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Unscripted: The Redstone Family's Legacy and the Epic Battle for a Media Empire
In 2016, the multibillion-dollar entertainment conglomerate of Paramount, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, Showtime, and Simon & Schuster, Paramount Global, was in jeopardy. Sumner M. Redstone, its founder and head, was facing a very public lawsuit brought by Manuela Herzer, Sumner's former romantic partner. The lawsuit showed Sumner's deteriorating health and questionable judgment.
Sumner had been a relentlessly demanding boss and father, one of the last in a long line of all-powerful media moguls. Shari, Sumner's daughter, faced hostility from boards and management when she took over her father's business after years of hearing Sumner disparage her. CBS's well-known CEO, Les Moonves, devised a plan to remove Shari from power with the help of his allies on the board because he felt particularly threatened. Moonves, on the other hand, began working behind the scenes to make the stories about his involvement in multiple instances of sexual misconduct disappear while he was publicly fighting Shari.
From Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams, Unscripted is an explosive and unfiltered look at the usually secret inner workings of two public companies, their boards of directors, and a wealthy, dysfunctional family in the midst of seismic changes. Stewart and Abrams revealed the struggle for power at any cost—and the bloodshed that followed—through the microcosm of Paramount, whose once-victorious business model of cable fees and ticket sales is crumbling under the assault of technological advancements. Additionally, their workplace is undergoing radical change in the wake of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and a disdain for the old guard.
Sumner had been a relentlessly demanding boss and father, one of the last in a long line of all-powerful media moguls. Shari, Sumner's daughter, faced hostility from boards and management when she took over her father's business after years of hearing Sumner disparage her. CBS's well-known CEO, Les Moonves, devised a plan to remove Shari from power with the help of his allies on the board because he felt particularly threatened. Moonves, on the other hand, began working behind the scenes to make the stories about his involvement in multiple instances of sexual misconduct disappear while he was publicly fighting Shari.
From Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams, Unscripted is an explosive and unfiltered look at the usually secret inner workings of two public companies, their boards of directors, and a wealthy, dysfunctional family in the midst of seismic changes. Stewart and Abrams revealed the struggle for power at any cost—and the bloodshed that followed—through the microcosm of Paramount, whose once-victorious business model of cable fees and ticket sales is crumbling under the assault of technological advancements. Additionally, their workplace is undergoing radical change in the wake of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and a disdain for the old guard.
188 pages, Paperback
Published February 15, 2023
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August 30, 2023
Maybe not the best written book, but an incredible family story
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