The opening of China Entertainment Group gave Jay Chou a head-on confrontation

Chapter 956 Say thank you, Brother Zhou Yi

It's not necessarily a good thing for celebrities to have too high a formal education, at least for the reporters who are currently caught up in this mess.

At this moment, they wished Zhou Yi were like those uncultured and uneducated Western superstars who couldn't utter a single word in ten minutes. Without a team speech, he could only be led by the nose by these uncrowned kings, stumbling and falling into linguistic traps without even realizing it.

The main reason is that Zhou Yi's professional skills are very relevant, and the sophistry he developed through studying law allows him to turn the tables on these reporters at any time.

It's only because this man's personality and character are so compelling in Europe and America that they would have had a hard time finding a point to write about when they were writing related reports.

But precisely because of this, the breaking news they can write about is basically given to them by Zhou Yi, rather than dug out by themselves, which makes them very uncomfortable.

For journalists, losing the initiative in reporting news is a fatal thing, yet they are forced to actively cater to the sensational stories thrown out by Zhou Yi every time, all for the sake of sales.

If the Book of Changes doesn't provide it, they won't get a single genuine piece of information.

Even if Zhou Yi tries to create sensational headlines, his past actions have already raised the bar for viewers and fans to a new level, so it's all in vain.

Let's try to dig even deeper, but Zhou Yi has gone back to China. They can't even find him, so what's the point of digging?

It's too passive.

"What did you mean by that? Why do they all seem so scared that they're not saying anything?" Eva Green asked curiously after entering the venue under the flashing lights all the way.

After entering the American entertainment industry with the 007 crew, she witnessed the arrogance of American reporters. It's no wonder that the world's number one entertainment industry is so capable.

She'd seen people like Zhou Yi who didn't tolerate reporters. But she'd never seen anyone like Zhou Yi who could silence reporters so easily.

"It's not that they're afraid to speak up, it's just that they're afraid of getting into trouble in front of the camera."

Zhou Yi, who had his sunglasses hanging in his breast pocket, chuckled lightly: "You know what I mean."

After all, his image has never been that of a typical Chinese gentleman. If a reporter makes a mistake or doesn't react in time, he can really hold them back and wear them down.

If I lose my job, who will pay for my living expenses?
The Book of Changes (I Ching) holds grudges far more than Michael Jackson.

"Hey, Spike."

Backstage, Beyoncé noticed Zhou Yi's entrance immediately and stood up to greet him, as if she had found a pillar of support. She seemed to hold no grudge against Zhou Yi for taking her resources before.

Not only him, but even Justin Timberlake, a notorious scumbag, took the initiative to come up and greet Zhou Yi, seemingly making him the center of attention.

Zhou Yi remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was somewhat puzzled.

However, Beyoncé's greeting also drew the attention of all the stars waiting in the audience, and he immediately understood the three distinct groups within the venue—

The bands led by the Red Hot Chili Peppers communicated amongst themselves, while the Black group led by R. Kelly was more noisy. The Black Eyed Peas were an exception, as they also came to Zhou Yi after he appeared.

Arthur seemed a bit indecisive. Although he sided with R. Kelly, he was clearly quieter and didn't participate much.

When Zhou Yi arrived, the lead singer of Green Day was quite excited and came over to greet him: "Spike, it's great to see you. You did a fantastic job. The actions of the US government were absolutely terrible..."

Yeah, that makes sense, that's punk.

Eva Green also noticed R. Kelly at a glance, the famous American R&B king, even though she was French, she had heard of the name.

If it weren't for his controversial criminal life, his status in the R&B field might not necessarily be inferior to babyface.

Of course, what she was thinking about now was the matter that the reporters had just mentioned—R. Kelly's support for Michael Jackson and his rejection of the I Ching.

"Hello, Spike Kelly, or you can call me Robert."

When R. Kelly met Zhou Yi in person, he wasn't as unconvinced as the media had previously described. Although he still maintained the demeanor of a big shot, he at least didn't directly show Zhou Yi any displeasure: "Would you like to have a meal together after this?"
"I think what I said to reporters not long ago was taken out of context."

"No need, Robert. I'm sure the journalists just want to start a war."

Zhou Yi, who had his arm around Eva Green's waist, smiled slightly and refused directly: "Besides, I already have plans for tonight."

R·凯利，欧美圈的R&B王者级人物，20世纪90年代最具代表性的畅销音乐人之一。全球唱片销量超1.5亿张、生涯13首b榜冠单、R&B/Hip-Hop单曲榜中拥有Top 10单曲数量最多的歌手等等——

These are all the accolades he has received.

However, for domestic listeners, only two of his songs are household names—

One of them is "You Are Not Alone," a timeless chart-topping single he wrote and composed for Michael Jackson. It was the first single in Billboard history to debut at number one, and it is also the most covered legendary single in Michael Jackson's career.

Unfortunately, the original author discovered that the song was plagiarized and took R. Kelly to court.

Although Michael Jackson sided with Kelly, he ultimately lost the case in 2007.

The Brussels court ultimately ruled that the song plagiarized the Pacero brothers' 1993 piano piece "If We Can Start All Over," and ordered the return of all improperly paid royalties to R. Kelly. As for Michael himself, seeing the unfavorable situation, he skillfully extricated himself from the media storm sparked by the copyright lawsuit by claiming "complete ignorance."

Yes, even Michael Jackson wasn't a perfect saint when it came to music. Even his own classic hit "Billie Jean" was involved in plagiarism controversies; he simply contacted the original author afterward.

As for R. Kelly's second most well-known song among Chinese people, it's the classic inspirational anthem "I Believe I Can Fly"—

A song written for the movie "Space Jam" starring Michael Jordan, a legendary single that cannot be ignored when talking about R&B.

Putting aside the controversies, his status in R&B history is indeed very likely to be compared with that of the legendary Babyface, but unfortunately, it's impossible to ignore.

To put it simply, he's like the bragging dad of the R&B world.

Since being exposed for various criminal scandals in 2002, R. Kelly has been constantly in the news for sex crimes and has been sued multiple times, but the cases have all been dropped.

Until 2017, when the "Me Too" movement swept through the entire European and American entertainment industry, all of R Kelly's partners, including female singers such as Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, cut ties with her and took down the songs they collaborated on. Only then did the latter realize that she could not escape it.

In 2022, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison by the court.

Judging solely from the prison sentences handed down by the court, R. Kelly is even more egregious than Puff Daddy.

Therefore, Zhou Yi politely declined the invitation.

After Zhou Yi explicitly refused, Beyoncé, Usher, the Black Eyed Peas, Justin Timberlake, and others seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and then made excuses to decline the big shot's dinner invitation.

Eva Green watched with awe, while Zhou Yi watched the show with a smile, almost ready to grab a handful of melon seeds.

If this group were to refuse R. Kelly in another five or six years, they wouldn't need to beat around the bush at all; they might even need to wait for a leader to come along.

My current status isn't high enough.

Beyoncé hasn't evolved into the "Thank you Beyoncé" shaman yet, Usher hasn't established his own career yet; Justin Timberlake and the Black Eyed Peas, among others, haven't reached their peak yet.

As a new generation in the music scene, their current achievements and influence are still somewhat insignificant compared to R. Kelly, the previous generation's superstar who controlled a large amount of resources in the American music scene.

Sometimes you can't blame Michael Jackson's child molestation case for its huge scale, the abundance of fabricated evidence, and the fact that so many people believed it, including many singers.

Even R. Kelly, who had a great working relationship with you, got into trouble, with his videos being leaked everywhere. Michael Jackson, who was also so close to him, would naturally become suspicious of you.

In particular, in 08, R. Kelly was acquitted by the court despite overwhelming evidence, and with Sony's encouragement, the public immediately connected this to Michael's previous acquittal...

"He seems to want to talk to you."

Eva Green pulled up her dyed blonde hair, leaned closer, and whispered, "Was the reporter's previous statement deliberately ambiguous to get the media to keep asking you about it?"

Using the pretext of "apology" to invite Zhou Yi to dinner is a perfectly reasonable excuse.

"Maybe, but you know I don't have the habit of ignoring a beautiful woman to have dinner with a grown man."

Zhou Yi's blatantly wicked smile pleased Eva Green.

R. Kelly looked at Zhou Yi and the faces that had unknowingly gathered around him, and felt rather unhappy.

To be honest, he didn't invite Zhou Yi for anything important; he simply wanted to try and bring him into the circle to strengthen its overall strength.

After all, he was the world's leading man in the new century, and his influence was enormous.

Although not American, Zhou Yi's rise to power in Warner Bros. has created an extremely positive synergy with the resources he now controls.

Moreover, someone in his circle who was in a higher position had once expressed in a chat that they wanted to win Zhou Yi over if possible. If he could really win him over, then Zhou Yi would undoubtedly be able to advance along with him.

But what he didn't expect was that Zhou Yi would refuse so decisively, and even the new generation, who each had their own power base, followed his lead and refused as well.

What surprised him even more was that in the pre-festival video recording, these new generation members unanimously recommended Spike.

“Well, I have to say, thank you Spike. Without him, I don’t think this charity music festival would have gotten this much attention. He’s made more people concerned about world peace and the elimination of racial discrimination…”

Facing the camera, Beyoncé said with great emotion: "It is an honor to perform on the same stage as his music. I have listened to every album of his, and he is my favorite artist in my life."

"You know, his album, '25,' is a complete legend."

"Spike, his music, his life, an absolutely immortal legend, he is the light of humanity—we all worship him, we completely revere him..."

Zhouyi: ?
Why does this video sound so familiar?

(End of this chapter)