[Chapter 482: PR Crisis]
After the Oscars ceremony ended, Linton Anderson and his entourage of girlfriends didn't attend any of the usual after-parties. Instead, without any attempt to hide, Linton brought all of them directly back to his estate.
The swarm of paparazzi waiting outside went wild. This was beyond mere gossip or scandal -- it was a confirmed fact. They had to follow, find out exactly where they were headed.
The reporters trailed Linton's group all the way to his mansion, watching as he and his companions disappeared behind the grand gates. Then they split up: some stayed behind, digging for fresh scoop, while others contacted major media outlets to sell the exclusive photos they'd just captured.
---
Meanwhile, Linton's agent team -- Mira Cecchi, Ellie Lance, and Carnes Carter -- were on the verge of losing it. The moment the Oscars wrapped up and Linton returned, the three were already waiting at the estate, urgently strategizing damage control. The rumors of Linton having children with Cristiana and Monica had already started swirling on the red carpet. They had prepared a preliminary PR pitch focused on true love, portraying the children as gifts from above.
Though it sounded a bit ridiculous, that kind of spin worked well enough; love was revered above all -- even family -- and children, especially, were seen as innocent blessings society had to protect. Women's reproductive rights had only been fought for and won in the last two decades.
But none of them had expected Linton to boldly parade back to the estate with twelve Oscar-attending starlets, openly flaunting the situation in front of hundreds of flashing cameras.
For Mira and the others, it was like a thunderclap on a clear day. "How can you be so reckless? How are we supposed to spin this? What about your superstar image? Your commercial value?
Maybe it's because you bought out Universal and became a big-time tycoon -- you figure you've made it and don't care about being a star anymore? But that'd be too costly. What about us?
And what about Cristiana, Monica, Sophie Marceau, Nicole Kidman, Naomi Watts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Winona Ryder, Jennifer Connelly, Cameron Diaz, Charlize Theron, Kate Winslet, and Noriko Sakai? Aren't they worried about their careers? Will they just follow your chaos?"
Especially Cristiana, Monica, Sophie Marceau, Noriko Sakai, plus those who didn't attend the Oscars like Izumi Sakai, Akina Nakamori, Vivian Chow, and Michelle Reis -- all signed under WMA, Mira's company.
These women were all established stars, the lowest ranking among them was already a Tier 3 celebrity, and Sophie Marceau was firmly Tier 1. Cristiana had just clinched the Oscar for Best Actress and was due for a major rise.
Every year, these stars brought massive profits to WMA. Mira herself, thanks to Linton and this star cluster, had been promoted to senior partner, vice president, firmly in the company's elite leadership.
But in moments like this, causing such a scandal? Weren't they afraid their stardom would fade, their futures derailed, their market value tanked?
Despite progression in women's rights granting some leniency, the competition in Hollywood was fierce. Did they not realize how many resources and opportunities their actions were blocking for other actresses?
By handing their rivals ammunition, who knew how many adversaries were already digging into their pasts to smear their reputation?
It was a headache -- an unbearable one -- for Mira and the team.
Still, what flabbergasted them more was Linton's calm response when they anxiously pressed him for a PR strategy the moment he arrived:
"This scandal? Don't worry too much -- I've got it under control."
"Boss, that's impossible! Do you realize that your comments with Cristiana and Monica on the red carpet have already gone viral? Now, you openly come back to your estate with over a dozen starlets, followed by a hundred reporters and paparazzi. Who knows how the media will spin this? How competitors will exploit it? If we ignore this, the fallout could be disastrous."
"No problem. They'll all leave by tomorrow morning. We just say it was a celebration here at my estate for me, Cristiana, and Monica's Oscar wins."
"Can we at least send something out to the reporters outside?"
"Sure, you and Amy, the housekeeper, take some coffee to the paparazzi. Tell them we're hosting a private after-party to celebrate the Oscar victories."
That reasoning was plausible. After all, the Hollywood scene was always flooded with after-parties following the Oscars. Usually they were held at hotels, or for the few hosted at private mansions, event companies handled everything. Invitations were broad; the place was lit up, lively.
But Linton, with just a dozen starlets back at his estate, no party atmosphere -- no other guests, no entertainment -- it didn't look like any celebration anyone had ever seen.
Still, a good excuse was better than none, and since it sounded reasonable, with some money spent on subtle media nudging, it should be manageable. After all, why couldn't their celebration party break from tradition?
"All right, for your and Cristiana's and Monica's pregnancy announcement, we have a preliminary PR plan. Take a look."
"Fine. Arrange it."
...
It wasn't just Mira's team pacing anxiously. The agents for Nicole Kidman, Naomi, Catherine, Winona, Jennifer, Cameron, Charlize, and Kate Winslet were equally alarmed. None dared approach the estate, and if they tried, entry would be impossible. So frantically, they called, hashing out PR strategies.
Linton's girlfriends all stuck to his story, offering replies that soothed their agents -- for now.
---
The party lasted well into the next morning, only wrapping up at 7 a.m. The women tidied the place, had breakfast, and all left separately, being picked up offsite by their respective agents.
The next day, rumors about Linton overwhelmed the headlines, dominating the front pages of major newspapers -- including The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
National networks, along with the rising UPN network and MCA Television, all carried special entertainment news segments devoted to the scandal.
Each outlet examined the juicy gossip from different angles, and the media couldn't get enough -- Linton's latest scandal generated limitless material.
The top stories ran along these themes: "What is it about Linton Anderson, Hollywood's ultimate bad boy, that has new Oscar Best Actress Cristiana and Best Supporting Actress Monica both expecting his children?"
Next, "Linton hosts an exclusive all-night Oscar after-party at his estate with twelve top Hollywood starlets, no one leaves until dawn."
Third, "A rundown of the notorious bad boy's former starlet conquests."
...
Individual media coverage varied, reflecting reporters' own biases. But the scandal had clearly crossed a line into major tabloid territory. Public opinion skewed strongly negative toward Linton and his harem, though the after-party ruse and Linton's media connections, plus Mira's timely PR maneuvers, prevented the disaster from becoming a full-blown scandal.
Thanks to ongoing women's rights advancements, stars like Madonna, Cristiana, and Sophie Marceau escaped the harshest judgment -- the Hollywood culture had always been indulgent of such behavior.
But Linton's image took a serious hit. Where once he was "playboy director, superstar, Hollywood mogul," media now mostly labeled him a "notorious bad boy."
Even his own media outlets took a neutral stance, hardly daring to publicly support him aside from a few gossip magazines. It was clear: his conduct was indefensible.
The after-party had invited only about a dozen top actresses -- no other guests -- and all stayed overnight until morning. It was impossible not to speculate about what happened behind closed doors.
Add to that the rumors from before the Oscars about these same women spending the night at his estate. Worse, Madonna -- the super diva -- had already borne his illegitimate child, and now two Oscar-winning actresses were willingly pregnant by him.
That crossed many people's moral lines.
Some conservative outlets even accused Linton of moral decay, calling for boycotts of his work. Of course, rival factions likely fueled parts of this backlash.
Some entertainment media stayed neutral, leveraging the scandal purely for ratings.
A small minority argued Linton showed courage -- he loved freely and openly, his success undeniable, and no one's family was harmed. "Isn't that some version of the American Dream?"
...
Traditional media were raging, but online, the frenzy was even wilder. Yahoo forums crashed twice in a row.
The first crash happened as Linton walked the red carpet flanked by Cristiana and Monica, answering questions live on ABC and many international channels. When both actresses admitted on camera that they were pregnant with his children, viewers at home were stunned silent.
Fans swarmed the Yahoo forums in droves. After the Victoria's Secret Angel lingerie show, Yahoo had expanded server capacity from 1 million concurrent users to 1.5 million.
Still, Linton, Cristiana, and Monica's combined fan base -- with tens of millions in each -- nearly collapsed the site.
After engineers scrambled all night to fix and upgrade, the next morning, between 7:30 and 8 a.m., all major networks repeatedly aired reports about the all-night Oscar after-party at Linton's mansion with twelve top starlets.
With newspapers also flooding the market, even more fans flocked to Yahoo's forums. The newly expanded capacity of 2 million users was quickly overwhelmed again around 8:20 a.m., taking the servers down a second time.
Engineers had no choice but to rush repairs again. Yahoo's executives couldn't have been happier -- Linton was driving Yahoo's popularity and stock price through the roof.
...
While a few parties enjoyed this media frenzy, Oscar's actual award winners felt sidelined and humiliated. Traditionally, the winners basked in the spotlight, but this year, except for Cristiana and Monica, coverage of other winners was slashed drastically.
The academy and award recipients seethed with rage, cursing Linton bitterly.
Not only were the winners drowned out, but also the Oscar-winning films lost significant buzz.
Take As Good as It Gets and The Sixth Sense: the former had won Best Actress, the latter snagged Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay.
Normally, both would see extended wide-release runs and massive box office surges the day after the Oscars.
But this year, with media chasing Linton's scandal, exposure for these award-winning films plummeted.
Their theater count barely rose to about 500 screens, and box office earnings didn't even hit $1 million combined.
Compared to previous years, the drop was catastrophic -- far worse than a mere cut in half; it was a total collapse.
It remained to be seen how this would affect ongoing copyright deals.
That said, both films had already earned impressive sums.
The Sixth Sense had grossed $321 million in North America and $703 million worldwide.
As Good as It Gets pulled in $165 million in North America and $331 million globally.
*****
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