Chapter: 6006

Howard picked up the phone and asked, "Do you have any plans?"

On the other end of the phone, a respectful voice said, "Mr. Howard, considering the current actual situation, we are unanimous in believing that the best solution for now is for you to quickly apologize publicly to the American people."

Howard was immediately enraged, angrily questioning, "What do you mean? Make me apologize?"

"Mr. Howard, I advise you to focus on acknowledging the responsibility of the Rockefeller family in failing to guide Matt properly, and then package your recent phone call to Bruce as an unavoidable move made out of concern for his son. This way, it can downplay the malicious intentions you tried to convey over the phone," said the person from the think tank.

When he got to this point, another person from the think tank added, "After apologizing and acknowledging your mistakes, you should immediately shift the blame to Matt for things like the Brooklyn prison, Peter, and Bruce's wife. Later, we'll spend some money to guide a large number of media outlets, influencers, and opinion leaders online, gradually shifting all attention to Matt, and then let him take responsibility for his legal obligations. As long as we can continuously move more and more people onto Matt's side, our crisis will be resolved soon."

Howard thought for a moment before finding the think tank's solution to be the best one under the current circumstances. Although it meant having to admit fault publicly, he had no choice but to do so.

Thinking about this, he made up his mind and asked, "When is the most suitable time for me to apologize?"

The person from the think tank responded immediately, "The sooner the better; ideally now!"

Late at night, a video suddenly appeared on the front pages of all media outlets except short video platforms.

The title of the video was "A Sincere Apology From Current Head of the Rockefeller Family Howard to the American People."

In the video, Howard deliberately dressed himself up to look very old, with a very pitiful and sickly appearance, making people feel like he's about to die or his life is slipping away.

The reason Howard did this was because of the advice from the think tank.

The think tank believed that pretending to be pitiful could help evoke sympathy in others, which would unconsciously reduce the hatred and criticism towards someone.

This is similar to a 20-year-old thief who steals someone's wallet, versus an 80-year-old terminally ill person who steals someone's wallet. Although the actions are the same, there is no difference in nature, but the latter will receive more social leniency.

By having Howard pretend to be pitiful, although it may damage his image, it would absolutely help soften the public's attitude towards the Rockefeller family at first.

And the think tank's judgment was indeed correct. When Howard seemed like he was about to die in front of the camera, people felt a few degrees of sympathy for him.

As soon as Howard opened his mouth, he directly addressed the main theme, saying with regret: "I'm sure everyone knows that my grandson Matt Rockefeller has committed unforgivable errors and crimes, although his actions were entirely personal, I as the patriarch of the Rockefeller family still bear an unavoidable responsibility!"

"And I, as the patriarch of the Rockefeller family, failed to stand up and apologize to the public at first, instead trying to use money to resolve the problem for him and intervene in judicial justice, this was a very stupid and wrong thing, here I must apologize sincerely to those involved and the American people!"

Howard's think tank is well aware of what it means by "avoiding the main issue" and "turning the tables".

If they had initially placed all responsibility on Matt, it would definitely spark public resentment, so they let Howard take the blame while also voluntarily assuming an unavoidable failure to supervise.

"And in this way, not only can we ease the hostile emotions of the audience, but also unconsciously think that Matt is the one who did all the bad things, while Howard is a parent who couldn't supervise their child and yet took responsibility for it.

Moreover, Howard acknowledged his attempt to bribe Bruce Wayne, which could be seen as bold. More subtly, Howard's exposure was only due to the content of the phone call he made to Bruce, making it difficult to pin him with a crime, so even if he acknowledges it voluntarily, there is no need for legal consequences, but in the eyes of the public, he gained some sympathy, which could be seen as clever.

At that moment, Howard looked pained and continued to say: 'Matt may be my most beloved grandson, but he has committed numerous wrongs, even violating American laws. As the patriarch of the Rockefeller family and an American citizen, I hereby guarantee that we will not cover for Matt nor seek leniency for him, regardless of what crime or sentence the court decides, the Rockefeller family will stand by its reputation as a century-old promise, absolutely refusing to interfere in any way.'

'Besides, I request that the authorities investigate me if my actions are suspected of violating American laws. If so, I am willing to accept all legal responsibilities;'

'Finally, on behalf of the entire Rockefeller family, I sincerely apologize to Mr. Bruce Wayne and Mr. Peter Zhout for their harm caused by Matt. We will continue to communicate with them and make every effort to compensate for the harm done.' JrNovels.com