxxk, I think the recent smear incident against me might have Geffen's shadow behind it." Leon sneered, staring at the scenery outside the car window.
Phil's body shook. "How is it possible? Except for the Grammy Awards night, you haven't seen that gay at all."
"I just saw him yesterday, right at the Los Angeles Times interview site."
"This..." Phil was speechless for a moment. He couldn't think of a reason why a big shot like Geffen would use media resources to attack a newcomer singer.
Even if the newcomer's wealth and fame are rising at an amazing speed.
After a minute of silence, his eyes suddenly lit up. "Maybe he doesn't want to see the emergence of the next Michael Jackson."
This was the only reasonable reason he could think of.