King of Hollywood-Chapter 223 - 222 Clarification or Confusion

Chapter 223: Chapter 222: Clarification or Confusion

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Chapter 223: Chapter 222: Clarification or Confusion

“About that, I must apologize,” Adrian said, holding a cordless phone and looking out the window with a trace of a smile on his lips as if the person on the other end of the line were standing right in front of him. “I was too excited at the moment, so I didn’t realize there were paparazzi around. Sorry.”

“Alright, Julia, let’s not argue about this anymore. Let’s decide how to handle the situation first,” Adrian continued, “It doesn’t matter whether you want to announce it or keep it hidden, I won’t oppose your decision.”

Adrian waited for almost two minutes before he sighed, “Have you really decided, Julia? Really letting me handle it? I won’t be courteous, you know? Alright, then I’ll call you back in ten minutes after I discuss the specifics with my agent.”

After hanging up, Adrian chuckled and returned the phone to its place before walking out of the study. Everyone, when faced with choices, will try their best to choose the one most beneficial to themselves, and this is often the time that tests one’s intelligence and the ability to analyze and make judgments. So, who could say that Julia, who had handed over the decision-making power to him, wasn’t clever?

Adrian soon arrived in a small reception room, where his agent, Roger, and the general manager of the movie company, Jeff Payne, had already been waiting for him for a while.

“Sorry, that took a bit longer,” he said, waving to the two who had stood up, “Let’s sit down and talk.”

“So?” Roger made a gesture.

“I’ll make all the decisions,” Adrian chuckled, “Tell the media that Julia and I are just friends, but closer than ordinary friends. You can make it sound a bit ambiguous but definitely not conclusive. As for what happened at the time, I’ve already explained it, so there’s no need to repeat it. However, make sure to mention that I invited her to star in a new movie and the previous test screening. The company can use this opportunity to do some pre-promotion for ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’.”

‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ is different from ‘Schindler’s List’; the latter’s importance and the significance it entails far exceeds the former, hence it still needs more thorough promotion before its release at the end of the year. As for ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’, being a medium-budget production and a romantic comedy love story, it is very suitable to release before the end of summer. However, although Neville promised to complete it quickly, the promotional aspect might be tight, so Adrian thought to use the current opportunity.

The two, who were listening intently, nodded and then quietly discussed. A few minutes later, Roger spoke first, “I know what to do, Ed. I’ll arrange everything as soon as possible. Of course, if you have anything to add or any decisions to make, please inform me first.”

“No problem,” Adrian smiled and then looked at Jeff Payne.

“I don’t have many issues either,” said Payne with a gesture, eyes unwaveringly fixed on Adrian.

“It’s okay. Since I’ve made this decision, I naturally accept the consequences that follow,” Adrian said, waving his hand dismissively and then sighing inwardly. He didn’t think there was anything inappropriate about it; after all, using a scandal to hype a movie wasn’t unprecedented. Besides, it would be an opportunity to test Julia’s intentions. It was just that, though he could now be considered a Hollywood up-and-comer from almost every angle, his media influence still couldn’t match that of the veterans. If it were Redstone or Murdoch, there wouldn’t be so many entertainment media flocking to the frenzy.

Despite the sigh, Adrian didn’t take it entirely to heart, convinced that he would eventually reach that height. For now, the question was, who tends to get reported more in these situations, directors or stars?

Seeing the boss was not worried, Roger and Payne felt they didn’t need to be overly concerned either. After discussing for a few more minutes, Charlize knocked on the door and entered, “Ed, your guests have arrived.”

Adrian didn’t reply but looked at the two in front of him. Roger and Payne stood up when they realized it, “If there’s nothing else, we’ll leave first, Ed.”

“Let it be,” Adrian stood up as well, escorting them out before turning to Charlize, “Have them sit here. I’m going back to the study to make a call and will be right back.”

“Got it,” Charlize watched him, her gray-green eyes seemingly carrying a hint of disdain, which quickly changed to a ‘how could you do that’ expression as Adrian pinched her pert bottom neither too lightly nor too heavily.

Hypocritical little lamb. Shaking his head with a smile, Adrian went to the study, called Julia back, and then returned to the reception room where Liv Tyler and her agent were already waiting, her mother not accompanying her.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect it to be so lively today,” Adrian said with a smile.

“It’s okay, my mom always says that some things are unexpected,” Liv said generously, her lips slightly upturned and her blue eyes wide open with an air of Innocence. One just couldn’t tell what lay beneath that innocence.

The reason she was Here was because Adrian had run into her last night at Dennis’s party. As to why she, a stranger to Dennis, could attend the party, it was obvious once one considered where her agent worked.

Having met her, it was inevitable that Adrian would have a chat with Liv. He had already seen the upcoming MTV at the record company, where the director had captured Liv’s essence perfectly, emphasizing her innocent charm.

Once the MTV was released, Liv would be considered to have officially debuted, so Adrian figured it was time to prepare a movie for her. But choosing the right movie required careful consideration; after all, although she had been in several movies, they were mostly decorative roles, even the epic that made her famous. However, being a decorative figure wasn’t bad, at least in Adrian’s eyes, Liv was best suited as a beautiful vase.

But choosing a movie was indeed troublesome. It wasn’t like he could rush out Armageddon, could he? Michael Bay was still struggling with his first movie, not to mention Liv was a bit young for it.

However, with his memory library, Adrian encountered no difficulties and found a suitable script after only half an evening’s search. And this script could help him out quite a bit. Of course, before that, he had to have a good talk with Liv. Although he hadn’t interacted with her much, she always gave him the impression of being indifferent to everything. He wanted to know her character thoroughly because only by fully understanding a woman could he get closer to her.

“Ms. Toli, your agent, must have already given you a rough idea,” Adrian said, pointing to the woman of about 35 by her side. “Now, let’s talk specifics.”

“Okay.” Liv nodded, maintaining her smile, but her eyes on Adrian were tinged with curiosity.

Sensing this, Adrian raised an eyebrow and then casually began to speak, “Regarding…”

=================================

As both parties issued statements through their agents, the rumor started to slip into unpredictable territory. Their statements were essentially the same, with little to no difference, and they were released almost simultaneously, which clearly indicated a coordinated effort.

But it was this very coordination that made people more suspicious. If it was, as they claimed, just a casual outing among friends, why issue statements in such a obviously problematic way? Why not have one release their statement first and then the other a few hours later?

Moreover, the statements themselves were intriguing. Although they only acknowledged a casual meeting, both parties also expressed that the other was a charming woman (man) and hinted that they might try dating. This suggestion was very subtle and went unnoticed except by veteran gossip journalists.

This made things even stranger. Whether or not there were any further relations, or if they were indeed dating, it would have been appropriate to clarify immediately. Yet now both used this method to release statements that seemed somewhat ambiguous… What exactly did this mean?

Thinking it over, the journalists couldn’t come up with a rationale. The most likely answer was that Adrian and Julia were indeed dating, and they wanted to muddle the waters to hide this fact. Yet if so, the approach seemed rather clumsy.

Just as they were confounded, another statement arrived. It couldn’t be called a statement, perhaps more an explanation, which detailed everything about that evening. It mentioned that the date occurred after the screening of a new movie, to discuss a role in the new film, and that Adrian originally invited Julia to star in Four Weddings and a Funeral after having specifically modified the story for her, and so on.

What stood out most was Adrian’s strong condemnation of the paparazzi for distorting the truth, deliberately changing the angle to make it look like a kiss—practically a tacit admission that he had kissed Julia, even if it was just on the cheek.

If one only read the beginning, it might seem like he was simply looking to hype the new movie. But the latter part muddled things again—what were they trying to convey?

In such a situation, the happiest were clearly the tabloid journalists. They could write as they pleased, boldly hypothesizing yet carefully verifying, words like “possibly” and “maybe” serving as their get-out-of-jail-free cards. Especially Mattville Weekly, which originally broke the story, they would speculate incessantly: one moment claiming Adrian and Julia were definitely dating, another moment denying it, and still another suggesting it was all for the promotion of the new movie. Sometimes, they would run three different stories in the same issue, utterly ludicrous.

They could do this, but mainstream entertainment journalists couldn’t. They might still be entertainment journalists, but they were at least slightly more formal—they couldn’t engage in baseless speculations. So they were troubled. When had such rumors become a headache for them too?

(To be continued. For the continuation of this story, please visit www.qidian.com. More chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!)