Chapter 280: Four Subpoenas
When the two were quietly talking, the mobile phone on the coffee table suddenly rang. The girl attentively took the phone and put it next to Eric"s ear, and leaned on him. Eric put his arm around the girl"s waist and pressed the call b.u.t.ton with his other hand. On the other end, Jeffrey"s concerned voice sounded: "Eric, are you okay now?"
"I"m fine, just watching the show. How"s the company doing?" Eric glanced at the TV, which was still showing the news. But his tone was inevitably a bit forced. He was not a person with an iron will, so how could he not feel anything after such a large-scale attack. If he had not made preparations beforehand, he would not know what he would do now.
The company is holding steady, but a few unimportant employees resigned today due to the pressure of public opinion, and I didn"t even try to retain them. Also, Robert tried to probe me in the afternoon, as if he wanted me to try to persuade you.
I guess he was prompted by some people. Don"t care about him, just do what you should do.
I understand, just want to tell you about this. What are you planning when to counterattack? Can"t let things develop like this?
Eric took a pause and then said, "It"s not the time yet. By the way, how about the money?"
Jeffrey heard the question with a heavy tone and said, "We are dragging it out. I went to Columbia and Fox myself, but I didn"t see anyone in charge. I asked Edward, he said if this kind of thing goes to court, we can definitely win, but it will take several months. As for loans, Caroline contacted several banks, and Citibank was interested. They agreed to loan us 50 million dollars, but then Disney and Fox sent out lawyer letters saying that there are problems with our contract. They prevented Citibank from lending us the money, and this issue has boiled over again."
"What do you think their purpose is for doing this?" Eric thought to himself and asked.
Jeffrey on the other side of the phone said, "I think it may be related to taxation, but if that is the case, I believe that the IRS would agree to delay our tax payments, as Firefly is a company with good operational conditions."
Jeffrey could think of it, and so could Erik. So he knew that the next storm was definitely about money, and it was probably a lot of money, otherwise the big companies wouldn"t be so desperate to prevent Firefly from getting the funding.
"Jeffrey, forget about those two sums of money for now, try to have Carolyn try for a loan. If the domestic banks don"t work, try abroad. Since Citibank is willing to loosen up, I"m sure there will be other banks willing to lend us."
"I know. Actually, Erik, Carolyn and I have another way of getting a loan, which is to mortgage the Firefly shares in our hands, so that other companies have no reason to block it."
Erik refused without thinking: "Jeffrey, there is no room for discussion on this matter. Our opponents are now trying in every way to get the Firefly shares, can you guarantee that I will get them back after I use them as collateral?"
"I can only mortgage a part of it, like 10%," Geoffrey said.
"No, Geoffrey. Let"s not talk about this anymore," Eric replied. "Since they have made their move, we can"t just sit here idle. We need to put a stop to the production of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and X-Files. In addition, they have sent out a message that Friends may not have a second season."
Hearing Eric"s silence, Geoffrey suggested, "Eric, why don"t I talk to Jennifer? She must have acted on impulse and now she will understand your predicament."
Eric sighed. When John Aniston called him the other day scolding him and warning him to stay away from his daughter, Eric said, "No need."
Jeffrey shook his head on the other end of the phone and said, "Okay, Eric, stop watching television and don"t read the newspapers anymore, you know they"re all fake. Find something else to do, like writing a script or something?"
Eric thought for a moment and said, "How about you help me find a band?"
"A band? What do you need it for?"
"Something creative, I want to make a song."
Jeffrey knew that Eric was knowledgeable about movie soundtracks and had seen him compose interludes himself, so he didn"t doubt anything and said, "Um... okay. What kind of band do you need?"
Eric said, "A rock band, industrial heavy metal, get me the best one."
"Uh... alright."
Eric hung up the phone after saying one more sentence, pushing away the girl who had been listening to him intently by his side, and he turned off the television, saying a few words, then went into his study.
The next day, Jeffrey brought the best rock band from Los Angeles to Eric"s mansion, along with a whole truck of sound production equipment. For the next few days, the paparazzi were still waiting for Eric to appear, and occasionally they could hear a faint rock sound from the mansion.
The turmoil lasted for a week, and Eric still did not make any response. But things did not dissipate, and protesters with banners appeared outside the Malibou Mansion and around the Firefly office building, demanding that Eric announce his withdrawal from the director circle and no longer "trouble" Hollywood. Some media outlets that wanted to remain impartial occasionally published some relatively reasonable a.n.a.lysis articles on this incident, but all of them were buried in the one-sided public opinion frenzy, after all, it was very consistent with many people"s dark desires to trample a famous and genius director and also a billionaire into the dust.
The start of a new week brought with it escalating turmoil, as Eric awoke to four summons from the Los Angeles County Court, delivered all at once.
John Barrymore, father of Drew Barrymore, stepped forward with a series of evidence accusing Eric Williams" former wife, Edie G.o.ddard, of neglecting their daughter and even allowing Eric to keep her as a pet, while simultaneously suing for custody of Drew and accusing Eric of violating his minor daughter.
A Los Angeles County government employee in charge of property management made the initiative move to expose that Eric Williams had used bribery and other illegal means to acquire fourteen acres of public land in Maribor Point.
An unknown Hollywood screenwriter, Randy Clapp, accused Eric Williams of plagiarizing his police-criminal movie, "Light Dark War," which he wrote five years ago, in the movie "Shadow War." He asked Eric Williams to pay him 20 million US dollars in compensation.
Eric Williams, the newly formed Sony Pictures, sued Columbia Pictures for the contract for "Running Out of Time" for allegedly fraudulent, and Eric received an unreasonable box office split, disrupting business rules.
When the news of the four lawsuits against Eric Williams came out, not only the media in North America, but also the whole Western world were focused on Eric. Up to now, many people are beginning to understand that the events of this period are far from as simple as they thought. Nevertheless, most people still just watch the development of the situation with a spectator att.i.tude.
In the Malibou Mansion, Eric and private lawyer Edward Lewis, who had just arrived, discussed the four lawsuits in front of them.
Eric listened quietly as Edward Lewis, his private lawyer, a.n.a.lyzed the situation. "Edward, no matter the outcome, just do your best," Eric said after the lawyer had finished speaking.
"That goes without saying," Edward said, nodding. "Of the four lawsuits, the one against Sony for breaching the contract is the simplest, as I was personally in charge of the negotiations. As for the other two..." He looked up at Eric. "When I helped you purchase the Malibou land, I did use certain tactics, but all in cash, so there"s no evidence. Even if it"s eventually proven, I won"t let it implicate you. Just claim that you were unaware of it."
Eric could tell Edward wanted to take the responsibility, and he nodded gratefully: "Thank you, Edward. Oh, and don"t worry about the lawsuit, I"ll take care of it."
"Are you sure?" Edward looked at Eric, "I was just about to say, this lawsuit is the most dangerous one, you may lose if you"re not careful."
Eric shook his head confidently: "Don"t worry, I won"t lose."
Edward wasn"t sure about the exact relationship between Eric and Famke Janssen, but seeing Eric"s decisive att.i.tude, he nodded.
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