Unscripted

Unscripted Plot Summary

Introduction

In the glittering world of American media, few figures have cast as long a shadow as Sumner Redstone. Born to humble beginnings in a Boston tenement, Redstone transformed a small chain of drive-in theaters into a global entertainment empire encompassing Paramount Pictures, CBS, and Viacom. His journey embodied the classic American success story: relentless ambition, ruthless determination, and an unwavering belief in his own vision. With his trademark declaration that "content is king," Redstone built a $40 billion media conglomerate through sheer force of will, controlling what millions of people around the world watched, listened to, and consumed. Yet beneath the veneer of corporate triumph lay a complex web of family feuds, boardroom battles, and personal scandals that would ultimately threaten to unravel everything Redstone had built. Through his saga, we witness not only the evolution of the modern entertainment industry but also the timeless human struggles that accompany great wealth and power: the complicated dynamics between fathers and children, the blurred boundaries between business and personal relationships, and the desperate quest for legacy and immortality. As Redstone's empire faced unprecedented challenges from both within and without, the question remained: would the dynasty he created survive its creator, or would it collapse under the weight of its own contradictions?

Chapter 1: From Boston Theaters to Media Titan

Sumner Redstone's path to media dominance began in Boston's West End, where he was born in 1923 to Belle and Michael Redstone (who had changed the family name from Rothstein to avoid antisemitism). Young Sumner was driven relentlessly by his mother's focus on academic achievement. "I had no social life. I had no friends," he later recalled of his childhood. This early pressure forged his competitive spirit and insatiable drive for success that would define his business career. After graduating from Harvard and serving as a code-breaker during World War II, Sumner joined his father's modest drive-in theater business, National Amusements. While other entertainment executives of his generation came from creative backgrounds, Redstone approached the industry with the analytical mind of a lawyer and the aggressive instincts of a street fighter. He transformed the family business by converting drive-ins into indoor multiplexes—he even claimed to have coined the term "multiplex"—and developed an encyclopedic knowledge of the film distribution business that would serve him well in later corporate battles. A formative experience came in 1979 when Sumner survived a devastating hotel fire in Boston, hanging from a window ledge as flames engulfed his hand and arm. The incident left his right hand permanently disfigured but seemed to instill in him a sense of invincibility. "I was enveloped in flames," he would later recount. "The fire shot up my legs. My bones were charred. My body was burned over 45 percent." His survival against the odds reinforced his belief that he was destined for greatness and could overcome any obstacle. The transformation from regional theater operator to global media mogul began in the 1980s, when Redstone started acquiring stakes in major entertainment companies. His opponents consistently underestimated his determination and business acumen. When competing for Viacom in 1987, executives dismissed him as a provincial Boston theater operator—an impression reinforced when he showed up at their New York headquarters wearing a sports jacket from discount retailer Filene's Basement with the tags still attached. This unassuming appearance masked a brilliant strategic mind and unrelenting will to win. His most dramatic corporate battle came in 1994 when he engaged in a fierce bidding war with Barry Diller for control of Paramount Pictures. When advisers cautioned about overpaying, Redstone famously declared, "I just want to beat Barry. Do what we have to do to win." This wasn't merely about business—it was personal. By 2000, at age 77, Sumner had completed his biggest conquest ever—Viacom's $40 billion acquisition of CBS. His fortune soared to an estimated $14 billion, and he had firmly established himself as one of the most powerful figures in global entertainment, controlling everything from MTV to Paramount Pictures to Simon & Schuster publishing.

Chapter 2: The Ruthless Pursuit of Power

Sumner Redstone's rise to media dominance was characterized by an uncompromising pursuit of power and an uncanny ability to identify undervalued assets. Throughout his career, he displayed a remarkable talent for recognizing the long-term value of content and distribution channels long before his competitors. "Content is king," became his mantra decades before streaming services made this wisdom conventional. This insight guided his acquisition strategy as he built his empire, piece by strategic piece. His management style was equally distinctive—and often brutal. Redstone cultivated a corporate culture that demanded absolute loyalty while offering little job security in return. He micromanaged operations across his vast empire, memorizing weekend box office figures and monitoring stock prices obsessively. His volatile temperament became legendary in Hollywood circles—he would erupt in profanity-laced tirades one moment and act as though nothing had happened the next. "I have a temper," he once acknowledged with characteristic understatement. "But I never lose control." Executives who crossed Redstone were swiftly removed, often in humiliating public fashion. When Tom Freston, who had built MTV into a global powerhouse, failed to acquire MySpace (which Rupert Murdoch's News Corp secured instead), Redstone fired him despite years of loyal service and exceptional results. Similarly, Redstone publicly dismissed Tom Cruise from Paramount after the actor's controversial appearance on Oprah Winfrey's show, declaring that Cruise's behavior was "not acceptable to Paramount." These high-profile terminations sent a clear message throughout his organizations: no one was indispensable except Sumner himself. Perhaps most revealing of Redstone's character was his relationship with Philippe Dauman, a Harvard-educated lawyer who became his most trusted lieutenant. Redstone treated Dauman almost like a son, rewarding his unwavering loyalty with increasing responsibility and compensation. "Philippe is one of the wisest men I have ever known," Redstone would say, praising Dauman's intelligence and judgment. Yet this relationship, like many in Redstone's life, was conditional—based on Dauman's willingness to execute Sumner's vision without question and defend his interests against all challengers, including Sumner's own daughter. By the early 2000s, Redstone had achieved a level of power few in the entertainment industry had ever wielded. He controlled not just what Americans watched in theaters and on television but increasingly influenced global media consumption through international expansion. At an age when most executives would be well into retirement, Redstone showed no signs of slowing down or relinquishing control. "Retirement is a synonym for death," he frequently told reporters who inquired about succession plans. This refusal to acknowledge his mortality or prepare for an orderly transition would eventually create significant challenges for his empire as he entered his ninth decade.

Chapter 3: Family Feuds and Corporate Battles

The complex relationship between Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari formed the backdrop for one of the most contentious succession battles in corporate America. Despite Sumner's public statements grooming Shari as his heir apparent, their relationship was fraught with conflict. Shari, a Harvard-educated lawyer who joined National Amusements in 1994, faced constant criticism from her father, who would praise her publicly one moment and humiliate her the next. The father-daughter tensions reached a breaking point over Sumner's decision to split Viacom and CBS into separate companies in 2005. Shari firmly opposed the move, arguing that the companies needed greater scale to compete effectively. When she continued to disagree, Sumner publicly attacked her in a letter to Forbes magazine: "While my daughter talks of good governance, she apparently ignores the cardinal rule of good governance that the boards of the two public companies, Viacom and CBS, should select my successor." His letter continued with a devastating assertion: "It must be remembered that I gave my children their stock" and "it is I, with little or no contribution on their part, who built these great media companies." Sumner's relationship with his son Brent was equally troubled. Unlike Shari, who had embraced the family business, Brent had pursued his own path before eventually suing his father in 2006, claiming he had been frozen out of decision-making at National Amusements. The lawsuit was settled with Brent receiving a reported $240 million buyout, effectively ending his role in the family business and leaving Shari as Sumner's only child still involved in the empire. As Sumner entered his late 80s, his personal life became increasingly entangled with his business affairs. His divorce from his first wife Phyllis after nearly 50 years of marriage was followed by a brief second marriage to schoolteacher Paula Fortunato, which ended in 2008. These personal upheavals coincided with growing questions about Sumner's health and mental capacity, creating uncertainty about the future leadership of his companies. The situation reached a crisis point during the 2008 financial meltdown when National Amusements, the family holding company that controlled Viacom and CBS, faced a severe debt crisis. As the company teetered on insolvency with $1.6 billion in bank debt, Shari took charge of debt renegotiations, demonstrating her business acumen and determination. She also leveraged her father's sudden financial vulnerability, threatening to file an 80-page legal complaint detailing his self-dealing in various transactions. Sumner had to make concessions: Shari kept her 20% stake in National Amusements and received a lifetime employment contract, ensuring she would remain involved in the company despite their personal conflicts.

Chapter 4: The Beverly Park Mansion Scandal

As Sumner Redstone entered his nineties, his Beverly Park mansion became the epicenter of what would later be described as a systematic campaign of elder abuse. Two women—Sydney Holland and Manuela Herzer—moved into Sumner's home and gradually isolated him from family and longtime associates. They installed surveillance cameras throughout the property, subjected staff to lie detector tests, and fired anyone deemed disloyal. According to nurse Giovanni Paz, "When family members came to visit, Sydney instructed me to remain in the room, eavesdrop on the conversations, and report back to her." The women's control extended to Sumner's finances, culminating in their most brazen gambit in May 2014. They persuaded Sumner to sell $236 million in stock and stock options, then transfer $90 million to them—$45 million each—in a single day. This was just part of a pattern of extraordinary generosity toward these women. According to his longtime lawyer Philippe Dauman, "several" women received over $20 million each, "a lot" of women received over $10 million, and "many, many" women received over $1 million from Sumner in his later years. The situation reached a breaking point in October 2015 when Sumner's nurses, led by Jeremy Jagiello (nicknamed "the Sumner whisperer" for his ability to interpret Sumner's increasingly unintelligible speech), staged what they called "Operation Freedom." They revealed to Sumner that Herzer had been lying to him about the availability of a former girlfriend named Terry Holbrook and had fabricated letters purportedly from Holland. Sumner was "shocked" by these revelations and immediately ordered Herzer out of his house. Herzer's response was swift and aggressive. She filed a lawsuit claiming Sumner lacked mental capacity when he revoked her status as his healthcare agent. Her petition described Sumner as "a living ghost" who was "vacant, unable to reliably communicate, unaware of his surroundings." The lawsuit revealed embarrassing details about Sumner's personal life, including his continued sexual demands despite his deteriorating health, and painted a picture of a once-powerful man reduced to a shell of his former self. The litigation triggered a corporate crisis at both Viacom and CBS. Wall Street investors began questioning whether Sumner was mentally fit to serve as executive chairman of two major public companies. Activist investor Eric Jackson compared the situation to the comedy Weekend at Bernie's, in which executives prop up their dead boss. He criticized Viacom for having an "absent chair" and called for "a new chair, CEO, COO and board." The scandal not only threatened Sumner's personal dignity but also the stability of the media empire he had spent decades building, raising fundamental questions about corporate governance and the protection of elderly individuals, even those who once wielded enormous power.

Chapter 5: Shari's Rise: Reclaiming the Empire

When Shari Redstone arrived at her father's Beverly Park mansion in October 2015 after the expulsion of Sydney Holland and Manuela Herzer, she found a household in disarray and a father who had been systematically isolated from his family. For Shari, who had endured years of public humiliation and private estrangement from her father, this moment represented both a personal reconciliation and the beginning of an extraordinary corporate comeback that few industry observers believed possible. Shari's first major victory came in May 2016 when Judge David Cowan dismissed Herzer's lawsuit after hearing Sumner's profanity-laced videotaped testimony expressing his hatred for Herzer and his desire to have Shari make healthcare decisions for him. The ruling validated Shari's position as her father's legitimate representative and set the stage for her next move: challenging Philippe Dauman's leadership at Viacom, which had seen its stock price plummet by nearly 50 percent in a single year due to declining cable ratings and a struggling film studio. In a bold stroke that stunned Wall Street, Shari and Sumner removed Dauman and his ally George Abrams as trustees of the family trust that controlled National Amusements, the holding company for the Redstone media empire. Dauman fought back with a lawsuit claiming that Sumner was being manipulated by his daughter, but the legal challenge ultimately failed. By August 2016, Dauman had resigned as CEO of Viacom, receiving a $72 million exit package but ceding control to Shari, who installed a new board and appointed Bob Bakish as CEO with a mandate to revitalize the struggling company. Having secured control of Viacom, Shari turned her attention to CBS, where CEO Leslie Moonves had established an autonomous fiefdom with the blessing of Sumner, who had long admired Moonves's programming instincts. The conflict culminated in May 2018 when the CBS board, at Moonves's urging, voted to issue a special dividend that would dilute the Redstones' voting control from 79 percent to 17 percent—an unprecedented challenge to a controlling shareholder. The "nuclear option," as it became known, might have succeeded had it not been for the sexual misconduct allegations against Moonves that emerged just months later. As Moonves's position became untenable, Shari skillfully navigated the crisis, supporting an independent investigation while avoiding any appearance of exploiting the situation for corporate advantage. When Moonves resigned in September 2018, the lawsuit against the Redstones was withdrawn, leaving Shari in undisputed control of both companies. Shari's ultimate triumph came in August 2019 when she orchestrated the reunion of Viacom and CBS, more than a decade after her father had split them apart. The $25 billion merger created ViacomCBS (later renamed Paramount Global), fulfilling her long-held belief that the companies needed greater scale to compete in an industry increasingly dominated by tech giants like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. Against all expectations, the daughter who had been dismissed as "Sumner in a skirt" had proven herself to be something far more formidable: a leader capable of preserving a dynasty that had seemed on the verge of self-destruction.

Chapter 6: Legacy of Content and Conflict

Sumner Redstone's legacy is a complex tapestry of extraordinary business achievement interwoven with personal excess and family discord. His transformation from a Boston theater operator to a global media titan represents one of the most remarkable business careers of the 20th century. His mantra that "content is king" proved prescient as the value of entertainment libraries and distribution channels soared in the digital age. The empire he built—encompassing Paramount Pictures, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, and other iconic brands—continues to shape global entertainment and information long after his active management ended. Yet Redstone's personal life often undermined his professional accomplishments. His relationships with women grew increasingly problematic as he aged, culminating in the elder abuse allegations against Holland and Herzer. His treatment of his children, particularly his daughter Shari, revealed a man who demanded absolute loyalty but struggled to show genuine affection. The bitter irony is that Shari, whom he frequently belittled and undermined, ultimately emerged as his defender and the preserver of his legacy. The corporate governance issues raised by the Redstone saga continue to resonate in American business. The dual-class share structure that allowed Sumner to maintain iron-fisted control despite owning a minority economic interest has become increasingly controversial. While such structures can protect companies from short-term market pressures, they can also entrench poor management and enable autocratic control. The boards of directors at Viacom and CBS, handpicked by Sumner for their loyalty, failed in their fiduciary duty to all shareholders when they continued to pay him millions in salary even as his mental capacity deteriorated. The challenges facing Paramount Global in the streaming era illustrate the ongoing difficulties of adapting Redstone's empire to a rapidly changing media landscape. While the company possesses valuable content libraries and iconic brands, it competes against deeper-pocketed rivals like Netflix, Disney, and Amazon. The question remains whether the scale achieved through the recombination of Viacom and CBS will be sufficient to ensure the company's long-term independence and success. Perhaps the most enduring aspect of Redstone's legacy is the lesson that wealth and power cannot insulate one from human frailty. Despite his oft-repeated claim that he would "live forever," Sumner eventually faced the same decline that awaits all humans. His obsession with youth and vitality in his later years reflected a desperate denial of his mortality. The man who once declared "I will never die" discovered that even billionaires cannot cheat death, and that the empires they build remain vulnerable to the same human conflicts and weaknesses that have shaped family dynasties throughout history.

Summary

Sumner Redstone's life embodied the quintessential American narrative of ambition, reinvention, and the relentless pursuit of power. From his early days transforming his father's drive-in theater business into a global media empire, to his final years marked by family feuds and corporate intrigue, Redstone's journey illuminates the complex interplay between personal relationships and business decisions that shapes all great dynasties. His insistence that "content is king" proved prophetic as the entertainment industry evolved, yet his inability to plan for succession and his complicated relationship with his daughter Shari nearly destroyed everything he had built. The most profound lesson of the Redstone saga may be that even the most carefully constructed empires remain vulnerable to human frailties—ego, desire, jealousy, and the universal fear of mortality. The transition of power from Sumner to Shari Redstone offers valuable insights for family businesses and corporate governance. While Sumner ruled through intimidation and force of personality, Shari ultimately prevailed through patience, strategic thinking, and an ability to build alliances. Her triumph against overwhelming odds—overcoming not only her father's dismissive treatment but also entrenched corporate interests and gender bias—demonstrates that leadership styles evolve across generations, often in response to changing cultural and business environments. For anyone navigating the treacherous waters of corporate power struggles or family business succession, the Redstone dynasty serves as both cautionary tale and master class—revealing how empires rise, falter, and sometimes, against all expectations, find new life through adaptation and resilience.

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James B. Stewart

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