by Keach Hagey
10. Jerry Swedroe: “Jerry Swedroe Is Promoted,” Journal News (White Plains, NY), April 26, 1967.
11. He demanded his 100 shares: Sumner Redstone v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, U.S. Tax Court, 2015, 7.
12. there was none: Sumner Redstone v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Testimony of Sumner Redstone, 2009.
13. “evil, scheming cunt”: Redstone v. Schuster, Affidavit of Michael Redstone, 66.
14. Well aware that: Sumner Redstone v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Memorandum of Findings of Fact and Opinion, 9.
15. Eddie, his heart ever: Letter from Edward Redstone to Mickey Redstone, July 19, 1971.
16. In his autobiography: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 69.
17. In his testimony: O’Connor v. Redstone, Testimony of Sumner Redstone.
18. Indeed, it was Sumner: Memorandum by Jim DeGiacomo regarding Edward Redstone, June 16, 1972.
19. The two sides explored: Sumner Redstone v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Memorandum of Findings of Fact and Opinion, 10.
20. Belle, excitable already: Letter from Belle Redstone to Edward Redstone, 1972.
21. Eddie, against his: Letter from Edward Redstone to Belle Redstone, February 18, 1972.
22. While the increasingly adversarial: Sumner Redstone v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 11–13.
23. Years later, Eddie was: Redstone v. Schuster, Deposition of Edward Redstone, 28.
24. Once again he made: O’Connor v. Redstone, Complaint, 10.
25. By 1972, Sumner was firmly: Ibid., 11.
26. The small liberal arts college: Lynn Sherr, “Brandeis: A Breeding Ground for Rebels?” Chicago Tribune, December 6, 1970.
27. Around the same time: “Final Report on the Activities of the Children of God to Hon. Louis J. Lefkowitz, Attorney General of the State of New York,” submitted by the Charity Frauds Bureau, September 30, 1974.
28. a band of self-described “Jesus freaks”: Roy Rivenburg, “25 Years Ago, the Children of God’s Gospel of Free Love Outraged Critics,” Los Angeles Times, March 21, 1993.
29. By 1970, having: Gordon Shepherd and Gary Shepherd, Talking with the Children of God: Prophecy and Transformation in a Radical Religious Group (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2010), 7.
30. By 1971, it boasted: James T. Wooten, “Ill Winds Buffet Communal Sect,” New York Times, November 29, 1971.
31. By 1972: Family International website, https://www.thefamilyinternational.org/en/about/our-history/.
32. In 1973: “The Christmas Monster,” letter from David Berg to his followers, September 8, 1973.
33. “She took . . . off”: Redstone v. Schuster, Deposition of Edward Redstone, 27.
34. According to a 1974 report: “Final Report on the Activities of The Children of God,” 8, 21, 22.
35. Around the time Ruth Ann joined: Shepherd and Shepherd, Talking with the Children of God, 9.
36. Berg called it: Ed Priebe, “Prostitution and Political Seduction,” exfamily.org, March 2002, http://www.exfamily.org/art/exmem/ffing_ed.shtml.
37. Over the years: Redstone v. Schuster, Deposition of Edward Redstone, 51.
38. but she escaped: Steve Bailey, “A Family Argument,” Boston Globe, February 25, 2005.
39. In the spring of 1980: Lonnie Isabel, “Woman Links Attackers to Her Stand on Cult Bills,” Boston Globe, April 11, 1980.
40. He spent a little more than a year: Redstone v. Schuster, Deposition of Michael Redstone, 59.
41. “I had broken into an office”: Ibid., 31–32.
42. Eddie, a New England: Barbara Kantrowitz, “‘Woodstock’ Beats Censorship Bid,” Boston Globe, July 25, 1970.
43. “Primarily, he was pushing me”: Redstone v. Schuster, Deposition of Michael Redstone, 70.
Chapter 7: “Artful Dealings”
1. “Contrary to popular assumption”: Harvard Class of 1944, 25th Anniversary Report, 1969.
2. clutching a cigar: “Para Sesh a Rousing Success,” Independent Film Journal, October 11, 1976.
3. lunching in Hollywood: “Redstone Present as Fox Up; He’s Close to Yablans,” Variety, March 12, 1975.
4. dancing the hora: “Inside Stuff—Pictures,” Variety, November 1, 1972.
5. playing tennis: Robert Lenzner, “Hollywood’s Hermit Seeks to Go It Alone Professionally, Too,” Boston Globe, April 12, 1981.
6. “He screams and argues”: Robert Lenzner and Marla Matzer, “Late Bloomer,” Forbes, October 17, 1994.
7. Sumner had always been close: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 69.
8. When corporate raider Herbert Siegel: Abel Green, “Par Exec Comm. Ousts Duo,” Variety, August 25, 1965.
9. With Sumner having completely: “Multiplex Cinemas,” Trademark Electronic Search System, 1984.
10. Starting with 52 drive-ins: George McKinnon, “Redstone Movie Chain Expands,” Boston Globe, July 10, 1973.
11. Sumner had more than doubled: Cecille Markell, “Redstone Opens Tenplex Cinemas in Revere,” Jewish Advocate, August 5, 1982.
12. The Redstone Theaters: Jim Robbins, “Two Redstone 10-Plexes Expected to Heat N.Y. Environ Competition,” Variety, October 26, 1983.
13. Most important, the Redstone: Doris Whitbeck, “Suburban Movie Theaters Scramble for Films, Some Lose,” Hartford Courant, September 25, 1977; “Patrons Switch to Suburban Cinemas, New Issue for New Haven Exhibitors,” BoxOffice, March 17, 1975.
14. In East Hartford: “Nice Movies Didn’t Pay Way,” Hartford Courant, March 10, 1974.
15. In New Haven: “Patrons Switch to Suburban Cinemas New Issue for New Haven Exhibitors,” BoxOffice, March 17, 1975.
16. After five theaters: Whitbeck, “Suburban Movie Theaters Scramble for Films.”
17. In 1975, three small-time: “File Anti-trust Suit against Major Movie Firms,” Ames (IA) Daily Tribune, March 13, 1975.
18. Dubinsky and his fellow plaintiffs: Steve Weinberg, “Some of Cast Walk Off Court Stage in Movie Theater Dispute,” Des Moines Register, December 31, 1977.
19. The response from Sumner: “Redstone Smacks Exhibs, Attorneys with $10M Suit,” Independent Film Journal, December 23, 1977.
20. “I have not discovered”: “Goodrich Apologizes to Redstone, Yablans,” BoxOffice, February 26, 1979.
21. The DOJ put a few mild restrictions: “Blind Bidding Agreement Signed,” Variety, August 21, 1968.
22. The argument fell mostly on deaf ears: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 86.
23. In April 1978: “New York Seen Key State: Exhibs, Distribs, Clash on Bids in Albany,” Variety, April 25, 1978.
24. In June 1979: Aljean Harmetz, “15th State Outlaws Blind Bidding on Film,” New York Times, June 19, 1979.
25. Under Sumner’s direction: Laura Landro, “National Amusements Inc.’s Redstone Is Known for His Tenacity and Timing,” Wall Street Journal, April 12, 1986.
26. buying at $8 a share: Matzer and Lenzner, “Late Bloomer.”
27. Sumner fared similarly well: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 102–3.
28. No one is sure exactly: Voss, “The $80 Billion Love Affair,” 58.
29. The protagonist of the novel: Delsa Winer, Almost Strangers (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000).
30. After graduating: “Miss Eisenberg Engaged,” New York Times, August 7, 1949.
31. Her protagonists: Delsa Winer, “Spaces in the New Year,” Tikkun, November/December 1996. Also Winer, Almost Strangers.
Chapter 8: Forged in Fire
1. The Variety Club of New England: “Boston Welcome to Film Row Execs,” Variety, March 28, 1979; “Roger Hill’s WB Post,” Variety, March 3, 1976.
2. As the day wore on: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 15; interview with Virginia Mulcahy.
3. “The fire shot up my legs”: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 16.
4. Both were taken: William R. Cash, “List of Those Hospitalized after Fires,” Boston Globe, March 30, 1979.
5. He was taken: Ibid.
6. Hill held on: “Fire Victim Sues Co
pley Plaza for $12m,” Boston Globe, August 24, 1979.
7. Sumner’s doctors: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 16.
8. By early June: “Father Gives Graphic Details of Sumner Redstone’s Ordeal,” Variety, June 6, 1979.
9. The fire roaring: “Julio Valentin Rodrigues, 19, of West Springfield,” Boston Globe, October 1, 1980.
10. the presence of which: Sumner Redstone interview for the Archive of American Television, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZunBI9O3ZsU.
11. Nearly two thousand people: Pamela Merritt and Victor Lewis, “Hundreds Flee 2 Hub Hotel Fires,” Boston Globe, March 29, 1979.
12. Boston’s fire commissioner: Sean Murphy, “An Uncertain Time for Julio Rodrigues,” Boston Globe, July 22, 1979.
13. Sumner and Phyllis jointly sued: Avery Mason, “Redstones File $12 Million Suit for Fire Injuries,” BoxOffice, September 3, 1979.
14. Her presence in the hotel: Voss, “The $80 Billion Love Affair.”
15. Yet her debut novel: Winer, Almost Strangers, 94.
16. For years afterward: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 18.
17. almost as soon as: Ralph Kaminsky, “Redstone Denouncing Blind Bidding, Calls for Fight,” BoxOffice, November 5, 1979.
18. two thousand exhibitors: “Two Bostonians: Both Fairly Long-Winded, Will Open NATO Convention,” Variety, October 31, 1979; “Sumner Redstone Honored at Theatre Owners Convention,” Jewish Advocate, November 15, 1979.
19. “If I had any talent and ability”: Lenzner, “True Grit.”
20. “I don’t see movie”: Ibid.
21. Over the course of 1981: Robert E. Dallos, “Theater Owner Acquires More Columbia Stock,” Los Angeles Times, November 19, 1981.
22. When Coca-Cola: Landro, “National Amusements Inc.’s Redstone Is Known for His Tenacity and Timing”; “Columbia Board Approves High-Priced Takeover Bid from Soft-Drink Company,” Variety, January 20, 1982.
23. That year, Sumner: “America’s Jewish Billionaires. How Rich! How Charitable?” Moment, December 31, 1996.
24. As early as 1981: Sumner Redstone, “Redstone Theatres,” Film Journal International, November 9, 1981.
25. In a Boston Globe profile: Bruce A. Mohl, “Coming Soon: Movie War,” Boston Globe, January 12, 1982.
26. Nevertheless, he continued: Markell, “Redstone Opens Tenplex Cinemas in Revere.”
27. The next year: Robbins, “Two Redstone 10-Plexes Expected to Heat N.Y. Environs Competition.”
28. By then, the eleven-theater multiplex: Nan Robertson, “Multiplexes Add 2,300 Movie Screens in 5 Years,” New York Times, November 7, 1983.
29. He told Newsweek: Toby Thompson, “The Twilight of the Drive-In,” American Film, July 1, 1983.
30. When a pogrom: “Nathan Korff, 91, Milton Rabbi Known for His Generous Spirit,” Boston Globe, February 3, 2010.
31. All three of his sons: Eric Page, “Baruch Korff, 81, Rabbi and Defender of Nixon,” New York Times, July 27, 1995.
32. By the time Ira met: “Announce Betrothal,” Jewish Advocate, March 27, 1980.
33. Like Sumner, Korff: “To Speak at 54th Annual Union Guest Day in Needham,” Jewish Advocate, April 17, 1980.
34. “President Reagan’s Foreign Policy”: “Rabbi Korff on Foreign Policy,” Jewish Advocate, December 4, 1980.
35. As Sumner put it to a profiler: Marian Christy, “The Redstone Scenario,” Boston Globe, May 22, 1985.
36. Sumner of course had no: “National Amusements Raises Its Viacom Stake,” Los Angeles Times, June 2, 1986.
37. On March 8, 1984: O’Connor v. Redstone, Complaint.
38. Michael got $7.5 million: Robert Lenzner and Devon Pendleton, “Family Feud,” Forbes, October 27, 2007.
39. As a hint: O’Connor v. Redstone, Complaint, 15.
40. Years later, Brent would: Redstone v. National Amusements, Complaint.
41. “I think she’s a simple”: Voss, “The $80 Billion Love Affair.”
42. The newly merged company: Landro, “National Amusements Inc.’s Redstone Is Known for His Tenacity and Timing.”
43. Sumner, keenly aware: “National Amusements Discloses 5.1 Percent Stake in Unit of MGM/UA,” Wall Street Journal, July 11, 1984.
44. The company raised: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 105–6.
Chapter 9: Defeating the Viacomese
1. the most profitable and fastest-growing: Laura Landro, “Viacom Is Increasingly Seen as Takeover Play Despite Firm’s Lack of Acknowledged Suitors,” Wall Street Journal, October 11, 1985.
2. Meanwhile, the broader company: William Knoedelseder Jr., “MTV Considers $469 Million Bid,” Los Angeles Times, August 9, 1985.
3. They had formed Warner-Amex: “Cable TV Joint Venture Will Launch Company to Distribute Programs,” Wall Street Journal, November 9, 1979.
4. But by the mid-’80s: Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution (New York: Dutton, 2011), 227–331.
5. For weeks, it seemed: Laura Landro and David B. Hilder, “Warner Communications Is Expected to Sell Cable-TV Interests to Viacom,” Wall Street Journal, August 26, 1985.
6. Instead, MTV Networks: Michael A. Hiltzik, “Viacom to Buy MTV and Showtime in Deal Worth $667.5 Million,” Los Angeles Times, August 27, 1985.
7. a bunch of financial guys: Interview with Tom Freston.
8. the “Viacomese”: Interview with Geraldine Laybourne.
9. Viacom International Inc.: Laura Landro, “Viacom Is on the Prowl for Purchases,” Wall Street Journal, August 16, 1985.
10. Starting with a base: Dan Dorfman, “Oilman Davis Rumored to Be after Viacom,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 17, 1986; Redstone, A Passion to Win, 108.
11. It was led by: Paul Richter, “Viacom Quietly Becomes Major Force in TV,” Los Angeles Times, September 22, 1985.
12. As he told: Landro, “Viacom Is on the Prowl for Purchases.”
13. But his aggressive bidding: Richter, “Viacom Quietly Becomes Major Force in TV.”
14. In 2016, the average cable bill: Leichtman Research Group, http://www.leichtmanresearch.com/press/090315release.html.
15. The tone was set: Marks and Tannenbaum, I Want My MTV, 16.
16. The idea was deceptively: Ibid., 41.
17. more founding executives: Ibid., 233–36.
18. Little did they know: Jane Fitz Simon, “Sumner Redstone,” Boston Globe, October 5, 1986.
19. But an interview: Christy, “The Redstone Scenario.”
20. So when Sumner, Mickey: “Viacom Stake Raised to 8.73 Percent by a Group Led by Theater Firm,” Wall Street Journal, September 15, 1986.
21. Sumner’s growing stake: Geraldine Fabrikant, “Viacom Chief Leads Group’s Buyout Bid,” New York Times, September 17, 1986.
22. Sumner woke up on the morning: Ibid.; Redstone, A Passion to Win, 109.
23. and hit the roof: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 109.
24. The bid was only about: Ibid.
25. He had skipped: Thomas S. Mulligan, “Viacom CEO May Lack Cool, but He Has Clout,” Los Angeles Times, October 7, 2007.
26. Within twenty-four hours: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 110.
27. He immediately bought more stock: Geraldine Fabrikant, “At Least Two Investors Report Stakes in Viacom,” New York Times, September 18, 1986; Redstone, A Passion to Win, 110.
28. “It’s a whole new world”: Geraldine Fabrikant and Dee Wedemeyer, “Viacom Investor Puzzles Wall Street,” New York Times, October 13, 1986.
29. On February 2, 1987: Laura Landro, “Viacom Gets Counteroffer to Buyout Bid,” Wall Street Journal, February 3, 1987.
30. Viacom’s management’s: Wendy Fox, “Sumner Redstone Goes for Viacom,” Boston Globe, February 3, 1987.
31. Nevertheless, Viacom’s board: “Viacom Rejects Bid by Redstone Unit,” New York Times, February 11, 1987.
32. Sumner wanted to go higher: Redstone, A Passion to Win, 125.
33. By now, Bob Pittman was well-ensconced: “Pittman’
s Plans for MCA-Backed Outfit Include Acquisitions,” Variety, January 21, 1987.
34. The elegant Upper East Side: Alexandra Wolfe, “The Never-Ending Glamour of the Carlyle Hotel,” Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2013.