美国娱乐大亨大卫•格芬的坏榜样

    最新一期《财富》（Fortune）杂志刊登了关于大卫•格芬的详实报道，从多个角度描绘了这一时代好莱坞最具影响力的人。格芬做过经纪人、经理、唱片界大佬、电影和百老汇的制片人，还共同创立了一家电影制作公司，他的艺术直觉和财务敏锐度无人能及。

    现年70岁的格芬很少接受深入采访，但今年春夏之交在接受《财富》杂志记者大卫•A•凯普兰多次问答式采访时，这位传媒界大亨坦率地谈到了克林顿夫妇、史蒂夫•乔布斯、个人几十亿美元的艺术品收藏和大游艇、他离开梦工厂（DreamWorks）的缘由、他之所以不愿签署“赠与誓言”（Giving Pledge）的原因、成为同性恋者的成长经历、以及拥有一首知名歌曲以自己为原型是什么样的情形。

    格芬谈到了他初涉好莱坞时一些不诚信的经历。他回忆到在接受Ashley-Famous经纪公司应聘面试时，阿尔•阿什利批评他在个人简历中承认自己没有大学学历的做法。“你应当撒个谎！这样的简历，谁会聘用你？”阿什利说。格芬没有得到那份工作。后来，当他到威廉•莫里斯(William Morris)应聘时，他不能免俗地撒了个谎，自称毕业于加州大学洛杉矶分校（UCLA）。结果上班第一天，他就得知有人因为简历造假刚刚被解雇。“因此，我连续半年每天都早到公司，直到有一天我截获了一封发自UCLA的信，声称从未听说过我这个人。”格芬告诉《财富》杂志说：“我用一封表示我已毕业的信件替换了那封信。”对于说谎，他说，“你看，我可不是什么好榜样...但要做经纪人，必须大学毕业，这种想法很荒唐...我通过撒谎获得那份工作，这有问题吗？一点也没有。”

    他说，他在这家知名经纪公司学到的重要一课是：“我在威廉•莫里斯悟到的一点是：“他们在电话上一派胡言！我也能在电话上一派胡言！”

    格芬还向《财富》杂志透露，知名歌手乔尼•米切尔的歌曲《自由人在巴黎》（Free Man in Paris）里有一句歌词“我贩卖梦想者和在电话里大喊大叫的人”,说的就是他。

    他还谈到了他与已故苹果公司创始人史蒂夫•乔布斯的交情。他说，他们对待财富有不同的态度：“乔布斯和我在这方面不像，”格芬说。“他不在乎钱，我很在乎钱。那时,我就想要有很多很多的钱。我想金钱会改变我的生活，事实也的确如此，但不是以我预想的方式。”格芬透露称，他拥有近10亿美元的苹果（Apple）股票，很看好这家公司。

    格芬称，他没有加入沃伦•巴菲特和比尔•盖茨的“赠与誓言”行动，因为他反对这个理念。“这是哗众取宠，”他告诉《财富》杂志称，“你只是说你将来会这么做。这里不存在法律责任。我认识的一些人签署了这份协议，他们中间不止一个人告诉我：“你实际上并不需要付出什么，但形象会更好。”

    他甚至回答了他是否会在2016年大选中支持希拉里•克林顿。他说：“肯定支持。”

    《大卫•格芬实话实说》（David Geffen Unplugged）这篇报道还原了这位美国娱乐界大亨的真实面貌。（财富中文网）

    In its new issue, Fortune talks at length to David Geffen, the most powerful man in Hollywood for a generation. Peerless in his ability to merge artistic and financial instincts, Geffen has been agent; manager; record-industry mogul; movie and Broadway producer; and co-founder of a film studio.

    The 70-year-old Geffen rarely gives in-depth interviews, but in a Fortune Q+A conducted over many sessions this spring and summer with David A. Kaplan, the mogul opened up about the Clintons, Steve Jobs, his multi-billion-dollar art collection, big yachts, why he left DreamWorks (DWA), why he won't sign the Giving Pledge, growing up gay, and what it's like to have a celebrated song written about yourself.

    Geffen talks about his first experience with Hollywood's less-than-honest ways. He recalls how, after he got a job interview at Ashley-Famous agency, Al Ashley chastised him for admitting on his resume that he didn't go to college. "You should've lied! Who would hire you with this resume?" Ashley said. Geffen didn't get the job. But when he later applied to William Morris, he dutifully lied and said he graduated from UCLA. But on day one, he learned that someone else had just gotten fired for lying about his resume. "So I came in early every day for six months till I intercepted the letter from UCLA saying they'd never heard of me," Geffen tells Fortune. "I replaced it with a letter that said I'd graduated." On lying, he says, "Look, I'm not setting an example ... But it's an idiotic thing that you have to be a college graduate to be an agent ... Did I have a problem with lying to get the job? None whatsoever."

    He says he learned an important lesson while at the prestigious agency: "The epiphany for me at William Morris was realizing, "They bullshit on the phone! I can bullshit on the phone too!"

    Geffen admits to Fortune that the Joni Mitchell song "Free Man in Paris" -- whose lyrics include "I deal in dreamers and telephone screamers" -- was about him.

    Geffen also discusses his relationship with the late Steve Jobs. He notes that they had different attitudes about wealth: "Jobs and I are not similar in that regard," Geffen says. "He didn't give a shit about money, and I do give a shit about money. I wanted to have a lot of money. I thought it would change my life, which it did, but not in the ways I expected." Geffen reveals he has almost a billion dollars in Apple (AAPL) stock and is a believer in the company.

    Geffen says he did not join Warren Buffett and Bill Gates' Giving Pledge because he is against the idea. "It's grandstanding," he tells Fortune. "You're just saying you're going to do it. There's no legal obligation. I know more than one member of the club who's told me, "Well, you're not actually required to give anything away, but you look good."

    He even answers whether he'll support Hillary Clinton in 2016: "Absolutely," he says.

    "David Geffen Unplugged" is a revealing portrait of an American entertainment icon.