Vanity Fair’s new cover story is all about “the real life Succession,” aka Rupert Murdoch and his game of thrones. Who will control his empire once he’s gone? Which of his children is favored? Honestly, I don’t even care at this point, which is why I skipped this story at first, that was until I saw that there was some interesting gossip about Murdoch’s fourth marriage, to Jerry Hall. Hall and Murdoch’s marriage came to a swift end last summer, and I widely assumed that was because Jerry wanted out. Turns out, not so much – Rupert wanted out and he shocked Jerry by just texting her out of the blue one day, telling her it was over. Some highlights from this VF story:
People in Murdoch’s orbit wonders if he’s lost the plot. Last June, Murdoch abruptly left his fourth wife, model-actor Jerry Hall. For two brief weeks this spring, he was engaged to Ann Lesley Smith, a 66-year-old former dental hygienist turned conservative radio host with QAnon-style politics. (Smith told an interviewer in 2022 that COVID was a “plandemic” hatched by Bill Gates at Davos.) “Rupert has been radicalized by his own echo chamber,” said a person close to him, explaining his initial attraction to Smith. In January, Murdoch scuttled a plan to merge Fox and News Corp—which would have centralized Lachlan’s control over the television and publishing divisions—after major shareholders balked. “It was a harebrained scheme. They got their ass handed to them by investors,” said a person close to the Murdochs.
The Dominion Voting lawsuit. The crisis has led to an existential threat: the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit Dominion Voting Systems brought against Fox News. The blockbuster trial is set to begin in April, but even if the parties settle before then, Dominion’s legal filings have already publicized internal communications that revealed those at the highest levels of Fox News didn’t believe Trump’s stolen election conspiracies even as the network was cravenly promoting the lies for ratings. (In one email, Murdoch called Trump’s fraud claims “really crazy stuff.”)
Courting Jerry Hall: After a few weeks of dating, Murdoch and Hall flew on his private G650 jet to Texas to meet Hall’s Fox News–loving family. Hall left Texas at 16 to model in Europe, but as she watched her relatives line up to receive Murdoch like he was the king of red America, she realized that her family’s approval meant a lot. Six months into the relationship, Murdoch proposed. “Mick was so unfaithful to you, I’d never be unfaithful,” Murdoch told Hall, according to a person briefed on the conversation.
Murdoch found Trump appalling. “Rupert knew he was an idiot,” a person close to Murdoch said. Murdoch was a longtime champion of immigration reform and free trade and loathed Trump’s nativism and know-nothingism.
Jerry Hall hated Trump: “During dinners we had with Jerry and Rupert, Jerry wouldn’t hold back,” Cashin, Hall’s friend, said. According to a source, Murdoch wanted to buy a house in Florida to be closer to Mar-a-Lago, but Hall refused. Hall told friends she was alarmed by Trump’s lack of qualifications or respect for the office. At a lunch shortly after the 2016 election, Hall asked Trump to reroute the Dakota Access Pipeline away from Native American reservations that were protesting the project. Trump responded by asking if she wanted to serve in his administration as head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. “It was horrible. I couldn’t wait to get away,” she later told friends.
Blowing up his marriage to Jerry: At the age of 91, Murdoch blew up his fourth marriage. Hall was waiting for Murdoch to meet her at their Oxfordshire estate last June when she checked her phone. “Jerry, sadly I’ve decided to call an end to our marriage,” Murdoch’s email began, according to a screenshot I read. “We have certainly had some good times, but I have much to do…My New York lawyer will be contacting yours immediately.” Hall told friends she was blindsided. “Rupert and I never fought,” she told people. There had been disagreements over his antiabortion views and some friction with the kids over Hall’s rules about masking and testing before they saw Murdoch, according to sources. But Hall never felt Murdoch treated these as major issues.
After they finalized the divorce two months later: One of the terms of the settlement was that Hall couldn’t give story ideas to the writers on Succession. Hall told friends she had to move everything out of the Bel Air estate within 30 days and show receipts to prove items belonged to her. Security guards watched as her children helped her pack. When she settled into the Oxfordshire home she received in the divorce, she discovered surveillance cameras were still sending footage back to Fox headquarters. Mick Jagger sent his security consultant to disconnect them.
Jerry believes that Murdoch was already seeing Ann Lesley Smith: Looking back, Hall told friends that Murdoch had simply moved on, the way he had ended previous marriages. “She was devastated, mad, and humiliated,” Cashin told me. On the first day of Lent in February, Hall told friends she made an effigy of Murdoch, tied dental floss around its neck, and burned it on the grill.
His failed engagement to Smith: Murdoch and Smith had planned to marry this summer. He proposed with an 11-carat diamond engagement ring said to be worth upwards of $2.5 million. Then, a little more than two weeks after rolling out news of their engagement, the pair abruptly called it off. One source close to Murdoch said he had become increasingly uncomfortable with Smith’s outspoken evangelical views. “She said Tucker Carlson is a messenger from God, and he said nope,” the source said.
This is insane! A then-91-year-old man sneaking around with an evangelical side-chick when he has a wonderful wife at home – VF details how much Jerry cared for him when he was sick with Covid and when he broke various bones. She was literally his nurse and primary caregiver, and they kept each other company during the lockdown. And he dumped her when he met some hot-to-trot nutcase. No fool like an old fool! Well, at least the Dominion Voting lawsuit will weaken his empire even further. And the sh-t about the security cameras at Jerry’s house!! Holy sh-t.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Cover Images.
Celebrities at Scott's restaurant in London, United Kingdom,Image: 374623890, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no 
West Hollywood, CA – Media Mogul, Billionaire Rupert Murdoch and wife Jerry Hall were all smiles after enjoying dinner with Joan Collins and her husband at ‘Craigs’ Restaurant in West Hollywood. Pictured: Rupert Murdoch, Jerry Hall BACKGRID USA 13 NOVEMBER 2019 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication* 
Los Angeles, CA – Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall are divorcing after six years of marriage. The 91-year-old media mogul and the 65-year-old model tied the knot in 2016. It was Murdoch’s fourth marriage. He was previously married to Wendi Deng from 1999 to 2013; Anna Maria Torv from 1967 to 1999; and Patricia Booker, from 1956 to 1967. Hall had been married to Mick Jagger, the rock star and lead singer of the Rolling Stones. Pictured: Rupert Murdoch, Jerry Hall BACKGRID USA 23 JUNE 2022 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
-Washington, District of Columbia – 20180424 -PICTURED: Rupert Murdoch and Mrs. Jerry Murdoch -PHOTO by: Ron Sachs/CNP/startraksphoto.com -042418_Trump-Marcon_300 This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Startraks Photo for licensing fee and rights information at sales@startraksphoto.com or call +1 212 414 9464 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Startraks Photo reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded Featuring: Rupert Murdoch and Mrs. Jerry Murdoch Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 24 Apr 2018 Credit: Ron Sachs/CNP/startraksphoto.com 
, Los Angeles, CA -20190224 Celebrities pose for pictures as they arrive at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. -PICTURED: Rupert Murdoch -PHOTO by: Milla Cochran/startraksphoto.com This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Startraks Photo for licensing fee and rights information at sales@startraksphoto.com or call +1 212 414 9464 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Startraks Photo reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded Featuring: Rupert Murdoch Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 24 Feb 2019 Credit: Milla Cochran/startraksphoto.com 
, New York, NY – 20191119 Celebrities pose for pictures as they arrive at the Citymeals on Wheels 33rd annual power lunch for women. -PICTURED: Rupert Murdoch -PHOTO by: Kristin Callahan/ACE Pictures/INSTARimages.com -111919_Citymeals_K014 Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing Featuring: Rupert Murdoch Where: New York, New York, United States When: 19 Nov 2019 Credit: Kristin Callahan/ACE Pictures/INSTARimages.comncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcWlia352e9WflqutoJq%2FtavMrqmdp5OdrKa6w56bmKCZqKyurdGroJqflZTBsKvJnqmrsY%2Bdrq24vpuwmJ2dlratq9KhnJivkaiso7jIp5usoZSasXA%3D