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Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Hollywood Media Empire Paperback – February 16, 2023

by James B. Stewart (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 913 ratings
Editors' pick Best Books of the Year 2023
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PRIZE-WINNING AUTHORS: James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams have both independently won the Pulitzer Prize for their investigative reporting.
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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Cornerstone Press
  3. Publication date
    February 16, 2023
  4. Dimensions
    6.02 x 1.18 x 9.21 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1529912857
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1529912852
  7. See all details
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  1. Shari realized a fundamental difference between her and her father: he always had to win. She just didn’t want to lose.
    Highlighted by 121 Kindle readers
  2. Over the years Sumner amended his trust more than forty times to add and remove numerous beneficiaries, many of them women he dated. Dauman, who as a cotrustee of Sumner’s trust was aware of many of the gifts, acknowledged that “several” women received over $20 million each, “a lot” of women received over $10 million, and “many, many” women received over $1 million.
    Highlighted by 100 Kindle readers
  3. “Why are you so mean to people?” Peters asked. “I don’t care,” he replied. “I’m going to hell anyway.”
    Highlighted by 99 Kindle readers
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cornerstone Press (February 16, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1529912857
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1529912852
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.17 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.02 x 1.18 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 913 ratings

About the authors

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  1. James B. Stewart

    James B. Stewart

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    James B. Stewart is the author of Heart of a Soldier, the bestselling Blind Eye and Blood Sport, and the blockbuster Den of Thieves. A former Page-One editor at The Wall Street Journal, Stewart won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for his reporting on the stock market crash and insider trading. He is a regular contributor to SmartMoney and The New Yorker. He lives in New York.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Rachel Abrams

    Rachel Abrams

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    Rachel Abrams is a Pulitzer and Emmy-winning journalist for The New York Times, and a co-author of "Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy."

    She is currently a senior producer and reporter for “The New York Times Presents,” The Times’s award-winning television documentary series for Hulu and FX. In 2022, she was part of the team that won an Emmy for “Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson,” and in 2018, she was part of the reporting team that won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for exposing sexual harassment and misconduct by Harvey Weinstein and other powerful figures.

    Prior to joining the NYTP, Ms. Abrams was a media reporter on The Times’s business desk. In 2019, Ms. Abrams, along with her colleagues James B. Stewart and Ellen Gabler, earned a Loeb Award for their article “‘If Bobbie Talks, I'm Finished’: How Les Moonves Tried to Silence an Accuser.” The story exposed how Mr. Moonves’s attempts to bury a sexual assault allegation led to his ouster as the chief executive of CBS. The article formed the basis for "Unscripted."

    Ms. Abrams was also part of a group of reporters who covered a crisis at General Motors involving fatal ignition switches and the federal government’s inattention to vehicle defects, which resulted in stricter government oversight of the American auto industry and earned The Times the 2014 Scripps Howard award for public service reporting.

    Ms. Abrams is originally from Los Angeles and graduated in 2009 from New York University, where she majored in history. She covered the film industry for Variety before joining The Times in 2013.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
913 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Hisham Sabha
5.0 out of 5 stars Its a nice dive into brilliant business minds, yet deeply flawed
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2024
Verified Purchase
its a real treat to be able to get away into a salacious, lively, dramatic journey of great minds, who seem to have everything, yet totally unsettled. It seemed that an accomplished life, but without a healthy balance of principles, values and an unselfish drive to serve and help others could be meaningless. Its another example of how we cannot simply live a hedonistic life without a worthy purpose. Redstone was a very successful man, yet he nearly was not remembered fondly at his ending despite his fortune.
One person found this helpful
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Bruna Boyle
4.0 out of 5 stars Expertly reported, punchily written, but oh-so depressing
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2023
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Master class in reporting. And I love how the chapters were short and fact-filled — perfect for my ADD. The problem is the subject. It was devastatingly depressing. Old Sumner bereft of friends or family surrounded by prostitutes who wish for his death. Les Moonves’ treacherous treatment of women. I needed a bath to wipe away the dirty decrepitude of this ugly tale.
5 people found this helpful
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The Prophet
3.0 out of 5 stars Seems like the author took a side
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2023
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Pretty interesting. But this was a real battle. With very opposite views. One side won. And it seemed to not necessarily have to do with what was best for the company. Les Moonves, in many ways a highly successful executive, made some big mistakes, and lost it all as a result. Seems like his opponent, and their point of view was the author’s principal source.
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Robert Elisberg
5.0 out of 5 stars Of Paramount importance
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2023
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The book is terrific, impressively detailed research and highly readable, like a novel -- in fact, it's almost a real-life “Succession” story about the Sumner Redstone family and corporate scandals at Paramount/CBS/Viacom. (And it's not surprising that a deal was just signed to adapt the book into a limited series.)

Sumner Redstone is a Shakesperean character, triumphant, towering, profoundly flawed, and ultimately a tragic figure. Then add in the turbulent family drama, boardroom maneuverings, sexual lavishness, lawsuits flying all over the place with tens of millions of dollars regularly thrown around like pocket change, and twists and turns every step of the way, notably a daughter thrown into the middle of it all against her best inclination.

For reasons I can’t quite explain, non-fiction books about big business and Wall Street machinations are among my favorite reading. As a result, I personally cared more about the corporate boardroom part of the story than I did about the salacious Redstone tales, which make up the first of the book -- though those are critical to the whole story and I’m sure of great “gossip” interest to a great many people. In the end, the entire book is wonderfully done and fascinating.
11 people found this helpful
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David Shulman
4.0 out of 5 stars Sex, Lies and a Boardroom Battle
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2023
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James Stewart and Rachel Abrams have really written two books. The first is about the sexual proclivities of the media mogul and Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone and the second one is about the boardroom battle for the control of CBS which also involves the sexual proclivities of its CEO Leslie Moonves.

Sumner Redstone, a self-made billionaire, who in his 80’s has two live in paramours who try to take him for all he has got. The two paramours Sidney Holland and Manuela Herzer end up with over $150 million and almost succeeded in taking over his entire estate. They ultimately fail because Redstone’s estranged daughter Shari prevails in a legal fight to gain control over her father’s estate. The Redstone family seems to have put the “dys” into its dysfunctionality.

The second part of the book deals with Shari Redstone gaining control over CBS in an epic battle with Les Moonves. There are quite a few of boardroom machinations, but Moonves falls victim to the investigative reporting of the New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow. Moonves’ very aggressive behavior towards too many women finally caught up to him in the growing #MeToo climate. What is striking is that the CBS board was very nonchalant in dealing with all of the accusations facing Moonves. If Moonves didn’t mislead his board and its attorneys from the start, he just might have survived. Further all of the incidents discussed occurred prior to his becoming CEO of CBS. All of this corporate dysfunction is going on when CBS and Viacom should have been focusing on the competitive threat coming from streaming.

It is obvious that Shari Redstone talked the writers into adopting her view as to all that happened with her father and CBS. My guess is that her version of the events described are not quite accurate and she might be far from the aggrieved daughter depicted in the book.

Nevertheless, despite overdoing their view of “white male privilege” when they are really talking about the privileges of the very rich and powerful, Stewart and Abrams have brought us a behind the scenes of view of what can happen in the upper echelons of the media business.
18 people found this helpful
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carilynp
5.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood corporate greed gone wild
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2023
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Move over SUCCESSION, Sumner Redstone makes Logan Roy look like a sweetheart. Call it a family feud, an inside look at media mogul madness, a horrific look at yet another Me Too coverup, better yet, it’s all of the above on steroids and it’s so vile yet you can’t turn away from it.

It’s a well written, well researched, gossipy look at Sumner Redstone’s insane legacy, dysfunctional relationship with his daughter, bizarre bevy of women who glommed on to him, took advantage of him financially, the corruption behind Paramount/CBS/Viacom, and don’t even get me started on the despicable downfall of Les Moonves.

If you have any interest in Hollywood corporate greed or want to read about a real life Kendall/Shiv/Roman cage match, this is like a savory triple decker Vanity Fair article gone wild.
7 people found this helpful
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KimberlyT
5.0 out of 5 stars Book Club Choice
Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2024
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Is it possible to love a book that is 100% full of REPREHENSIBLE characters?

Yep.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Xavier
5.0 out of 5 stars Apasionante relato.
Reviewed in Mexico on March 9, 2023
Verified Purchase
Una saga impresionante que da testimonio de personajes muy controvertidos y un uso desmedido del poder. De lectura apasionante y cuyo tema tiene puntos de contacto con la TV serie Succession.
One person found this helpful
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Hewy
5.0 out of 5 stars Families!!!!!!
Reviewed in Australia on March 23, 2023
Verified Purchase
Power really does corrupt in this revealing biography of a powerful man, his ruthless and unrelenting life.
But also the heart-rending story of his daughter always seeking love and approval from this increasingly ‘monstrous’ man.
Each character is well-drawn and riveting.
As a co-written book it seamlessly moves at pace. Good writing.
We do get to know ‘too much’ of the oft times seamy lives of these entitled powerful people, but I guess this was Hollywood.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Inner workings of Billionaire empire
Reviewed in Canada on March 21, 2023
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Characters in story are almost fictional which makes an amazing reality
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Garry
5.0 out of 5 stars STUDIOS
Reviewed in Australia on June 3, 2023
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A POWERFUL READ BY THE AUTHOR THAT BROUGHT U DISNEY WARS.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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V.A.Carr
5.0 out of 5 stars Gobsmacking! Hard to put down!
Reviewed in Canada on June 27, 2023
Verified Purchase
Greed, power, control, from villain to victim. Truly gobsmacking real life story of Sumner Redstone. A hard book to put down.
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