PETALING JAYA – The Sarawak Report has slammed the Billion Dollar Whale authors for choosing a known Barisan Nasional supporter, Tan Sri Michelle Yeoh, to produce the movie adaptation of their book.
“The people who wrote a book alleging that Jho Low (fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho) ‘fooled a prime minister, the banks and the world’ have chosen a BN supporting actress Michelle Yeoh to produce it!” Sarawak Report tweeted Friday (Sept 28).
“Suggest people watch the other upcoming film The Sarawak Report for the real story!” it added.
The tweet follows a series of blogposts where the whistleblower website editor Clare Rewcastle Brown alleged that Billion Dollar Whale co-author Tom Wright had received sensitive 1MDB documents from her source without crediting The Sarawak Report despite promises to do so.
“That is not the only pledge he broke. He also said he would continue to contact the source through Sarawak Report, and not attempt to go behind Sarawak Report’s back,” she claimed in a blogpost on Tuesday (Sept 25).
Rewcastle Brown also revealed plans to option her book “The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé” for a movie.
Rewcastle Brown also revealed plans to option her book “The Sarawak Report: The Inside Story of the 1MDB Exposé” for a movie.
The latest tweet comes hours after Wright announced that Ivanhoe Pictures had acquired film rights to the book with Yeoh slated to co-produce the movie.
Ivanhoe Pictures, an SKL Global company, co-financed and co-produced Crazy Rich Asians, which also stars Yeoh as Eleanor Young.
Yeoh had previously shared a photo of her reading Billion Dollar Whale on Facebook, which she described as a “fascinating book”.
Malaysians slammed her for her continuous support of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Barisan before the 14th general election.
During the 13th general election in 2013, she openly expressed support for then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and continued to defend her decision despite the criticism. – ANN
Michelle Yeoh branded ‘cheap opportunist’ over Whale movie deal
The head of an anti-corruption watchdog has branded Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh as a “cheap opportunist”.
This was after it was reported that she would be teaming up with Ivanhoe Pictures to produce a movie based on the Billion Dollar Whale book, which chronicles the 1MDB scandal and the exploits of its alleged mastermind Jho Low.
“Cheap opportunists like this should have no place in the new Malaysia,” tweeted Cynthia Gabriel, who is the executive director for C4 this afternoon.
“Mana ada integrity? (Where is the integrity?) Before regime change, she was all over (former premier) Najib (Abdul Razak) and co…,” she added.
Gabriel was also a member of the special committee which probed the 1MDB scandal. The committee was set up after the May 9 general election.
Previously, Yeoh had been reported as expressing support for the former premier.
In 2013, the actress courted flak on social media when she sang praises of Najib during a gathering organised by the Federation of Chinese Descendents of Selangor.
“We have a leader here who has done so many good things and will do more.
“I hope from the bottom of my heart that he will remain as the prime minister and I ask all of you to give him a strong mandate,” she said.
In January this year, Yeoh had praised Najib for the manner in which he handled the Rohingya refugee crisis.
“We are very proud to recognise the fact that he was the one who championed this in the first place, as a good neighbour and doing the right thing as a human being.
“Our PM has shown great leadership together with the Bangladeshi government, with our partners in Saudi (Arabia) and UAE (United Arab Emirates),” she said.
The Billion Dollar Whale was authored by two Wall Street Journal (WSJ) journalists, Tom Wright and Bradley Hope. – M’kini
ANN / MKINI
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