Rupert Murdoch surprisingly called off his wedding to Ann Lesley Smith: it would have been his fifth marriage (New York Post)
The love life of media mogul Rupert Murdoch never ceases to amaze them. In this case, it’s not about her four previous divorces from him but the surprise cancellation of his wedding to a former dental hygienist, Ann Lesley Smith, which had been announced just two weeks ago.
The president of Fox Corp FOXA.O, 92, and the broadcaster, 66, were scheduled to say yes at the altar this summer, one year after Murdoch’s divorce from his last partner, Jerry Hall, with whom he lived during the last six years. This would have been her fifth marriage to him.
However, things would not have gone so well and the desire to spend “the second half of their lives together” was not enough. In just two weeks, the marriage proposal fell through. As reported by Vanity Fair, which cites sources close to the man, the cause would have been his discomfort with the opinions of his fiancée, who is openly evangelical and even dared to acknowledge that it would not be a “big leap” to say that the relationship has come to an end.
The couple had first been seen in public in January after meeting in September at their Moranga Vineyard in Bel Air. Later in March, she broke the scoop on the engagement to New York Post journalist Cindy Adams, one of the outlets she owns. Murdoch would have felt uncomfortable with his partner’s evangelical comments (EFE)
As stated in the interview, the proposal took place on St. Patrick’s Day in Manhattan and he gave her a diamond ring.
The first time of the relationship was rosy. The businessman was enthusiastic and even commented on the commitment that he “was very nervous. He was afraid of falling in love but he knew it would be the last. It better be, I’m happy.”
For his part, Smith also seemed happy with the bond. “For perspective, it’s not my first rodeo. Approaching 70 means being in the latter half. I have waited for the right moment and my friends were happy for me,” she said days ago.
Like Murdoch, who has six children and was married four times to Patricia Booker, Anna Torv, Wendi Deng and Jerry Hall, Smith has also walked down the aisle several times in the past. In 2022, Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall divorced after 6 years of marriage (REUTERS)
Between 1985 and 1989 she was in a relationship with John B. Huntington, a California railroad heir, almost 20 years her senior and whom she met in her twenties. This period of her life was marked by squandering clothing, but also by charity work and even riding lessons. “Money was not a problem, I had everything in the world,” she told the Christian Broadcasting Network in 2013.
In 1988, during a gala at the Fairmont Hotel, he was involved in an altercation that, according to the media, was “a shoving match between two members of San Francisco high society. ” Smith -then known as Ann K. Huntington- was accused of having “pulled the hair” and “scratched” Avelina Pritchard, for which she had to donate USD 3,000 to a shelter for abused women.
Shortly after this episode, the marriage broke up, and with it, Smith’s life of luxury came to an end. In the interview, the woman denounced that after her separation and a petty prenuptial agreement, she had been left without a place to live, which led her to adopt suicidal behavior.
He tried to prove these physical abuses before the Court on several occasions, even with the testimony of three experts who claimed that he suffered from post-traumatic stress that prevented him from working. However, a psychiatrist’s evaluation disputed these submitted observations and cast doubt on his claim.
This context led the woman to approach religion and began to do charity work. In 2005, Smith married Chester Smith, a musician with whom she lived until his death in 2008.
In 1999, after these stormy years, Smith married Michael Carabello, former percussionist for the rock band Santana, for the second time, although this lasted only a year and did not gain much relevance in the media. Later, in 2005, she entered into her third marriage with Chester Smith, a Californian radio and television businessman.
In this case, the union was more lasting and visible since she appeared next to him on the cover of the album Captured By Love. The couple stayed together until 2008 when the musician passed away at the age of 78. It was here that the family inmates came to light, among them, the discontent of the man’s daughters, who regretted not having been invited to the wedding and even denounced that her stepmother had deprived them of receiving her inheritance.
The case concluded with a judge’s order forcing Smith to relinquish custody of her late husband’s fortune.
As for Murdoch, the businessman began building his empire in 1952 when, following the death of his father Keith, he had to take over running his outlets, the Adelaide News and the Sunday Mail.
Over the years, he expanded his investments to the point of achieving a current fortune valued at more than 20,000 million dollars, according to Forbes magazine. His assets include The Sun -in the United Kingdom-, the Daily Telegraph -in Australia-, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post -in the United States-, and the Sky News and Fox News channels. Murdoch has a fortune of approximately USD 20,000 million, made up of a series of media such as The New York Post and Daily Telegraph (REUTERS)
However, news of the couple’s breakup came at a sensitive time for Murdoch, who is embroiled in a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems. The case targets Fox Corporation and Fox News and claims the sum of USD 1.6 billion.
Last week, a Delaware Superior Court judge ruled that the case was strong enough to move to court.
