"Breaking News: Ansen Wood's condition remains unclear, Sony-Columbia is already searching for a replacement."
Clang.
Blair Miller's spoon dropped into her bowl, milk splashing everywhere as the cereal rattled. Her head jerked up, staring intently at the TV screen.
NBC's morning news show, Today, the network's ratings giant for the past two decades, was broadcasting, and not only were the hosts discussing the topic seriously, but the bold headline below also made the news crystal clear.
The shock was palpable, reaching through the screen and hitting her hard.
Blair began to wonder if this was some sort of dream. How else could such an absurd, ridiculous headline be on Today?
However, the hosts continued their serious discussion, their shock and confusion as evident as Blair's.
Blair's hands began to tremble uncontrollably. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, and grabbed the remote to change the channel—
ABC's Good Morning America, typically second in ratings, was reporting the same story.
"Top Story: Sony-Columbia is searching for Ansen Wood's replacement."
Blair's heart clenched, her mind a tangled mess. Even deep breaths couldn't calm her rising panic and fear.
In a rush, she ran to her room and opened her laptop.
She had never realized how agonizingly slow her computer's startup could be. It felt like she was waiting an eternity before it finally booted up. Blair quickly navigated the internet.
"Sony-Columbia is ready to drop Ansen Wood!"
"It's all a conspiracy—Sony-Columbia staged the whole thing, with Ansen Wood as the only victim."
"Sony-Columbia's power struggle is affecting a series of projects, with Spider-Man 2 taking the hardest hit!"
"Though Ansen Wood is still recovering, preparing to return to set, Sony-Columbia is rushing to move on to the next chapter."
"Maybe when Spider-Man 2 is released, Peter Parker won't be who we recognize anymore."
"Ansen Wood has been suddenly and ruthlessly replaced, without warning."
"Sony-Columbia, frustrated with delays due to Ansen's injury, plans a full reboot."
"No one is irreplaceable, not even Ansen Wood—welcome to Hollywood."
Bombshell after bombshell.
The entire internet had shut down. Every media outlet joined the coverage—there was no escape.
If the earlier reports from Us Weekly and Entertainment Weekly exposing Harry Pacey as the culprit had already taken the story to new heights—becoming one of 2003's major news stories—then now, the coverage had skyrocketed five- or tenfold. This was undoubtedly the biggest entertainment news of the year, spreading like wildfire.
Everywhere you looked, articles and discussions were exploding.
On every forum, conversations were blowing up.
Some were shocked, refusing to believe it was true, with many assuming it was some kind of prank. "April Fool's was months ago" and "This has to be an Onion headline" were common reactions.
Others were baffled, unable to comprehend Sony-Columbia's thinking: "What did Ansen do wrong?" and "They must've lost their minds to make such a decision."
Some were furious, disbelieving that Sony-Columbia could abandon Ansen, while he was still in the hospital with no updates on his condition.
Others were investigating: "So that's why they brought in Jason Owen, huh?" and "Everything that seemed inexplicable before suddenly makes sense."
There were even some who let their imaginations run wild, exploring the darkest possibilities.
"Could this all be a Sony-Columbia conspiracy? Maybe they even planted the paparazzi. After the accident, they saw an opportunity to replace Ansen, with the real motive being the power struggle within Sony-Columbia. They don't care about the success of the movie; their goal is pure control."
All kinds of theories were erupting.
The only certainty was that Sony-Columbia had become the target of universal scorn.
Of course, there were always a few people willing to defend these giant corporations.
"Ansen's injury affects the whole project—Sony-Columbia has to think about the bigger picture."
"They're not actually replacing him yet, just auditioning some backups. No need to overreact."
"Ansen's injury caused major delays, costing the production millions. Sony-Columbia can't sacrifice the whole crew for just one actor."
But these arguments were drowned in ridicule and anger.
Sure, Sony-Columbia had to look after their own interests. But from a business perspective, Ansen was only injured and would soon return to set. After all, it was Ansen who was largely responsible for Spider-Man's initial success.
And what made things worse was how Sony-Columbia had treated him. They were cold and indifferent when the accident happened, not protecting their star, and now they were trying to swiftly replace him.
How was that fair?
What was even worse was the Jason Owen situation. Was Sony-Columbia really just safeguarding the production?
Every detail pointed to Sony-Columbia's dirty, ugly agenda: sacrificing Ansen, who had done nothing wrong and had been a key contributor, to further their own ends. Their treachery was unforgivable.
Now, Sony-Columbia was truly the villain in everyone's eyes—
Public enemy number one.
Some even said that, compared to Sony-Columbia, Harry Pacey didn't seem so bad.
Because, yes, Harry had caused chaos in the name of entertainment and caused the accident; but it was unintentional. His goal was never to injure Ansen—it was a genuine accident.
Sony-Columbia, on the other hand, regardless of whether the conspiracy was true, was plotting behind the scenes while knowing Ansen was injured and working hard to recover.
Their actions were despicable.
Have people forgotten?
When Eve spoke on Ansen's behalf, she said he was actively recovering and trying to return to set as soon as possible, to avoid delaying production.
And this is how they repay him?
People were enraged—truly, deeply angry. And the fury was spreading uncontrollably.
In this bizarre twist, the person who had once been at the center of the scandal, Harry Pacey, was now reentering the scene, this time under pressure.
On the TMZ website, Harry admitted that he owed Ansen a sincere apology. He acknowledged that his obsession with getting photos of the new Spider-Man suit had driven him mad, leading to the accident, and even after that, his continued actions had been shameful.
"I deserved every bit of backlash I've received. I don't expect Ansen to forgive me."
"But..."
Harry then turned his criticism towards Sony-Columbia.
Harry claimed that both the New Jersey set and Mount Sinai Hospital had suffered from inadequate security under Sony-Columbia's watch. That's why Ansen's brother had to take over the security detail. Furthermore, Sony-Columbia had never truly cared about Ansen's well-being, being too caught up in their internal power struggle. First, they had used Jason Owen to distract the public, and then they had tried to pin everything on a scapegoat.
"Shameless! Completely without a moral compass!"