*By Carlo Versano*
Gavin de Becker has been operating in elite, high-profile circles for nearly four decades, but very few knew his name before Jeff Bezos mentioned it on Thursday in his explosive allegations that a tabloid publisher attempted to blackmail him over explicit photos.
De Becker, Bezos' longtime private security consigliere, has a star-studded pedigree that spans 40 years.
He attended high school with the son of famed crooner Rosemary Clooney, who eventually hired him as her road manager. He served as personal assistant to megastar Elizabeth Taylor and investigated stalkers for Olivia Newton-John and Cher. He was a close friend of Carrie Fisher and eulogized the "Star Wars" actress at her funeral, ran security for President Ronald Reagan, and worked for the family of Ron Goldman after his sensationalized murder in the home of O.J. Simpson's slain ex-wife. The list goes on.
Now he's well-known among the red carpet crowd as a guardian-fixer-type for the rich and famous. More recently, as part of his dedication to the safety and privacy of his (very wealthy) clients, he started a remote terminal at LAX for the well-heeled, promising a "peaceful" and pampered journey from check-in to boarding away from the prying eyes of the hoi polloi or the snapping shutters of the paparazzi.
As the security chief for the richest man in the world investigating a multi-layered web of deception involving a supermarket tabloid, de Becker has been thrust into a national maelstrom over the dark art of political hit jobs, featuring Silicon Valley billionaires, tabloid moguls, the president of the United States, the special counsel, and even the Saudi royal family.
The 64-year-old de Becker built a profile in Hollywood that coincided first with the rise of tabloid culture, followed by the explosion of social media and all the landmines it presented for public figures. Weeks ago, Bezos tasked de Becker with looking into how American Media Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer, obtained intimate text messages Bezos had traded with his girlfriend. Bezos and his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie, publicly announced their divorce just before AMI published those texts.
In the course of his investigation, de Becker reportedly came to believe that AMI's interest in Bezos was politically motivated, based on Bezos' ownership of The Washington Post. AMI and its president David Pecker have long had a cozy relationship with President Trump ー who has been vocal on Twitter about his animus toward Bezos and the Post ー and were granted immunity in the special counsel's investigation into payments of hush money to women who said they had affairs with Trump.
Bloomberg reported Friday that federal prosecutors are reviewing evidence to determine if the company violated its immunity deal.
A Washington Post reporter who spoke with de Becker [told Cheddar](https://www.cheddar.com/media/bezos-investigator-suspects-govt-behind-leaked-text-messages-washington-post-reporter) that he suspected embarrassing photos of Bezos were intercepted by a "government entity" and forwarded to AMI. De Becker has not said that publicly and has not provided evidence to support that theory.
For de Becker, becoming associated with a nude selfie scandal involving a billionaire is perhaps an odd capstone to a career mainly focused on keeping celebrities safe. But as of the last four decades, it's fitting. As Bezos alluded to in his post, whatever de Becker discovered in his investigation was enough for AMI to come after a man with unlimited resources to try and stop it.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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