Fake Dating the Golden Boy

Prologue

HOLLYWOOD BEAT

IS HOLLYWOOD’S FALLEN GOLDEN BOY PLANNING A COMEBACK?

A decade after the scandal that torpedoed his career and left a crater in the Chapman family legacy, William Chapman’s name has returned to the lips of Hollywood’s power players.

At just nineteen, Chapman was poised to be the youngest Best Actor winner in Oscar history. But that all changed the night of the Golden Globes when his co-star and fellow nominee, Derek Hall, was brutally attacked.

To this day, no one knows exactly what happened in Hall’s hotel room. The security footage went conveniently missing, and Hall woke up a day later with no memory of the attack. But for industry insiders, it isn’t hard to fill in the gaps.

The two on-screen lovers were seen leaving the after-party together, where witnesses reported Chapman — who’d just taken home a trophy — was heavily intoxicated.

Hall’s long-time manager, Tony Wallingford, claimed at the time: “Derek looked out for William like a big brother. He only invited him up to his room to save him from making a spectacle of himself.”

The narrative turned uglier when a couple staying in a neighboring suite reported hearing a vicious argument. According to sources, Chapman hoped to move their romance from the big screen to the bedsheets.

“Look at you. You’re just a pathetic fuckboy,” Hall was overheard shouting. “You’re so fucking entitled you think you deserve everything, even me. But I’ve got news for you, Will. I don’t owe you shit. Now get the fuck out of my bed.”

His family’s deep pockets kept him out of a prison cell, but even William’s famous parents — nine-time Academy Award nominee Robert Chapman and Bond girl Donna Wells — couldn’t keep his name off Hollywood’s blacklist.

Now, with whispers circulating that William might join his father's highly anticipated new feature, Sundowning, we have to ask: Is the industry’s most hated exile poised for a triumphant comeback, or is he stepping right back into the firing line?