Hollywood Director 1992

Michael Ovitz instructed his assistant to contact the paparazzi under his command.

He wanted them to hand over all the scandalous information they had collected about Link to the media, using the media to hype up Link's affairs with numerous female celebrities, portraying Link as a playboy with an extremely decadent and chaotic private life.

According to the information collected by the paparazzi, more than thirty female celebrities had overly close relationships with Link, most of whom were popular stars, including Monica Bellucci, Jennifer Connelly, Jennifer Aniston, Renée Zellweger, Sandra Bullock, Brooke Shields, and so on.

When Michael Ovitz saw this information, he was so jealous that his eyes turned red, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

As the president of CAA and a billionaire, it was not easy for him to get these women, let alone manage so many shrewd and difficult women at the same time.

But Link, that bastard, not only got these female celebrities but also managed to make them get along peacefully and go on vacation to Hawaii together.

This huge gap made Michael Ovitz very unhappy. They were both men and billionaires, so why was Link so popular?

"Damn Link, don't be arrogant. Your good days are over."

Michael Ovitz roared in a low voice.

"Boss, the publicity department called to ask if all of this should be released? Several of the female celebrities here are clients of our company," the assistant asked as he walked into the office.

"Release it! Release it all! I warned them not to have too much contact with Link, but they just wouldn't listen, so don't blame me for attacking indiscriminately!"

Michael Ovitz waved his hand irritably.

On this list, Jodie Foster, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julianne Moore, Madonna, Angelina Jolie, and others were all CAA clients.

Ever since that bet in 1993, everyone in the industry knew that he and Link had a terrible relationship.

He had publicly stated on multiple occasions that he did not want his artists to cooperate with Guess Pictures and to keep their distance from Link.

But these people took his words as wind in their ears and continued to mingle with Link.

This also showed that in his struggle with Link, these women had betrayed him and chosen to stand on Link's side.

Thinking of this, Michael Ovitz became even more angry and even less willing to let these women go.

However, not long after the assistant left, CAA Vice President Jay Maloney personally came to the office and, when talking about using scandals to hype up Link's negative news, advised him to think twice.

Because these materials involved several important CAA clients, including Jodie Foster and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Currently, Jodie Foster and others were very popular, and their salaries and fame were steadily increasing. Their commission income was also the company's main source of revenue.

Hyping up their scandals at this time would undoubtedly affect their careers and salaries.

In addition, according to the company's contract with its clients, the CAA public relations department was obliged to help them deny and handle public relations after negative news broke.

And using the media to refute rumors was spending CAA's money.

This approach was equivalent to self-harm and was very inappropriate.

Jay Maloney did not support this approach.

Michael Ovitz was furious when he saw him refuting. As far as he knew, Jay Maloney was also one of those who had close contact with Link.

Now that he wanted to hype up Link's scandals, Jay Maloney immediately jumped out to stop him, undoubtedly betraying him and betraying CAA.

"Jay, I have to remind you that the president of CAA is Michael Ovitz, not Jay Maloney. I'll do whatever I say, and I don't need your consent," Michael Ovitz shouted, slamming the table.

Jay Maloney took a half step back to prevent being sprayed with his saliva. "Michael, I know you are the president of CAA, the founder, and the entire CAA is yours. That's exactly why I came here to advise you not to do this.

On the one hand, because it's not cost-effective, and on the other hand, the company's performance was poor last year, resulting in a sharp reduction in resources. Internal competition within the company has intensified, and many clients are preparing to jump ship.

And the rivals WMA, UTA, and ICM are also taking advantage of the situation to poach people from our company.

If we break the scandal of actively hyping up the scandals of our clients at this time, what will the clients think?

If Jodie Foster and others are dissatisfied with the company's approach and jump to rival brokerage companies, the company's losses will be even greater.

Michael, you are the best agent in the world, the agent who cares most about client satisfaction, and the teacher of all our agents. I really don't understand how you could become like this now?"

Michael Ovitz's expression changed when he heard his words.

Jay Maloney was right. He was indeed the best agent in the world, and he used to care very much about the artists' thoughts.

When the company had not yet become the number one in Hollywood, he accompanied Paul Newman to play bumper cars in the park in order to sign him.

In order to sign Dustin Hoffman, he accompanied him to hot springs and introduced him to several married women.

There were also Tom Cruise, Martin Scorsese, Sean Connery, and so on.

He personally signed all these people to CAA through sincere actions, and CAA gradually became the most powerful brokerage company in Hollywood because of the addition of these people.

But he didn't know when he started to not care about the feelings and needs of his clients, nor did he care about the clients' departure. Since last year, CAA has not had any new big-name artists joining, but instead, it has lost several important clients due to some incidents.

Including Richard Gere, Robert Downey Jr., Dustin Hoffman, Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, and so on.

With CAA's current situation, it can't be messed up anymore. If it continues, it may be overtaken by rival companies.

Michael Ovitz frowned tightly, his heart filled with hatred for Link. If it weren't for Link, CAA would never be like this now.

"Okay, let's do as you say. We won't expose the female celebrities under CAA for now."

"It's best not to expose Sofia either. Director Coppola probably wouldn't be happy if he knew," Jay Maloney said.

"Damn it! He's not happy that his daughter's scandal is exposed. Why can't he manage her properly and stop her from messing around with Link?"

"Probably can't manage her."

"Humph! Then remove Sofia."

Michael Ovitz didn't want to argue with old Coppola either.

"Also, Jennifer Aniston, we are trying to get her to join. Exposing her negative news at this time is equivalent to pushing her to a rival brokerage company.

In addition, the 'Friends' TV series she starred in is a popular NBC TV series, and the TV station doesn't want to see this kind of news either."

The parent company of NBC, the National Broadcasting Company of the United States, is General Electric, which is also a consortium with various media groups and shares in CAA.

Michael Ovitz gritted his teeth, "Take her off too! Damn it, I really don't understand what's so good about that bastard Link. He's a Chinese, what charm does he have? Why do they know that bastard is a playboy and still want to mess with him? Is there no better man in the world than Link?"

Jay Maloney didn't answer and continued to look at the information in his hand.

"Damn it, what are you still looking at? Don't tell me there's someone else's scandal that can't be exposed," Michael Ovitz shouted with a face full of anger.

After removing those women, the number of female celebrities on the list was reduced by half, and the attack on Link after these negative news were reported was also reduced by half.

It was equivalent to him preparing to punch Link hard, but now he can only punch half a punch.

The retracted half punch almost caused him internal injuries.

"There's nothing else!" Jay Maloney saw that his face was not right and did not try to persuade him any further. He said goodbye and prepared to leave.

"Wait!" Michael Ovitz stared at him and said, "Jay, you are the person I personally recruited to CAA, and you are also the person I am optimistic about. I know you used to have close contact with Link, but I hope this matter ends here. Now Link is being suppressed by the seven major film companies, and Guess Pictures won't survive for long. Continuing to associate with him will not do you any good."

"Michael, you misunderstood. My frequent contact with Link is mainly for work.

He is the boss of Guess Pictures, the most commercially valuable director, and has many resources in his hands. My contact with him is also to help clients obtain resources, not because of personal matters, and I will not let personal relationships affect my work," Jay Maloney said.

"You better do what you say," Michael Ovitz said with a dark face.

"Michael, I will," Jay Maloney said, taking the folder and leaving.

Snap!

Michael Ovitz watched his back disappear at the door and slammed the desk angrily.

Jay Maloney said that his contact with Link was to obtain resources, not a personal relationship. Whether it was true or false, he was expressing an attitude that he would not break off relations with Link because of this matter.

Jay Maloney's direct rejection of his proposal clearly showed disrespect for him.

Michael Ovitz really wanted to fire this bastard, but he couldn't do that. At some point, Jay Maloney had gained the support of several board members and important clients and had become one of the powerful figures in CAA.

If he forced him to be fired, CAA would inevitably experience turmoil, which would also affect his control over CAA.

Michael Ovitz thought about it and decided to tolerate him for a while.

After defeating Link and Guess Pictures and having free time, he would reorganize CAA's management, remove people like Jay Maloney, and re-establish his authority in the company.

After Jay Maloney left, Michael Ovitz asked the publicity department staff to send these materials to the media as soon as possible, and no longer make concessions, no matter who came to say hello.

He couldn't wait to see Link's annoyed look.