America: My Time

Chapter 1176 John's Conditions

Chapter 1166 John's Conditions
At this time, many people were watching John's actions: the White House, oilfield capital, Hollywood moguls, and so on. They all wanted to see John's reaction, to see if he would let them off the hook after those old-timers from the Academy bowed their heads and admitted their mistakes. To their disappointment, Francis Ford Coppola failed to convince John, and the Academy Awards remained in its most serious crisis. This made everyone realize that John was serious this time!
How could this be? This wasn't the case before. When did John become so assertive, so disrespectful to these old guys? After receiving Francis Ford Coppola's reply, the old academics fell into deep thought. However, they didn't have much time to consider. If they couldn't successfully persuade the three major media groups to resume their participation in the Academy Awards, the consequences would be uncontrollable.

As Francis Ford Coppola put it, these old guys had only one option: to ask Jack Valentine, the gatekeeper of Hollywood, to step in. Only he could persuade John and resolve this crisis.

“Those old guys still managed to get you out of there, but you should understand that they started this whole thing, and I can’t just let it go like this. They won’t stop until they give me a satisfactory explanation. I wonder what kind of sincerity they can offer this time?” John shook his head as he looked at the gatekeeper of Hollywood.

“John, this isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with each other. Just tell me what you need. Those old guys are just confused for a moment and being used as pawns. You know how important the Oscars are to Hollywood. If the reputation of the Oscars is really ruined, it won’t be good for anyone. As a Hollywood mogul who controls half of Hollywood’s power, you should know how terrible such an outcome would be.”

"I don't think so. Even without the Oscars, Hollywood is still Hollywood. Hollywood has never been famous because of awards. Hollywood has swept the global film market with commercial films. Whether or not there are Oscars, it won't have much impact on Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, or MGM. In comparison, it's the art films that will suffer. But all of this is not my fault. It's the fault of those old-timers in the academy who have always regarded art films as gospel. If they have any complaints, they can go find those people. It has nothing to do with me!"

“John, I know you didn’t start this, but it concerns Hollywood’s global strategy, and the White House is also watching this. Even if you don’t care about those old academics, you should at least give the president of the White House some face. Continuing to make trouble will not benefit anyone!”

"The White House doesn't have that kind of face. If you're trying to convince me with that reason, let me tell you, it's impossible. The President's face isn't as important as profit. This time it wasn't my fault, so I don't care about anyone's opinion. I only care about profit. Without profit, nothing I say matters!"

If Laugh Tay hadn't targeted ASML in the EUV lithography project, John might have given him some face. But now John doesn't care about the White House's thoughts, and he doesn't think the White House would be his enemy over this. If that were to happen, it would be a good thing, giving him a better reason to take action against these guys!
"Alright, just tell me what you want. As long as it's within my power, and those old guys can do it, we can discuss it!" Faced with the domineering John, Jack Valentine could only compromise. Even the White House couldn't control John, so saying more was useless. He might as well just give in!

"My request is simple: the Oscars will be held at the Chinese Theatre from now on, and the Academy cannot ask for any fees! If those old guys can agree to this condition, then everything is negotiable. Otherwise, let's part ways and go our separate ways. Don't even think about getting the support of the three major media groups!"

Faced with John's request, Jack Valentine could only manage a wry smile. He knew perfectly well how 'excessive' the request was, but he couldn't refuse. Judging from John's reaction, there was no room for negotiation this time. If those old guys from the academy didn't agree, the situation would be dangerous, and they would face an unprecedented crisis.

"Okay, I'll go and discuss it with them, and try my best to get them to accept your conditions. But I can't guarantee they'll agree, and I need time, at least to prevent this from getting out of hand!"

"It's not about trying to, and it's not about negotiating with them. These are my conditions. If they don't agree, then they shouldn't blame me for not giving them a chance. They started this whole thing, and now they have to pay the price. It's not that I don't want to see Hollywood develop, or that I want to suppress the Oscars, but those old guys are too greedy and don't know how to serve Hollywood. If things really come to that worst, they will be the sinners of Hollywood."

John also knew how to use moral blackmail, so he directly labeled those old academics as greedy. If negotiations broke down, everyone would only blame those old academics, saying they were too greedy. John had already offered terms, and they weren't 'unacceptable'; they had no reason to refuse. If these old guys refused, John had ample reason to target them, shifting the blame onto them. Moreover, the three major media groups controlled the narrative, ensuring those old guys wouldn't even have a chance to resist.

Jack Valentine was well aware of John's scheme, but he was powerless to do anything about it. He could only accept John's terms and do everything he could to persuade those fools to accept them.

"Damn it, how dare he do this? Does he even respect us old guys? Does he really think he can control everything in Hollywood?" When they heard John's terms, the old academics were all furious, cursing and venting their anger.

"Enough! It's too late for you to spout such ridiculous nonsense. Who caused all this? If it weren't for your stupidity in causing trouble at this time, how could such an 'accident' have happened? Now I've told you John's demands, and you have to make a decision. I can tell you clearly that the White House is also watching this matter closely, and if you refuse, and things escalate, you will bear all the consequences yourself. At that time, you will be the sinners of Hollywood, the sinners of America, and you will be sabotaging America's plans!"

Faced with the powerful John Jack Valentine, the president of the Motion Picture Association of America and the gatekeeper of Hollywood, he was helpless. But he had no such scruples when dealing with these old guys from the academy. Moreover, he had already discussed this matter with the White House, so he showed no mercy to these old guys.

"How can this be our mistake? We were also thinking about the development of Hollywood. It's all that guy's fault!"

"Heh, do you really believe that yourself? Hollywood isn't what it used to be. Today's Hollywood is all about big-budget commercial films, not the art films you're fantasizing about. If you insist on this, then I have nothing to say. You'll have to bear all the consequences yourselves. Don't regret it then!" Jack Valentine didn't want to get entangled with these old guys and didn't want to keep arguing with them, so he directly cornered them.

"Jack Valentine, you know our situation. Is it really okay for you to put all the blame on us? Don't you know how many people are plotting behind this? Now you want to shift all the responsibility onto us. Isn't that going a bit too far?"

“I’ve gone too far, why don’t you admit you’ve gone a bit too far? And you say this isn’t your responsibility, that there are more people plotting and scheming behind the scenes. Then tell me who those people are, can you give me an answer?” Jack Valentine didn’t care what these old academics thought, he was directly slapping them in the face. He didn’t think these old guys would dare to say such things out loud, dare to push the responsibility onto those people. If they really dared to do that, they would suffer even more terrible consequences. John would try to reason with them, but those guys wouldn’t reason with these old academics.

Do these old guys have no problems at all? No, they have many problems. As long as these old guys don't compromise and insist on making a big fuss, it won't be long before they are disgraced and their numerous problems are exposed, ruining their reputations. Moreover, these old guys are all incredibly greedy, and Jack Valentine knows this perfectly well!
It was precisely because Jack Valentine, the gatekeeper of Hollywood, knew the academy's greed that he showed them no mercy and laid things out in the open, leaving these old guys with no way to back down and no choice but to face it!
If anyone dares to cause trouble at this time, Jack Valentine wouldn't mind giving them a more profound lesson. After all, these old guys aren't John. They don't have John's strength or his influence. If they make even the slightest mistake, they will face his full suppression, the full suppression of those in the shadows, or even be swept out of the game and kicked out of the circle!

(End of this chapter)