Friendship between Bondi brawlers James Packer & David Gyngell crumbled after marriage split

BEST mates for more than 35 years, now the friendship between James Packer and David Gyngell is on the skids. How did these former pals end up fighting on a Bondi street?

Once close friends, Packer and Gyngell had to be separated after a scuffle over the weekend.

BEST mates for more than 35 years, James Packer and David Gyngell's friendship soured when the Crown Casino boss walked out on his marriage last year.

Friends say family-man Gyngell was unhappy that Packer had left his wife Erica and their three children to live a jetsetting playboy life in Hollywood.

Adding fuel to the fire was Packer's reported romance with model Miranda Kerr.

A long-time friend and colleague of the duo said Gyngell was the only one from Packer's inner circle that would stand up to him.

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James Packer marries Erica Baxter in the gardens of the Hotel Du Cap Eden Rock, in the French Riviera, in 2007. Gyngell was best man. Picture: Steve Butler.

Unlike many of Packer's hangers-on, laid-back Gyngell wasn't impressed by his ability to host glamorous parties or his celebrity pals. Instead the duo would spend time hanging out on Packer's boat.

"James' friends all liked Erica, everyone was really upset when he made the decision to end the marriage _almost overnight," the friend said.

"Gyng, who's very much a family man, was very upset about the way he (Packer) behaved. I know things have been pretty difficult between them because of that."

Packer and his bride share a kiss during their wedding visit to the French Riviera in 2007. The pair’s breakup is believed to have contributed to hostilities with Packer’s best friend. Picture: Edmond Terakopian.

The pair grew up in the long shadows of their famous fathers _ Kerry and Bruce _ Packer and Gyngell grew up together. They went to private school together. Flatted together as young men.

When Gyngell married TV star Leila McKinnon Packer was best man.

In turn Gyngell was his mate’s best man when Packer married Jodhi Meares.

Gyngell was called on for best duties again when Packer later wed Erica Baxter in 2007.

Leila McKinnon and David Gyngell arriving at a friend’s wedding ceremony in 2012. Pic. Sam Ruttyn

The pair were so close that it was Gyngell who reportedly went to Kerry and alerted him to the fact that his son was in a downward spiral of depression following the collapse of One.tel.

Gyngell and actor Tom Cruise, who Packer became close to while Cruise was filming Mission Impossible 2 in Sydney, supported Packer in the aftermath of his business disaster.

Gyngell, Kerry's godson, was so close to the Packer family that he was known around the halls of Channel Nine as "Almost Packer".

"Gyng has always been so loyal to James," a colleague said.

After taking the helm at Nine in 2007 Gyngell turned the network around.

"Even during the brief time James was his boss he never gossiped about him or said a bad word. He was very discreet. They were the very best of friends. Unbelievably close."

The association between the Packer and Gyngell families has been a long one. Gyngell's father, Bruce, worked for Packer's grandfather, Sir Frank Packer, and famously uttered the first words on TV when he opened the network with the line "Good evening, welcome to television."

In later years, Kerry and Bruce Gyngell became good friends and Kerry appointed Bruce to run Nine in the 1990s.

David Gyngell’s father Bruce Gyngell at Kerry Packer's wedding.

Despite the family's long history, the younger Gyngell was left fuming when three months after he was made chief executive of Nine in 2004, Kerry hired Sam Chisholm back to the network, effectively undermining his position.

Fed up with having to compete with Chisholm and the "multi-layered management systems", Gyngell quit Nine.

Kerry had wanted James to step up to the plate at Nine but the Crown Casino owner had other plans.

Chisholm remained at the helm until after Kerry's death when James Packer installed Eddie McGuire in the role.

James Packer at the launch of the Harper Collins book "Killing Fairfax in Sydney last year. Picture: Greg Wood.

Gyngell returned to Nine in 2007 amid waning ratings and mounting debts. He is credited with turning the network's fortunes around.

Though relations between the pair have been strained for some months, friends and colleagues were stunned that the friendship had disintegrated to the point where they were photographed brawling outside Packer's Bondi pad on Sunday afternoon.

The duo was quick to downplay the dispute, releasing a joint statement, saying: "We have been friends for 35 years and still are. In that time we have had our fair share of ups and downs. We respect each other and neither of us will be commenting further."

An industry source said that Packer and Gyngell were both "intense" people which was what had made them so successful in business. That intensity could lead to volatile situations, the source said.

"It's unthinkable given their history," media analyst Steve Allen said. "For it to be so aggressive it must have been something very personal because Gyngell has no history of this sort of behaviour. He is not known for his violent temper.

"In all their years of friendship they've always been very supportive of each other."

Media buyer Harold Mitchell said: " I have known both these boys for a long time and they have known each other since they were three years old.

"They love each other and that's never changed. I'm sure they've already patched things up."