Why I route for Mike Tyson!

I am so happy Mike Tyson has a new lifestyle and new show on Broadway!

I have known the troubled heavy weight champ for years. I was proud to say, we were friends, when it brought kind of reactions like: "You are friends! You are joking, right?"

I was not. I have always found Mike, a hungry person for education. When he was not under the influence, he would behave like a true gentleman. Yes, yes ...

So at last - after coping with the tragic death of his 4 years old daughter on May 2009  - he cleaned up. He is pursuing his acting career, after successful appearances in "Hangover" and its sequel. He is telling his story on a Broadway stage. How cool is that!

Promoting his gig, Mike is now admitting , that he has been battling addictions. Yes, he has made lots of mistakes, including mistreatment of women.

BUT NO! He keeps insisting that he did NOT rape Desiree Washington.

One can think: what is the big deal? After all - the ex-world heavy weight boxing champ had served his full sentence in prison. If he is going public with "the new, reformed Mike" - why to insist on this single account??

Why? Because he might be telling the truth.

***

I am making this story public for the first time.

After Tyson was indicted for raping Desiree Washington, I conducted the only TV interview with her father Donald, at his home. It was in a poor neighborhood. Donald shared with us videos of his daughter, a wannabe beauty Queen, as a cheer leader. The father's account was painful, but - I must say - it smelled funny. It looked like money - or lack of it - was a big factor there.

After that, then Tyson's body guard, Rudy Gonzales brought us exclusive footage of the champ, dancing with women. It featured lavish lifestyle, lots of sex and booze. BUT Rudy was convinced, Tyson was set up. Rudy stated, that he had taken care of similar situations with other girls: "After spending the night (with Mike), we sent them home with limos, bought them watches, flowers, made them feel good …"


Desiree Washington met Mike Tyson at his hotel suite in Indiana after midnight. By then, Rudy Gonzales was long gone: he was let by Tyson's management to go for the night. So there was nobody there to give Desiree a song & a dance after the sex was over.

     

When Tyson was in jail, haunted by Tyson's firm denial, and Gonzales' candid account, I called my friend, lawyer Alan Dershowitz who was working on his appeal. 


Dershowitz's claim-to-fame came when he won the appeal for his client Claus von Bülow, a British socialite of German and Danish ancestry who was accused of the attempted murder of his wife Sunny von Bulow, by administering an insulin overdose in 1980 which left her in a persistent vegetative state for the rest of her life, but his conviction in the first trial was reversed and he was found not guilty in both his retrials. A film, starring Glen Close, had made Dershowitz a household name. 


But when Dershowitz assured me: “Daphne, I am doing anything I can for Mike. Don't worry ..." I continued with my gut feeling. 

                                                                                 *** 

The hotel suite, where the alleged rape had taken place, was close to the public. Shortly after the conversation with Dershowitz, I called the hotel's duty manager, played my charm and asked to check into this suite. While my Fox TV cameraman and producer were settling in, I put on a bath rob, and tried to feel what Desiree had been going through …

According to her story, Tyson jumped on her in the bedroom area. The suite was an L shape: a living room, a bedroom, and a bathroom connected to the bedroom. I realized for a frightened girl, there was no other place but to run to the bathroom from the bedroom area. And that way, she would have locked herself in, but she would have had no way to go out and seek help.

Intrigued with this observation, I left my cameraman and producer in the bedroom area and I ran into the bathroom, and locked myself in …

WHAT DID I SEE THERE???

Not one - but two (2) phones in that locked area. I checked the phones. They were working. I called downstairs and asked the concierge for a wake up call and newspapers for the next morning. Then - I called room service and had a lovely chat about the menu options for my breakfast … And no, neither my cameraman nor my producer, who were just outside of my door, heard any of my conversations on the phone.

SO HOW COME A FRIGHTENED GIRL DIDN'T PICK UP ONE OF THESE PHONES AND ASK FOR HELP???

I called Dershowitz the next day, and told him: "Mike did not rape her!"

Dershowitz told me that he knows that too. But he added: "I had already filed the appeal .."

***

Years later - I was having lunch with Mike, and Joe and Katherine Jackson in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their son Michael had just been indicted for alleged pedophilia. They were devastated. I invited Mike to give them support. We discussed the legal system.

Then I turned to Mike and I told him about my visit to the hotel suite which changed his life and sent him to prison. His mood suddenly changed. He looked at me and said: "Daphne, I paid so many people, trusted them ...You know, I did not rape ...You know that because you - unlike them -  cared to check it out  .."

About being interacting, engaging, and organic ...

I promised to write this blog to a clever woman, named Rebecca.

We met  few days ago, at a conference dealing with advertising and the two words everyone is using: "New Media."

Professor Al Lieberman attached two other words to "New Media": Fear Factor. The wiser and older man was joking how everyone has been trying to figure out where would this "New Media" take us. We all show excitement, said Lieberman, without admitting how scared we are from this new world and its effects on us. 

Rebecca and I shared a glass of wine outside the room, full of CEOs, COOs, SVPs of leading  companies, and talked about the vocabulary that were being used so often in presentations, round tables, or by business executives in Hollywood, Madison Avenue (N.Y.), Wall Street and others these days. 


When a "suit" throws in the following words in a speedy manner, using a confident body language: what does it really mean??

Here is my two cents:

"OUTSOURCING" - What it means practically, that this person is getting a lot of money from you for a specific job, done (for much less money) by a third party - usually another company.

"DELEGATING"  - The same (above), only that the third party is working for the same company.

"PROACTIVE"  - A term being used often by PR or Marketing executives, in an authoritative manner. They tell you how they were doing damage control ( in return for your payments) before any damage was done. WAIT A MINUTE ...WHAT???

"INTERACTIVE" - The mantra of many executives, claiming to know how to involve you and the audience better than others. How do they know?? They would insist they do. One of the key words they will use, repeatedly is "testing."

"TESTING" - Executives love to tell you about how many "testings" they will do for you, weather it will be with "focus groups" or using Internet campaigns ...A Budget for "testing" may include "outsourcing" or "delegating" or any other above listed.

"ENGAGING"  - It is the younger sibling of "interactive." Some executives will be happy to share with you that the younger generation (the dream of any advertiser) is less patient than others. In fact - they will add quietly, as if they are sharing with you a secret, that the younger generation has  zero patience and that you have to engage them very quickly: with one word.  ...If this executive's long presentation has succeeded to engage you (and your bank account) to his company, then ...WAIT A MINUTE! WHY DIDN'T HE USE ONE WORD AS HE PREACHES?? ...

"ORGANIC" - I have to admit that this new word got me (and Rebecca) a bit puzzled. It was used by one of the speakers in the room - a lovely woman - so often, that we lost our well meant "engagement". It usually followed  up the word "testing." Outside - we tried to guess, if it had anything to do with organic fruits or vegetables? Does it mean that the content is more pure? Or - like organic food products - more expensive?? 

"OUT OF THE BOX"  - A relatively old expression, which refers to thinking differently, originally. It may be a long term solution? A big vision? Recently - this term is used so frequently, that I sometimes try to remember what "the box" is ... And if we think out of "Out of the Box" - where does it take us??

* In my book "My Benazir" - I describe how Benazir Bhutto was so excited about her first ever blackberry. The highly educated leader told me happily that she could have a fast access to news, gossip ...She was so obsessed with it over lunch, that she forgot for a minute her perfect manners, and the important issues, she needed to discuss with us until ...Read more in "My Benazir"  (www.daphnebarak.com) 

The Popular Camilla ... At Last!

Watching the former Camilla Parker Bowles - the Duchess of Cornwell today, standing confidently next to the Queen, during the Jubilee celebrations, brought me to think about days, that Camilla and her family had less reasons to smile.

The love story between Prince Charles and Camilla (and the triangle with the late Princess Diana) is  well known. Much less known what Camilla and her family had to go through, during these years, when she was described as, "The Other Woman ..."

I have been privy to some of it, because of the time I spent with her younger sister Annabel Elliot, her husband Simon and their children. Marc Shand her brother shared with me some painful moments. And there was this lunch with Camilla's son Tom in Cannes, when he came to see me in the midst of a scandal unravelling,  hidden behind under a cap.

I will skip the private moments, instead I will share with you Since these were private moments, I am just going to hint about what this family had been facing until then.

                                                                           ***

We were in a cocktail party for a charity in London. Simon Elliot was sent by Annabel to support the charity. I invited both of them, but Annabel was at her country home that night. Simon and I were chatting when Prince Charles entered the small room. He started to shake hands, making small talk. Cameras were flashing  ...I suddenly noticed Simon literally hiding behind me, mumbling: "Daphne, I need to leave, you understand ..."

I did. Simon and Prince Charles had been friends. In fact, he played a role in finding the "High Grove" - Prince Charles's country home (next to Camilla's home then). But he couldn't afford a photo of him and the Prince, being taken.  In a way, not only Camilla was a mistress, her entire family needed to behave like one too.


Camilla has a very close tight family. In couple of our fun lunches at Annabel and Simon's place, we were joined by Annabel's dad Bruce Shand. Since their mother died from Osteoporosis, the siblings kept their father close by until he died few years ago.

It is also a very creative family.  Her brother Marc wrote a book about elephants.  While Annabel liked to travel around the world, and collect antiques, interesting vases, pillows ...We used to have lengthy fun lunches, and then - I couldn't resist buying some of  it ...My home is full of these items.

But beside these fun moments, I learnt about painful ones too. Camilla's siblings had to think twice before they came close to any one or event talked to them.

Simon shared with my boyfriend and I, how people convinced them to do a photo shoot of their house to a design magazine. Sure! Annabel's taste deserves to be featured in a prestigious outlet, why not?  "Then,"  shared with us a visibly shocked Simon, "We found a photo of our bedroom in a tabloid, with a headline: 'Here is where Prince Charles and Camilla  meet secretly ...'


Such incidents pushed the Elliots and the rest of the family to a constant "on guard" mode, suspecting anyone and anything. Can you blame them??

                                                                       ***

Yet my impression was that the family united behind Camilla and her soul mate, Prince Charles.  They were patient about the slow process of getting Camilla accepted by the public. I recall Annabel's 50th  B Day: This was a huge step forward. Charles and Camilla attended, AND it was their first photo-op as a couple. It made headlines around the world. The next day Annabel was laughing with me: "Daphne, now - everyone in the world knows how old I am ..."


                                                                            ***

So the increasing popularity of Camilla is a relief to a very supportive family. It also gives a story of true love - a happy ending.

Prince Charles & Kindle ...

It is the Queen's Jubilee: a leader who has been popular for decades, adjusting successfully to such extreme political, social and high-tech changes ...


When H.M. Queen Elisabeth was crowned, there was no fax ... email? Yet today, her husband Prince Phillip is my Facebook friend!


It takes a smart woman and a true leader to interact with her subjects (and the rest of the world) so successfully. Some say, the Queen might have had a mis-step right after Princess Diana died in a car accident on 1997. My friend Dickie Arbiter who was at H.M.'s press office at the time, remembered it  differently in a TV interview with me. He has portrayed the Queen as sensitive leader, who was shaken by the accident, the tragic death and the reactions of the people.


                                                                          ***


That brings me to an emotional moment with Prince Charles. I have known him for years, and supported some of his charities with pleasure. The Crown Prince is a true believer in creating new business opportunities. He is very involved with the charities, he had agreed to be a patron of. Among them - some arts. For example: "The Philharmonia" orchestra. It is a great  house for many talented musicians and devoted employees. I have supported and attended events with Prince Charles, at his country home (High Grove), St James Palace, and Windsor Castle ...


At one of the recent events - a delightful evening with music and theater - the Prince made an emotional plea for the sake of true arts. He was articulate, funny, personal (it was a small group) ...I couldn't agree with him more, but ...Yes! There is one point, I respectfully disagree with Charles ...


                                                                          ***


When His Royal Highness was telling us about, how he is longing to maintain the sensation of a live concert (like the one he was treating us that evening), or the feeling of reading a real book, "not downloading it on Kindle ..."


Well ... with all due respect to his hard work and devotion to the arts, I must say: The content is the king!! It was phrased, years ago, by Sumner Redstone,  the media mogul, behind Viacom. Yet - he is still a winner!


It is all about the original content!! Music? Films? Text? Paintings? ...The way we choose to receive this content, is secondary. Our busy schedule can dictate us to prefer our Iphones? Ipads? Audio books? Kindle??


I have received grateful messages from people who downloaded my second book: "My Benazir" on the their kindle and other tools. That means, that they read it in their comfort zone, when they could enjoy it the most!!  You can do the same:  http://www.amazon.com/My-Benazir-Leaders-ebook/dp/B007TGXAKA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334258164&sr=8-1

Teach the Elephant to Dance ...

Since I started blogging recently - as every insecure girl - I need constant feed backs ...Here (below) are some of the comments, I have been receiving. It helps me to focus on why I decided to write this blog, and what content should I include.

I would love to have your ideas, suggestions or comments. Words like "engaging"  or  "interactive"  have been overused by now. How about: "including???"




Rebecca K (A Washington based executive at a new media company):

"Daphne,You are a woman of character and true to your words. Your blog successfully addresses the issue that is a concern of executives who represent the Fortune 500 companies. The use of these business terms, (although not sure about organic) is an attempt to "Teach the Elephant to Dance" based on the "Fear Factor" you mentioned.  

Their fear is the knowledge that New Media represents on-demand access to content any time and anywhere and that the future is now.  Humankind is creating, publishing distributing and thereby consuming media content real-time on any digital device.
Another valuable thought you shared and with which I agree is re Millennials and speed? vs. service. Really - having discussed the issue of speed with Millennials from all walks of life iI have surmised that they are about exemplary service over speed. It will always be true that regardless of the speed it takes to deliver services that are exemplary will be exemplary as the word suggests and in truth the essence of what all humankind desires - value for one's self and the value for the money we earn (or inherit) and spend. It is a very large "elephant" mistake to assume speed is the virtue and that all other generations are about "in my day".  The day is now and the future is here.  In my day and in my way, I wrote this loving response to your candor and truth.  You are amazing!  love and respect, Rebecca
I enjoyed your blog and look forward to the more to come."

Richard S (an Editor-in-Chief of nationwide magazines)

"News, wit and perspective on who's making headlines by the one person who connects with everyone, Daphne Barak."

Roger B (a  UK based business man)

"Amazing Blog Daphne, don't tell me you've met God, I mean my hero Mr Bob Dylan. If you are going to then I need a temp. job carrying a bag or cleaning the floor :). Good Blog, Clinton is hilarious".

Sue W (a New York based editor of a nationwide magazine)

"Daphne connects with her readers in the same way she connects with her famous celebrity friends and political figures through her blog which is always delightful, insightful and sometimes explosive as she writes about up-to-the-moment events in the world of the famous and sometimes the infamous!"

April G (an American business woman, and author)

"I went to the Daphne Barak blog looking for gossip and glamour and instead found thoughtful questions and intelligent perspective on the most current people and topics of our day."

Mark M (a New York based financial consultant)

"Daphne Barak's blog gives me an access to hard-to-get information in real time. It is useful in my job, and it is a lot of fun."


Udi B (a high-tech engineer)
"A very interesting personal blog. It sheds light on subjects that are not at the main light, from someone who met the people involved, with a deep understanding of the human behavior and motives."