Anyone who's seen Succession will be aware of parallels between the Roy family and the British media family the Murdochs. The show's creator Jesse Armstrong even admitted to writing a show about Rupert Murdoch in the past, but claims it never got made. Well, we beg to differ!
Our suspicions may have finally been confirmed as insiders close to billionaire mogul Rupert Murdoch told Vanity Fair about the striking similarities between his personal life and the HBO show for the magazine's cover story.
The story delves into the details of the 92-year-old’s sudden divorce last summer from model Jerry Hall**,** and reveals a term of their divorce settlement that prohibits Jerry from providing plot ideas to the writers of Succession.
The article also goes into details about the unexpected end to the couple's six-year marriage, which left Jerry feeling blindsided. Apparently, she was given 30 days to move out of their Bel Air estate and the divorce was finalised within two months.
He even broke the news via email. It read: 'Jerry, sadly I’ve decided to call an end to our marriage. We have certainly had some good times, but I have much to do. My New York lawyer will be contacting yours immediately.' Very Logan Roy!
She later discovered that surveillance cameras in the Oxfordshire home she received in the divorce settlement were still transmitting footage back to Fox headquarters. Her ex husband Mick Jagger sent his security team to remove them.
Sound familiar? It seems the parallels between Rupert's life and Logan Roy in Succession are even stronger than we'd realised. Rupert has even spent a while hoping one of his children would take over his company...
Vanity Fair reported Rupert believed that fostering a competitive environment among his three children – Elisabeth, Lachlan, and James – would produce the most capable heir, saying: 'He pitted his kids against each other their entire lives. It's sad.' This sounds an awful lot like the entire premise of Succession.
Recently, Rupert briefly became engaged to right-wing evangelical Ann Lesley Smith, but later called off the engagement earlier this month due to concerns about her extremist beliefs.
In January 2016, Jerry, who was 59 at the time, and Rupert, who was 84 at the time, got married in a private ceremony at Spencer House on 4 March, and the following day hosted a star-studded blessing in St Bride's Church on Fleet Street, London (the traditional home of UK media).
Now, let's just hope Rupert doesn't have a trip on a private jet trips coming up any time soon...