Easter Sunday was very lively and warm.
The Westeros family invited many group executives and their families to go on a yacht to Santa Cruz Island west of Los Angeles for a picnic. During the period, they also organized various Easter activities for the children. The party did not end until the evening. , guests and hosts enjoy themselves.
Simon directly brought two Jennys and three children to appear in front of everyone this time, which was regarded as a public admission of some of the revelations made during this period.
The attendees were all core executives of the Westeros system. They had all heard about the close relationship between Simon and the female assistant, so they didn’t have any special feelings. They were sincere in their words towards a certain lucky little girl. Blessings, many women at the scene felt Simon's concern for the female assistant mother and daughter, and even expressed the emotion that "after decades of hard work, it is better to have a child."
The short-lived holiday warmth has not changed the political and public opinion chaos in the Westeros system at all.
Monday, April 4th.
After the Westeros system blocked the Hearst Group two weeks ago, it launched another more fierce offensive.
Paul Lamat, a former business owner who once ran an auto parts factory in Edwardsville, Illinois, pointed out that the local newspaper, the Edwardsville Reporter, had a personal relationship with a senior executive of the newspaper between 1986 and 1987. In his personal grudge, the "Edwardsville Reporter" published six consecutive false reports accusing companies under his name of tax evasion and product quality problems. These reports were later proven to be false because the authorities and partners were misled by the newspaper. The investigation and severance of cooperation eventually led to the bankruptcy of his factory.
Paul Lamat filed a lawsuit against the Edwardsville Reporter for malicious defamation resulting in serious damage to personal property, requesting a total of $60 million in various damages. At the same time, 263 workers who had lost their jobs due to the closure of the parts factory also jointly launched a class action lawsuit against the "Edwardsville Reporter", with the cumulative compensation amount exceeding US$50 million.
Attention turns to San Antonio, Texas, in the southern United States.
In 1991, a horrific case of a priest raping a boy occurred in San Antonio. There were as many as 21 victims recorded by the police.
The priest involved was eventually sentenced to life in prison.
Although justice has been delayed for many years, it has finally arrived.
However, during the investigation of the case, in order to pursue hot news and attract public attention, San Antonio's local "San Antonio Impression" continued to use direct or indirect methods despite explicit protests from many victims' families and even warnings from local prosecutors. The personal information of 15 of the victims was exposed, which eventually led to a 12-year-old boy committing suicide due to unbearable pressure. The personal lives of the other 14 children whose personal information was exposed were also seriously affected.
Now, 15 families have jointly filed a lawsuit against the "San Antonio Impression" for serious violations of citizens' privacy rights, demanding a formal apology and a total of $80 million in compensation for the 15 victims.
Connecticut, on the east coast of the United States, is adjacent to the city of Stamford to the north of Greenwich.
During the peak of the U.S. real estate bubble in the 1980s, a group of property owners in Stamford City purchased 61 apartments in a newly developed community with a total of 200 properties in the north of the city around 1986. As a result, these apartments were later found to have irregularities during the construction process. Asbestos material, a serious carcinogen, was used.
The real estate developers involved have gone bankrupt due to subsequent lawsuits and the economic turmoil caused by the 87 stock market crash. As a result, many owners have not been able to receive due compensation.
After many victims communicated with each other, they found that most of the owners chose to buy houses in that community because of the large-scale advertisements in the local "Stanford Advocate". The advertisements at that time even used the words "energy saving and environmental protection". Class of serious fact words as propaganda slogans.
As a result, 61 property owners who were still trapped in the unfinished community filed a lawsuit against the Stanford Advocate on the Monday after Easter on suspicion of false advertising and other crimes, demanding a public apology from the newspaper and a total compensation of more than 6,000. Tens of thousands of dollars in compensation for personal property damage, potential health damage, and other damages.
The exposure of three lawsuits with a cumulative claim amount of US$250 million directly shocked American society, and large traditional media groups in North America even felt a chill down their spines.
There is no doubt that the three newspapers hit by the lawsuit are all media companies owned by Hearst Corporation.
Moreover, in these three lawsuits alone, the huge claims of US$250 million are equivalent to one-tenth of the total assets of the Hearst family.
The Westeros system made no secret of the fact that it was the driving force behind these three lawsuits. Detailed reports of the three lawsuits that day appeared on the front page of the Igrit portal.
In comparison, a former Wei family maid who betrayed the Westeros family and was hit with a huge breach of contract lawsuit of 12 million US dollars on this day seems to no longer attract so much attention.
Under the intense attention of the entire American society, more news was exposed on the Internet and traditional media that day.
The initiators of the three lawsuits have hired the top legal teams in the United States with the help of a company called the Media Victims Legal Aid Foundation. Industry insiders predict that the huge amount of claims involved in the three lawsuits will be huge unless A settlement can be reached in the short term. Otherwise, the most conservative estimate is that the legal cost of each lawsuit will be more than ten million US dollars. If the three lawsuits continue for a long time, the cost will be inestimable.
Even if it is impossible to explore the details of the specific agreement signed by a foundation and the recipient, it is obvious that the Westeros system will certainly not easily accept the settlement of the Hearst Group.
On the other hand, as a defendant, any set of compensation amounts in the three cases will actually be enough to bankrupt the newspapers involved. After all, the entire Hearst Group's annual net profit in 1993 was only US$169 million, and even these The newspaper really went bankrupt because of the lawsuit. According to relevant federal laws, both the litigation costs and the final compensation will be borne by the parent company Hearst Group in the future.
Simon Westeros's move is definitely ten times more ruthless than the Hearst Group's previously unscrupulous exposure of other people's scandals. Of course, apart from Simon Westeros, no one else in the entire United States or even the world can afford this move.
Now, no matter how the Hearst Group responds, it will inevitably bear consequences that are even more serious than when it was blocked by the Westeros system half a month ago.
If you deal with this lawsuit passively, then wait until you lose the lawsuit and pay a compensation of US$250 million.
If we respond proactively, the costs borne by the Westeros system for each lawsuit will not be less than tens of millions, and the Hearst Group cannot pay less than Simon Westeros.
The only solution to this matter is to reach a settlement quickly.
However, the conflict between the two parties has lasted for several years. In the past week, the entire Hearst Group has spared no effort to expose all kinds of unknown privacy of Simon Westeros. It has become a conflict. Westeros obviously cannot agree to it. Reconcile quickly.
Not only that, the three lawsuits exposed today are likely just the beginning.
Now that he has figured out this trick, there is no way that Simon Westeros can only use it three times.
In CNN’s report on this incident that afternoon, a law professor from Columbia University analyzed that according to the materials that have been exposed, the biggest reason why Simon Westeros took the lead in filing these three lawsuits may be these three lawsuits. The lawsuits are supported by relatively sufficient evidence.
Among them, in the case of the Illinois Auto Parts Factory, the victim Paul Lamarte had actually been suing that newspaper for many years. However, before the Westeros system provided support, he had already faced the powerful Hearst Group. Ramat, who was left alone after his company went bankrupt, had no chance of winning.
The professor also pointed out that Simon Westeros did not directly file a lawsuit against the Hearst Group for the false revelations he encountered during this period, but indirectly chose to support the victims of vulnerable groups at the bottom of society. The decision-making is even more subtle.
If Westeros sues the Hearst Corporation based on their own experiences, it will be difficult to gain support and sympathy from the media and the public. Everyone will just watch the tit-for-tat confrontation between the two major consortiums with a lively attitude.
Now this indirect way of attacking the Hearst Group, especially the case in Illinois, has not forgotten to involve hundreds of employees who lost their jobs due to the bankruptcy of the auto parts factory. The plaintiffs in the other two cases are also from the public. If they are at the bottom, then, whether it is active or forced, media public opinion is unlikely to show a harsh and hostile attitude, and the general public will only be inclined to express sympathy for them.
Suddenly becoming the defendant in three huge lawsuits claiming compensation, Hearst Corporation certainly will not remain indifferent.
On Monday afternoon, many Hearst Group evening newspapers slammed the three lawsuits on their front pages as having ulterior motives controlled by Simon Westeros, and accused Simon of using his huge financial resources to humiliate the United States. The freedom of the press, which has existed for more than two hundred years, is a serious violation of the First Amendment to the Federal Constitution guaranteeing freedom of the press.
Ygriet Portal immediately responded to the Hearst Group’s accusations.
Press freedom is never absolute freedom.
The Hearst Corporation used its so-called freedom of the press to wantonly slander and slander other companies, causing huge property losses to taxpayers and hundreds of workers' unemployment. It also used its so-called freedom of the press to inflict secondary harm on victims of sexual assault cases. Press freedom creates false propaganda for real estate developers, causing double damage to citizens’ property and personal health. This is not freedom.
This is a crime!
In addition to the direct counter-attack article, the Igret portal immediately re-exposed the Hearst Group's past abuses of news dominance in the form of a large feature.
At the end of the 19th century, in order to promote the sales of their own newspapers, the Hearst family used quite despicable means to provoke a war between the United States and Spain, which directly led to the tragic deaths of tens of thousands of people on both sides of the war.
In 1901, because supporters of the Hearst family were defeated in the presidential election, newspapers under the Hearst Group went so far as to frantically incite the public to assassinate the president, which ultimately led to the assassination of the 25th President of the United States, William McKinley. There are even newspapers containing articles inciting the assassination published by the Hearst family.
In 1909, because they could not get enough news materials about the First World War, the Hearst Group simply organized a group of people to fabricate news out of thin air, resulting in the sensational "International News Agency Fraud Case."
The list goes from the 1890s to the 1990s.
All kinds of things.
Not to mention the 'yellow journalism' standards created by the Hearst Group, which still seriously interfere with the fairness and seriousness of news media around the world.
The fierce war of words continued until Tuesday, when the Igret portal suddenly announced again that Daenerys Entertainment would join forces with Time Warner to re-screen the Hollywood classic "Citizen Kane" in major theaters in North America on April 22.
As we all know, the protagonist of "Citizen Kane" is based on William Hearst, the first generation head of the Hearst family.
The news article also specifically excerpted a scene from "Citizen Kane" that makes people shudder when thinking about it. Kane asked the reporter in Cuba to write some poems describing the tragic local war scenes. The reporter reported that there was no war there, and Kevin responded with a telegram. : "Dear Whit, you write the poetry and I will provide the war."
No matter how hysterical and angry the Hearst family was, the subpoenas for the three lawsuits were delivered to the heads of the corresponding newspapers under the Hearst Group on the third day after the lawsuit was launched with a rare efficiency in the US government department.
At this point, the Hearst family, which had been arrogant for a century, finally realized what kind of behemoth they were facing, and finally realized how vulnerable their media weapons, which had frightened the American shopping and political circles in the past, were in the face of absolutely overwhelming power.
Out of a sad mentality, other media groups in the United States have more or less raised objections to Simon's behavior. However, following the Hearst family's experience, these voices were very cautious.
In the political world, among the many candidates for Congress who are busy preparing for the mid-term elections, even David Meloth, who is supported by the Hearst family, has chosen to remain silent, but there are always some who stand out.
Wisconsin Democratic Senator Craig Ames, who has always clung to the Westeros system, very tactfully expressed sympathy and support for the plaintiffs in the three lawsuits, and immediately pointed the finger at Simon, saying again that this Although the young super-rich man has done something right for the time being, his huge wealth still needs to be strictly limited, otherwise it will inevitably cause potentially huge damage to American society.
The Eaglet Portal simply did not respond to Craig Ames's remarks. After all, the response was to increase the other party's popularity. The Westeros system's team responsible for attacking this far-left congressional candidate has quietly entered Wisconsin. This is the main force to attack the opponent.
Since it is a "litigation bombing" plan, there are certainly more than three lawsuits against the Hearst Group.
As analyzed by some media, the main reason for choosing these three cases is that the evidence is relatively conclusive, and the victims of the three lawsuits are relatively vulnerable groups. Even if they are not affirmed, most media dare not speak out harshly.
In addition to the three lawsuits, the team headed by Jennifer's uncle George Norman is also collecting information on as many as 27 other potential lawsuits. Most of the claims will not be as large as the three that have been made public. It is eye-catching and will be thrown out one after another in the future, which is enough for the Hearst Group to run out of money.
Although there was no clear announcement of recruitment, after the opening of these three lawsuits, more victims of the Hearst Group's media have contacted the Westeros system, hoping to obtain legal aid.
In the next few years, even if none of the lawsuits are won, the huge litigation costs will be enough to erode all the profits of the Hearst Group and further devour the foundation of the Hearst family.
What's more, it's impossible to win every lawsuit.
Simon’s requirement for those top law firms is that if they win the case, there will be a steady stream of cooperation in the future. If they lose, there will be no future.
Therefore, the actual situation is that the chances of winning most lawsuits are actually very high.
Even if the final compensation amount may not reach the lawsuit figures, as long as any lawsuit is successful, the huge claims are basically enough to bankrupt a newspaper under the Hearst Group.
While the Hearst family was struggling to deal with a series of sudden lawsuits, the huge Westeros system was not disturbed much and continued to operate as usual.
Wednesday, April 6th.
When most of the media and public attention fell on the litigation dispute between the Westeros system and the Hearst Corporation, Daenerys Entertainment Group, one of the core companies of the Westeros system, officially filed a complaint with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC) submits an IPO application.