In new book, James Stewart details dysfunction in the Redstone family
Author and Journalist James B. Stewart will sign his book “Unscripted” at the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon on Friday, Aug. 4. Photo submitted

In new book, James Stewart details dysfunction in the Redstone family

SHARON — Journalist James B. Stewart will be signing books on Friday, Aug. 4 at the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon for its 25th annual book signing with his latest book, a detailed look into the private and corporate life of billionaire businessman Sumner Redstone.

Stewart and Rachel Adams, both New York Times  writers, are the authors of “Unscripted, The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy,” published by Penguin Press in February.

Sumner Redstone was an  American media executive whose company, National Amusements, Inc., acquired film, television, and entertainment properties, including Viacom and CBS.  He died in 2020. The book explores his relationship with his daughter, Shari, who took over her father’s business but faced hostility from not only management and board members but also from her own father.

“I got so many responses from readers who said it resonated with them as daughters of fathers. As a dynamic, there’s not a lot out there. There’s tons about fathers and sons. There’s a lot about mothers and daughters. But there’s not that much about fathers and daughters,” Stewart said.

“Sumner Redstone, who is this titanic figure. He’s proud of his daughter, he boasts about her accomplishments, but then he holds her to an absolutely impossible standard.”

“It’s cruel. He bestows the praise, then he takes it away.”

“At the end of the book, she’s still seeking his love and approval,” Stewart said.

Stewart and Adams run down many rumors in the book, including many involving Shari Redstone who seemed to be resented solely on the basis of the position she occupies by birth.

“The level of conjecture, and wanting to believe the worst in her is not like anything I have encountered with male shareholders or chief executives.

“I do think think there was a distinct level of sexism in all of that,” he said.

Stewart is a prolific author with 11 book titles who also has received many awards for his work, including sharing the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism for articles about the stock market upheaval and insider trading in the 1987 crash.

A Harvard Law School graduate and member of the Bar of New York, Stewart also taught business and economic journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism for 20 years.

Discussing the dysfunctional Redstone familiy, Stewart recalled the old saying — money doesn’t buy happiness. He also noted that money didn’t serve Sumner Redstone well.

“When you’re that rich, even the lawyers who were reportedly working for him, whose interests were they really serving?”

“The money seems to have helped him come untethered from the kind of restraints that normally keep peoples’ behavior within reasonable bounds. He’s handing millions out to these young women who are willing to do just about anything,” he said.

Stewart thinks there’s at least one more book to come from him, but he didn’t want to be pinned down.

Latest News

Check-in at Bulk Trash Day
Photo by John Coston

Mickey Stringer of of North East, left, checks in with Chris Virtuoso, volunteering on Saturday, May 12 at the Old Town Garage on South Center Street as a Climate Smart Task Force member. Stringer’s loaded pickup was part of a long line of vehicles along South Center as residents used the opportunity to dispose of air conditioners, mattresses, lumber, and other bulk items. Town Supervisor Christopher Kennan said he didn’t recall seeing such a long line of vehicles in past years.

Millbrook airs school budget, propositions ahead of  May 20 vote

Elm Drive Elementary School in Millbrook.

Archive photo

MILLBROOK — Preparing for the village-wide vote on the proposed 2025-26 school budget scheduled for Tuesday, May 20, the Millbrook Central School District held a public hearing on Tuesday, May 6, to review the budget and hear residents’ comments.

The CSD proposed 2025-26 budget to be voted upon as Proposition 1, showed total expenditures of $35,649,651, an increase of $1,074,576 (3.11%) over the current year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton Zoning Board of Appeals hears new variance request for 7-9 Main Street

Ray Nelson, Earthwise Architecture, requested two variances for 7-9 Main St., one to allow a 9-unit floorplan and another to waive the parking requirements for the building, at a public hearing held by the village Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday, May 6.

Photo by John Coston

MILLERTON — Ray Nelson of Millerton presented two possible updated floorplans for the apartment building at 7-9 Main St. to the Zoning Board of Appeals at a public hearing on Tuesday, May 6.

Nelson, on behalf of the building’s owner, is seeking two variances for the property: one allowing a density increase and another waiving the parking requirements for the property.

Keep ReadingShow less
Irondale Schoolhouse to ring bell on opening day May 24

Ralph Fedele with Mary Leitch, 103, who attended the one-room Irondale Schoolhouse until it closed and she moved on to Millerton High School.

Photo provided

MILLERTON — The Irondale Schoolhouse will celebrate its opening day on Saturday, May 24, when it will ring in its eleventh summer season with the old school bell.

Lemonade and cookies will be provided for visitors. A history exhibit is on display inside the schoolhouse and there will be a formal unveiling of a plaque commemorating membership in the Country Schools of America, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the memory of country schools.

Keep ReadingShow less