Sumner Redstone Puts His Wife To Work
Defamer's Breakfast at Viacom continues: According to the LAT, skeletal Viacom executive presence Sumner Redstone has "raised eyebrows" by letting wife Paula hang around the offices of UPN and Nickelodeon:
A source familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the former educator described her activities as "auditing" — as in sitting in on a college class.
Insiders said she was attending "pitch meetings," where writers and producers propose program ideas to network executives.
On Wednesday, a company spokesman said that Paula Redstone was "listening and observing" — and was not being paid.
"Paula is not employed in any Viacom business," said Viacom spokesman Carl Folta. "Having worked 13 years as a schoolteacher she has a great interest in spending her time constructively and wants to learn about the entertainment business."
Paula Redstone's "listening and observing" has raised eyebrows — and speculation — about what, if anything, her new visibility may mean.
Is the Much Younger Mrs. Redstone merely sating her curiosity about how Daddy makes his sugar, or, on the eve of the company's much-discussed split, is the 143 year-old mogul sending out another set of eyes and ears before he's nothing but a obscenely wealthy pile of bone dust, gold fillings, and Brylcreem in a high-backed leather desk chair? Perhaps Julie Chen, talent-free Big Brother host and first member of Les Moonves's eventual thirty-bride intramural harem, can get some answers out of her on Viacom's Take Your Trophy Wife To Work Day.