Chapter 236 236
"This is a trap." Joseph couldn't believe it, his face stiffened, "And I stepped in like this!" Joseph was blaming himself for his dereliction of duty, and he didn't do a good job as an agent Not only did he not have the responsibility that a person should have, but he also took the initiative to beat the reporter.
Although it is said that the tragedy of Hugo's direct beating of the reporter was avoided, for any artist, the manager is actually a community of interests with Hugo, inseparable. What's more, the current Joseph is more like Hugo's manager and has a closer relationship. Therefore, Joseph beating reporters is no different from Hugo beating reporters. Maybe the negative impact can be smaller, but it is not much smaller.
"Me too." Hugo looked at Joseph and said, which made Joseph stunned, "Remember? I shook my fist at that damn reporter, just one step slower than you!"
Joseph shook his head, hugged his head angrily, and said in a low voice, "But I should stop you, I should keep calm."
"Joe, wake up, it's not your fault." Carl was sitting next to Joseph, and he quickly spoke to comfort.
"Yeah, if it was me, I would have stepped forward and punched that damn bastard!" Alex also echoed.
Charlize closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "You are not helping." Then Charlize looked at Joseph, "Joe, this is not the time to take responsibility for each other, no matter whose fault it is, it has happened, we must Find a way to solve it. According to Hugo, the reporter is obviously crazy, he is doing everything to change this news, and the news will come in tomorrow. If we are not prepared, things will only happen Worse."
Charlize used "we" instead of "you". Hugo noticed this detail. First there was the comfort of Meryl, Jack, Al and others, and now there is a group of friends who share the same hatred, which finally made Hugo recover. A little confidence, maybe the entertainment industry is really sinister, and things like Anthony will emerge in an endless stream, but at least he has this group of friends by his side.
"Of course, there's nothing wrong with you and Hugo at all. It's all planned by that damn bastard." Charlize also mumbled angrily. Although she has been keeping calm, she has no choice in her heart. Forgive the reporter's nonsense.
Hearing Charlize's muttering, although the atmosphere was tense at this time, the corners of Hugo's mouth couldn't help but lift up.
"So, what should I do now?" Alex said, but the response was zero, and everyone fell silent.
Now everyone knows what will meet Hugo and Joseph tomorrow, but no one knows whether Anthony will have any follow-up in the future. To make matters worse, both Hugo and Joseph thought about Tracy and Long, whether the two of them would fall into trouble, or to further imagine whether Anthony's provocation today was the presence of the two of them behind him.
Thinking about it carefully, Anthony's topic today is not made out of thin air. The first is awards, the second is big names, the third is plagiarism, and the fourth is Uma. Any of these topics are nonsense. But in Anthony's mouth, there is a source of firm belief, so where is this source?
Joseph's first reaction was to look up at Charlize. Sure enough, he saw that Charlize's eyes fell on Uma, which made Joseph turn his attention to Uma. In fact, what these four topics have in common today is Uma.
Regarding the discussion of awards, Hugo has always been in Malibu, and he has not had any communication with his friends. Even if there is, it is only Uma; Hugo's friends know about the big name, and naturally Uma is also included; as for plagiarism It can be considered that Anthony has a heart to pour water, after all, this is speculation without any source; in the end, it is said that Uma came to the throne through Hugo, which reminds Joseph of the conversation between Uma and Martin Baum on New Year's Eve, and Uma And chose to stay at Sidney Pollack's party...
More importantly, Uma's performance tonight was so strange that Joseph couldn't remember clearly during the entire confrontation, but he remembered that when Hugo was talking to Meryl Streep and others, Uma was standing two steps away from him, her head lowered and thinking about something. Joseph originally thought that Uma was frightened, but was worried about Hugo. But after that, Uma has been absent-minded. She was originally a person with a strong sense of existence, but after returning, Uma almost disappeared, always staying in her own world.
Joseph let out a long breath, forcing himself to stop thinking about it. Because Joseph knew that it was all speculation. Joseph knew that his conjecture was also without any basis. It was like Antony's slander against Hugo. If he said it casually, it would be a slander of Uma, which is irresponsible. What's more, Joseph knew that Hugo believed in Uma, and Uma had no reason to kill Hugo. Therefore, Joseph couldn't help but withdrew his gaze. He and Charlize's eyes crossed each other, looked at each other, and then turned away from other places.
In the silence, Carl's voice came over, "Or, Tracy...or Lang..."
"No, of course not!" Hugo said decisively, he knew what Carl meant, and no matter who was behind the incident, or whether Tracy and Lang were not involved, just talking about connections, Tracy West and Lang have a great advantage, they can help too much. But Hugo didn't mean to ask them for help at all, "I would rather rely on my own ability to handle it, no matter what the result is, I am willing to accept it!"
Hearing Hugo's affirmative answer, Carl shrugged and said nothing more. Hugo thought for a while, "It's not necessary to think about how things happened now, or what conspiracies are waiting for us in the future." Just now, Hugo's mind was also in chaos. Regarding Tracy and Lang, About Anthony, about the entertainment industry, about negative news, all kinds of thoughts are intertwined, so that he has no way to sort out a clue. Hugo is convincing himself and everyone.
At this moment, it is irrational to investigate the source of no clue and the future without any signs. After all, I am in the open and the enemy is in the dark, that's all.
"I think..." Hugo's voice regained a touch of warmth, but it was more firm than usual, "I think we should take the initiative to admit our mistakes in front of the media, and don't bother with them..."
"Why!" Alex interrupted Hugo directly, he felt incomprehensible, "It's obviously that damn reporter who provokes you, it's obviously that he keeps slandering you and insulting you, why should we admit our mistakes? , why! It's not fair!"
"Alex..." Hugo tried to say something, but Alex stood up impulsively and shouted angrily, "We should take the initiative to expose the reporter's disgusting behavior, we must fight to the end, this It's not allowed. Today he can insult you, but he bows his head when he sees you. In the future, everyone can insult you, there is no end!"
No one stopped Alex, because everyone knew that what Alex said made sense, and even Hugo had no way to refute it.
"But we have no evidence." Hugo said weakly, "We have no evidence that the reporter slandered me. It happened so fast, and no one around heard our conversation. If he did not take the initiative to provide the evidence , we have no way to prove that he deliberately provoked."
"And, when it comes to slander, you know, it's not easy," Hugo added.
Defamation is a tricky crime in the United States.
In the United States, which advocates freedom of speech, every citizen is free to express his or her political views and criticize the government's inappropriate policies. Even if your criticism lacks factual basis or is completely untrue, the government will not sue you for defamation.
Purely in theory, if you use false language to publicly attack others, causing economic or reputation damage to the other party, it constitutes a crime of defamation, but the actual situation is far more complicated than this.
There are two types of people in the United States that are hard to sue for defamation if they are publicly scolded. One is a government official and the other is a celebrity. As a government civil servant, you must endure the pain of being scolded by others. Even if the scolding of the other party is completely untrue, you cannot sue the other party for slander. As a celebrity, the same is true, because as a public figure, other people's abuse can only be tolerated by the parties involved. If you sue others because of being scolded, you generally won't win.
In order to protect the freedom of speech to the greatest extent, it is difficult for celebrities to win the lawsuit through legal channels when they are attacked or even defamed. The biggest reason why it is so difficult is because the reports on celebrities are often based on the wind, which is to satisfy the basic rights of the public to know and freedom of speech. Among the conditions for a defamation conviction, it must be able to prove "economic or reputational damage."
Naturally, economic or reputational damage cannot be justified. For example, if someone rumours that the person concerned has an infectious disease or a bad habit, so that the person concerned loses a job with an annual income of $100,000, then the person concerned has real evidence to sue him for defamation. In order to prove that they have suffered economic losses, the personal income of the parties may be disclosed; in order to prove their mental losses, the medical expenses of the parties may be disclosed, and so on. If you don't want to make it public, or you can't come up with real evidence, it's best not to sue people for slander easily, otherwise it will be a waste of energy, time and legal fees.
Celebrities, who happen to be unable to show real evidence in this regard. Because as a public figure, it is a profession under the limelight, and most of the "slander" imposed on him is only one of the entertainment effects, and the harm caused cannot be evidenced at all. For example, public figures put forward evidence that because they slandered themselves and lost an interview opportunity, virtual things such as "interview opportunities" cannot be submitted as evidence. Therefore, it is obviously not a wise behavior for public figures to use slander against the media.
Hugo, without a doubt, is one of the public figures.
"Besides, even if we prove that he slandered, the fact that we beat the reporter is a fact. He not only has evidence but also physical evidence. The wound on his face is the best evidence. I can even imagine that he deliberately The situation in front of the media with a face full of wounds." This is the root cause of Hugo's courage to admit wrong ideas, because the facts cannot be changed, and the courage to take responsibility is the right choice instead of avoiding responsibility.
"I should have hit him." Joseph said in a low voice, although it was just his exclamation, but at this moment there was an inexplicable sense of joy, which made several people in the room snort, and couldn't help laughing. Voice. Hugo nodded even more, "Yes, you should smash your fists on him where you can't see it, such as ribs or buttocks."