Time passed quickly. At the start of the year, Britney Spears shaving her head seemed to foreshadow turbulence in Hollywood.
Britney Spears—once America's sweetheart had fallen to a point where even dogs disliked her. Although external factors played a huge part, it also proved a truth:
Luck may protect you for a time, but only using your brain allows you to endure.
This event didn't have much to do with Gilbert. However, since Avril Lavigne had moved into Melon Manor, the two incidents were linked.
Britney Spears claimed on her social media that Avril Lavigne was only lucky enough to cling to Gilbert, otherwise she would be no different from herself.
And surprisingly, many commenters agreed.
With Avril Lavigne's personality, not responding would be unlike her. But Gilbert held back the fiery punk princess. Avril was furious and planned to write a song to retaliate.
After moving into Melon Manor, Avril shifted the recording of her new album from New York to Los Angeles to focus on creating music.
From time to time she visited Gilbert—sometimes for meals, sometimes to shop together and she posted photos of the two of them on social media.
Avril even asked her fans which photo should be used as the album cover.
But devastated fans probably didn't want to choose at all. Although they knew this day would come, it was still hard to accept.
Gradually, however, some fans began to think Avril and Gilbert actually looked quite compatible.
Before the Oscars, EdgeRunners held its pre-launch press event. Avril performed the show's theme song and insert song.
Afterward, she and Scarlett and Emma Roberts—three actresses from the series—posed for a group photo around Gilbert.
This photo became a Variety magazine cover titled: Emperor Gilbert and His Concubines.
But the photo was inaccurate—Emma Roberts was also in it, and she was not Gilbert's woman. Still, according to the reporters, Emma Roberts would fall sooner or later.
Some journalists swore that at the press event, Emma Roberts looked at Gilbert with practically melted eyes—eyes full of admiration.
Of course, all this was secondary.
At the press event, Gilbert once again explained his vision for the Cyberpunk Universe and said that the later films were already in planning.
His goal was to build a believable world that audiences could fully immerse themselves in.
But for the series to continue, the show had to succeed. If it failed to generate buzz, nothing big would follow.
However, from the previous internal test screening, the reviews were very positive. They all believed the show had strong potential in the market.
After the press meeting, Gilbert edited two more versions of the trailer and released them on TV channels and online.
Meanwhile, the official website began updating with supplementary world-building content for the Cyberpunk Universe.
Not reading this additional content wouldn't affect watching EdgeRunners. The story was already complete enough on its own.
The purpose of world-building was to prepare for future content. Gilbert's Cyberpunk Plan wasn't just shows and movies.
It also included theme parks, games, books, merchandise, and more.
It was a massive project that required a tremendous amount of work. But if done well, the profit potential would be tremendous.
____
At this year's Academy Awards ceremony, Gilbert accompanied Jennifer Connelly to attend.
She was already a mother, and perhaps because she never had breast surgery, Jennifer Connelly still looked sensual and stunning.
In multiple fashion magazine rankings, she was always listed among the top.
However, Jennifer Connelly herself wasn't interested in these titles.
She and Leo co-starred in Blood Diamond, which received several Oscar nominations. Although none of them had anything to do with Jennifer Connelly, she still had to attend.
"Will Smith was nominated for Best Actor for The Pursuit of Happyness. He's competing with Leo."
Looking at Will Smith from a distance, Jennifer Connelly said to Gilbert.
Jada Smith did not accompany Will Smith this time. Normally, this couple always appeared together on such occasions to attract attention.
It might also be because the Oscars pay special attention to Black actors, hoping to show their concepts of inclusiveness, openness, and freedom. And Black actors can use this advantage to draw a lot of attention.
No one else could say anything, because these Black groups were extremely united and very sensitive. One sentence and they would slap a huge "discrimination" label on you.
But last year, after Jada Smith's false accusations against Gilbert were exposed, Hollywood finally couldn't endure the Black community anymore and exploded.
The famous loudmouth Kevin Smith publicly criticized.
"Black actors rely on Hollywood's indulgence and act recklessly.
Whenever they make a mistake, they just slap the label of discrimination on you, and then you can't criticize them.
With their sensitive and fragile hearts, they constantly believe the whole world is discriminating against them. But in reality, people can't wait to stay far away from them, afraid of getting dragged into trouble.
Of course, it's undeniable that some Black actors have made a career for themselves with real skill. But more people are like Jada Smith—relying on her husband and public-opinion advantages.
If you ask her what abilities she has, even she can't give you an answer…"
Kevin Smith's remarks naturally provoked fierce backlash from Hollywood's Black community. One of their biggest loudmouths, Spike Lee, immediately responded.
"Perhaps Kevin Smith has forgotten the discrimination Black communities suffered in the past. He should go back to the plantation and experience the painful history we endured."
Kevin Smith, taking advantage of the Jada Smith incident and completely unafraid of being accused, immediately replied.
"Yes, that period of history did happen. But did you personally experience it? Did you pick cotton on a plantation?
Essentially, you people don't want equality. You just want privilege."
These words hit the mark, and Spike Lee broke down. The media then split into two major camps, launching a loud, heated argument that lasted for several months.
Meanwhile, Gilbert—the actual person involved had nothing more to worry about. Jada Smith, who was at the center of the storm, began playing the victim. She claimed that media pressure caused her to develop mental illness and that she had once contemplated suicide, so she was now undergoing treatment.
But the women in Gilbert's family were furious. They unanimously agreed to beat the drowning dog, continuing to control newspapers and online media to launch relentless attacks on Jada Smith.
Ivanka even formed a massive legal team of thirty-two lawyers, all well-known across North America, and directly took Jada Smith to court in California.
Here, Gilbert's complicated identity came into play. California is the stronghold of the Blue Party. The California faction is one of the Blue Party's most powerful forces, and many Washington big shots come from it.
Gilbert, being a "Squidman," born in California, and a director inside Hollywood—an industry tightly controlled by the California faction—should, in theory, have received their support during this scandal.
But strangely, perhaps due to promises from other interest groups, the California faction not only failed to stand with Gilbert, they even helped push the fabricated accusations forward.
After the case flipped, the California faction was stunned. They didn't expect Gilbert to fight back and so strongly.
This wasn't like Michael Jackson, whose downfall was agreed upon by all major interest groups, making it impossible for him to turn the situation around.
But the name "Gilbert" didn't represent just himself. Behind him stood a large group of people.
Silicon Valley's tech capital—its entire younger generation were supporters of Gilbert.
In Hollywood, controlled by the California faction, a crack had now appeared because of this incident. Once a tightly sealed circle, Hollywood now had a faint fracture.
Do not underestimate this fracture—one day it might grow into a canyon.
This was the leverage Gilbert could use.
Wall Street, medical capital, old family conglomerates, and the California faction of the Blue Party—these were the major interest groups aiming to take down Gilbert.
Of course, the California faction's resolve was not very strong, since the Red Party still held power at the moment.
Now, Wall Street, medical capital, and old family conglomerates had begun lobbying Washington, intending to break up Gilbert's Fruit Group and take major companies like Watermelon and Banana away from him.
Gilbert's side refused to sit still. While gathering evidence, he was also spending large sums to lobby Washington.
For example, in February this year, a relative of a powerful Washington figure was given a well-paid, do-nothing job at Watermelon Company—an exchange of favors.
On the surface, everything still looked harmonious, but behind the scenes, both sides had already begun using their real methods.
The Smith couple, who had taken the lead, failed, and naturally faced repercussions. Otherwise, Kevin Smith wouldn't have spoken so boldly—he would have already been beaten down by the "discrimination stick."
Having stirred up such a big incident, Jada Smith of course did not dare appear in public. Will Smith came alone, but no one dared speak to him, fearing any association.
Will Smith could only force a bitter smile. What else could he do? This was all his own choice.
Putting Will Smith aside, in fact, Leonardo DiCaprio's chances of winning an Oscar were also slim. The Best Actor award ultimately went to Peter O'Toole.
An actor from Ireland, 72 years old.
If history had followed its original course, because of the overwhelming influence of Hollywood's Black faction, the Oscar for Best Actor would have had to go to another Black actor, Forest Whitaker, for The Last King of Scotland.
But because of the chaos caused by Will and Jada Smith, the Black faction in Hollywood was in an unprecedented slump. The Best Actor award went instead to Peter O'Toole, an actor who had been nominated for the Oscar eight times.
During his acceptance speech, Peter O'Toole was in tears. After being nominated eight times for Best Actor, he finally held the little golden statuette in his twilight years.
The audience at the ceremony gave this venerable actor enthusiastic applause, thanking him for a brilliant acting career and for bringing so many excellent works to viewers.
Gilbert had seen this actor's breakout work. Back when he was studying at USC, the first film he studied in class was Lawrence of Arabia, starring Peter O'Toole.
One could only say this was a pleasant surprise!
And this year's biggest winner, without a doubt, was another dream-fulfilling veteran director, Martin Scorsese.
Old Martin finally won the Oscar for Best Director for The Departed. To present the award, the organizers invited the other three of the "Big Four" directors as well.
On stage, Old Martin was not overly excited, only stating that he would continue making films and would not stop.
It's worth noting that there was another less-publicized award at the Oscars, Best Short Documentary, which was won by a Chinese documentary, Children of Yingzhou.
However, prior to this, the director Yang Ziye had already been blacklisted, so there were no related reports from that side.
This Oscar ceremony was relatively calm and uneventful, not nearly as showy as the previously held Grammy Awards.
After the Oscars concluded, the summer blockbuster season was already beginning to heat up.
...
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