A new explosive report in Vanity Fair written by Gabriel Sherman delves into
some of the family dynamics for Rupert Murdoch, the Murdoch family, if you will.
Not only does he like to pit his own children against one another when
it comes to the family business, but apparently he is a pretty callous
individual when it comes to telling his partner that he wants a divorce.
So let's talk a little bit about what the report said again written by
Gabriel Sherman.
He wanted to divorce his wife,
her name is Jerry Hall.
And so like if you're gonna tell your wife, all right,
it's just not working out, we should divorce.
You should maybe sit down in an intimate setting and have a heart to heart.
It's a difficult conversation to have, I totally understand.
What you probably shouldn't do is what Rupert Murdoch did.
Hall was waiting for Murdoch to meet her at their Oxfordshire
estate last June when she checked her phone.
Jerry, sadly I've decided to call an end to our marriage,
Murdoch's email began according to a screenshot I read.
We have certainly had some good times, but I have much to do.
My New York lawyer will be contacting yours immediately.
>> I mean, if you want to sell the idea that you are just too busy for love,
ending a marriage via an email is evidence towards that, I suppose.
>> He wanted to leave Jerry Hall for another woman.
He's 92, I just don't get it.
Like I'm 36 I'm so exhausted.
Like I just, really?
>> You need to spread your seed, your dried up husk of a seed.
That's what you need to, your dust, you need to spread your dust.
>> Where's the Jonah Hill gift when you need it?
>> Like it's basically like a person being Thanos every time he-
>> You got to stop, you got to stop,
you got to stop.
Terrible, terrible, terrible.
>> You wanted it to be spicy.
It's spicy.
>> Not in that way.
Now according to the report, Hall was blindsided by this sudden email.
>> Understandably.
>> Hall and Murdoch finalized their divorce two months later,
one of the terms of the settlement was that Hall couldn't give story ideas to
the writers on succession.
>> That cannot actually have been part of the agreement.
I mean, this already felt so much potentially like an episode of succession
but- >> Gabriel Sherman has all
the hot goss and there you have it, hot goss.
>> He didn't break the story about the dust though.
>> What was the story about the dust?
>> I just broke it.
>> No. >> But anyway, yeah, it's reprehensible.
Look, I have no doubt that being incredibly rich is nice.
But like I'm not saying you can't come up with one,
you probably can come up with one.
How many of the rich people that you know of seem to actually be enjoying it?
Or at the very least enjoying it anywhere in proportion to how much more money they
have than you or I.
Like does Rupert Murdoch seem like a happy person?
>> No, he doesn't. >> Like when you're not rich,
you should be waking up with a smile and going to sleep with a smile.
But they don't seem any happier than any random person.
>> They get obsessed with the money, they get obsessed with the, I don't know,
the notoriety, the power that they have because of their wealth.
And what they forget is that what makes life worth living is friendship and
love and personal relationships.
Like there have been past years at TYT where we've done well and
it's like, I hit all my goals and I got a nice little bonus and it makes me happy.
I don't wanna minimize that, but
definitely never as happy as coming home to my dog and my husband.
You know what I'm saying?
Look and I don't wanna minimize the financial needs that people have, but
at a certain point, the money just stops mattering as much.
>> And seemingly maybe starts to have not just diminishing returns but
negative returns.
>> Yeah, totally, I mean I feel like we see it all the time.
>> Yeah.
>> Now let's get into who Murdoch left Jerry Hall for because she is terrifying.
He left her for a woman named Ann Leslie Smith just months later.
This March, Murdoch announced that the couple was getting engaged.
Then two weeks later they ended their engagement.
>> Yeah, in this case, he had caught up with technology a little bit and
he sent a video of him dancing and pointing to, I'm gonna need a divorce.
I thought it was catchy tune actually, a lot of people tried to copy it.
Lady Gaga was best.
>> You're crazy.
So- >> Marriage has ended because of
that trend.
>> Don't say those kinds of things, okay, that's bad Juju.
Now according to the report, this is the reason for
Murdoch's sudden change of heart when it came to Ann Leslie Smith.
One source close to Murdoch said he had become
increasingly uncomfortable with Smith's outspoken evangelical views.
She said Tucker Carlson is a messenger from God and he said,
nope, this source said.
>> I take back every insult that I have thrown his way.
I'm now in favor of him and I hope he finds love.
>> No he's not, he still employs Tucker Carlson, come on.
>> Yeah, but he clearly doesn't respect him, which isn't as good as firing him,
but it's better than respecting him,
assuming anybody does including his family.
>> And you should keep in mind that a spokesperson for
Murdoch declined to comment.
>> Couldn't have even sent an email.
No but seriously, like if I were in Murdoch's shoes, I'd be like no, I didn't.
That's a lie, I didn't say that.
>> I see, you mean he's not denying it- >> He's not denying it.
>> For the purpose of Tucker Carlson.
Well, for all we know they hate each other.
It would just be another relationship that Tucker Carlson secretly harbors
resentment but has to pretend to be totally happy about.
>> And finally, if it makes you feel better, at least he's,
to your point John, a pretty unhappy person, he seems very miserable.
After interviewing dozens of people for this story,
I was struck by how sad all the Murdochs seem.
Some Murdoch profiles liken his late career arc to Shakespeare's King Lear.
I think the tale of King Midas is more accurate.
Murdoch built a $17 billion fortune out of a small newspaper company he
inherited from his father.
The only thing that mattered was profit, but amassing that wealth required
Murdoch to destroy virtually anything he touched, the environment,
women's rights, the Republican party, truth, decency, even his own family.
>> Yeah, I think it's true for a lot of them.
A lot of people, they're now at a point where they're making more money than
they ever could, generally from the same like right wing millionaires and
billionaires, and do they seem happy?
When their legacy reflects that that was a good choice, I don't know.
Like Tucker Carlson has multiple houses or whatever, but look at what his life is.
His entire life is a lie.
>> Yeah, what's the point?
>> It's a little bit of revenge.
Look, I'm sure he's convinced himself that the time he spends at
home surrounded by his kids who will grow up probably
like other young people to resent him in every thing he's done.
That that makes it worth it or
whatever, but it's just a very weird job to have your job be advocacy and
you can never actually advocate for the things you really want, because if you do,
you will lose your job and you'll lose your audience.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> That's just really weird.
Anyway, whatever. >> It's important to protect that freedom,
right?
And anyway, but the one other thing that stood out to me about Sherman's report
was, I love how I keep saying Sherman's report as if he like wrote a book report
or something, his report.
The part where Murdoch pits his children against one another and
apparently his daughter is pretty smart, like a pretty brilliant person.
And so when he was trying to decide, okay,
who will the air be, who will take over this news corp empire.
It's like, my daughter's really smart but she's a woman.
So you know what she did, she actually decided to quit and she branched out and
started her own media production company that's been wildly successful.
>> I almost could have told you that just because I watched Succession,
I could have told you exactly what the end story was gonna be.
>> No, it is insane how similar some of the elements of this new
story by Gabriel Sherman happened to be to succession.
>> I don't know who that daughter is or what company she started, but
I like Sarah Snook, so I'm on her side.
>> I like Sarah Snook too.
>> I know.
>> And I don't know if this makes me sound elitist, but I like the name Siobhan.
>> I like the nickname Shiv.
>> I like Shiv, I love the nickname Shiv.
>> Definitely.
>> So good.
>> Yeah, I think it's a cool name.