Unscripted
The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy
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Narrated by:
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Robert Petkoff
About this listen
The instant New York Times bestseller • A New York Times Notable Book • Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist • Nominated for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year Award
"Addicted to Succession? Well, here's the real thing."—The Hollywood Reporter
“Jaw-dropping . . . an epic tale of toxic wealth and greed populated by connivers and manipulators.”—The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice
The shocking inside story of the struggle for power and control at Paramount Global, the multibillion-dollar entertainment empire controlled by the Redstone family, and the dysfunction, misconduct, and deceit that threatened the future of the company, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists who first broke the news
In 2016, the fate of Paramount Global’s entertainment empire hung precariously in the balance. Its founder and head, ninety-three-year-old Sumner M. Redstone, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by a former romantic companion, Manuela Herzer, which placed Sumner’s deteriorating health and questionable judgment under a harsh light.
As an all-powerful media mogul, Sumner had been a demanding boss, and an even more demanding father. When his daughter, Shari, took control of the business, she faced the hostility of boards who for years had heard Sumner disparage her. Les Moonves, the CEO of CBS, schemed with his allies on the board to strip Shari of power. But while he publicly battled Shari, news began to leak of Moonves’s involvement in multiple instances of sexual misconduct, and he began working behind the scenes to try to make the stories disappear.
Unscripted is an explosive and unvarnished look at the usually secret inner workings of two public companies, their boards of directors, and a wealthy, dysfunctional family in the throes of seismic changes. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams, Unscripted lays bare the battle for power at any price—and the carnage that ensued.
©2023 James B. Stewart, Rachel Abrams (P)2023 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Redstone has found his Ishmael in James B. Stewart, who has ventured once more into the corporate depths and returned, he writes, with ‘an astonishing saga of sex, lies, and betrayal.’ His new book, Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy, written with New York Times media reporter Rachel Abrams, joins his earlier probing work on the Walt Disney Co., insider trading, corporate lawyers and the posh netherworld of American business. Imagine a mash-up of King Lear and Weekend at Bernie’s, the 1989 movie comedy about two scamps who prop up a cadaver so they can enjoy a weekend at his beach house, with Redstone starring in both title roles.”—The Wall Street Journal
“In this riveting, Succesion-esque tale of the fight for control of Paramount Global, James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams weave together a lawsuit, familial conflict, and the lurking Les Moonves.”—Vanity Fair
“Has a business book ever made you blush? . . . There’s the 90-something billionaire with still-active ‘sexual appetites’; the scheming mistresses; threesomes; parked-car encounters; a Sedona love nest; a chief executive who allegedly forced himself on multiple victims; a stolen laptop; shady private investigators; and a cast of characters straight off MTV or another Redstone cable channel. Mixing tight financial reporting with soap-operatic twists and turns, Unscripted makes the amped-up historical fiction of Babylon feel downright chaste by comparison . . . Media insiders and those who followed the Redstone saga will eat this reporting—and some of the other, more comical twists that populate the book—up . . . Unscripted delivers the good.”—The Washington Post
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Ever wonder why so many B actors wind up as A-grade politicians? Or how the casting couch worked? Acclaimed author Kathleen Sharp traces the influence of show business through the lives of its first power couple. Edie and Lew Wasserman built the world’s largest talent agency, MCA, created the multibillion-dollar Universal Studios, and helped shape Washington, DC.
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Best Book I Have Heard In A Long Time!!!
- By James M. Patton on 09-25-16
By: Kathleen Sharp
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How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune
- The Billionaire Who Wasn't
- By: Conor O'Clery
- Narrated by: Erik Synnestvedt
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
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In 1988 Forbes magazine hailed Chuck Feeney as the 23rd richest American alive. No one knew until then that he was extremely wealthy. Or was he? Born during the Depression in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Feeney had made a fortune as co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers, the world's largest duty-free retail chain. How he did it is one of the great untold retail stories of modern times. The greater untold story is that Feeney had in fact given away his fortune, in its totality, to endow Atlantic Philanthropies - one of the most generous and secretive philanthropic funds in the world.
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Horizons I never knew were there!
- By DTU_Garza on 08-13-17
By: Conor O'Clery
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The Purple Diaries
- Mary Astor and the Most Sensational Hollywood Scandal of the 1930s
- By: Joseph Egan
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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1936 was a great year for the movie industry - the financial setbacks of the Great Depression were subsiding, so theater attendance was up. Americans everywhere were watching the stars, and few stars shined as brightly as one of America's most enduring screen favorites, Mary Astor. But Astor's personal story wasn't a happy one. Born poor and widowed at 24, Mary Astor had spent years looking for stability when she met and wed Dr. Franklyn Thorpe.
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Impossible not to like for old movie buffs
- By Gary on 03-09-17
By: Joseph Egan
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Courtiers
- Intrigue, Ambition, and the Power Players Behind the House of Windsor
- By: Valentine Low
- Narrated by: Valentine Low
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The gripping account of how the Royal family really operates, from the journalist who has spent years studying them. Who really runs the show and, as Charles III begins his reign, what will happen next?
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author narrator
- By Amazon Customer on 01-26-23
By: Valentine Low
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Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right
- Opinionated Columns on American Life
- By: Michael Smerconish
- Narrated by: Michael Smerconish
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Opinionated talk show host and columnist Michael Smerconish has been chronicling local, state, and national events for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer for more than 15 years. He has sounded off on topics as diverse as the hunt for Osama bin Laden and what the color of your Christmas lights says about you. In this collection of 100 of his most memorable columns, Smerconish reflects on American political life with his characteristic feistiness.
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All about Smerc and who cares about the victims
- By Mark J. Rosen on 12-10-20
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Targeted
- The Cambridge Analytica Whistleblower's Inside Story of How Big Data, Trump, and Facebook Broke Democracy and How It Can Happen Again
- By: Brittany Kaiser
- Narrated by: Brittany Kaiser
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In this explosive memoir, a political consultant and technology whistleblower reveals the disturbing truth about the multi-billion-dollar data industry, revealing to the public how companies are getting richer using our personal information and exposing how Cambridge Analytica exploited weaknesses in privacy laws to help elect Donald Trump - and how this could easily happen again in the 2020 presidential election.
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Heavy on Kaiser, Light on Cambridge Analytica’s Data Operations
- By Morgan H Hoban on 11-05-19
By: Brittany Kaiser
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Good for the Money
- My Fight to Pay Back America
- By: Bob Benmosche
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2009, at the peak of the financial crisis, AIG - the American insurance behemoth - was sinking fast. It was the peg upon which the nation hung its ire and resentment during the financial crisis: the pinnacle of Wall Street arrogance and greed. When Bob Benmosche climbed aboard as CEO, it was widely assumed that he would go down with his ship. In mere months, he turned things around, pulling AIG from the brink of financial collapse and restoring its profitability.
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Worthwhile, informative, and just short of inspiring
- By Preston on 11-17-21
By: Bob Benmosche
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Bad City
- Peril and Power in the City of Angels
- By: Paul Pringle
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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On a cool, overcast afternoon in April 2016, a salacious tip arrived at the L.A. Times that reporter Paul Pringle thought should have taken, at most, a few weeks to check out: a drug overdose at a fancy hotel involving one of the University of Southern California’s shiniest stars—Dr. Carmen Puliafito, the head of the prestigious medical school. Pringle, who’d long done battle with USC and its almost impenetrable culture of silence, knew reporting the story wouldn’t be a walk in the park. USC is the largest private employer in the city of L.A., and it casts a long shadow.
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Wow.
- By Anna on 07-22-22
By: Paul Pringle
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Dethroning the King
- The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch, an American Icon
- By: Julie MacIntosh
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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How did InBev, a Belgian company controlled by Brazilians, take over one of America's most beloved brands after barely a whimper of a fight? With timing - and some unexpected help from powerful members of the Busch dynasty, the very family that had run the company for more than a century. From the very heart of America's heartland to the European continent to Brazil, Dethroning the King is the ultimate corporate caper and a fascinating case study that's both wide-reaching and profound.
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Good Story but Narration Can be Annoying
- By Ken on 10-21-11
By: Julie MacIntosh
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Can I Go Now?
- The Life of Sue Mengers, Hollywood's First Superagent
- By: Brian Kellow
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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A lively and colorful biography of Hollywood's first superagent - one of the most outrageous showbiz characters of the 1960s and 1970s, whose clients included Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Faye Dunaway, Michael Caine, and Candice Bergen. Before Sue Mengers hit the scene in the mid-1960s, talent agents remained quietly in the background. But staying in the background was not possible for Mengers.
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A little long.
- By Doris on 11-29-15
By: Brian Kellow
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Black Founder
- The Hidden Power of Being an Outsider
- By: Stacy Spikes
- Narrated by: Stacy Spikes
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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From the award-winning entrepreneur USA Today named one of the twenty-one most influential Blacks in technology comes an empowering, bracingly honest, entertaining blueprint for success in life and work—including the true story of what really happened to MoviePass—straight from the cofounder and former CEO himself.
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Thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating memoir
- By Carla M Fisher on 12-14-24
By: Stacy Spikes
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Inside Scientology
- The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion
- By: Janet Reitman
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Scientology, created in 1954 by a prolific sci-fi writer named L. Ron Hubbard, claims to be the world's fastest-growing religion, with millions of members around the world and huge financial holdings. Its celebrity believers keep its profile high, and its teams of "volunteer ministers" offer aid at disaster sites such as Haiti and the World Trade Center. But Scientology is also a notably closed faith, harassing journalists and others through litigation and intimidation, even infiltrating the highest levels of government to further its goals.
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My cup of tea.
- By MWMcCabe on 08-09-11
By: Janet Reitman
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Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters
- The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire
- By: Richard Hack
- Narrated by: Dan Cashman
- Length: 17 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Howard Hughes was a true American original: legendary lover, record-setting aviator, award-winning film producer, talented inventor, ultimate eccentric, and, for much of his lifetime, the richest man in the United States. His desire for privacy was so fierce and his isolation so complete that even now, 25 years after his death, inaccurate stories continue to circulate, and many have been published as fact. Hughes explodes the illusion of his life and exposes the man behind the myth. He was a playboy whose sexual exploits with Hollywood stars were legendary.
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GOOD READ
- By Randall on 04-25-09
By: Richard Hack
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Bitter Brew
- The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer
- By: William Knoedelseder
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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The engrossing, often scandalous saga of one of the wealthiest, longest-lasting, and most colorful family dynasties in the history of American commerce—a cautionary tale about prosperity, profligacy, hubris, and the blessings and dark consequences of success. This engrossing, vivid narrative captures the Busch saga through five generations. At the same time, it weaves a broader story of American progress and decline over the past 150 years. It's a cautionary tale of prosperity, hubris, and loss.
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Couldn't stop listening...
- By Jeremy McGough on 11-09-12
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Much better than other GE books
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Couldn't wait for this to be over
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Couldn’t stop listening!
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By: Bradley Hope, and others
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Powerhouse
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In 1975, five young employees of a sclerotic William Morris agency left to start their own strikingly innovative talent agency. In the years to come, Creative Artists Agency would vault from its origins in a tiny office on the last block of Beverly Hills to become the largest and most imperial, groundbreaking, and star-studded agency Hollywood has ever seen - a company whose tentacles now spread throughout the world of movies, music, television, technology, advertising, sports, and investment banking far more than previously imagined.
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A terrific look behind the curtain
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Money Men
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When investigative journalist Dan McCrum first came across Wirecard, the hot new tech company that looked poised to challenge Silicon Valley, it all looked a little too good to be true: offices were sprouting up all over the world, and they were reporting runaway growth. In the space of a few short years, the company had come from nowhere to overtake industry giants like Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank on the stock market. As McCrum began to dig deeper, he encountered a story stranger and more compelling than he could have imagined.
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Interesting book but…
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Steven A. Cohen changed Wall Street. He and his fellow pioneers of the hedge fund industry didn’t lay railroads, build factories, or invent new technologies. Rather, they made their billions through financial speculation, by placing bets in the market that turned out to be right more often than not.
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The Key Man
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Lucifer’s Banker Uncensored
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As a private banker working for the largest bank in the world, UBS, Bradley Birkenfeld was an expert in Switzerland's shell-game of offshore companies and secret numbered accounts. He wined and dined ultrawealthy clients whose millions of dollars were hidden away from business partners, spouses, and tax authorities. As his client list grew, Birkenfeld lived a life of money, fast cars, and beautiful women, but when he discovered that UBS was planning to betray him, he blew the whistle to the US government.
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Self Serving Narrative
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Den of Thieves
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Den of Thieves tells, in masterfully reported detail, the full story of the insider-trading scandal that nearly destroyed Wall Street, the men who pulled it off, and the chase that finally brought them to justice. Pulitzer Prize winner James B. Stewart shows for the first time how four of the biggest names on Wall Street - Michael Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and Dennis Levine - created the greatest insider-trading ring in financial history and almost walked away with billions.
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Wish there was an unabridged version
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By: James B. Stewart
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Pyramid of Lies
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In March 2021, an obscure financial technology company called Greensill Capital collapsed, going into administration. As it unravelled, a multibillion-dollar scandal emerged that would shake the very foundations of the British political system, drawing in swiss bankers, global CEOs, and world leaders, including former British Prime Minister, David Cameron. At the centre was an Australian financier named Lex Greensill. Pyramid of Lies charts the meteoric rise and spectacular downfall of Greensill and his company.
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Could not quite get into it
- By Andrew M. on 05-29-23
By: Duncan Mavin
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Tinderbox
- HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers
- By: James Andrew Miller
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The exclusive story of HBO’s key creators, executives, actors, and directors gives listeners an unprecedented peek behind the curtain at the founding and triumph of the first “pay-channel” that brought America The Sopranos, Sex and the City, The Wire, Succession, and countless groundbreaking, culture-shifting shows. James Andrew Miller collects insider accounts of the humble beginnings, devastating missteps, controversial business decisions, and, of course, backstage drama and celebrity gossip from the set.
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Great info marred by unedited mispronunciations
- By TJF on 04-25-22
What listeners say about Unscripted
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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- David
- 05-02-23
Mogul Madness
What is it about the entertainment industry that causes its executives to behave like lecherous satyrs? That’s the question lurking behind the true stories of Sumner Redstone and Les Moonves of Paramount and CBS.
“Unscripted” is a fascinating listen about power and corruption in Hollywood. I was spellbound by the story and the underlying narcissism of its characters—not just the moguls, but some of the women who shamelessly manipulated and abused them.
The Sumner Redstone saga, which takes up most of the book, was the best. I couldn’t wait to get back to the story every time I took a break. Despite Redstone’s personal awfulness, I often found myself pitying him as his faculties failed and his hangers-on fought for a piece of his estate. Two of the women who moved in with him came across as heartless leeches. Even knowing how it all would end, I found all of this spellbinding.
The Moonves saga, saved for the end of the book, was a letdown. Moonves was a wildly successful and wealthy CBS executive, as well as a serial abuser. But he lacked the grotesque excesses of someone like Redstone (or Harvey Weinstein). He wasn’t an entrepreneur, and he didn’t build his own company. He wasn’t a news icon, like Matt Lauer or Charlie Rose. Moonves came across as a popular leader who had a secret problem he couldn’t control. His downfall, while welcome, seemed a little anticlimactic.
The book also focuses on the pathetic passivity of the business people who were supposed to exercise oversight of Redstone's companies. The Boards of Directors of his companies failed to question Redstone or Moonves's actions, preferring to let them do as they liked so long as the money rolled in.
Overall, I loved this book and I highly recommend it. The narration was excellent.
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2 people found this helpful
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- B
- 03-04-23
Real life Succession!
Captivating and well reported story that sucks you in from the first minute. Couldn’t stop listening! The reporting and the writing is elegant without shying away from the often not so elegant anecdotes that, puzzled together, shine light on a weird and fascinating life of a man who built an empire yet was left vulnerable to elder abuse and manipulation by the people around him. It’s a must read!
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- John C. Barton
- 05-01-23
Real life Succession
Definitely used some of these stories as inspiration for the show. It’s crazier bc it’s real life.
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- Ken Carbone
- 07-13-23
Lights! Camera! Lawsuits!
Fast paced, plot twists and plenty of betrayals. The characters in this the saga of power, sex and greed are right out of central casting. Reads like fiction but is a compelling account of the dark side of Hollywood.
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- Fred
- 06-23-23
James Lewis is a master chronicler
But what a sorry mess we have. The rich and powerful seem unfailingly corrupt. And this it has always been.
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- Tasha C. Heinrich
- 07-27-24
Unbelievably Awful Look at Society
It’s really sad that pretty much the whole world puts up with this kind of behavior, knowing that it happens and allowing it to happen because it produces good television, music, movies, and all other types of entertainment. We allow people to be treated like this and we don’t take a stand because it’s so far removed from our suburban homes. Or we think that we are just one person. Or we think that taking a stand for something won’t really matter in the big picture, but it really makes me sick to think about how much of this has gone on for a century in Hollywood. And I’m sure, it’s still happening. It’s sick on the male side and the female side. Taking advantage of people whether with power, money, beauty, manipulation… all for greed. This book was really well written. The investigation and subsequent articles and this book were well researched and put together.
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- Meg
- 05-04-23
People I’d Rather Not Know
This was a waste of a credit. The book is as dry as a California desert. The people are insane and not worth knowing. The USA at its worst. A truly disgusting story.
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- Charles
- 02-26-23
Tremendous detail, but still good
The painstaking research and detail sometimes is too much for general interest. However, this maintains a good pace. Near the end of the book is a well done discussion of an executive’s decades of sexual-harassment.
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- Judy in Salt Lake
- 03-25-23
Real life is stranger than fiction
Sort of a 'Succession' story, but about the real life excesses and insanity of a media mogul. There are some slow parts but taken as a whole, the story is just unbelievable though true. The parallel story of Sumner Redstone's long suffering daughter, who eventually succeeds her dad, is engrossing as well. She is as unbelievably patient and rock-ribbed as her dad is as devious and deceived. The narration is a little plodding, but the story is great.
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- James Bond
- 06-04-23
Great story well done
Professional work, as it’s Murray parts, but the authors restrained themselves from sharing too many facts just a really well written recount of what happened
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