hollywood billionaire

Chapter 436 Closure
Although most of the artist lounges and team lounges of Mad City Music Festival, and even the offices of the festival operation team, are located in the Sahara Hotel across the street, Han Live still has fourteen rooms on both sides of the backstage for those super stars who must have their lounges "within a short walk of the stage."

On the first day, Blink-182 and Kendrick Lamar used the lounges on both sides.

The next day, they were used by Ariana Grande and Eminem... and of course, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg, who also stayed in the same lounge with him to drink and chat before the show.

As for the third day, it goes without saying that one end is undoubtedly Kanye West, and the other end is undoubtedly Justin Bieber.

You know, this is a world-class star who always asks the organizer to book three floors of the hotel and re-decorate and re-color the presidential suite according to his needs no matter where he goes on tour. This time, he only brought a 40-person team to participate in Mad City. He did not ask Han to book three floors for him, but only sealed off half of one floor of the Encore Hotel in Wynn Resorts for his exclusive use.

Their standards have been "lowered" so much, so it's not a big deal to provide him with a green room where he can reach the stage without having to walk outside.

"Good afternoon, everyone."

Seeing Madison and his group walking towards this side of the passage, the two security guards sitting by the iron railings, wearing jackets from BEST Crowd Management Company, stood up and smiled warmly.

They certainly know who Madison Beer is, and her photos, along with those of other performers, are plastered all over the corridors of this place and the Sahara Hotel. This is done so that those security team members who don't know much about Hollywood stars can recognize their faces and avoid the embarrassing situation of artists not bringing their passes and being stopped backstage.

Artists don’t like to carry IDs because it makes them feel that they are not being treated as “the most special one”. Organizers rarely make IDs for artists, but instead do the work in advance like this so that they can pass through by facial recognition.

This is just an unspoken rule that has been practiced for decades in the hierarchical Hollywood pyramid.

Just one insignificant one among hundreds of unspoken rules.

In addition, they also recognized the all-access pass hanging around Zhao Youzhen and Dylan Buckman's necks. This is the most authoritative pass to the backstage of Mad City Music Festival. Except for one or two places, anyone holding this pass can move freely backstage, in the booth area, and even on both sides of the main stage.

But unfortunately, the two security guards are now guarding only one or two places where even the all-access certificates are useless.

At music festivals, ordinary artist teams will directly use the organizer's pass documents and comply with the rights level set by the organizer. But the superstar team is different, especially in terms of security, they never care what the organizer wants to do, they just copy the pass system they have been using internally and directly cover - or - override the organizer's document system.

Such behavior may indeed have some elements of so-called "being a big shot", but if you look into it more closely, there is a reason for its existence.

For ordinary musicians, the backstage staff may not even give you a second glance, even if you are a star with a No. 1 single on the Billboard charts. At most, they will be a little friendlier and more respectful to you.

But if it's Justin or Kanye, it's different. World-class musicians like them have far exceeded the influence of traditional pop artists. The two have become a significant symbol of the American entertainment industry and an important symbol of modern pop culture. Any details of their lives and work will be talked about and chewed over and over again. Even a mug stolen from their lounge can be sold on eBay for thousands of dollars.

In this case, the superstars will certainly not put all their trust in the organizers - after all, the organizers' core demand is just to hold the performance smoothly. In addition, performance coordination is an extremely tedious and heavy job. No one is willing to add a few more tasks to themselves out of thin air, and no one has the energy to fine-tune the security system to meet the different requirements of each artist. Therefore, big names generally hire a security team to be responsible for the protection of artists before and after the performance.

Justin Bieber is no exception. One of the conditions for him to agree to perform at the Mad City Music Festival this time was to completely close the backstage corridor where his dressing room is located and implement his team's security strategy there.

This means that any pass at the scene, even Madison Beal's face, will be useless behind this iron horse.

Unless someone from Bieber's team gives them individual wristbands.

"Good afternoon." Madison stopped in front of the train and greeted with a smile.

"Ms. Bill, you..." Communicating with others is not the strong point of professional security, but it can be seen that the two big men have tried very hard to make their tone and rhetoric as friendly and tactful as possible. "Is there anyone coming to pick you up?"

"I'll pick them up."

A panting sound was heard coming from far away. The security personnel turned around and saw a man with a buzz cut and wearing a grey pullover. Although he was not very tall, he had a burly figure and was walking towards them quickly.

Justin Bieber's head of security since 2014, Michael 'Mikey' Arana.

With a beard, a crew cut, protruding ears, and a razor-edged mouth, Michael Arana looks like a typical criminal—not an ordinary thief, but a gang leader who smuggles arms and kills people. No matter which wanted poster he appears on, he can blend in seamlessly and be convincing.

Although he is far from Feamu Dervishi who has a double-headed eagle tattooed on his arm, Michael Arana, with a stern face and a fierce look, can help Justin fight his way to the booth in a crowded nightclub, or use his arms to block cameras that are too close on the street. It is not a problem for him to do these superficial work.

Mikey appears by Justin Bieber's side almost 24 hours a day, accompanying him to various occasions, and is the Canadian superstar's most powerful reliance on deterring paparazzi and crazy fans. Years of private security work have made Mikey develop a habit of being serious in front of outsiders. After all, only in this way will strangers be scared when they see him, and their steps towards Justin will be slower.

Therefore, it is a rare thing for people in Justin Bieber's own team to see Michael Arana smile in the workplace.

But now, as Mikey came towards Madison, his smile was so warm that his eyes were almost invisible.

"Madison! It's always so nice to see you."

happy?

Madison remembered very clearly that when she was still under Scooter Braun, Mikey always had a bad look on his face when he saw her.

No, to be more precise, Mikey didn't even see her as a person.

She is a potential child star newly signed by Scooter Braun.

She is the successor that Justin Bieber is trying to promote.

She was once regarded as the next gold mine, but she lost her brilliance through reckless attempts and bold resistance time and time again.

By the time Michael "Mikey" Arana took over as head of security, Madison was on the verge of being abandoned by Scooter.

It is easy to imagine what kind of treatment Madison would receive from Mickey, who was born in the slums of Nicaragua, made his way in the United States through scheming and flattery, and was trying hard to prove that he was on the same side as Justin and Scooter.

No greetings, no interaction, no personal contact, just complete and utter neglect.

The Mikey of 2014 is a gust of wind blowing across McGrady's face. The McGrady of 2014 is a door that stands quietly in a corner that no one pays attention to and can be pushed open when necessary.

This kind of relationship, you tell me, you are happy to see me?
"Mikey."

Therefore, Madison did not continue speaking along with what Mikey said. Today, she has achieved some success and she no longer needs to follow anyone's words or say something against her will.

"It feels like I haven't seen you for a long time."

"Yes."

"When was the last time you met?"

"Uh..." Mikey opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer for a moment.

How can you remember the last time you saw someone you don't care about at all?
"It's okay. I can't remember... That shows how long it's been." Madison smiled and spoke in a soft and friendly voice, as if trying to ease the other person's embarrassment. "Anyway, it's always nice to see people I know thrive in this industry."

"Yeah, me too… well, me too, Madison."

Mikey suddenly realized that Madison's seemingly non-aggressive words were actually hard to respond to. After all, he himself was not thriving in the industry. Two years ago, he was Justin's security director, and two years later, he was still the same. His position and salary had not changed. The number of girls he had picked up in West Hollywood nightclubs had increased several times. Other than that...

No, where did he learn to speak this way? Not a single word offended him, but every word sounded a little uncomfortable.

This little girl seems to have really grown up and matured a lot.

"Congratulations on topping the Billboard charts with Justin, what an amazing accomplishment. We were all so excited when we saw your name...it just goes to show that you really did it, girl, just like we expected."

"The success of this song is mainly due to Justin and Diplo, and has little to do with me." Madison smiled indifferently, "But thank you very much, I am also very excited to be on the top of the charts. Of course, I am even more excited that there are other songs that will take over."

"Really? Which one?"

“Bad Things, with Machine Gun Kelly.”

"Ah, Machine Gun Kelly." Mikey nodded slightly and said in a long tone, "A rapper who has been very popular in the past two years."

"Yes, that's him." Madison removed the soft nails that Mikey had placed between the lines one by one. "He is very friendly and talented, and is the best guest artist I can find at the moment. You know, I can't stay in the shadow of others forever... I have to explore on my own at some stage in my career."

"That's very well said, and that's exactly what you should do."

Finding that he couldn't gain any verbal advantage, Mikey gave a dry grin and handed over the bracelet he was holding in his palm.

"Come with me...Scout and Justin are waiting for you."

"Thank you for picking us up. I know you must be very busy right now."

Following behind Mikey, Madison thanked him.

"Ah... I wasn't really busy, nothing much. I just took a few calls. Sorry, I'm late."

Not waiting at the entrance of the passage at the agreed time was originally a sign of contempt on the part of Michael Arana. But after several rounds of confrontation, Mikey was fully aware of two facts.

First, Madison is no longer the timid girl who had a thousand ideas in her mind but couldn't express them.

Second, he had no reason and no space to be arrogant anymore, because the Madison who appeared in front of him at this moment was a rising star, a pop princess who the entire music group had put all its efforts into carefully decorating.

As a result, his answers began to become honest and straightforward.

"All good."

The other party had already surrendered, so there was no need to launch an attack. During the following walk, Mikey remained silent and Madison did not speak again. However, manager Zhao Youzhen gently held her hand before arriving at Justin Bieber's dressing room.

"are you ready?"

Zhao Youzhen accompanied Madison throughout the recording of "Cold Water". She was well aware of Madison's concerns about that dark past. Therefore, Youzhen knew very well that what Madison was doing now was not just to help Sophie fulfill her wish to see her idol.

McGrady himself also needs an end.

"You know the answer."

Maddie turned her head and smiled sweetly.

"I'm your artist now... and Yoo Jin's artist must always be prepared, right?"

"You are ready not because of me...you are ready because you have come to terms with your past self."

"Reconciliation? Maybe."

Madison tilted her head and thought about it.

"But I don't know if I'm moving on with my past self or if I'm leaving her there alone... We'll find out soon enough."

"Madison, Yujin, and..."

"Sophie and Louis."

"Sophie and Louis."

Michael Arana grabbed the locker room door handle and nodded to everyone in front of him.

"Justin is ready to see you guys."

The door opened, Madison held Sophie's hand, Louis followed closely behind Yuzhen, and the four of them filed in. As for Dylan Buckman, he stayed in the corridor with Michael Arana.

Before the performance, no professional security supervisor will enter the artist's lounge, they have their own office. However, in order to show their professionalism, most security supervisors will directly sit on a bench outside the dressing room and wait at all times.

Again, Hollywood is a hierarchical world, and one step beyond the line could cost you your job.

Of course, this is not a problem that Madison and Zhao Youzhen need to consider. With the help of Han Yi, they have climbed to a position close to the top of this food chain.

A seat that allows access to Justin Bieber's lounge and is personally greeted by him.

I got your scriptures and I also got your gun.

But you indulge in pleasure and enjoy yourself for a moment.

I love my honey, and your flowers.

By erasing your existence, I will finally be free...
Lana Del Rey's opening song "Cruel World" flowed into the room through the open door, attracting the attention of everyone in the room - or more precisely, only two people could be seen in Justin Bieber's huge, almost entirely purple lounge.

Himself, and Scooter Braun.

Other team members, including tour manager Corey Gamble, who is in a stable relationship with Kris Jenner, are in the production manager's office across the street and are not allowed to enter here.

"Maddie." Scooter stood up first and opened his arms to greet Madison.

"Sku... Hey."

Madison just wanted to shake hands, but was hugged by the other party.

"It's great to see you again. Wow, my God." Scooter patted Madison's back hard, then let go and stepped back, looking like a proud parent. "You've grown up so much."

"Really?" Madison also took a step back, frowned slightly, and looked at her toes. "It should be the same. I haven't grown any taller."

"I mean you've grown up here... and here." Scooter pointed to his temple, then to his chest, and smiled. "When I looked at you in the recording studio, I didn't feel any change. You were still the little girl I signed four years ago."

"Now?" Madison smiled, but her lips were tightly pursed and she took a deep breath.

"Star." Scooter shook his head and sighed, "Now, you finally look like a star... Just like we imagined, remember?"

"Yes, our little star is back!"

Without waiting for Madison to respond, Justin Bieber reached out to her over Scooter Braun, his voice as hoarse and magnetic as ever.

"Justin!"

Facing Justin, Madison's smile was obviously more sincere. She held his hand and touched his elbow.

"How are you?"

"Not bad, not bad. A bit busy, you know, I've been on tour lately, and I'm flying to Ireland right after today's show." Justin put his hands on his hips and looked Madison up and down. "What about you? I heard that life has been treating you well lately."

"Life has its own course, and I just happened to have a favorable wind recently." McGrady's answer was very humble.

Humble, but neither servile nor arrogant.

"I still have a long way to go, and to have a tour as big as the one you have now is something I never dared to dream of."

“Not really, they’re all basically stadiums… there’s just a lot of stops,” Justin answered honestly, “After two or three albums, I’m sure you’ll be able to open in these venues, too.”

"I heard your first solo tour is already in the works," Scooter interrupted, "even to Asia... Let me tell you, it's really an amazing thing that your first tour can have a stop in Asia, which shows how much your company values ​​you... and of course, how much the promoters in the Far East value you."

"Who told you this news?" Zhao Youzhen looked at Scooter, "This tour... and the Asian leg are currently in the planning stage, a very preliminary stage."

"In this industry, news spreads very fast, you have to get used to it. People are talking about Justin embarking on another European tour... and the tour isn't even halfway through. But is this 'rumor' true? It depends on how you look at it." Scooter also looked Zhao Youzhen up and down and extended his hand, "Miss Zhao, right? I don't think we've officially met, but I've heard a lot about you in the past few months."

"Mr. Braun, it's an honor." Zhao Youzhen raised a very faint smile, "But we have actually seen it before. I was there at the recording of Cold Water."

"Yeah, I remember, that's why I said we haven't 'officially' met yet." Scooter responded cheerfully, "You can say I'm short-sighted, but I never thought you could take over my torch and create miracles. I mean, what has happened to McGrady in the past few months can only be described as a miracle, and I salute you for it."

"Thank you for your compliment, Mr. Brown, but I can't brag like that. I've never been a magician. At best, I can only be considered a clerk." Zhao Youzhen shook his head and smiled even more. "McDie's achievement is because she is finally willing to break through the shell of disguise, reveal her true self, and face the whole world. I don't mean to offend you, but I think she is not a torch, but the flame itself."

“That’s very well said.” Scooter clapped his hands twice, his tone sounding sincere. “Showing your true self has always been the essence of show business… Some people have been in this industry their entire lives and never realized it. What you have is what I call ‘talent’… Your management company is called The Gifted Ones, right? TGO. I think it refers not only to the artists in the company, but also to you, the planners behind the scenes.”

"I……"

"Yes, in my opinion, Yujin is one of the most talented artist managers... just like you, Scooter." Madison took Zhao Yujin's hand and interrupted the latter, "If she needs it, I am really willing to jump off a cliff for her."

"Look, this is a truly unbreakable partnership." Scooter Braun whistled and made a seemingly casual joke, "You are really lucky, Ms. Zhao, McGrady never gave me the option of jumping off a cliff."

"But I skipped it, didn't I?"

Madison's lips moved twice, and she finally said the words that were suppressed in her heart.

"I did jump over a cliff for you."

Without saying a word, she calmly accepted Scooter's final arrangement and watched him take back everything within her reach, before the good things that had been promised were about to happen.

Then, they had to post press releases all over the internet, emphasizing that she was abandoned rather than having a peaceful termination of the contract.

A life he cannot control deserves to be ruined.

Is this really how it should be?
The original Madison Beal had doubted himself, denied himself, and even hated himself, but he had never thought about this question.

If it was simply a difference of ideas, why not just terminate the artist management contract, but also find a way to take away her record contract on the island?

The record company...it's obviously not his.

He went to so much trouble, spending time and energy and owing favors, to get Kojima Records to terminate the contract at the same time as him. What was the reason?

What exactly does he want?
After signing with Han Music, Madison actually stopped thinking about these questions. But as "Cold Water" topped the charts, questions started to bubble up in her mind again.

What had she done to deserve this treatment?

Should you sacrifice your entire career to compensate for those few objections raised at the artist meeting that now seem insignificant and not of much concern to others?

This series of doubts were finally answered when I met Scooter Braun again.

She hadn't seen him for so long that she almost forgot who he was.

Scout's ruthlessness had never been about her.

He just needed an example, a bloody lesson, a career that came to an abrupt end, a life that was incomplete. He needed to throw this abandoned corpse in front of the newly signed artists and tell them that this is the end of disobedience, this is the end of resistance.

No matter how slight or weak your resistance is, it is still an unforgivable sin and you will have to pay for it your whole life.

It never had anything to do with her.

From beginning to end, she was just a tool.

The reason why Scout could push her off the cliff without any burden was that he did not treat her as a flesh-and-blood person at all.

Where her life will go has nothing to do with him.

What Scooter cares about is that if enough people are pushed off the cliff, one day their bodies will pile up to form a bridge.

A bridge to the top of Hollywood.

The moment she figured this out, Madison suddenly wanted to rush out of the locker room.

Not because she was afraid of Scout or facing her past, but because...

She imagined herself rushing out of the suffocatingly cramped little house, into the vast world and lush forests, just like that day in Diplo's recording studio, and then hugging Han Yi and singing a song that only he could understand.

Come on, come on...

Save me from this capsizing boat.

I am alone,
Don't want to sink into the deep sea.

I hope someone,
Can take me away from this extremely cold and bone-piercing water,
take me Home.

Take me to a place where I can rest my soul.

I really need to know...

You won't leave me.
"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, Scout, for giving me this experience."

“So that I can be who I want to be and be with who I want to be with.”

Madison wiped her eyes and smiled sweetly.

"Thank you."

"Okay, enough pleasantries. I'm here today not only to say hello to you, but also to introduce you to my friends. Justin, these are my two best friends, Sophie and Louis. Sophie is your biggest fan, and it's her lifelong dream to meet you. Sophie."

Grabbing Sophie's arm, Madison led her to Justin.

"Oh, hi, Sophie." Justin extended his hand and smiled a perfect smile without any flaws. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm also... I'm glad to meet you, Justin." Standing in front of her idol so closely, Sophie's voice trembled a little.

"Sophie and Louis are from Glasgow. They just got married and are now on their honeymoon in the United States. They came to Las Vegas this time just to see your performance." Madison explained for Sophie.

"Ah, Glasgow." Justin raised his eyebrows. "What a great place. We just...wait a minute, it seems we flew here directly from Glasgow. We had a concert in Glasgow yesterday."

"Yes, I know. It was on the 27th, 29th, and 30th, for three days in a row." Sophie nodded and swallowed hard. "It was grand. I mean, I heard it was grand. A lot of my friends went and they said they had the best time of their lives."

"Then why didn't you go?" Justin asked with a smile.

"Because... because..." Sophie opened her mouth, not knowing how to answer, "Because I'm on my honeymoon, I..."

"Oh, yes, that's right, honeymoon. Congratulations!" Justin drawled, clasping his hands together, looking very sincere as he congratulated the two newlyweds, "I really wish you could come to the concert in Glasgow so that I could share this joy with you. But it's OK, it's also nice to meet here... Okay, are we ready for the photos? Do you want to take some photos before I go on stage?"

"Ah... of course, of course."

Sophie stood beside Justin in a daze, letting Madison direct her to pose. After a few seconds, she seemed to come back to life, grabbed Madison's wrist, and whispered.

"Maddie..."

"What's wrong? I'm here."

"Can you take a picture with me too?"

"I?"

"I want to take a picture with you too... more than anything else."

"Oh, of course." Madison brushed off the non-existent dust on her pants. "So we're together? Or..."

"Let's go together."

"Okay." Madison put his arm around Sophie's shoulders affectionately, stood on her other side, and then cast his eyes on Louis, "Aren't you coming, Louis?"

"I don't like taking pictures." Louis glanced at Scooter subconsciously, "I'll take the pictures for you."

"Okay, then Yuzhen, you come too, okay?" Madison hooked her finger at the manager.

"I won't..." Yuzhen subconsciously wanted to refuse.

"Please." Madison looked at her with puppy eyes, "Taking a picture with you is what I want to do most, especially at this time."

"...Okay." Zhao Youzhen was silent for a moment, then took a step forward, walked to Madison, and took her arm.

"Since everyone has joined, I'll join too." Scooter laughed, showing no special emotional changes. He was a smart man who never let himself suffer a loss or get himself into an awkward situation. "Soo... Sophie, right? You have to keep this photo well, it will be worth a lot of money in the future."

"I will certainly keep it well. Thank you, Mr. Brown."

Sophie answered in this way, put the hand closer to Justin into her trouser pocket, and put the hand closer to Madison around the latter's waist.

"Okay, everyone, look at me."

"1, 2, 3...say Justin!"

“Justin!”

(End of this chapter)