Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 492 Harvey Weinstein's Arrest

In its fourth week of release, American Beauty grossed $6501 million in 3003 theaters across North America, bringing its total North American box office to $1.57 million.

The film's reputation continues to rise, with media and moviegoers alike showering it with praise.

They praised Link for his high level of filmmaking skills and high output, noting that he not only produces commercially successful blockbusters that audiences enjoy every year, but also high-quality films such as "American Beauty," "Saving Private Ryan," "The English Patient," "The Sixth Sense," and "Seven."

Cahiers du Cinéma magazine suggested that other directors learn from Link and make more films each year, including those that are popular with the public and of high artistic quality.

In December, guess what? MGM will be releasing another movie, "Gia Karanji," a biopic starring Angelina Jolie, which tells the tragic yet glamorous life of Gia Karanji, America's first supermodel in the 1970s and 80s.

To play the role of 'Gia' well, Angelina Jolie tried to become a lesbian. After filming, she almost changed her orientation, but with Link's help, she gradually adjusted back to her original orientation.

"Flirting" opened in seven theaters in the United States, grossing $104,000 in its first week, a mediocre box office performance. However, the film received relatively positive reviews, and Angelina Jolie's performance was praised by film critics, who considered her one of the most promising young actresses.

Angelina Jolie decided to take a break after the movie's release and have a baby, and Link agreed.

"How's the investigation going?"

In the office, Link chatted with lawyer Sean Tang.

Sean Down has been his personal lawyer since 1992, working alongside him for over six years. From a nobody in the legal profession, he has become a top lawyer, and his income has increased from tens of thousands to tens of millions of dollars a year.

However, Sean had aged considerably. In his fifties, his temples were gray, and the deep, prominent wrinkles on his forehead and the nasolabial folds around his mouth gave him an imposing and dignified air.

"Progress is going well. The existing evidence includes the testimony of the middleman 'Jack,' transfer records from Harvey's accounts, two recordings of Harvey privately threatening to take extreme measures against you, and testimonies from three Miramax employees, including Harvey's former assistant. With this evidence, convicting Harvey will not be difficult."

"Sean Don said."

Link nodded. "William Bratton called me, hoping we wouldn't mention the 96 New York shooting in the lawsuit. That case is closed, and a retrial would be very troublesome, with many people held responsible. If we don't mention the New York shooting, can we convict Harvey with the existing evidence?"

Sean Tang frowned in thought, then nodded after a moment.

"can!"
-
dong dong dong~
At Miramax Films, Bob Weinstein walks into Harvey's office. "I heard Boris came to see you. What's up this time?"

Boris Pohl is their lawyer.

"Shut up! I'm your brother, don't talk to me like that."

Harvey shouted angrily.

Bob sighed and asked again, softening his tone.

Harvey's face looked terrible. Layers of gray-brown eye bags surrounded his small eyes, and the skin on his face was even more uneven due to his heavy expression, like a cheap cemetery in the suburbs, messy and bumpy.

Harvey took a puff of his cigar. "I've agreed to the company filing for bankruptcy."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, go ahead and do it. Follow your plan and use the remaining funds to start another small film company to make low-budget films. I will not interfere with the new company's work."

"Why? Why did you suddenly change your mind?"

You don't need to know that much.

Harvey said with a stern face.

"I need to know everything, otherwise I can't work in peace."

Bob, with his large belly, refused to back down.

Harvey stared at him for a moment, then lowered his head to smoke his cigar. "I'm being watched by Link's men."

"Link? He's worth tens of billions, why would he be eyeing you?"

"It's something else."

Harvey hesitated for a moment before slowly revealing the truth.

Starting in 96, in an attempt to eliminate Link as his rival, he contacted an assassin organization through Epstein and attempted to assassinate Link on the streets of New York, but failed.

This year, he conspired with Epstein to hire another assassin to target Link, but they failed again.

Link's revenge followed.

Starting in September, someone has been tracking and investigating him and Epstein, presumably Link's people.

Just now, lawyer Boris Paul contacted him and told him about some rumors circulating in the legal profession. He said someone was investigating him and had found crucial evidence, and that he would be in trouble soon. Boris told him to prepare in advance.

"You were the one who assassinated Link?"

Bob exclaimed in shock, "Why would you do this? Even if Link dies, guess what? Even if Miramax goes bankrupt, we won't be the biggest beneficiaries. What's the point of doing this?"

“Without Link, without Guess Movies, Miramax would have had the opportunity to become even stronger. I would have had more resources, a higher status in Hollywood, and might even have replaced Link as the King of Hollywood, making everyone look up to me and all women kneel down and pray to me. That would be more meaningful than anything else.”

Harvey retorted excitedly.

“But we’re filmmakers. All competition should be in the film industry. You really shouldn’t be so extreme. There’s no point in saying this now. Link is investigating you and Epstein. What are you going to do? Can you find a way to get Link to give up the investigation?”

"Impossible. Link is narrow-minded and ruthless. If he finds evidence that Jeffrey and I hired someone to kill, he will never let us off easily. However, we are not without allies. Jeffrey is a high-level broker who knows many big shots, including those in politics and business. Many of them are our relatives. As long as they are willing to help, we will definitely defeat Link. We definitely will."

Harvey clenched his fists tightly, his tone and eyes showing great determination.

Are you sure someone will help?

"Of course, we didn't assassinate Link for personal gain, but for the sake of the entire community. Once Link is eliminated, Hollywood will return to our community's control, and we can continue to use film and television works to promote the superiority of our community and maintain our community's image. This is very important. I believe they can understand our actions."

Bob shook his head, not quite agreeing with Harvey's point of view.

On the one hand, Harvey and Epstein's methods for dealing with Link were too extreme and violated industry rules in any field, and should be criticized and resisted.

Even his own people, such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, wouldn't support him doing this.

If they support this, others will use the same methods against them in the future.

This is the last thing these wealthy people want to happen.

On the other hand, Link's influence is too great; he is not only a dominant figure in the film industry but also holds a very high position in the investment field.

He has a net worth of tens of billions of yuan and owns several investment companies, including Flash Capital and Kingsoft Investment. He is also an investor and shareholder in many listed companies.

Given Link's current strength, even if Bill Gates and Warren Buffett joined forces, they might not be able to defeat him.

Besides, they are collaborators with shared interests, and they would never make an enemy of Link for Harvey's sake.

This also contradicts their race's principle of 'money is everything'.

Bob sighed, worried about Miramax's situation, and decided to accelerate Miramax's bankruptcy.

Try to finish what needs to be done before Harvey gets into trouble, and preserve more capital.

“Harvey, Boris says Link has evidence that you hired assassins. What evidence is it?”

"I don't know," Bob asked. "But our middleman who contacted the assassin organization has been arrested, and Link's men should have obtained confessions and other evidence by now."

Harvey's hands were trembling.

“You told me you contacted the middleman through Jeffrey, and the middleman shouldn’t know you exist. Why would Boris be so sure that Link got the evidence of your contact with the middleman, not Jeffrey’s? Don’t you think there’s something wrong here?”

Bob asked.

Harvey paused, his hand holding the cigar hovering near his mouth, his brow furrowing even more, and his breathing becoming rapid.

"Jeffrey may have let it slip."

"It's more likely that he deliberately used you as a shield to save his own life."

“Impossible. Jeffrey wouldn’t do that; it wouldn’t do him any good.”

Harvey shouted excitedly.

"Are you sure? If Jeffrey throws you out to attract Link's attention and anger in order to protect himself, what are your options?"

“No, Jeffrey wouldn’t do that.”

Harvey continued to deny it.

Bob sighed. "Harvey, if I were you, I would contact Link and confess everything, report Jeffrey, and try to get his forgiveness and a lenient sentence. That's the best way to solve the problem."

"No, I don't want to go to jail. Things haven't come to that yet. We still have a chance. As long as we don't confess, even if Link is rich, he can't do anything to us."

Harvey shook his head repeatedly, unwilling to accept the facts.

"Fine, that's your decision. Whether you want to take the blame for Jeffrey is up to you. I just hope you won't regret your decision when you're in jail."

Seeing that he was still stubborn, Bob stopped trying to persuade him and left the office.

Harvey sat in his office chair, continuing to smoke his cigar. The room was filled with smoke, much like the expression on his face.

After a moment, he picked up the phone and called Epstein, asking him how the middleman was caught and why the middleman knew of his existence.
Epstein sounded very surprised on the phone, claiming that he had just received news that the middleman had been arrested and was trying to get him out, but he didn't expect the middleman to confess beforehand.

As for why the middleman knew Harvey, Epstein explained that he had mentioned to the middleman that eliminating Link was not only his idea, but also the suggestion of many Jewish executives and investors in Hollywood, including Harvey.

Therefore, killing Link was for the benefit of the race, not for personal gain.

This is why middlemen are willing to take the risk of helping to contact assassin organizations.

Harvey asked why the middleman didn't mention Michael Ovitz, Langmeyer, or Barrydiller, but instead specifically mentioned him.

Epstein said he didn't understand the middleman's thinking, but he would find a way to rescue the middleman and ask him about it later.

Harvey reluctantly accepted this.

"But I've received information that Link's side has already obtained evidence of our crimes, and the next step may be to bring it to court for trial. What should we do?"

"Don't worry about Harvey. The middleman doesn't have any substantial evidence. Link can't get any useful evidence from him. As long as we stick to our guns and leave the rest to the lawyers, this case will be forgotten in a while."

Epstein advised.

"Okay, I believe you."

Harvey hung up the phone, breathed a sigh of relief, and called his lawyer, Boris Pohl, again, asking him to handle everything.

In early January, Link's lawyer, Sean Don, filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles District Court, accusing Harvey Weinstein of hiring a hitman to assassinate Link, endangering public safety, and carrying out a terrorist attack in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles court decided to accept the case and issued a subpoena to Harvey, requiring him to respond to the allegations made by Link.

Harvey was unconcerned after receiving the subpoena, believing that he could safely weather the crisis by denying the charges.

However, when he saw the evidence submitted by Link's side, he was shocked.

This evidence includes evidence that he transferred $300 million twice to the same account, which belonged to the middleman 'Jack'.

The evidence also includes the testimony of the middleman, 'Jack,' who stated that he contacted Harvey directly on both occasions.

There are also private recordings of Harvey.

"Impossible, this can't be true."

After reviewing the evidence, Harvey was covered in sweat. He grabbed the phone and tried to call Epstein, but the call didn't go through. When he tried again, the phone was switched off.

"Damn it! Jeffrey, what are you doing?"

Harvey slumped into his office chair, his face pale.

Even if he were stupid, he would realize at this moment that he had been deceived, deceived by his most trusted compatriot. Just as Bob said, he had become Jeffrey's shield.

Harvey roared angrily a few times, picked up the phone and called Link, intending to report Epstein to Link.

Unfortunately, the call didn't go through. He contacted Link's lawyer through his own lawyer, hoping to talk to Link and tell him some things.

Sean Don told him to have something to say in court, and that it was not appropriate to have private contact at this stage.

Harvey then called Michael Ovitz, Langmeyer, Baridiller, and others for help.

Upon hearing that he was suspected of hiring someone to assassinate Link and that Link's side had found evidence against him, Michael and his group hung up the phone before he could even make his request, and then blacklisted his number.

Harvey fainted in a fit of rage.

Just three days later, the Los Angeles District Court detained Harvey for trial on charges of multiple criminal offenses, citing conclusive evidence.

When the news broke, Hollywood was shaken, and the world film industry was shaken.

Although Harvey's fame in the film industry cannot compare to that of the presidents of the seven major film studios, he is considered one of the leading figures in the independent film industry.

In addition, he is suspected of hiring someone to assassinate the billionaire director Link.

In August and September of last year, Link was assassinated twice, causing a great uproar and being reported by media outlets around the world.

The killer has now been found; it is none other than Harvey Weinstein, the former president of Miramax Films.

This news story has so many interesting aspects that it quickly caused a sensation across the United States after being reported by media outlets such as the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Previously, some media outlets reported that the reason Link was assassinated was because Guess Movies was performing too well, which aroused jealousy from its peers, and that the peers hired someone to kill him.

Many people don't believe it.

It's now confirmed; it was indeed done by a competitor.

After the case broke, Disney immediately distanced itself, announcing Harvey Weinstein's dismissal and then declaring Miramax Films bankrupt, with its valuable assets to be merged into Disney's subsidiary, Hollywood Studios.

Thus, Miramax Films, a long-established independent film company that had existed for over 20 years, came to an end.

(End of this chapter)