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Suspenders of Disbelief: Larry King presents publicist Michael Sitrick with the Walt Disney Man of the Year Award at the Big Brothers Big Sisters 2008 Rising Stars Benefit Gala on October 30, 2008 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)
Welcome to the latest edition of Breaker. If this email has been forwarded, you can subscribe here and send your questions and complaints here. If you have a tip contact the 24/7 Breaker Tip Hotline via text or Signal # 551 655 2343. Anonymity guaranteed!
In tonight’s edition, we take a deep dive into how Hollywood’s most well-known Scandal PR operator protected Jeffrey Epstein. In an interview with Breaker, Michael Sitrick – who has represented some of the biggest names in entertainment and media – defends his work for the deceased sex offender.
Also tonight, legendary former Financial Times editor, Lionel Barber, reports from across the pond on all the twists and turns in the battle to buy The Telegraph. It’s a wild yarn involving a former publicist for an Israeli boxing champion, a litigious actor and anti-woke activist, a steam railway buff, and the owner of the Baltimore Sun – all teaming up with Axel Springer’s Mathias Döpfner to attempt to roll the current preferred bid from Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere.
And in a bittersweet announcement, Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie reveals below why tonight is his final Hot Sauce column.
Finally, Breaker (and our fedora) will be at SXSW next month, moderating a couple of panels. If you’re going to be in Austin, hit us up for a beevy and some BBQ.
Mentioned tonight: Mathias Dopfner, Lord Rothermere, David Ellison, Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, James Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch, Sir Will Lewis, David Efune, David D. Smith, Chris Evans, Preeya Goenka, David Remnick, Brian Stelter, Conan O’Brien, Peter Thiel, and more.
Sitrick and Mortar
(Exclusive.) It was a February 2011 New York Post cover story seen around the world.
“PRINCE & PERV: Randy Andy with NYC sex creep” was the front page headline that featured a photograph of Prince Andrew, who was arrested last week in the U.K, walking with Jeffrey Epstein in Central Park and sparked an international media frenzy.
That “tsunami of media attention,” as Epstein’s lawyers would describe it, resulted in them retaining a well-known Hollywood Scandal PR operator. Breaker last year documented the rise in Scandal PR, where operators earn up to six-figure a month retainers helping the biggest names escape their biggest scandals.
Michael Sitrick founded Sitrick And Company in 1989. His website boasts that he “has provided advice, counsel, and developed and implemented strategic communications programs for approximately 1,000 companies — including some of the world’s largest corporations.” He has also represented household names, including Harvey Weinstein, Paris Hilton, and Hulk Hogan.
Newly released Justice Department emails show that starting in 2011, Sitrick was helping wage Epstein’s fight against the media.
Hundreds of emails between Epstein and Sitrick offer an unvarnished look at how reputation laundering works in real time. They also reveal how Sitrick drafted and advised on statements connected to Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, as Epstein attempted to steady his social standing post-conviction.
In one exchange, Sitrick proposes language for a public statement defending Epstein outright:
“Mr. Epstein is not a pedophile by any definition of the word.”
In an interview with Breaker on Monday, Sitrick defended his work. “We have a very broad practice, and we are just doing our job,” he said. “We didn't give the media any information that wasn't cleared by other lawyers. We never attacked anybody publicly. “
When asked about the remark that “Epstein is not a pedophile by any definition of the word”, Sitrick told Breaker: “Did you do a search for …
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Lionel Barber’s Briefing: The Mousetrap Telegraph Sale
The sale of the Daily Telegraph looks increasingly like The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie’s murder-mystery, and the world’s longest-running play, Lionel Barber writes from London. Last week, the plot thickened with Axel Springer leading a consortium of right-wing oddballs in a last-minute bid to derail the Mail’s friendly £500m offer.
Axel Springer’s Mathias Dopfner is deadly serious. I am told he has secured a 51 per cent controlling stake in the consortium, giving him maximum leverage in negotiations with RedBird, the Wall Street private equity firm which teamed up with Abu Dhabi’s IMI in two unsuccessful bids to buy The Telegraph.
The Daily Mail’s Lord Rothermere remains in pole position to buy the Torygraph. He is set to become Britain’s most powerful newspaper baron, surpassing Rupert Murdoch. But there are rumours of cold feet now that Labour has referred the Mail bid to the competition authorities and media regulator Ofcom. The delay leaves all parties in limbo until June. Hence, the opening for Springer.
Dopfner has plenty on his hands with a search for a new editor-in-chief for Politico now entering its final stages. His ambitions to build a global media company remain undimmed. Back in 2004, he tried to …