Unscripted

<p><b>James B. Stewart </b>is a columnist for the<i> New York Times</i> and a professor at Columbia Journalism School. He is the author of books including <i>Deep State</i> <i>Tangled Webs</i> <i>Heart of a Soldier</i> <i>Blind Eye</i> <i>Blood Sport</i> and <i>Den of Thieves.</i> In 1988 he won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on the stock market crash and insider trading.<br><br><b>Rachel Abrams </b>was a media reporter for the<i> New York Times</i> and is now a senior producer and reporter for the television series <i>The New York Times Presents</i>. In 2018 she was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for reporting that exposed sexual harassment and misconduct.</p> Sex and power were the abiding obsessions of the colourful media mogul Sumner Redstone whose life and career only became more bizarre as he aged and family and friends sought to get their hands on his empire. The saga helped inspire the HBO series Succession; this deeply reported account shows the truth was if anything stranger. A real-life <i>Succession</i> . . . A deeply reported account of one of the trashiest episodes in recent business history . . . Masterful. Has a business book ever made you blush? . . . With soap-operatic twists and turns <i>Unscripted</i> makes the amped-up historical fiction of <i>Babylon</i> feel downright chaste by comparison The sordid family saga that makes <i>Succession</i> look tame Addicted to <i>Succession</i>? Well here's the real thing. <p><b>THE INSTANT <i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER<br><br>'A racy tale of big money bigger egos and #MeToo disgrace . . . Like a real-life blueprint for the TV show <i>Succession</i>' <i>The Times</i></b><br><br><b>'Jaw-dropping . . . So weird and compelling - I lost some sleep unable to put this book down - that the reader may be the only witness to this spectacle who never feels manipulated' <i>New York Times</i><br><br>'A real-life <i>Succession</i> . . . A deeply reported account of one of the trashiest episodes in recent business history' <i>Financial Times</i></b><br><br>__<br><br><b>How dysfunction sexual misconduct and scandal almost brought down one of Hollywood's greatest companies.</b><br><br><i>Unscripted</i> is the inside story of the struggle to control one of the world's great entertainment empires.<br><br>It is the story of the last great Hollywood mogul Sumner Redstone: the ninety-something founder of Paramount Global who well into his dotage and facing a scandalous lawsuit proves increasingly unable to run the sprawling company he has built.<br><br>It is the story of his daughter Shari Redstone: Sumner's heir apparent who despite being groomed for power for six decades struggles to assert her authority over the company and her family's legacy.<br><br>And it is the story of her challenger Leslie Moonves: the well-liked CEO of CBS who plots a coup to take control of the business - until news leaks that he is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct (allegations he has spent years trying to hush up).<br><br>The result is damning portrait of how money and power works in Hollywood now. It illuminates an industry struggling to adapt to the revolution brought by streaming #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. And it reveals the lengths people will go to in pursuit of power - and the carnage that ensues when they do.<br><br>__<br><br><b>Longlisted for the <i>Financial Times </i>Business Book of the Year Award</b><br><br><b>'Has a business book ever made you blush? . . . With soap-operatic twists and turns <i>Unscripted</i> makes the amped-up historical fiction of <i>Babylon</i> feel downright chaste by comparison' <i>Washington Post</i></b><br><br><b>'The sordid family saga that makes </b><i><b>Succession</b></i><b> look tame' </b><i><b>Esquire</b></i><br><br><b>'Addicted to <i>Succession</i>? Well here's the real thing.' <i>Hollywood Reporter</i></b><br><br><b>'The riveting <i>Succession</i>-esque tale of the fight for control of Paramount Global' <i>Vanity Fair</i></b></p> <p><b>'Addicted to <i>Succession</i>? Well here's the real thing.' <i>Hollywood Reporter</i><br><br>The shocking inside story of how dysfunction misconduct and scandal almost brought down one of Hollywood's greatest companies.</b><br><br><i>Unscripted</i> is the inside story of the struggle to control one of the world's great entertainment empires.<br><br>It is the story of the last great Hollywood mogul Sumner Redstone: the ninety-something founder of Paramount Global who well into his dotage and facing a scandalous lawsuit proves increasingly unable to run the sprawling company he has built.<br><br>It is the story of his daughter Shari Redstone: Sumner's heir apparent who despite being groomed for power for six decades struggles to assert her authority over the company and her family's legacy.<br><br>And it is the story of her challenger Leslie Moonves: the well-liked CEO of CBS who plots a coup to take control of the business - until news leaks that he is facing multiple allegations of sexual misconduct (allegations he has spent years trying to hush up).<br><br>The result is damning portrait of how money and power works in Hollywood now. It illuminates an industry struggling to adapt to the revolution brought by streaming #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. And it reveals the lengths people will go to in pursuit of power - and the carnage that ensues when they do.</p>