Jones turns to social media as mainstream media turns its back

In six months he’ll turn 81, but retirement – forced or otherwise – is not on the agenda for dethroned broadcaster Alan Jones.

As his social media manager and protege Jake Thrupp tells PS: “I don’t think he’ll be sipping cups of tea in the Southern Highlands just yet. We’ve just got a few things to work out, but I think something big is coming.”

Jake Thrupp alongside Alan Jones.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

And with a slew of wealthy and influential fans, from Gina Rinehart to Anthony Pratt, there is no shortage of potential patrons able to bankroll his next media chapter since his departure from Sky News.

But forging a path in perhaps the most likely avenue left open to him – the murky world of online fringe media and its audience of anti-vaxxers and crackpot conspiracy theorists – is a long way from the prestige Jones once enjoyed within mainstream media.

As one old colleague from his years at 2GB put it to PS: “He was untouchable for so long, whatever Alan wanted he got ... He certainly doesn’t need the money, but life without any kind of platform for Alan is unimaginable.”

Perish the thought.

On Friday, Jones appeared on a Facebook Live stream to promote Thrupp’s first book, Australia Tomorrow – a collection of essays from a variety of conservative types including Rinehart, Michaelia Cash and Tony Abbott.

As PS has previously revealed, Jones has been pivotal in Thrupp’s burgeoning career. The 24-year-old said his book was “selling well”, with the likes of Abbey’s Book Shop in Sydney’s CBD “ordering another box” while around 5000 have been sold so far.

“Not quite in the league of Lisa Wilkinson, but still,” Jones’ mini-me told PS.

The book is published through Brisbane-based Connor Court Publishing, owned by Anthony Cappello, a former theology student and member of conservative think tank Institute of Public Affairs, whose executive director John Roskam sits on Cappello’s editorial board.

After Jones gave Thrupp a leg up in his career, it is now Thrupp who appears to be driving Jones’ launch into the social media arena.

It can’t be ignored that Jones’ broadcasting career had become increasingly problematic for major media operators. He became a target of activist groups such as Sleeping Giants and Mad F---ing Witches, who famously bombarded advertisers on his show demanding they withdraw following Jones’ remarks about “shoving a sock” down New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s throat in 2019.

Even his old stablemate Ray Hadley has turned, delivering a scathing rebuke of Jones’ conspiratorial missives on the COVID-19 pandemic and for referring to NSW Health Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant as a “village idiot”.

Critics argue he further marginalised many of his listeners with his pro-Trump narratives and for publicly aligning himself with anti-vaxxers such as former television chef turned political analyst from his Byron Bay teepee Pete Evans.

Jones is leaving it to Thrupp to “run his social media on his behalf” as he turns his back on mainstream media, throwing himself at the mercy of Google searches and social media likes.

“I have been fortunate in encountering some people who are remarkably au fait with this process because, understandably, I wanted to monitor my own reach and judge the relevance of what I was saying,” Jones said on Thursday. “The results are significant.”

Cooking up a storm

For half a century Giovanna Toppi was celebrated for her home-style southern Italian cooking. But behind the scenes, the Naples-born matriarch endured enough dramas to rival The Godfather’s beloved Vito Corleone.

Even in the months before she succumbed to a long, unspecified illness on Wednesday, Toppi and her daughter Paola Toppi were embroiled in a $1.5 million legal stoush with a company of which Roosters chairman Nick Politis is a director.

Paola Toppi’s company Bar M Pty Ltd is being sued in the Supreme Court by WFR Motors, of which Politis is a director. WFR Motors is the landlord of the family’s restaurant Bar M on Neild Avenue in Rushcutters Bay.

Giovanna and Caterina Toppi hang Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s portrait at Machiavelli in 2005.Credit: Robert Pearce

In October 2018, WFR Motors loaned Bar M $1.1 million, so it could settle another court case involving $837,000 that was owed to fit out the building.

Giovanna Toppi was also being sued because she guaranteed the loan but denied she was liable, claiming she trusted her daughter and did not read the documents Paola asked her to sign.

The case was due back in court next month with WFR claiming a total of $1.135 million, which includes interest, vacant possession of Bar M and also the proceeds of the sale of 95 Macleay Street, Potts Point, the site of Giovanna’s iconic La Strada restaurant where she hosted the likes of Mick Jagger, Kerry Packer, Elton John and Shirley Bassey during the 1980s.

The property sold earlier this year to Sydney marketing identity Peter Metzner, but WFR Motors placed a caveat over the premises, claiming it was put up as security for the loan.

Apprentice chef Marcela Aviles with Giovanna Toppi in the kitchen at Machiavelli.Credit: Domino Postiglione

In 2015 the Toppi family sold its famous Machiavelli restaurant business to a former Romanian who represented Australia in judo at the 1984 Olympic Games, Italophile Nicolae Bicher. But Bicher’s company sued Bar Machiavelli Pty Ltd and Paola Toppi, claiming it was owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Then in June 2018 Paola put Bar M Pty Ltd into voluntary administration. ASIC documents stated the company owed more than $2.6 million to 66 unsecured creditors, though the case settled after reaching an agreement with the creditors ending administration in October 2018.

The legal headaches were a low point in an otherwise stellar culinary career for Giovanna, who was still active in her daughter’s Bar M kitchen until relatively recently.

Toppi arrived in Australia in the early 1950s unable to speak English. She married William, an SP bookmaker, and started working as a dishwasher before becoming head chef at Buona Sera and going on to run Sole Mio, Giovanna’s, La Strada and Machiavelli with daughters Paola and Caterina.

She was also instrumental in the annual tradition of hanging portraits of VIPs around the various tables at Machiavelli, which over the years had become a barometer of Sydney’s power ladder.

On Thursday, Paola told PS her mother would be honoured at Bar M in Rushcutters Bay with her image projected on the walls, along with the likes of Fellini and Sophia Loren. A fitting salute.

Floating a sale

Is Russell Crowe about to bid farewell to his ultimate bachelor pad in Woolloomooloo? That’s certainly the talk around the Finger Wharf where Crowe has been residing for nearly 20 years after setting a Sydney record in 2003 when he paid $14.35 million for it.

Woolloomooloo boy Russell Crowe, but for how much longer? Credit: Getty Images

The 11-bedroom home is an amalgamation of four lots with seven car spaces and a 35-metre marina berth. He reportedly knocked back an offer in 2017 for $25 million and withdrew it from the market.

Crowe did not respond to PS this week, however if the rumours are true, the Oscar winner could soon pocket a hefty $40 million for the joint.

Crowe bought into the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf back in 2003.Credit:

George and Julia head to ‘Hammo’

George and Amal Clooney, along with their kids, are due to be waking up in paradise today after completing their – ahem – arduous two-week quarantine in the luxury, multimillion-dollar country estate hired in Robertson.

The Hollywood A-listers departed their manor on Friday, bound for Hamilton Island and their next luxury digs ahead of Clooney filming the romantic comedy Ticket To Paradise.

Julia Roberts and George Clooney, pictured here in Ocean’s Twelve, are shooting a romantic comedy in Queensland.Credit: Warner Bros.

Meanwhile, over at the historic harbour-front pile Coolong in Vaucluse, Clooney’s co-star Julia Roberts is due to depart today. She will be winging her way aboard a private jet with her entourage bound for “Hammo”.

Indeed, it has probably been our most uneventful celebrity visit ever.

Bling bling

Just in time for Christmas, Sydney is about to host the ultimate “bauble” sale at Leonard Joel’s “Important Jewels” auction on December 7. The pre-loved jewellery market has boomed throughout the pandemic, so naturally interest is high in the collection of sparklers with a “significant” Colombian Muzo emerald, sapphires in a rainbow of colours, fancy coloured diamonds, and striking rubies all on offer.

Lot 50 is the show-stopper: a Muzo emerald ring surrounded by Argyle fancy pink diamond weighing 8.88 carats, with a price guide between $320,000 to $480,000. There’s also a matching pair of earrings (Lot 51) with an $800,000 to $1.2 million estimate. Muzo emeralds are among the most coveted gems in the world, known for their intense colour and vibrancy, and are “ethically” mined in western Boyaca, Colombia. Drool.