America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 441 The Diary Scandal

After leaving WarnerTV, Nicholson didn't go home. Instead, he went to Martin's place and found him sitting in the yard with Elizabeth and Lily Carter, leisurely drinking tea and discussing when to move.

Martin gestured for Nicholson to make himself at home, and Elizabeth poured him a cup of black tea.

Lily held a pen, twirling it between her fingers like a carving knife, and said, "The renovation is all finished. You can move out anytime you want."

"Let it air out for a while first." Martin's words were in line with his habitual thinking: "Let's talk about it in two months."

Elizabeth nodded: "That's fine too."

Lily wouldn't argue, lest she incur her loving but firm rebuke: "Whatever."

Knowing that Martin had bought Pete's mansion on the North Side of Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, Nicholson took a sip of his red tea and said, "It seems like we're not that far apart. I could set up a cannon on my roof and fire fireworks right into your new home."

Elizabeth nearly choked on the tea she was drinking; Martin's friends can be quite exasperating at times.

"Jack, it seems like my new house is on higher ground." Martin retorted in an equally unreliable way: "Old Brooks was a gunner when he was in the military, and he even used mortar shells against the British. Do you think if you set up guns and fired at each other, whose house would get more fireworks?"

Nicholson thought about Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, whom he had been constantly tormenting, put down his white porcelain teacup, and said, "We'll discuss this later."

For some reason, when it came to bombarding Martin's new house with fireworks, he always felt that Martin's neighbor from Atlanta was looking at him strangely, and the pen he was twirling stopped, poking a few holes in the white paper.

Lily was indeed unhappy. Judging from the current situation, the manor would be in chaos, and she would be the one suffering the most.

Elizabeth? A pampered young lady who only knows how to obey Martin.

Nicholson asked, "What did you lose?"

Martin took a sip of tea and said unhurriedly, "A very important diary?"

"A diary? You keep a diary? You must be out of your mind." Nicholson shook his head. "Who keeps a diary?"

Martin said, "While I was isolating myself in the hotel, I studied the Joker's diary entries and reflections."

"Really lost? How did it get lost?" Nicholson thought it was normal for Martin to write this, after all, he was a really dedicated and good actor, but losing it was pure nonsense.

Martin laughed: "Never mind how it got lost, it's really lost."

Nicholson understood: "I'll be seeing that in the media soon, won't I?"

Martin gave a thumbs up: "As expected of the leader of our trio and the Face Gang."

Lily, curious, whispered to Elizabeth, who was the same age as her, "What's a face brace?"

Elizabeth sometimes plays the "face wash and old boy" game with Martin, but of course she wouldn't tell Lily these secrets, saying, "I'm not quite sure either."

Nicholson then said to Martin, "This is the little show you were talking about?"

Martin nodded. "You could call it an appetizer, right?"

"This is boring." Nicholson waved his hand. "Let's go out to eat. It's on me."

Martin and Elizabeth were getting ready to go out.

Lily said, "I need to go back to my dorm in a bit to finish a piece for tomorrow."

Martin asked, "Sold so quickly?"

Lily was quite helpless: "If someone insists on paying a high price to buy it, I can't refuse to sell it; that would be too disrespectful to the customer."

Martin offered a word of advice: "That's enough. Know when to stop."

Lily nodded: "I reckon he'll lose patience after a couple more times."

Martin went to the garage to drive.

Elizabeth asked Lily, "What happened?"

Just like before, Lily smiled and said, "It's nothing, just a small matter."

Elizabeth didn't dare ask any more questions.

When Martin drove out of the garage, she got in the car, and they left home together.

Lily glanced at the neglected teapot, teacups, and chairs, and could only walk over and tidy them up by herself.

Meanwhile, Ivan, disguised as a hotel waiter, sold a diary he had found to another editor-in-chief of TMZ for a high price.

The male editor was overjoyed and worked through the night to take photos and videos, producing a news article which he posted on the website early Sunday morning.

The news about the Dark Knight and Martin was already extremely popular, and this diary entry immediately attracted a lot of attention after it was uploaded.

TMZ, by leveraging its connection to Brad Pitt, has become the number one entertainment gossip and breaking news website in the United States, boasting tens of millions of registered users.

People on both sides of the Pacific are essentially the same; millions of people browse TMZ every day, looking for the biggest, sweetest gossip.

Martin's Joker Diaries quickly became a hot topic online.

The public never tires of prying into the privacy of celebrities.

Just like Kim Kardashian's videotape scandal, many Saint Guinness films are far superior to Kim's in terms of clarity, quality, and leading actress, but Kim's videotapes still sell like hotcakes.

Thus, TMZ gave rise to Martin's "diary scandal".

Martin is definitely a veritable "gate" scandal generator.

The entire diary records Martin's feelings and thoughts about the Joker during the month he locked himself in the hotel. He used the Joker's persona and worldview to record events that happened in the real world, and presented his feelings and analysis of the Joker one by one, gradually pushing himself to immerse himself in the story.

He even fantasized about throwing himself into the same Gotham hell.

The diary scandal sparked a strong reaction.

The comment section of TMZ-related news articles was almost overwhelmed by a flood of comments, bringing it to a standstill.

"It's obvious that Martin Davis didn't play the Joker at all; he transformed himself into the Joker!"

"I completely agree with Nicholson; Martin is giving his life to portray the Joker."

"To see just how dedicated, how crazy, and how far an actor can go, come and see Martin Davis!"

"Even though I've only seen the trailer and am not particularly interested in Batman, I'm still going to buy a ticket just for Martin Davis!"

"Just the preparations Martin did alone made the ticket price worthwhile."

A large number of casual viewers were gradually drawn in by the news about Martin and the Dark Knight, and their desire to buy tickets was rapidly accumulating.

Since the start of the summer movie season and the official launch of its promotional marketing, Martin and the Joker have completely overshadowed Bale and Batman.

This was also driven by Nolan and the production team, who all believed that Martin was more likely to generate eye-catching news.

As the diary scandal gained momentum, Martin made several phone calls to Nolan, and the publicity campaign intensified.

Once the fire is burning, of course you need to pour oil on it to make it burn even brighter.

Martin is currently unable to appear in person, but with Thomas leading the charge, none of that is a problem.

In an interview, Thomas spoke on Martin's behalf, saying that he wanted the original diary back from TMZ, even if it cost a lot of money.

"This diary has special significance for Martin; it contains the fruits of his labor."

In front of the WMA headquarters, facing numerous microphones and cameras from the news media, Thomas, in a somber voice, recounted what Martin had done: "During the preparation period, Martin did some truly insane things. He locked himself in his hotel room for nearly 50 days, refusing to see anyone. Even I couldn't contact him. His close friends Nicholson and Leonardo even considered calling the police!"

These events were reported last year, and the reporters present easily recalled those memories.

Thomas added, "Martin doesn't go online, doesn't watch movies, and doesn't contact the outside world. All his thoughts are recorded in that lost diary. Now he desperately wants to find the diary, and I'm sure everyone can understand that. We are willing to pay enough money."

TMZ is still considering that as the website grows larger, the response speed for some things will inevitably slow down a little.

For TMZ, once the news is published and the traffic is generated, leaving a diary entry is not very meaningful.

But by this time, Nolan had already transformed into a hype-driven director, and with his continued contact with Martin, his reaction speed was much faster than TMZ's.

During a promotional event for The Dark Knight, Nolan told reporters that the production team would help Martin retrieve his diary and cover all related expenses.

"This diary is of great significance to Martin and the film crew, and we will do everything we can to buy it back."

When discussing Martin Scorsese, Nolan also emphasized the background of the diary's creation: "Martin shut himself off, studying the Joker during his final week. I visited him at his hotel. He didn't turn on the lights, drew the thick black curtains, and wandered around like a madman, searching for the Joker's expressions, gestures, and voice. He was completely immersed in darkness and solitude, trying to understand the Joker's inner world."

He said with a somber expression, "Martin understands the Joker inside and out because he threw himself into hell as well."

As Nolan spoke out, the diary scandal escalated further, with the news remaining highly popular and even topping the Google keyword search list at one point.

Online, numerous posts quickly appeared demanding that TMZ return Martin's diary.

In a conference room at TMZ headquarters, founder and CEO Harvey Levin put down the Martin Luther King Jr. diaries and asked, "What are your thoughts?"

James, the editor who received the diary, said, "The news has already been reported, so the diary is of no use to us. We can return it to Martin and Warner, and maybe we can get a news source."

Jody, a rival of James, did not entirely agree with his opinion: "I think it's better to keep the diary for a few more days."

Harvey Levine looked at Jody: "Why?"

Jody said, "The longer the diary stays in our hands, the more public attention we will receive. Public pressure is not a bad thing for TMZ. We are very resilient. This matter has already generated a lot of buzz, and what we need to do is turn that buzz into more attention for TMZ."

James was about to speak when Harvey Levine raised his hand to stop him: "Just do as Jordy says. Keep the diary for three days, then TMZ will hold a return ceremony... um, stream it live on the website and return the diary to Martin Davis for free."

(End of this chapter)