The rumor itself is actually at least 18 months old — we first heard it last year after a reporter at a major business magazine got the News Corp. nuclear treatment when he rang up the flacks to ask whether they had made out at a party — largely spurred by Deng being named the "chief of strategy" at MySpace China last summer, putting her in close (business) contact with DeWolfe. And then there were reports that DeWolfe was using his friendship with Deng in his negotiations for a new compensation package with News Corp.

The first time in the most recent spate of tips was in the form of an an email from someone using the Dark Knight pseudonym "Harvey Dent" and was pre-written in gossip-columnese ("What media mogul billionaire’s wife has been guilty of so many sexual escapades that she is the talk of LA?"), but it also made some amateurish mistakes, such as referring to "Wendy Deng." The second tipster came from inside a media organization that's locked horns with News Corp. plenty of times in the past. The third was the most aggressive. Their first account was that they had heard that someone with a grudge against Murdoch had hired a private investigator who had discovered that Deng was involved with "Chris DeWitt." Asked why someone was digging dirt on Rupert, they said it was "more of a personal interest."

None of the new tipsters have offered any new evidence to made us think it's true. Like the Jossip item, all leaned heavily on the detail that they're hooking up at 141 Prince St. But that's hardly a secret address. since that's where the Murdochs live when they're in New York. And as someone familiar with the Murdochs points out, they sold that apartment in 2005 and now live on Fifth Ave. So color us skeptical. Though, of course, if you know more than our previous tipsters, we're interested in that, too.

What does matter, according to “The Man Who Owns the News,” is his third wife, Wendi Deng, who is 38 years his junior and controls him to the point of reading his e-mail.

(“Let’s recast this story as a triumphal, even uplifting tale of pluck and achievement,” Mr. Wolff writes, about how she came to marry such a powerful older man. “She’s not Becky Sharp, she’s Pip in ‘Great Expectations.’ ”)

That little detail about Deng resonates especially strongly since it reinforces the picture the Journal painted of her in 2000 (original) as a deft and serial manipulator of powerful men:

Her ticket out of China came in 1987, when she met a Los Angeles couple, Jake and Joyce Cherry... Mrs. Cherry says she had grown increasingly suspicious about Ms. Deng's relationship with her husband. Mrs. Cherry recalls discovering a cache of photographs her husband had taken of Ms. Deng in coquettish poses back in his hotel room in Guangzhou. Mr. Cherry confirms he had become infatuated with the young woman...

The Cherrys divorced, and Jake Cherry married Ms.Deng in February 1990. But that union didn't last. Mr. Cherry says that about four months after the wedding, he told Ms. Deng to leave because she had started spending time with a man named David Wolf...

Former colleagues describe Ms. Deng as having been adept at juggling the interests of News Corp.'s various units, which like to operate independently... She is said to have shown no hesitation about walking unannounced into a senior executive's office to discuss the latest Chinese entrepreneur she had met or government official she had contacted...

In early 1998, she first appeared at [Murdoch's] side, acting as his interpreter when he traveled to Shanghai and Beijing. By the summer of 1998, the Star TV staff was buzzing about romance between the pair. After dinner meetings in Hong Kong, they were observed holding hands. In May, Mr. Murdoch had separated from his wife of 31 years, Anna. The split surprised even his closest aides, who say they hadn't seen any sign of a rupture.

Can't wait to see how the book is reviewed in the Post and Journal!

The Times said Holmes was "looking perfect," but Fabsugar, even while catching the Superman reference in the outfit, wrote, "hot mess... just too reminiscent of '80s prom."

Here's comedian Sarah Silverman, "wearing a polka-dot teacup skirt from Dolce & Gabbana, paired with filthy black-and-white fingerless knit gloves, which she described as 'flair from my backpack that I bought at one of those mall stores for $9... The woman from Dolce & Gabbana said, "Please don’t wear those." I did.'"

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch (background, left) with wife Wendi. Australia's The Age: "Love the colours and the fabric... it's the shape that worries me. It's a bit ''tip me over, pour me out."

Designer Marc Jacobs leaving with Sofia Coppola, because if he'd taken a boy it would have just ended in a big pissy fight over three-ways. No one dared to say anything mean about their outfits.

USA Today (ever the fashion source): "Dolce & Gabbana decked out Scarlett Johansson, who made news on Monday when she announced that she and actor Ryan Reynolds were engaged. Although she wasn't flaunting her engagement ring as she walked the carpet holding hands with her designer hosts, it was probably one of the most-talked-about accessories of the evening."

The actual review isn't harsh. The meanest thing it says is that Murdoch failed in China. But with a title like Rupert's Adventures in China: How Murdoch Lost a Fortune and Found a Wife, the criticism is hard to avoid. (The piece also mentions that his young wife, Wendi Deng, could be a gold-digger. A shocking assertion, perhaps, to the blind.)

Still, the editor of the Review sent the author an email on Thursday saying, "I'm afraid I am getting cold feet on this one—I've just gotten a copy of the book, and it looks more like the work of a disgruntled ex-employee, rather than an analysis of the business." In fact, the review comes to the opposite conclusion, saying, "the reader still comes away with a nagging feeling that the author has held back."

Murdoch is so powerful that he doesn't even need to kill negative pieces himself. His minions will do it themselves to protect their overlord.

So let this be a lesson. When the Wall Street Journal weekend edition comes out with a flattering profile of the Murdoch's marriage, be suspicious. Larger forces are at work.

Editor Gets 'Cold Feet' On A Critique Of Murdoch [IHT]
A Tell-All Book About Rupert Murdoch [Asia Sentinel]

Her Wikipedia entry....

was the subject of frantic revisions a few weeks back when Fortune hack Eric Ellis wrote a 10,000-word profile of her for an Australian magazine. An anonymous contributor operating from the IP address 206.15.98.236... [deleted] sections of the Wikipedia entry which referred to Ellis's piece as a 'well-researched' exposé 'that Deng herself and Murdoch have been making every effort to suppress.' A quick search discloses that 206.15.98.236 is in fact the IP address of one Jason Ripkey - an IT coordinator at the New York Headquarters of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation!

Private Eye [Article not online]

Spotted at Sun Valley: "Rupert Murdoch; his wife, Wendi Deng; nanny and kids; and, well, Anderson Cooper of CNN, sparking a spontaneous round in the press corps of 'Which of these things is not like the other?'" [NYT]

]]> Gawker-277647 Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:20:11 EDT abalk http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=277647&view=rss&microfeed=true The Guardian bought the profile of Wendi Deng Murdoch that was spiked back in May by Australia's Fairfax group amidst suspicion that Rupert Murdoch didn't want it to see print. The Independent hears rumors that the paper will not run the piece because "the profile is rather one-sided. " Uh, what's the other side? [Independent]

]]> Gawker-274156 Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:31:26 EDT abalk http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=274156&view=rss&microfeed=true The Times examines the agreement between Rupert Murdoch and the Dow Jones board to protect the editorial independence of the Wall Street Journal: News Corp. would need the committee's approval to hire or fire editors. News Corp. and Dow Jones will jointly select the board's founding members, who would in turn choose future members.

The paper notes that the Bancrofts' still have to approve the larger deal, which might be a problem: The Journal reports that Bancroft family member Leslie Hill has been "scouring the East Coast, trying to drum up other offers for the company." Her alternatives include the Philadelphia Inquirer's Brian Tierney and MySpace founder Brad Greenspan. The paper calls the quest "quixotic." The Journal also discusses the S.E.C.'s developing case against the Hong Kong couple accused of insider trading of Dow Jones shares before the bid was announced. Forbes notes that Murdoch's wife, Wendi Deng, has been named chief of strategy for MySpace China, her first official post at News Corp.

In the Guardian, Roy Greenslade praises Time's current profile of Murdoch: "Some deal-making, threats of deal-breaking, explanations, apologies and promises. Rarely has any journalist, especially in recent weeks, managed to paint as good a portrait of the world's greatest living media mogul."

Finally, celebrity blogger Kurt Andersen returns after a two-month absence to weigh in on charges that Murdoch's business interests in China would result in skewed coverage of the country in the Journal. Kurt raises a point we haven't seen elsewhere:

Among the scads of coverage, why has no one — like, say, the News Corp. spokesman Gary Ginsberg — mentioned 24? During the last two seasons of the series, the Chinese government has been the heavy — they shanghaied and tortured both Jack Bauer and his girlfriend, conspired with Jack's murderous father, and almost caused Russia to attack the U.S. If Murdoch were really as determined to kowtow as he's been portrayed, why would he let one of his most successful shows consistently and grandly libel his Chinese pals?

Um, because it's a ludicrous, contrived rationale? It is totally bloggy, though: Welcome back, Kurt!

]]> Gawker-273574 Fri, 29 Jun 2007 10:40:04 EDT abalk http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=273574&view=rss&microfeed=true After yesterday's slapdash jam-job, the Times redeems itself this morning with a lengthy piece on Rupert Murdoch's ties to China. There's not a lot that comes as news to those who (for, say, work reasons) obsessively read every news story about the News Corp. mogul, but for the casual observer it's a fairly good summary. Let us break it down for you.

News Corp. has consistently cooperated with The New York Times in its coverage of the company. However, the agenda for this unprecedented series is so blatantly designed to further the Times's commercial self interests — by undermining a direct competitor poised to become an even more formidable competitor — that it would be reckless of us to participate in their malicious assault. Ironically, The Times, by using its news pages to advance its own corporate business agenda, is doing the precise thing they accuse us of doing without any evidence.

Murdoch's Dealings in China: It's Business, and It's Personal [NYT]

After reading about the Webby Awards Party at the Box, I expected last night's Webby Gala After-Party at Hiro to be douchey with a chance of chode. Maybe there would be a fist-fight over CSS standards! Instead, it was filled with a suspiciously high amount of beautiful women gyrating to the schmoove sounds of DJ Jazzy Jeff on the wheels of steel. My guess? Webby organizers walked across the street to Buddakan and gave 100's to models to please oh God improve our party. And improve it they did.

Seeing as this whole Internet thing seems to be working out for some, Nikola and I set out to try to find some web billionaires. Then we realized we didn't know any moguls by appearance; I suggested looking for older men with big faces and tall dates. We found some, but they were pornographers. In our struggle we also talked to lots of people who thought their award-winning sites were so very interesting. One woman bragged to me that her site just set a record for the highest amount of traffic ever sent to the Webby website! I told her that she also just set a record for the highest amount of boring
ever sent to my ears.

Eventually, we found the YouTube guys, Chad and Steve. They seemed pretty chill but so would you if you were crazy wealthy. Steve told us something about it being 99% luck and 1% them, but maybe he was talking about his successes with women. If I were them, I'd probably enjoy using the line "do you want to go viral?" a whole lot more than I should.

We certainly presume it's stuff about the nature of Murdoch and Deng's relationship (although it's been reported that the piece is not "sensationalised"). But before reading the piece, one thing we're curious about: After being treated for prostate cancer in 2000, how, exactly, did Murdoch manage to immediately get some babies going?

In April 2000, News Corp. announced that Murdoch had prostate cancer, and would be undergoing radiation therapy as treatment. Murdoch and Deng had the first of their two children, Grace, in November 2001. (They would have another child, Chloe, in July 2003.) Radiation therapy "nearly always" impairs fertility. So, fine—maybe they banked it? That's not unusual.

Anyway, that fits, as Wendi's always seemed a bit impatient—she married her sponsor in the U.S. when she was very young, and, according to his spurned wife, began the affair with him while he was still married. That didn't last long or go particularly well, it seems. (And Rupert's not so patient either; seventeen days after Murdoch got his own divorce, he married Deng.)

Or maybe there's nothing! A News Corp. flacked called the profile "dull." So on the flip side, as an elite handful of women know, any younger wife of a billionaire mogul comes under close, annoying, and sometimes unfair scrutiny. Not participating with the profile, and maybe even getting it killed, is probably exactly what we'd do if we owned the media! —doree

[Image via]

I direct you to this article in the New Statesman regarding the inability of the hyper-respectable, semi-socialist BBC to compete with commercial interlopers like NewsCorp.'s British Sky Broadcasting:

Tough external regulation, forcing the BBC back to its core purposes, might provide the best hope of redeeming its reputation. Left to themselves, BBC bosses seem certain to plunge further into populism and empire-building, just as the opinion-forming classes blow the whistle ever more loudly. Their claim to have renounced croissants and consultants, bureaucracy and waste, is also bound to be rumbled.

Interesting. Surely no one can really believe that giving your mother what amounts to a 19-year-old's tattoo is not kitschy, right? Courtesy of Australian gossip site Crikey:

Here's one crackerjack cover story you won't be reading in Good Weekend magazine any time soon - the revealing inside account of the life and times of Wendi Deng. That's because the story, a vast 10,000-word profile that took its writer three months of research across the world, was killed by Good Weekend's editor (or someone above her) two days ago.

Crikey has learned that Good Weekend editor Judith Whelan commissioned Eric Ellis, a highly regarded Australian freelance journalist based in Singapore several months ago to write the definitive story of Wendi Deng, the Chinese-born wife of Rupert Murdoch.... The story is believed to be the most detailed account ever written about one of the world's most interesting and - through her marriage - most powerful women. It follows a provocative Wall Street Journal profile of Deng in 2000, titled "Rupert Murdoch's Wife Wendi Wields Influence at News Corp", which caused a furore within Murdoch family circles because of the information it revealed about the genesis of the Rupert-Wendi relationship and the sensitive area of the breakdown of Murdoch's 31-year marriage to Anna, the mother of Elisabeth, Lachlan and James.

Last year, Hong Kong's Next Magazine investigated Deng's early years, interviewing teachers, friends and classmates, dredging up some embarrassing childhood snippets (as noted in The AFR). "She had many talents — basketball, badminton, volleyball", said teacher Zhang Shan Li. "Academic ability was just above average."

To finance these acquisitions, Murdoch at times has gone to the brink, piling on so much debt in the early 1990s he needed a major restructuring to survive.... Often he has proved his critics wrong, seemingly going to any length to meet his goal. The publisher once dashed out at midnight in his pajamas to an airport to argue with officials that a fog preventing a newspaper-delivery flight was only a light mist.