People Are Googling "Wendi Deng Tony Blair"
In the wake of the news that Rupert Murdoch has filed for divorce against Wendi Deng, people seem to be entering the above-referenced search terms into Google. Presumably, they're just trying to look up a column Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff wrote last year in the Guardian, headlined "Tony Blair and the Murdochs: A Family Affair," which includes this passage:
Blair becomes one of Wendi's first official social conquests, in her developing role both as Murdoch social emissary and social power player. Wendi Murdoch becomes a curious wrinkle in the power equation—a way for Blair to see himself as having control of Murdoch, of joining with Wendi to handle him.
It is Wendi Murdoch who, in 2008, when I am writing about her husband, urges me to speak to Blair; she personally sets up the appointment.
Wolff's column must have had quite an impact in some circles, though we can't quite gauge reader response since a note at the bottom of the piece says, "This article will not be open to comment for legal reasons."
There was some reaction on Twitter, though, back when the column was originally published:
Are you suggesting what I think? RT @michaelwolffnyc: Wendi Murdoch and Tony Blair: you heard it here first tinyurl.com/cgjvvoh
— Jacob Weisberg (@jacobwe) May 29, 2012