Chapter 674 - Downey appears on the Show

Host Jimmy was quite pleased upon learning that Laila had sent him such a big gift!

No wonder people say the little boss at home is powerful. Every time she appears, she either brings high ratings or steals the spotlight from others. The sincerity of cooperation is absolutely full!

After learning that Downey was coming on the show, Jimmy specially prepared many questions he considered suitable. Not too revealing, not too sharp, and ultimately something that would endear Downey to the audience.

After watching it, Laila was very satisfied with his performance, so she added two questions that could attract the audience to scream.

So, unknowingly, Downey was sold by his big boss.

In Jimmy's questions, he was led step by step to reconstruct the situation of that day.

Downey was a natural actor, and what he lacked the least was acting skills. Therefore, his flawless performance on camera changed the impressions of many viewers.

He talked about the situation that day, how he felt when he saw Cole drugging someone, and how he had no regrets even when accused...

Although some moralists still believed that violence was not justified no matter what, more people involuntarily stood on his side. Just imagine, if the drugged girl were your daughter, sister, or other relative, would you still think that violence shouldn't be used in such a situation?

Moreover, it was clear from the video that after knocking over the glass, the first person to take action was not Downey, but Cole. It could be said that Downey was in a position of passive defense.

Of course, this premise was based on the fact that drugs were actually administered. Otherwise, his action of knocking over the glass would be provocative, and his self-defense would be nonexistent.

When he was accused by Cole initially, Laila's concern was precisely this point. They had no evidence that Cole had drugged someone. Fortunately, they finally obtained the evidence, allowing her to dare to take action against Cole.

Laila watched the show that night and was very satisfied with Downey's answers. After all, he had been in Hollywood for so long, and if he couldn't handle such things well, how could he survive?

The two questions she added to the program were about "minors" and "compensation," both of which were the most attention-grabbing aspects of her accusations.

Downey knew quite a bit about the compensation, and he had been shocked by the figure. However, before coming, he had already received a hint from Laila, so he knew how to answer at such times.

"As for the amount of compensation, I don't think there is anything wrong with it. Everyone knows that 'Iron Man' was a movie that Director Moran had been preparing for a long time. The initial budget invested was over a hundred million US dollars, and with various expenditures nearing its release, it has exceeded two hundred million. Because of this case, it will have a certain impact on the box office. I believe it is not wrong to demand compensation from the other party. As for myself, with this kind of news, many collaborations I had already negotiated were canceled halfway."

This statement wasn't false. For the promotion of the movie, he needed to participate in various programs and fan meetings with the crew. Moreover, because he appeared in Laila's film, some "knowledgeable" and "informed" people saw him as an investment-worthy object.

Many people wanted to take advantage of the situation, negotiating endorsement deals with him before the movie was released. As a result, after the incident, those collaborations were indefinitely put on hold. Just this alone caused him to lose tens of millions of dollars. Even though he would have dragged out any endorsements that came, others didn't know that. So, demanding compensation from Cole was entirely justifiable.

In fact, those business tycoons had overthought. Laila wouldn't easily let him take those cheap endorsements, given that she knew how bright his future star was. After all, managers and companies could share in the profits he earned. The more Downey earned, the more the company made. Laila, despite being rich, wouldn't go for the smaller profits when she knew she could make more. 

When host Jimmy brought up the issue of "minors," everyone was surprised to see that Donny also wore an inexplicable expression. When he saw the question, he had asked Laila for details, wanting to know what was going on. However, all he got was a series of sly laughter that made him goosebumps.

Alright, using the term "sly" to describe the boss might be a bit too much, but he really felt that only villains would have such laughter.

So, when Jimmy asked him this question, he could only honestly throw up his hands, "I don't know what's going on. BOSS has been asking me to take a vacation since the incident happened."

Jimmy was somewhat disappointed and somewhat surprised, "There were no minors in the bar at the time?"

"How could that be? That bar would never allow children to enter, at least I haven't seen it happen." Downey was a frequent customer of that bar, having been there many times and understanding that it was unlikely for children to enter such a place.

Jimmy thought about it and felt that what he said made sense. It was a bar that many Hollywood stars liked, and basically, entry was by invitation only. He had been there a few times, too, and had never seen minors coming in.

"Maybe something from the past has been dug up?" Like many viewers watching the live broadcast on TV, he speculated that this incident was a "crime" from the past.

So, poor Cole was unknowingly stamped with a mark of the "demon who abused innocent flowers." When he learned about this later, the mark on him was so deep that it couldn't be washed away. Even if the truth was revealed in the future, no one would think he was unfairly treated. No matter how he explained it, for a long time afterward, when his name was mentioned, people would still associate him with those with pedophilic tendencies, making him lamentable.

But those were stories for another time, so let's not dwell on them.

After the program aired, the audience's perception of Donny seemed to have changed a bit. Perhaps everyone's attention was now focused on Cole, or perhaps Cole's self-imposed "villain" halo was too dazzling, making Donny no longer appear as bad or unforgivable.

This was exactly the effect Laila hoped to achieve—first creating a preconceived notion in people's minds, and then subtly erasing the disgust associated with him. Moreover, with Cole in front, most of the stains on him were basically covered up.

In three days, Laila had Downey appear on four or five shows and accept six or seven interviews. When she felt that the momentum had built up enough, she informed Anthony to continue with the next step of the plan.

Interestingly, right after she issued the order, Demi walked into the office and told her that there was someone downstairs claiming to be Cole West, wanting to see her, saying he had come to apologize.