Turns Out ‘Succession’ Was A Documentary This Whole Time

The producers of Succession have claimed that the patriarch Logan Roy isn’t based on a single real person. Totally made up! Nothing to see here!

Well, recently published anecdotes from the life of Australia’s own media magnate Rupert Murdoch have seriously put that claim to the test.

What happens between two people engaged in divorce proceedings is no one’s business. Leave them alone with their pain and give them some privacy — so the details of their lives don’t end up in a critically acclaimed and popular HBO show. That appears to be what Murdoch was after, because, according to Vanity Fair, he included a clause in his divorce agreement with actress and model Jerry Hall asking that she not share anecdotes about their marriage with the writers of Succession.

Despite telling a journalist he’s “never watched it“, it appears that Rupert Murdoch may harbour fears Succession has emulated his life a little too closely — a fear that honestly feels like a plot from Succession itself.

Aside from claims Rupert “pitted his kids against each other their entire lives” to inherit his billion-dollar news empire (exactly like his fictional counterpart), Vanity Fair also allege Rupert’s son James was reportedly accused of leaking family anecdotes to Succession writers and describes a lonely Rupert’s attempt to coerce him to attend his 90th birthday party. Sound familiar yet?

But if you really need convincing that Succession is practically a Murdoch documentary, take a look at this photograph of Rupert using printer paper boxes as a makeshift soapbox to address staff at the Wall Street Journal back in 2007.

The writers for @HBO #Succession did Rupert Murdoch dirty with the “Logan Roy” character replicating Murdoch’s 2007 battle cry speech inside the WSJ newsroom atop paper boxes. 🕶👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/4w2mutVLDa

— Jamie Dunne (@jamiedunne) April 4, 2023

The historical accuracy of these minor details only leads to more questions:

Was “Boar on the Floor” actually a game?

Did a badly-timed UTI affect Murdoch’s decision to scrap a proposed merger of Fox and News Corp?

Are there real versions of Tom and Greg causing chaos over at Fox News? (If so, I hope they’ve found peace.)

Either way, I hope none of this means that Succession will end without a classic James Packer Bondi brawl. That has always been the dream.