The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Chapter 69 You provoked someone you shouldn’t have provoked
In the business car, Hawke took out his Nokia and dialed Megan Taylor's number: "Are you at work? I just got a piece of explosive news, comparable to Downey being shot, and the chain reaction may be even greater."

Megan immediately asked loudly: "Where are you?"

Hawke glanced out the window: "Santa Monica Boulevard, to Westwood."

"I live in Westwood, just come to my house." Megan gave an address.

Hawke hung up the phone and repeated it to Edward.

The business car turned south at the next intersection and headed for West Olympic Avenue.

In less than five minutes, the car stopped in front of a small detached villa.

Hawke took his laptop, got out of the car alone, stood in front of the video access control, and rang the doorbell.

The door opened and Megan’s voice came over: “Remember to close the door when you come in.”

When Hawke walked through the small courtyard and arrived at the door of the house, Megan had already opened the wooden door.

She was wearing a silk housedress and no makeup on her face: "You came too quickly, I didn't have time to change clothes."

Hawke praised her: "She has a good foundation, she is just as beautiful without makeup."

"Thank you." Megan got to the point: "You've been too lazy lately. There hasn't been any explosive news in a while. Who did you get this time?"

Hawke sat on the couch and opened his notebook: "San Diego Chargers star wide receiver Miller Collins, he is a gay, fooling around with men."

Megan turned around and sat next to Hawke, a little surprised: "I remember he has a family."

"An NFL model husband, with a wife and kids." Hawke clicked on the video: "It's a little bit eye-catching."

Megan has seen all kinds of news and was unusually calm. Just like in the past, when a close-up of the two people appeared, she hit the enter key to pause and confirm the identity of the people.

Then at the critical moment, she also pressed the pause button to determine the extent of the scale.

After watching it once, Megan felt sorry: "The key parts have to be censored, which makes it less interesting."

Hawke said: "The other person is not a public figure, his face is blurred."

"I know." Megan said without further ado: "Name a price."

Hawke did not make an offer, but instead said, "Just ten minutes ago, Miller himself called me and offered $100 million to buy back the video."

Without waiting for Megan to respond, he shook his head slightly: "But I refused. Claire called me before and said that the ratings of Midnight Entertainment have dropped and there is a lack of explosive news. I hope this news can help you."

Megan wanted to tell whether this was true or not, and looked at Hawke with complicated eyes: "What do you want to say?"

Hawke said: "First, the price must be reasonable. Second, you have to withstand the pressure. Midnight Entertainment must broadcast this news on the headlines, otherwise we don't need to talk anymore."

Megan, however, reached out and pressed on the notebook: “This news is mine.”

She pulled out a small cell phone from her pocket and dialed Claire's number: "Check now to see how many brands Miller Collins of the San Diego Chargers endorses. Is there any major advertiser for Channel 11 or a TV station among them?"

Hawke didn't say anything, and even if he did, Megan wouldn't completely believe him.

The call came back quickly: "There is no main advertiser, but there is an ad on Fox TV, but it's not on a large scale."

Megan hung up the phone: "I promise, it will be on the air."

Hawke said: "The broadcast terms should be clearer. If you get the authorization but don't broadcast it, I will give it to other media platforms."

Megan needs explosive news, and she needs someone who can provide explosive news one after another. She stared at Hawke and said, "If someone really puts pressure on me, I will resign to resist."

The show's ratings are directly related to her future.

“One hundred and fifty thousand dollars.” Hawke stopped her from making another offer: “The higher the sunk cost, the less pressure you will be under.”

Megan said: "$15 is my highest authority, I can give it to you."

Hawke tilted his head and gestured to the door: "Let's go to the TV station."

Megan said, "Wait for me to change my clothes."

…………

Santa Monica, Palisade.

Miller hung up the phone and returned to the house in a daze.

It was as if Hawk had sucked all his energy and spirit away.

After a while, he came to his senses and found that Kevin was gone, and the gift he gave him was hiding a note.

There was only a short sentence on the note.

"Goodbye."

Miller frowned, but put it aside for the moment because his agent and publicist arrived.

The last person to come over was a friend he had known since his youth.

Henry, a white man with tattoos all over his arms.

Miller quickly recounted what had happened, including Hawke's words.

His publicist and agent were not surprised that he had an affair with another man. Without dirty secrets and scandals, would he still be called a star?
The agent said: "That person is right. If this matter is reported to the team, it will be very troublesome. You are in the contract year now and are negotiating a contract extension with the team. We are still striving for a big contract."

At this point, his headache was about to explode: "Sponsors are more troublesome. When there is profit to be made, they come faster than anyone else. If you suppress it and it consumes too many resources, they will be the first to abandon you. Not only will they cut ties with you immediately, they may also trace you back to breach of contract." Miller still had illusions: "Can't they help me suppress it?"

The PR broke his fantasy: "You are not Jordan, Manning, or Woods. You are not that valuable in their eyes. If the video falls into the hands of the big media, how much will it cost for them to do PR for you and suppress the news? What if they abandon you? They just need to activate the breach of contract clause and replace you with a new spokesperson. In the past, when celebrities encountered PR crises, the first thing sponsors did was to break up!"

Miller's heart sank halfway, almost to the bottom of the sea.

"You've met your match this time. According to what you said, that person is very difficult to deal with." The agent's face was full of seriousness: "He did research on you before the filming and calculated all this."

The public relations officer added: "That Kevin is probably the bait released by the other party."

Miller had thought of this when he had recovered a little from his panic.

The agent really wanted to say that you had offended the wrong person, but in the end he didn't say anything.

Miller looked at his PR manager, then at his agent, and asked directly, "What should we do next?"

The public relations officer stood up and walked a few steps, saying, "It's divided into three parts. The first part is to continue to contact those people, whether by apologizing in person or offering a large sum of money to seduce them, to temporarily prevent the video from being released to the media. It would be best if we could reach a confidentiality agreement. As long as the video doesn't fall into the hands of the big media, we can still find a way."

Miller said: "I offered a million dollars and was rejected." He was helpless: "I just bought a house in Los Angeles and I don't have so much money. I want to swindle them, but these bastards are very vigilant."

The PR nodded and continued, "The second part is to put pressure on the media. I will do my best in this regard, but don't hold your hopes too high. It's not a big deal if the video falls into the hands of a small media outlet, but it will be very difficult to deal with if it falls into the hands of the News of the World or Fox's media outlets. You may need to prepare more than $500 million in cash."

Miller couldn't come up with such a large sum of cash.

It takes time to convert fixed assets into cash.

Miller comes from a traditional white family and has no connection with the squid circle of the media industry.

The public relations officer continued, "In addition to conventional methods, there are also some unconventional methods. What are the names of the two people you just mentioned?"

Miller said, "Eric Eason, a small director. I checked him out and he only has one videotape movie. Another one is Edward Connor, nicknamed the Savior, a low-level worker from Compton. There is another one, but I haven't found him yet."

The agent said: "Anyone who hangs out with these two people can't be a high-end person."

High-end public relations, like high-end business wars, are often plain and simple. The public relations officer said directly: "Check them out. We will try our best to use conventional means to delay them."

He looked at Miller's partner Henry: "Unconventional means, there is nothing we can do."

Henry said, "Leave it to me."

The agent started making calls, contacting people inside and outside the industry and the media.

Hawke and Edward sold a lot of news and photos.

Soon after, the agent got the name West Coast Media Entertainment Studio from the National Enquirer and Hollywood Life.

Later, I found more information through the company name.

Henry came from a white gang and quickly gathered people.

…………

Century City, Fox Television Center.

Hawke signed the agreement and received a check for $15.

Megan had returned from the Channel 11 director's office and called Hawke directly into her office.

Hawke sat on the sofa in the reception area and asked, "Have you dealt with the director?"

"Don't worry, the news will be broadcast." Megan said simply: "To prevent leaks, only Claire, me and channel director Cynthia know the specific content. Because it involves three advertisers, according to the agreement, we will formally notify the three manufacturers three hours before the program is broadcast."

"I believe you can handle the pressure." Hawke was about to leave.

But Megan stopped him: "Hawke, let me remind you of something."

Hawke looked at her.

Megan said: "A friend in the media called me to ask about this news. I evaded the question, but she told me that someone was asking around about the West Coast studio."

Hawke nodded, "I see."

Megan warned: "Be careful, I'm still waiting for you to provide more explosive news."

"Thanks." Hawke came out of the office and went straight downstairs to meet Edward and Eric, asking the former to drive back to East Hollywood.

He said, “They’re looking for us.”

Edward said: "Someone kept calling my cell phone, but I did as you said and didn't answer."

Hawke reminded: "Drive with energy."

Eric was a little nervous: "Is a high-end business war coming?"

Hawke nodded slightly, took off his sports jacket, put on his underarm gun bag, took out the legally purchased Glock 19 from the bag, and inserted it into the gun bag.

He rummaged through his pockets again and found the gun license he had obtained the day before.

The business car returned to East Hollywood smoothly.

Hawke pointed to Ranch Park and said, "Don't go back to the studio. Go into the parking lot and go to Frank's place."

He had already considered that he might face a high-level business war this time, so he made some preparations.

(End of this chapter)