My Bestie’s 16th Idol Got Canceled, So She Mad-Debuted Me Instead Bad news: A massive industry plant just dropped into Hollywood. Good news: The industry plant actually has top-tier talent. 01 I was just chilling and streaming a show when an ear-piercing screech erupted from my bestie next to me. "Ahhhh! I'm going to slap him so hard he’ll be peeled off the wall! Not even twenty and he can't keep it in his pants, damn it!" On X, the hashtag #ZackeryHayesScandal was sitting boldly at number one on the trending page. Zackery was my bestie Harper’s ultimate idol. He used to be a nobody, which felt safe, but then Harper bombarded him with all sorts of industry resources until he actually got famous. And less than half a month after hitting the big time, he got canceled. I patted Harper’s head. "Don't be sad. It's not your first time dealing with a cancellation." 02 Other people stan celebrities; Harper plays minesweeper. Every single star she has ever loved, regardless of age or gender, has had their career implode. The reasons range from dodging taxes to sleeping with people they definitely shouldn't be sleeping with. I held back a laugh, feeling a little sympathetic, but not much. "Look, maybe you should just give up on the whole fangirl thing." Harper’s eyes were bloodshot. "Impossible. My luck can't be this bad forever!" As the daughter of a billionaire tech mogul, Harper had money, looks, and brains. Her life was smooth sailing in every aspect—except for this bizarrely cursed luck when it came to stanning celebrities. I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing, flashing a wide, obnoxious grin right into my bestie’s murderous glare. Then I heard her grit her teeth and say, "Better to stan a bestie than a stranger. Chloe, pack your bags. You're debuting." I blanked out. "Huh???" 03 One week later, I officially debuted. Parachuted straight into the lead role of a massive AAA fantasy adaptation! I stayed silent, but the internet exploded. [Who is Chloe? Does Hollywood even know this person?] [Hahahaha, people always talk about nepo babies and industry plants, but THIS is the ultimate industry plant.] [Wasn't the lead supposed to be Olivia Thorne? Did she get robbed?] [LMAO, I looked her up. Total nobody. Made her Instagram yesterday, less than 100 followers.] The drama-hungry netizens quickly migrated to my page. In just one hour, my follower count skyrocketed by fifty thousand. Compared to the casual mockery on the official studio’s post, the comments under my page were overwhelmingly toxic. [Girl, doesn't that stolen role burn your hands?] [Your first role ever is the lead in a $100 million franchise. The audacity.] [Hey, drop your sugar daddy's contact info.] [Industry plant. Disgusting.] [You’re the bitch who stole our Liv’s role. Just wait, karma’s a bitch. You won't be arrogant for long.] Even knowing I’d get flamed, I was still pretty shocked. After mentally cursing Harper out eight hundred times, I started a keyboard war with the haters: [You know a lot about selling out. Speaking from experience?] [I’m just brave. What’s there to be afraid of?] [Hehe, not sharing.] [If you're getting nauseous that easily, maybe go get a pregnancy test.] [Who is Liv?] My thumbs moved like lightning. In less than ten minutes, I scored three more trending hashtags. #MostArrogantIndustryPlantEver# #ChloeFightsWithHaters# #ChloeSaysSheDoesntKnowOliviaThorne# That third hashtag climbed to the number one spot at lightning speed. 04 Under the trending tag, Olivia Thorne’s fans were furious. [I've never seen anyone so disgusting in my life. Stole Liv's role and now throwing shade? Shameless.] [Tagging Chloe, come out and apologize.] [They're in the same industry, how could she not know her? Stop playing the innocent act.] [First time I’ve ever seen a studio announce a cast without dropping a single photo of the lead. Do they know their lead is too ugly to show? Tagging Aethelgard Official.] [Protecting our Liv. Can the industry plant please learn to walk on her own?] [Seriously, they're just letting any random stray dog into the industry now.] 05 What pushed the whole thing to a boiling point was Olivia Thorne herself. She liked an article directly throwing shade at me. No, not shade—it was a full-on targeted attack! Even though she unliked it a second later, eagle-eyed fans had already screenshotted it. The news spread like wildfire, instantly topping the trending charts. The internet grabbed their popcorn. [Dying of laughter, the actual celebrity came down to confirm she got robbed?] [Hollywood is so messy. No talent, just pure scheming.] [I don't even follow pop culture, but stealing a role someone worked so hard preparing for is actually sickening.] I clicked on the article. The whole thing boiled down to one strategy: "Playing the Victim." Though I didn't care much for showbiz, having a hardcore fangirl bestie meant I had absorbed all the PR playbooks via osmosis. Clearly, she didn't get the part, so she was stepping on me to gain sympathy. Oh honey, you kicked the wrong steel plate today. 06 Giving her a taste of her own medicine, I immediately liked a post on X. [The lead for Aethelgard was never finalized. Olivia bought so many PR articles that she convinced herself it was hers? Fool others all you want, but don't fool yourself.] Netizens caught my move instantly. [Oh my god, she's fighting back directly!] [Woooow, fight! Fight! We love to see it!] [It’s been three minutes and she hasn't unliked it. This girl is absolutely doing it on purpose.] [The actual stars fighting each other publicly, how low-class.] [She’s calling out Olivia for being desperate, right? Right?!] At first, it was just casual onlookers commenting. But soon, the comment section was hijacked and copy-pasted by Olivia’s fans. [Flop, stop clout chasing.] [Industry plant, stop tying your name to hers. Can you walk independently?] [Wow, an industry plant who loves liking hate posts. Producers, are you really going to use an actress this emotionally unstable?] [Stop directing your own little drama. Get lost.] [Our Liv has no background and no sugar daddy. She prepared for four months and lost to you just whispering in some producer's ear. Leave her alone.] Looking at these comments, I wasn't angry. I just found it hilarious. With a smirk, I unliked the post and tweeted: [Sorry, my hand slipped, just like Miss Thorne's.] [Also, I’ve blockchain-timestamped all the rumors defaming me. Please wait patiently for your court summons.] I added a little pleading-puppy emoji at the end. Maximum passive-aggression. 07 My absolute savage behavior was like dropping a bomb into the stagnant waters of Hollywood. Smelling the drama, millions of users flooded in. Seeing the situation blow up, Olivia Thorne finally made an appearance. [Sorry for taking up public server space. My hand accidentally slipped earlier, I apologize if it caused anyone trouble.] [As for Aethelgard, I want to clarify something here. As a die-hard fan of the original books, I actively sought this out since the project was announced. I prepared extensively, went to auditions, did the stunt training, and was so happy to receive validation from the director and crew.] [The female lead is the absolute soul of Aethelgard, so it's true that even over the last three months, the casting wasn't finalized. I'm very regretful that I ultimately cannot participate.] [I believe the producers chose Miss Chloe because she surely has extraordinary talents. I trust she will bring a spectacular performance to the audience!] [Finally, I couldn't become Aelynn for a short while, but I will forever be Aelynn's biggest fan.] Attached was a photo of her dressed in Aelynn's iconic teal robes, striking a pose with a prop sword. The photo was highly polished—polished to the point where every single strand of hair was edited. With the perfect lighting, her already pretty face looked even more stunning. The Aethelgard book fans immediately recognized it: it was the most iconic look of the protagonist, Aelynn! 08 [Holy crap! So accurate!] [Ahhhh! Why isn't Olivia playing her?!] [It's missing a little edge, but the accuracy is so high.] [I want to see what kind of person the director picked if they weren't satisfied with THIS!] [So naive. Directors have no say nowadays. It's all about what the investors want. Whoever the money wants, gets the part.] [Industry plant get out of Hollywood!] Reading through these, I almost gave her a standing ovation. Brilliant. Truly brilliant. It sounded like she was speaking up for me, but every sentence was a trap. Saying she prepared a lot implied I didn't prepare at all. Saying I would give a "spectacular performance" and then dropping her own gorgeous character photo was subtly raising the audience's expectations. As long as I was even slightly worse than her—or even just equally good—the internet would cry foul for her. Most people in the world are just ordinary people. We don't want to see capital and privilege easily defeat hard work. But unfortunately, she miscalculated one thing. How did she know I didn't work harder than her? 09 Half an hour later, the official Aethelgard account dropped an absolute bombshell. [Per @Chloe 's request, to provide a fair, just, and open competitive environment for talented, hardworking actors, Aethelgard will launch the 'Aelynn Initiative', opening up the lead role to a public audition.] [The audition will be fully live-streamed, evaluating actors on vocals, line delivery, physicality, and acting. The audience will vote to decide the best actor.] [June 2nd, streaming simultaneously on YouTube and Twitch. Stay tuned.] The internet was dumbfounded. [Wait, what? Is this actually the official account? Not a prank?] [I literally have goosebumps. Chloe plays hardball.] [Witnessing history. Always wanted to see a studio cast a role publicly. Didn't think it would happen today.] Some people had a different takeaway. [Official account, you're spoiling her! She told you to post this and you actually did?!] [Why does it feel like the whole production team are just Chloe's simps?] [Put yourself in Chloe's shoes: People say I don't deserve it, so let's just compete publicly. Producer, you know what to do. Producer: Understood, setting it up right now! Damn, that's such a flex.] These comments made my toes curl in secondhand embarrassment. I am not. I did not. I just casually mentioned to my dearest bestie that I wanted a fair competition! Sure enough, whenever Harper's eyes light up, it’s never anything normal.
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