America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 331 The Nanny Scandal

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Los Angeles.

Filippo from Rome glanced at the clock; it was still early for the appointment. He sat in front of his computer, browsing various celebrity news on American websites.

"Hollywood awards season has begun, and it's incredibly exciting," said co-star Simone.

Filippo asked, "Can Pitt win the Oscar for Best Actor?"

"It's difficult." As the head of the Brioni brand in Los Angeles, Simone knows the situation better and says objectively, "Whether or not he has an Oscar, he is one of Hollywood's limited superstars."

Brioni is a top Italian menswear luxury brand, renowned for its high-end bespoke tailoring, and has a large following among politicians, businesspeople, and celebrities.

In addition, the brand is a sponsor of the Bond series, and for the past ten years or so, all of James Bond's costumes have been provided by Briony.

With the contract of the previous spokesperson, Pierce Brosnan, expiring, Briony felt that the new Bond lacked qualities such as elegance and intelligence, and did not fit the brand's positioning.

Filippo came from Rome to prepare for signing Brad Pitt as the brand's global ambassador.

Simone cautioned, "The Avalon bar incident had a significant impact on Pitt, but his years of experience allowed him to weather the storm."

Filippo wasn't too bothered: "It's just a minor squabble between celebrities. Those who like Aniston's sweetheart type are mostly ordinary Americans, and they're not Briony's potential customers."

Simone said nothing more and sat down in front of his laptop to look at the news.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the study door from the outside, and his assistant rushed in.

Simone asked, "What happened?"

The assistant lowered his voice: "Quick, check TMZ. There's news about Pitt on there."

Upon hearing the name TMZ, Simeone felt a pang of anxiety. It was this website that first broke the story of Brad Pitt and Martin Davis's bar scandal last year.

From then on, TMZ became famous and successively exposed many bombshell stories, with their authenticity almost 100%.

When Simone visited TMZ, the first thing he saw was a large, bold close-up of allegations that Brad Pitt had sexually assaulted, beaten, and seduced multiple domestic workers…

Below is the video, which was just released a few minutes ago.

The first person to appear was a Latina woman, of average appearance, though not ugly.

"I worked for the Pitt family for a while in 2002. At first, everything was normal, but after a while, I felt something was off. When the lady of the house wasn't home, Brad Pitt would always stare at me. About a month into my job, Pitt cornered me at home while the lady of the house was out filming."

"He offered me $1000 to have sex with him, asking me to kneel down and serve him, but I refused. But Pete threatened me that if I didn't do what he said, he would fire me and call my company to notify all my colleagues in Los Angeles... Waaah..."

"I have three children to raise, and I've been working as a housekeeper. I don't have any other skills, and I can't afford to lose my job, so I had no choice but to agree to Pete's request. This relationship didn't last long before I discovered that Pete had violent and manic tendencies. He hurt me several times, and I secretly hinted to the landlady. She was a very kind person and gave me some money to leave."

Behind them was a white nanny, who was also quite ordinary-looking. The employer had clearly chosen her carefully, but that didn't stop Pete from being enthusiastic about domestic help.

"Brad Pitt is a scumbag. He seduced me with money, coerced me with a job, and cheated on me with his mistress... I had no choice, I really had no choice. He hit me when I disagreed! My mistress was very good to me, and I felt sorry for her, so I resigned..."

There are two other videos with similar allegations, both featuring the female nanny herself making the accusations under her real name.

Right next to these four side-by-side videos, there is another video with an even larger window.

It was a video secretly filmed by a nanny of Pitt's actions. Although there was no sound, the video showed Pitt slapping the nanny before she squatted down.

Violent coercion!

Simone, who had been based in Los Angeles, knew that Pitt was about to face a huge storm, and even if he could smooth things over, his reputation would be severely damaged.

He picked up his laptop, walked over to Filippo, and said, "Take a look at these videos, TMZ just broke the news today."

Filippo glanced through the document and immediately realized the problem, making a decisive decision: "Brad Pitt's risk has increased dramatically. We need to make changes and postpone our meeting with him and endorsement negotiations..."

Simone said, "I agree, let's see how things develop."

The assistant then came in and said, "Brad Pitt and his agent have arrived."

Simone looked at Filippo, who thought for a moment and said, "The matter is not yet settled, let's go see someone first."

The two went downstairs together to the business meeting room on the fourth floor.

In the reception room, Pete and his agent Maggie Dakshire were already waiting.

The latter is confident about the collaboration: "Brioni is among the top tier of relatively mainstream menswear brands, which will help expand your influence."

Pieter nodded; the $700 million annual endorsement fee was basically satisfactory to him.

Maggie continued, "Signing this sponsorship deal comes at just the right time during awards season, which will attract a lot of attention and could help you get an Oscar nomination."

"Just a nomination?" Pitt wanted more: "I want to win that Oscar."

Maggie was quite clear-headed: "Winning an award is quite difficult, so let's take it one step at a time. After all, you'll have plenty of opportunities in the future."

Pete thought of the old men at the academy and said, "I'm not old enough yet, it's okay, if it doesn't work this year, we can try again next year."

The door to the reception room opened from the outside, and Filippo and Simone entered one after the other.

After exchanging pleasantries, Maggie quickly got to the point: "For this endorsement, Briony has chosen Pitt..."

Filippo interrupted her, saying, "Ms. Daxier, Mr. Peter, there's been some internal trouble at the company, and I need to return to Rome urgently. The endorsement contract will have to be discussed later, and I apologize for that."

Upon hearing this, Pete and Maggie's first reaction was that something was wrong.

Maggie tentatively asked, "Do you know what happened?"

Simone gave a vague reply: "Please give us some time to handle internal matters."

Pitt tried to speak, but Maggie stopped him with a look; the endorsement negotiations had taken an unexpected turn.

Let's figure out the situation first before talking about anything else.

Filippo and Simone exchanged a few pleasantries, and then Pete and Maggie took their leave.

Once downstairs, Pete was furious. "What is Briony doing? Is he playing us for fools?" he exclaimed.

Maggie said, "Everything was normal when I contacted them this morning. It's impossible for something to change like this for no reason. I need to figure out what's going on."

Pitt spun around on the spot, hands on his hips: "They lack the respect I deserve!"

Maggie and Pete's phones rang one after the other.

After the call connected, the two only heard one sentence before quickly heading to a secluded spot.

After hearing what their respective assistants had to say, they hung up the phone almost simultaneously.

Maggie asked, "TMZ?"

Pete's expression was unusually serious: "Yes."

Maggie asked again, "What exactly happened?"

Pete, of course, wouldn't tell the truth, offering only a limited answer: "Those housekeepers always try to seduce me, and sometimes I can't help myself, inevitably making some mistakes that men make."

He added, "I gave them compensation and had them sign confidentiality agreements!"

"It's no use talking about this now," Maggie said to him. "Call your PR person and have him come to the company."

TMZ is gaining a reputation in the industry, known for its well-prepared and credible revelations. She also knows her clients well, so this matter is very complicated: "Just call your lawyer along."

Pete followed Maggie out of the hotel while making a phone call.

Before we even reached the parking area, a group of people walked towards us, and the person leading the group looked vaguely familiar.

Maggie was still recalling how the man stopped a few meters ahead, showed his identification and paperwork, and said to Pete, "Mr. Brad Pitt, we have received reports from several women... We are now summoning you to assist with the investigation..."

He spoke in a routine manner, gesturing to the police car parked nearby: "Mr. Pete, please cooperate."

"This is defamation!" Pete roared. "You should arrest them for libel!"

The man then said, "Please cooperate."

Maggie reviewed the paperwork and knew she couldn't refuse. She told Pete, "Go ahead and don't say a word until the lawyer arrives."

Pete remained expressionless as he got into the car with the others and headed to the police station.

Nearby, five photojournalists from TMZ, each with a camera and video camera, captured images of Pitt being taken into a police car from different angles.

After the police car sped away, the three men continued to chase and film on their motorcycles, while the other two got into a car parked nearby.

In the driver's seat, Jody had already opened her laptop, connected the data cable, and said, "Hurry up and upload the pictures and articles. Be truthful, no exaggeration needed."

The male subordinate took the notebook and got to work without saying a word.

Simone and Filippo, who were discussing matters by the floor-to-ceiling windows in the fourth-floor business lounge, watched as Brad Pitt was escorted into a police car by the LAPD.

Simone said, "This is probably true. Without sufficient evidence, the LAPD wouldn't easily summon a billionaire or celebrity of Pitt's caliber."

Filippo nodded slightly and said, "Inviting Pete to be the spokesperson is off. Let's choose other suitable candidates. I'll go back to Rome first, and you can recommend a few people."

Simone frowned: "There are only so many Hollywood superstars. Leonardo DiCaprio already has a clothing endorsement, Johnny Depp is completely out of our style, Will Smith is black, George Clooney signed with Armani, Keanu Reeves is too颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being listless, decadent, or dispirited)..."

Filippo said, "Take your time, you'll find the right one eventually."

This was an ordinary day in December, yet another day that shocked onlookers.

While other media outlets were still trying to process the story and verifying the authenticity of the "nanny scandal," Brad Pitt made headlines on TMZ.

This time, it's photos and videos of him being taken away by the LAPD.

The whole of Los Angeles was in an uproar!

(End of this chapter)