Aussie Publishing Wars

High drama as an ex-pat Aussie media man takes legal action against high profile journalist Ronan Farrow (pictured right) who wrote the 2017 New Yorker "expose" on Harvey Weinstein that kicked of the so-called @MeToo movement. He won a 2018 Pullizer Prize for that reporting.
Farrow is the son of actress Mia Farrow and director Woody Allen and the grandson of legendary Australian film writer and director John Farrow who found fame in Hollywood in the 1940s.

Enter from stage right heavyweight publisher Dylan Howard who was brought up in Geelong outside Melbourne and who studied journalism at Deakin University. After working on the daily Geelong Advertiser in 2009 Howard decamped to the US to work as a TV reporter for Kerry Stokes' Seven Network.

Howard left, has become a pretty high powered media personality over the years managing publications like Us Weekly and OK! as well as editing the hugely popular celebrity gossip tabloid the National Enquirer which no US supermarket worth it's salt would dare not feature at the check-out counters.
Recently, with a weekly circulation of over 270,000 the Enquirer was sold for $US100M.

Back to Ronan Farrow who is this month releasing an anticipated tome called Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators which rumours say will document claims Howard attempted to dig up information on Weinstein accuser Rose McGowan ( well he is a journalist- sort of his job really..a bit like Farrow's) along with other tales about US president Donald Trump.
Apparently M'Learned Friend has been contacted by Howard with high powered US, UK and Australasian law firms telling all and sundry in the book business..publisher, retailers etc they could be in line for a legal rumbling should anything untoward appear about their client.

Ronan is the image of his grandfather John Farrow. His book is due to be published on October 15th.

Will there be Redemption?

While the world is still reeling from sexual harassment accusations about Hollywood movie stars and producers, two events in New York illustrate how things may eventually end up.

Whisper's spy in the Big Apple and Hollywood disguised as Aspidistra plant in several upmarket venues spotted some interesting faces out and about recently.
Making his first appearance at a prestige NY event (according to those in the know) was Kevin Spacey accuser, actor Anthony Rapp who sang 2 songs from the musical Rent at the Harboring Hearts annual gala to raise funds for cardiac research.

Anthony Rapp (second left) and pals at the Harboring Hearts fundraiser.

Just days later a magnificent fundraiser was held at Hearst Castle in California the magnificent home built by the legendary US newspaper baron William Randolph Hearst. Our exclusive photos from the event give some idea of this splendorous home where Hearst threw some of the most amazing parties during the 1940s and '50s. When he died in 1957 he left the castle to the California state so the exquisite collection of antiques and art can be preserved and viewed by the public. Each year the Hearst Castle Preservation Society holds a shindig to raise funds and promote the estate.

Apart from the cream of LA society naturally there are numerous Hearst family members on hand and the above snap caught our attention. It's Patricia Hearst Shaw (above left) with Suzanne Tucker, and Wendy Stark.
Perhaps older readers may recall the extraordinary events of 1974 when Patricia, the grand-daughter of Randolph Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, a left wing revolutionary group. 

While police searched for the kidnapped heiress, suddenly she began appearing in a number of banks participating in bank hold-ups wielding a sub machine gun helping to raise funds for her captors.

Hearst was eventually arrested and jailed for 7 years and finally pardoned by President Bill Clinton. Now she's a regular again on the social circuit. 

Will Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein et all have to wait that long?

Below: some more snaps from the Hearst Castle bash.