We’re still friends, insists billionaire tycoon James Packer after ‘fist fight’ with Nine Network chief
News Corp buys photos for rumoured HK$1.43m of lifelong friends 'fighting like two mad dogs'
Billionaire gambling tycoon James Packer and his one-time best man, the head of Australia's Nine Network, have insisted they were still friends despite being involved in an ugly punch-up at Sydney's Bondi Beach.
said more than 50 images show Packer, 46, and David Gyngell throwing and receiving punches and wrestling on the ground on Sunday afternoon.
It sparked a bidding war for the photos, which Rupert Murdoch's News Corp won, for a rumoured A$200,000 (HK$1.43 million), publishing the first four pictures online late yesterday, with the rest expected to be splashed across the major Australian News Corp newspapers today.
"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," Packer and Gyngell said in a joint statement as News Corp non-executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch arrived at the Packer compound. He and Packer are also friends and former business partners.
Bondi resident Chris Walker, who said he witnessed the incident, tweeted about a "massive street fight" outside Packer's multimillion dollar home.
"Holy crap, big street fight outside my house... Not thugs, James Packer... And some other angry bloke going toe-to-toe - total brawl... Wow," he said.
