Theories about impending divorce, after the couple got married in St Bride’s journalists ’church next to London’s Fleet Street six years ago, go from the tired couple to each other after a excessive period spent in confinement, to the point of speaking of Murdoch’s unhappiness over his wife’s drink. , which friends said was not excessive.
Over the weekend, Murdoch observers expected a clear indication of the status of the marriage at a family wedding. Charlotte Freud, whom society magazine Tatler called “possibly the most outrageous of Murdoch’s 13 grandchildren,” was to marry DJ and rapper Luke Dylan on a big family adventure.
Charlotte Freud is known as the most outrageous of Murdoch’s grandchildren. Credit: Instagram
Freud, granddaughter of the mogul and daughter of Elisabeth Murdoch and her ex-husband Matthew Freud, himself a great-grandson of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, once went out in a satirical Sloppy Joe “Trust Rupert Murdoch” sweater.
His father’s estrangement from his grandfather appears, but Hall, the former longtime partner of rock star Mick Jagger, was not expected to attend. Small news to the company’s Australian tabloids on Saturday confirmed the divorce.
Until now, the signs of a family schism centered around James, Murdoch’s second son from his marriage to journalist Anna Torv. The father and son’s move was noticed during his father’s 90th birthday party last September at the 11-pound ($ 19.5 million) Georgian 11-bedroom mansion in Holmwood, Murdoch and Hall at Chilterns, west London.
Rupert Murdoch and then his wife Anna Murdoch with their children Lachlan, James and Elisabeth in New York City in 1989.
The 150th birthday party, including host Barry Humphries, saw a long tribute video, edited by Elisabeth, starring eldest son Lachlan, Boris Johnson and former Australian Prime Ministers John Howard and Tony Abbott. It was said to include the melody of Succession, a little-disguised drama about a dysfunctional media dynasty. But James was absent from the party and the video.
Aside from his family, Murdoch had an urgent business reason to be in London. His new expensive talkTV news channel, starring former tabloid editor Piers Morgan, performs poorly in audiences, often surpassed by GB News, the rival channel run by Angelos Frangopoulos, the Australian who once went direct Sky News Australia.
Both channels are bleeding effectively, but Morgan’s poor ratings in particular have been seen by some as proof that the “age of rage” has passed.
This is a big issue for Murdoch, as his global offering has been based on offering readers and viewers of The Sun and New York Post, Fox News and Sky News Australia a steady stream of outrage.
Now, the U.S. defamation lawsuit filed by voting machine company Dominion could raise the limit on that strategy. He claims the Murdochs must have played a direct role in approving Fox’s coverage of the attacks on their voting systems as part of their coverage of Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen.
Donald Trump has been a favorite of Fox News presenters. Credit: Fox News
Last week, a judge dragged the Murdochs into the case after ruling that the facts alleged by Dominion supported the claim that Fox Corporation was “directly responsible” for what Fox News aired. The lawsuit is seeking $ 1.6 billion ($ 2.3 billion) in damages and is moving into the discovery phase, looking for memories and documents inside Fox that could catch the family.
Meanwhile, five years after Murdoch reached a $ 71 billion deal to sell his 21st Century Fox film and entertainment company to Disney, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan has tried to forge a growth path for the company. of news and television.
Lachlan Murdoch has been responding to criticism that Fox News is polarizing the U.S. electorate by pushing Fox Corp. to develop more sports betting and lifestyle content. The new areas “will give us our growth going forward,” Axios told US news site.
Meanwhile, in Australia, the betting strategy stalled, temporarily, when the Murdochs ’proposal to pay about $ 220 million to pick up the digital player PointsBet fell through. The company is expected to try again.
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Foxtel’s pay-TV subscriber numbers have dropped, but subscribers are ready for Binge and Kayo Sports drama broadcast service.
In the May election, readers and viewers seemed to ignore the company’s media attacks on Labor and independents “green green”, in the same way that Fox News’ support for Trump did not prevent his loss. electoral. In Britain, the company’s support for the Conservative Party is weaker, given the difficulties of the Johnson administration.
The Murdoch family has earned about $ 17 billion with news headlines, and their boss has never had a hard time generating them. Now the tycoon seems to be heading into the future with his fourth marriage behind him, with a business and personal life shaped by his continued habit of doing the unexpected.
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