Viacom Inc.'s top brass gave Brad Grey, chief executive of Paramount Motion Picture Group, a vote of confidence Monday despite the unwanted attention the studio is getting from his links to indicted private investigator Anthony Pellicano.
In their first interview on the subject, Viacom Chairman Sumner Redstone and CEO Tom Freston said Grey's ties to Pellicano were fully examined by the company before he joined the studio more than a year ago. They said they remained comfortable with their decision to tap the former talent manager to turn around the lagging studio.
"I have the utmost faith in the integrity of Brad Grey," Redstone said, acknowledging that in making such a blanket endorsement, "I'm going out on a limb here. We have investigated this to the fullest. But can anybody be certain of anything but life and death?"
He added that, for Grey, "it can't be pleasant to run the studio under these circumstances. But it has not materially interfered with his running the studio."
Freston, who personally selected Grey for the job, said that before he was hired, Grey was "totally upfront" about his involvement with Pellicano. Grey's attorney, Bertram Fields, had hired the investigator to work on two high-profile lawsuits brought against Grey by his former client Garry Shandling and "Scary Movie" executive producer Bo Zenga.
Grey informed his prospective bosses that he had testified twice before the grand jury as a witness in the Pellicano matter and had been questioned by the FBI.
In addition, Freston said, Viacom did its homework, largely through conversations between Viacom General Counsel Michael Fricklas and Grey's personal attorney, Ron Olson.
"We vet this in a responsible way," Freston said. "We were assured that Grey is a witness and not a target or even a subject in the investigation." Of Grey, Freston added, "I believe he's been honest with me."
Grey has since been the subject of frenzied Hollywood gossip and relentless media attention as the Pellicano scandal has unfolded.
In February, Pellicano and six associates were indicated on 110 counts of wiretapping and illegally accessing law enforcement records. More than 20 counts are tied to the two lawsuits involving Grey and Fields, who has acknowledged being a subject in the investigation.
On Monday, another prominent name, "Die Hard" director John McTiernan, was charged with lying to investigators about his knowledge of Pellicano's alleged wiretapping. He is the 14th person to be indicted in the Pellicano case.
