How cruel king Murdoch was exposed by his son

In a blistering interview, James Murdoch exposed the media mogul as a vindictive father who pitted his children against one another other. Megan Lloyd Davies takes a closer look

- Megan Lloyd Davies

First came a billionaire family on opposing sides of a courtroom battle about the future of a huge family trust. Now there's a bombshell interview with the out-of-favour son. The story of the Murdoch family and the vicious fight for future control of their media empire is the real-life Succession drama that just keeps giving.

In a new – and very rare – interview, youngest son James has laid bare some remarkable details about just how closely Murdoch fact mirrors, and even surpasses, the Roys’ family drama. And in a family that has long remained tight-lipped about their struggles for control, it’s a groundbreaking move.

Speaking to The Atlantic in the wake of a decision under which Rupert lost his legal fight to ensure his oldest son Lachlan would control a family trust after his death, his younger brother James has detailed courtroom moves straight out of the playbook of TV patriarch Logan Roy.

During a five-hour deposition in Nevada last September as James, Liz and Prue opposed Rupert’s proposed change to stop the trust being split between the four eldest Murdoch siblings as had always been agreed, James has revealed the pointed – and scathing – questions he was asked in the meeting with his father and his lawyers present.

These included: “Have you ever done anything successful on your own?” And the final insult? Rupert, his own father, was the one texting the lawyer the questions to ask as he sat in front of him. “How fucking twisted is that?” James said to journalist McKay Coppins.

Labelled “the troublesome beneficiary” during the legal battle, James was set up from an early age as the rival to his brother for his father’s favour. But while Lachlan, who is one year older than James, followed Rupert’s lead, his younger brother showed early signs that he wouldn’t necessarily toe their conservative line.