Oh, Those Dysfunctional Redstones ...
Yesterday, we mentioned how Sumner Redstone faxed Forbes a letter criticizing his daughter. Now Sumner’s brother Edward Redstone is getting in on the act. In response to an article in Newsweek about the epic family feud over the Redstone media empire, Edward sent the magazine a letter criticizing his son, Michael Redstone. The New York Post obtained the contents:
Newsweek’s recent attempt at covering a legal dispute among family members flew well wide off the mark. Rather than focus on the matters in question, Newsweek chose sensationalism, drawing inside stories and innuendo from a host of irrelevant parties, relatives or not … most of which is not true … Worse still, the use of my son, a manipulated young man with a long history of psychiatric issues, all in the name of a salacious tale to fill Newsweek’s pages, represents a true lapse of ethics. Newsweek’s readers deserve better.
For those keeping track at home, Michael Redstone sued both Sumner and Edward Redstone in 2006. Then there’s the family’s tangled history, which at various points involves the Children of God cult, Michael’s struggles with mental illness, a secret child, motorcycle accidents and, of course, Sumner’s own rich life.
With the future of a billion dollar media empire at stake, we’re betting it’s only going to get more vicious from here.
