I'm in Hollywood

CHAPTER 45 - FARCE

CHAPTER 45 – FARCE

Posted on March 3, 2017 by Elawn

A few days later, as Eric predicted, the Los Angeles Daily exposed pictures of Julia leaving his house, and talked in detail about the 'rave' he had held at home. It fleetingly mentioned the Home Alone crew being there, but emphasized more on the 'wave of young and beautiful women' that attended.

Some newspapers also followed suit, but as they didn't have anything concrete to report on, they started criticizing Eric's personal conduct, turning him from an inspirational youth into an extravagant playboy that had abandoned his girlfriend for an underaged girl.

"...... Eric Williams is indeed a talented youth, but after too easily obtaining wealth, the young man has obviously started to go down the slope......"

"...... After just having left his clerk girlfriend and slept with Drew Barrymore, Eric Williams was immediately seen with someone else. According to our sources, the woman in the picture is one of the lead actresses of Mystic Pizza......"

"...... It's really hard to imagine that even Eric Williams would start a relationship with thirteen-year-old Drew Barrymore, however, it is undeniable that the young man's actions have violated the California law. I cannot help but be reminded of Roman Polanski, also a talented director, who committed the same unforgivable crime. In order to not repeat the past and have Eric Williams escape to Sri Lanka like his peer, I feel the L.A.P.D had better take measures against the man as soon as possible....."

And even some shady entertainment tabloids who couldn't find anything started to make baseless accusations. The favorable public image that Eric had established started crumbling.

The 20th Century Fox reacted as soon as the storm hit. 17 Again was still in theaters and they had just bought the Home Alone's overseas copyrights, so if they let Eric's image be trampled on, they would surely suffer huge economic losses.

As for Columbia, besides fulfilling their part of the gambling agreement, they just sat idly on the sidelines. Some employees from the Publicity Department had suggested their boss made a statement in order to appease the public, however, their idea was completely rejected. Blount Cohen had been bitterly done in by Eric, and the Publicity Department even suspected that their boss might have had a hand in all the mess, so they weren't willing to go plead on the youth's behalf.

The Fox's media outlets had made it their specialty to deal with those who discredited public figures in order to inflate their sales.

Soon, under the company's leadership, a counterattack was quickly launched, and through various means, they started to release speculations about a few controversial actors and directors. For a time, the North American newspapers were in a messy state, and the focus on Eric slightly shifted away.

People gradually started feeling that something was amiss. Although the media were good at manipulating the masses, not every citizen was stupid.

Soon, a not so famous paper called Hollywood News published an article on its front page, which would've normally been completely ignored, but as the subject it dealt with was currently the trend, it immediately attracted attention.