Rupert Murdoch's sons 'tried to talk him out of marrying Wendi Deng in 1999 because they thought she was a Chinese spy and had heard her calling him "old and stupid"'
- Lachlan and James Murdoch took their father to Babbo in Manhattan's West Village to try to dissuade him from marrying Deng, the New York Times claims
- They had heard her calling their father 'old and stupid', a claim she denies
- James Murdoch said he had been told she was a Chinese intelligence asset
- It was 1999 and Murdoch, then 68, was about to marry 31-year-old Deng
- They divorced in 2013 amid rumors she had an affair with Tony Blair
Rupert Murdoch's two sons tried to talk him out of marrying Wendi Deng and thought she was a Chinese spy, it has been claimed.
According to The New York Times lengthy investigation into Murdoch and his media dynasty, his sons Lachlan and James were so desperate for him not to marry her that they took him out for dinner in 1999 to try to dissuade him.
James had been told by US officials that the government had reason to believe Deng was a spy for the Chinese government, the report claims.
It is a claim that reared its head again last year in a Wall Street Journal report which claimed Jared Kushner, one of Deng's long-term friends, had been given the same warning.
Rupert Murdoch's two sons did not wan him to marry Wendi Deng and thought she was a spy working for the Chinese government, according to The New York Times. Deng and Murdoch are pictured in 1999, the year they married
Lachlan and James Murdoch, shown above with their father in 1999, took him for dinner to try to dissuade him, accordng to the report
Murdoch, now 88, was 68 when he married the then 31-year-old Deng on board his yacht.
He had been divorced from his second wife, Anna, for three weeks at the time. The pair went on to have two children, Grace, 18, and 16-year-old Chloe, before divorcing in 2013.
He married former supermodel Jerry Hall three years later.
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The reason for his split from Deng has been widely speculated to be her alleged affair with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Others have long claimed that she was abusive towards Murdoch, which she denies.
According to The Times' piece, her treatment of their father was another cause for concern for the brothers.
They had noticed her calling him 'old and stupid', according to the article. Deng denied the allegation.
The brothers and their father ate at Babbo in Manhattan's West Village, according to sources, where they expressed concern about him and Deng's relationship
Murdoch filed for divorce from Deng in 2013 amid claims she'd had an affair with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
The couple had two daughters, Grace and Chloe, who are shown in the above photograph from their star-studded baptism along with Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Hugh Jackman and his wife and Nicole Kidman. Queen Rania of Jordan hosted the event at in the River Jordan
In 2014, Vanity Fair reported that she had once pushed Murdoch over in a rage during an argument.
The couple's split in 2013 was one of the reasons Lachlan, who had been living in Australia against his father's wishes, decided to return to the US, the New York Times article claims.
Deng's reputed spy links were reported to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law with whom she has long held a friendship, in 2017.
According to a Wall Street Journal report last January, he was warned that she had been using her close friendship with him and, crucially, his wife Ivanka to further the Chinese government's interests.
Deng is who is credited with reuniting Jared and Ivanka when they split before their own marriage.
Ivanka was a trustee on her daughters' trust fund until her father won the election then gave up her position.
Jared Kushner was warned in January 2017 that Deng, who is close friends with his wife Ivanka, was using her friendship with them to further the interests of the Chinese government
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