Chapter 419: Trouble at Home?

After returning to the United States from Europe, he drove directly to Taylor's villa in Beverly Hills, hoping to catch her there and have a serious talk with the stubborn woman.

Unfortunately, he was a step too late. Mrs. Andrea said that Taylor had returned to Nashville.

Link said he also wanted to go to Nashville and asked Mrs. Andrea to give him Taylor's address again.

Mrs. Andrea told him to ask Taylor first.

Link said that Taylor had blocked all his contact information.

Mrs. Andrea said there was nothing she could do, Taylor was a very stubborn person.

Link could only leave some specialties he brought back from Europe and a letter with Mrs. Andrea, then drove back to Santa Monica Bay.

On the way, he took out his computer and browsed the American entertainment news of the past two days, surprised to find that trouble had arisen at home.

This morning, media outlets such as the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and The Hollywood Reporter jointly broke a big news story - Link was dumped again, Miss Trump found a new love?

According to the Los Angeles Times, during Link's trip to France for the Cannes Film Festival, Miss Ivanka Trump had frequent contact with a middle-aged man.

According to the investigation, the middle-aged man's name was Pam Abdi, the newly appointed CEO of Warner Bros. Pictures' marketing department. He was 39 years old, young and promising, worth over 100 million dollars, divorced, and single.

The newspaper also had several photos of the two chatting in a cafe, and two photos of them sitting relatively close.

There were even more reports about this incident on the internet, and some websites even revealed photos of the two suspected of dating at the Hilton Hotel.

The headlines of these news stories were mostly -

'Ivanka finds new love, playboy Link miserably dumped'

'Link and Ivanka break up, what will happen to Link Music?'

'Link and Ivanka fall out, Lionsgate Pictures may face changes again'

'According to insiders, without the Trump family's protection, Link may lose everything'

And so on.

The headlines were mostly sensational, and at the same time, they reported the news in an extremely affirmative tone, as if his breakup with Ivanka had become an irreversible fact.

On social media, netizens' discussions had shifted from the initial 'Link and Ivanka break up' to 'How important is Ivanka to Link' and 'Is Link a freeloader'.

Many netizens believed that Ivanka was very important to Link. Without her, Link Music would definitely not be so successful, and Lionsgate Pictures would not have been taken over smoothly. Without Ivanka, Link's net worth would definitely plummet.

There were also a large number of similar comments appearing in the comment sections of many platforms.

For example, 'Link is a freeloader, without Ivanka he's just a poor guy', 'Link relies on Ivanka to get started but often cheats, he's a scumbag', 'Ivanka dumped Link, Link will become that poor beach boy again', 'Scumbag Link exposed'.

Many of Link's fans also left comments to refute, saying that Link was already worth more than a billion dollars before dating Ivanka, and was also an Olympic champion, a world boxing champion, and a world-class singer. If this was considered freeloading, then no one would be worthy of Ivanka.

This comment received more than 50,000 likes and more than 10,000 comments in agreement.

Some netizens refuted the fans' remarks, saying that aside from the fact that Link was an Olympic champion and a world boxing champion, if Ivanka hadn't managed Link Music, Link Music would definitely not be as successful as it is now, and Link wouldn't have such great fame.

Without such great fame, his albums wouldn't sell as many copies, and he wouldn't make as much money.

Without so much money, he wouldn't be able to invest in Tesla, Twitter, Nvidia, or take over Lionsgate Pictures.

So, without Ivanka, there would be no Link as he is today.

This comment also received more than 10,000 likes and more than 3,000 comments in opposition.

Many of Link's fans retorted below, saying that the above comment had obvious logical errors. The reason why Link Music was so successful was entirely because of Link.

Initially, the company only had Link as a singer, and most of the songs on his albums were written by him personally. From the first to the third album, each album sold more than the last. His talent was the fundamental reason for his fame and the fundamental reason for Link Music's growth.

The several platinum singers under Link Music were also discovered by Link, and the songs they debuted with were also personally written by Link.

From this point of view, Link was the key and core of Link Music's development and growth, and Ivanka was an important factor in Link Music's growth.

Just like how MJ became a superstar because of his own talent, talent, and hard work, not by relying on his music company.

These comments received many likes and support.

But some netizens also said, putting aside the facts, if it weren't for Ivanka, if someone else managed Link Music, would Link Music be as successful as it is now?

And although the songs under Link's name were all written by him, was this really the case?

In the music industry, there were many singers who couldn't write songs and put the songs bought by the company under their own names, pretending to be singer-songwriters. This was not a secret in the industry.

Link might be one of those singers.

This comment seemed to stir up a hornet's nest. It was posted at 9:12, and by 10:30, there were already more than 8,000 comments below, almost all of which were objections.

Many netizens fiercely stated that all of Link's popular songs since his debut were written by him personally.

Including the popular song on the internet "Despacito," the boxing inspirational songs "The Fighter" and "Unstoppable," the song "Give Me Reason" written in March 2009 to fight against cyberbullying, and the songs "I'm the One," "Lighters," and "Believer" written in May and June 2009 during the East Coast rap battle.

There was also the divine song "See You Again" written in memory of MJ, not to mention the divine song "Legends Never Die" written for the Super Bowl at the end of 2009, and all the songs on the third album were love songs written for Taylor.

Later, there were also the championship singles he wrote for Selena, Wiz Khalifa, Lana Del Rey, and Bruno Mars.

With such strong creative ability, Link would need someone else to help him write songs?

It was complete nonsense.

Those haters who held opposing views, seeing that they couldn't argue on this matter, pulled the debate back to the relationship between Link and Ivanka.

They claimed that Ivanka was a wealthy heiress, and the Trump family had a net worth of billions of dollars and countless connections. Without her, Link would definitely not be as successful as he is now. If Link was dumped by Ivanka, he would quickly become a poor guy.

Link's fans said, yes, a poor guy who could earn 40 to 50 million dollars in two or three minutes. They also brought up Link's label of "human money printing machine." As a human money printing machine, he was probably so poor that all he had left was money.

The two sides argued back and forth on the internet. Supporters focused on sticking to the facts, facts over sophistry, while opponents focused on being unreasonable and ignoring the facts.

With so many people participating in the debate, it accidentally became a hot topic again.

Ring ring ring!

When the car returned to the bay villa, Link received a call from Catherine, asking him what time he would arrive in Los Angeles and if he had seen today's news. She told him not to believe the news in the newspapers.

She and "Bridesmaids" producer Kristen Wiig were also present when Ivanka was negotiating with Warner Bros. at the cafe that day.

It was just that the paparazzi had ulterior motives and deliberately only photographed Ivanka and Warner Bros. Pictures marketing president Pam Abdi.

Link said he understood and wouldn't overthink it. Ivanka was now the chairman of Lionsgate Pictures. If he started overthinking just because she had a cup of coffee with someone of the opposite sex, it would show a lack of confidence and trust in Ivanka, and the most important thing between couples was trust.

Link then asked about the negotiations with Warner Bros. Pictures.

Catherine said that after they presented a lot of factual evidence, Warner Bros. Pictures distribution company had admitted that there were data errors in the box office statistics, but there were some disagreements on the issue of compensation.

"According to the data provided by the movie box office monitoring company Rentrak, the current North American box office of 'Bridesmaids' is $128 million, not $70.5 million. We demand that Warner Bros. Pictures return all the transferred box office and bear all the investigation costs of about $2 million.

In response, Warner Bros. Pictures stated that so far, the North American box office of 'Bridesmaids' is only $104 million, not the $128 million released by Rentrak, and they are only willing to pay $500,000 for the investigation costs.

After the negotiation failed, we gave Warner Bros. Pictures three days to consider. Tomorrow, we will submit all the evidence to the MPAA and the Los Angeles District Court for trial, and this case will also be open to the public.

We suspect that this scandal is also related to the Warner Group, they want to use this incident to disrupt our arrangements.

I just had a meeting with Ivanka and we decided to give up further negotiations with Warner Bros. Pictures and directly submit the evidence to the MPAA and the court. We not only demand that Warner Bros. Pictures compensate for all the box office, but also that Warner Bros. give a certain percentage of compensation."

"Is our evidence sufficient?"

Link asked.

Behind Warner Bros. Pictures was Time Warner, one of the media giants, which owned Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Fortune Magazine, Turner Broadcasting System, CNN, HBO, DC Comics, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Music Group, and other sub-brands, with a market value of over 40 billion dollars.

Once they went to court with Warner Bros., without sufficient evidence, this lawsuit might become a protracted battle.

Catherine said, "Warner Bros. Pictures' main way of stealing the box office this time was through transfers, transferring the box office of 'Bridesmaids' to two movies released by Warner Bros. in February, 'Unknown' and 'Hall Pass.'

Because their methods were relatively secretive, it was very difficult to obtain key evidence, but with the evidence we currently have, we can also prove that Warner Bros. Pictures stole the box office.

The final judgment will depend on the MPAA's attention to this matter and Warner Bros. Pictures' public relations ability. No matter what Warner Bros. chooses, as long as this matter is exposed, it will definitely have a great impact on them."

Link thought for a moment and understood.

Time Warner's Warner Bros. Pictures was also a listed company.

This kind of company valued its reputation the most. Once this kind of negative news was exposed, the loss in the stock market would be far more than tens of millions of dollars. Once the stock price fell and affected the interests of shareholders, the top management of Warner Bros. Pictures might face changes.

Warner Bros. Pictures distribution company knew the serious consequences but still took a big risk to swallow the box office, probably because they underestimated the strength of Palm Beach Pictures.

Before the movie was released, they didn't expect Lionsgate Pictures to temporarily get the distribution rights for most regions.

If Lionsgate Pictures hadn't participated in the distribution, Ivanka and Catherine wouldn't have been able to see the problems with the box office through the differences in box office numbers in each state, and then arrange for people to investigate the box office issues, thus discovering Warner Bros. Pictures' illegal behavior.

Link thought of "Easy A" and asked Catherine if there was any box office stealing in this movie.

Catherine said that this movie had already been released, and even if there was box office stealing, it wouldn't be easy to find out.

However, they could raise questions during the promotion, and also let other independent production companies and producers who had been stolen from by Warner Bros. stand up. She believed that Palm Beach Pictures wasn't the only victim.

As long as more peers stood up, Warner Bros. Pictures would have to make concessions.

Link thought this was a good idea and also felt that buying Lionsgate Pictures was the right decision. If he didn't have a movie distribution company, even if Palm Beach Pictures could make countless movies with good box office numbers, they would be stolen by the Big Six.

This was also the reason why it was difficult for independent production companies and investors to survive in Hollywood.

Link reminded Catherine to be careful recently and asked if she needed bodyguards.

Catherine smiled and said that as long as he was okay, Warner Bros. would definitely not dare to do anything to her and Ivanka, and their safety wouldn't be a problem.

Link thought for a moment and agreed. The top management of Warner Bros. Pictures were just a group of employees. Even if they made mistakes and caused the company to lose money, the worst thing that could happen was just resigning. No one would take risks for this kind of thing.

What Warner Bros. could do now was to use the power of the media to muddy the waters.

Back at the bay villa, Ivanka was still at work. Link called to tell her that he was back, but he couldn't get through. He turned on the TV and saw Ivanka being interviewed by reporters at Lionsgate Pictures headquarters.

Some reporters interviewed Ivanka with some current hot topics, asking her how her relationship with Link was currently.

Ivanka said that their relationship was very stable.

The Los Angeles Times reporter said that entertainment reporters had noticed the news of her frequent interactions with Warner Bros. Pictures marketing president Pam Abdi and had even photographed them having coffee together, asking what their relationship was.

Ivanka said that her recent contact with Warner Bros. was mainly about work.

The Hollywood Reporter reporter then asked if it was true that Warner Bros. Pictures had stolen the box office when distributing "Bridesmaids," and that Palm Beach Pictures and Lionsgate Pictures had already obtained key evidence. The reporter asked if Ivanka could reveal any information.

When the Hollywood Reporter reporter asked this question, many entertainment reporters at the scene let out a surprised gasp.

Obviously, compared to Ivanka and Link's private affairs, the news of Warner Bros. Pictures stealing the box office was obviously more sensational. It was a very influential news story.

The reporters all looked at Ivanka, hoping that she could reveal some information.

Ivanka said that this was Palm Beach Pictures' matter, and that Palm Beach Pictures would hold a press conference later to answer the reporters' questions.

When the reporters heard her say this, they didn't continue to ask and continued to ask about her relationship with Link and the current controversial issues on the internet.

The USA Today reporter said that there was currently a saying on the internet that Link relied on her to get started, and without her, Link would not be as successful as he is now. The reporter asked Ivanka, if Link's success was 100%, what percentage of her contribution was there.

Ivanka bluntly said that Link was an Olympic champion, a world boxing champion, a pop music king, a billionaire, and a great philanthropist. His success never depended on anyone.

If Link's success was 100%, no one could share 1%. And for the success of Link Music, Lionsgate Pictures, Dynasty Promotion, and other companies and individuals related to Link, Link was definitely qualified to occupy a very large percentage.

The Vanity Fair reporter asked, everyone knew that Link was a playboy, with her conditions, she could find a better partner, why did she still stick with Link, was it more about love or work.

Ivanka said that at the beginning of the year, Link wrote a song for her called "Just the Way You Are." She liked this song very much, and there were also words in this song that she wanted to tell Link. The current Link was the best Link, no matter what the rumors said about him, she loved Link just the way he was.

The reporters at the scene were fed a mouthful of dog food.

Link smiled when he saw the news.

Ring ring ring!

The phone rang twice, it was Ivanka calling, asking if he was home.

Link said he was home and asked her what time she got off work.

Ivanka said she was getting off work early today and would be back soon.

Link said okay, and that they would have dinner together when she got back.

(End of chapter)