Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

——

"Boss, the direction of public opinion has shifted," said Anna as she hurried into the office, holding a stack of newspapers that she placed on the desk.

On top was the "Los Angeles Times," with the front-page headline announcing that Link was prepared to battle Taylor for custody of their child, vowing to spend whatever it took to win the case and take the child from Taylor.

The front-page story was accompanied by several photos.

On the left was a photo of Taylor tearfully apologizing to the media.

On the right was a screenshot from a video of Link in a boxing ring, punching the former WBA Light Heavyweight champion Belrut Shumenov off his feet.

His bare upper body exposed, his muscles were fierce and powerful, and he looked somewhat ferocious as he swung his punch with force.

Belrut, with his body sideways, fell down, and in the photo, it looked as if he was punched and thrown into the air by Link, his face severely deformed, with fresh blood and sweat spraying out.

In between the photos of him and Taylor were pictures of two cute children with a golden "VS" written above them.

This set of contrasting images was striking, offering a powerful visual impact that allowed viewers to immediately sense who was strong and who was weak.

Clearly, Taylor was at a disadvantage.

The "Los Angeles Times" posed a question to the public through its report, in such a situation, whom would people choose to support? The underdog or the powerful one?

Given the circumstances, most people would choose to support the underdog.

One reason is that supporting the underdog allows one to easily claim the moral high ground and receive more approval when expressing opinions, as 95% of people in the world are or consider themselves to be in a weaker position.

Another reason is that there's no fear of losing when supporting the underdog; if the kind-hearted weak lose, it's a decay of social morals, but if the despicable strong lose, it's the triumph of justice.

Supporting the underdog in winning the case also brings more participation and satisfaction.

Besides the Los Angeles Times, "USA Today," "American Express," "New York Post," "The Washington Post," "Hollywood Reporter," and other major media outlets all covered the story, maintaining an ostensibly objective and impartial stance.

However, in describing the situation of both parties, they exaggerated Link's strengths, sensationalizing his current advantages.

They also focused on painting Taylor's current plight and disadvantages, speculating that it was highly likely that Taylor would lose.

The media had a simple reason for doing this.

To stir up public controversy; the more the controversy, the louder the arguments, the more people paid attention, the greater the reader retention, and the more the media's news products sold—such is one of the common tactics media use to manipulate public opinion.

And since 95% of the public are easily swayed, this provides the media with the conditions necessary for successful opinion manipulation.

After mainstream media like the "Los Angeles Times" reported the news, the direction of public debate began to gradually shift at the societal level in the United States of America.

As many were still engrossed in the bombshell news of 'Taylor's possible incarceration or child concealment,' a media "waiter" served up another steaming story with the headline 'Link boldly steps in to fight for child custody, Taylor fears another blow after career setback - potential loss of beloved son and daughter.'

The previous story had only involved country music queen Taylor, but this one enveloped world superstar and billionaire Link as well as Taylor, turning into a family drama that guaranteed a ripe, sweet story with even more exciting plot twists than the last.

Human curiosity can never be satisfied, and even if many are stuffed, some even vomiting as they eat, they will still reach for the next piece.

In the face of this controversial issue, before starting to "feast" on the news, the crowd will first choose sides.

Choosing the right side means enjoying more and eating with greater relish and peace of mind.

Because the mainstream media portrayed Taylor as the underdog through their provocative reporting,

and because people can empathize, many easily chose to stand with Taylor, support the weaker side, resist the powerful Link, unite, and show the strength of the underdog to the powerful.

This situation led to a rapid shift in the direction of public opinion.

Many netizens who had been criticizing Taylor for disrespecting human rights were within minutes rallying behind her, swearing to help her keep her children.

Especially among various women's organizations.

Just the day before, they were criticizing Taylor for acting improperly, but the next second, they stood from Taylor's perspective, discussing the issue of the ownership of a child born to a girlfriend after a breakup; they believed women should have more rights and that both the judiciary and public opinion should support Taylor winning the case.

Because this issue was not only related to Taylor but also closely linked to their own rights and interests.

After the public opinion had shifted, the criticisms against Taylor rapidly decreased, and the pressure Taylor faced greatly diminished.

Meanwhile, the media's voices criticizing Link began to grow louder, calling him a scumbag for his philandering and being dumped by Taylor, and now that Taylor had gone through the hardship of pregnancy and childbirth, he had done nothing, yet he was trying to snatch the child away, which was too much.

There were also comments that Taylor was facing enormous media pressure and career crisis, and instead of helping her, her ex-boyfriend, not only didn't lend a hand but also kicked her while she was down by trying to take the child away at this moment, which was despicable.

Those who were hostile to him took this opportunity to attack, arranging media coverage of his past misdeeds, calling on the public to boycott him, and to resist his albums and movies, never giving him a chance to make a comeback.

The criticisms against him reached a new height.

Ding-a-ling!

That afternoon, while Link was swimming in the pool, he received a call from Taylor.

"Thanks!"

Taylor said simply and directly over the phone.

This was the first phone conversation between them since the breakup.

"Thanks for what?"

"...I know your purpose for doing this, thank you for sharing the pressure with me," Taylor said in a soft voice.

Link smiled, "Taylor, you've got it all wrong. The reason I'm doing this is that I think you're not a competent mother, and it's not appropriate for Alexander and Cynthia to stay with you. I'm going to get custody of the kids and raise them myself. Be prepared."

"Hmph! You wish, I will never let you succeed," Taylor said angrily before hanging up the phone.

Link let out a light laugh and also put down the phone.

But then he suddenly remembered that he seemed to have forgotten something important.

----

"Fuck! Fuck! What the hell is Link doing, coming out with this right now?" Frank Abramov, the president of global distribution and marketing at Paramount Pictures, cursed angrily.

With "Captain America" about to be released, the lead actor Link suddenly was embroiled in this scandal; would the fans still go to the theatres to support him?

Would people still accept him as the virtuous Captain America, considering his real life character?

This movie had a $140 million investment, and any mishap could deal a huge blow to Paramount Pictures.

This was too much of a setback.

"Get in touch with Link's people right away, tell him to drop the lawsuit, and stop making a mess," he ordered.

"Also, contact the media under ViacomCBS, stop badmouthing Link, promote his positive news more. This movie is very crucial, it must be handled with care," Frank Abramov commanded, waving his arms at several subordinates in front of his desk.

"Yes!"

The team hurriedly got to work, looking for all possible ways to preserve Link's reputation.

While Paramount was in a state of panic, good news came from Dahai City, quickly turning the situation around, making everything not so bad after all.