1 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:12,079 Speaker 1: This is an I Heart original. It's the fourth of 2 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:16,440 Speaker 1: July in Hailey, Idaho, and the town's residents are lining 3 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: the streets, although admittedly the streets aren't that big, so 4 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: it doesn't take many people to accomplish that. Haley is 5 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: a small town. It's got a population of about five thousand, 6 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: and on this sunny Independence Day in the residents are 7 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: probably getting more commotion, more action than they've seen all year. 8 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: Every year. We had a nice Fourth of July parade. 9 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: Wayne A. Dare is among those watching from the sidelines. 10 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 1: Wayne is the news editor of the Wood River Journal, 11 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: one of the papers of record in this part of Idaho, 12 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: And while he's standing there taking in the site, he 13 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: sees something in the parade that's never quite left his mind. 14 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:15,919 Speaker 1: It's Bruce Willis Diehard, Bruce Willis moonlighting, Bruce Willis Planet Hollywood. 15 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: Bruce Willis a guy who makes twenty million dollars a movie. 16 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: He was in the parade Roddy, this big, beautiful probably 17 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: of a hundred thousand dollar horse. You know, he kind 18 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: of joyed the parade, riding right down the middle of 19 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:36,559 Speaker 1: main Street, and literally the middle of main street. Bruce 20 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,680 Speaker 1: Willis is not only in the parade. He's leading the 21 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: parade dressed as a cowboy. It's not like Bruce Willis 22 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,080 Speaker 1: was a Western star though, not like Clint Eastwood or 23 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: John Wayne A tough guy, sure, but Bruce Willis grew 24 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: up in New Jersey. I can't remember if you had 25 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: a cowboy hat on, but it seemed like he was, 26 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: you know, kind of Western e He had cowboy boots 27 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: at the best I remember, like a grand marshal. Willis 28 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: waves to the crowd, turning his attention from one side 29 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,119 Speaker 1: of the street to the other, and the people are 30 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: eating it up. He was having a hell of a 31 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: good time. You could tell from his body language and 32 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 1: from his smile, and you know, he was waving to 33 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:22,880 Speaker 1: the crowd like a homecoming queen. And uh, our photographer 34 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: got a really nice image of then we put it 35 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: on the front page. But Wayne isn't that impressed, not 36 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: by Willis anyway. I mean, I enjoy looking at the 37 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: horse board and I looked at Bruce Willis. It was 38 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: just such a beautiful creature. Now there's probably a level 39 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: of celebrity where someone feels diminished leading a small town 40 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: parade A kind of has it come to this melancholy, 41 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: but that's not what's happening here. Willis could not be happier. 42 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: The smile, the trademark smirk that's familiar to hundreds of 43 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: millions of people, is genuine. He's totally in his element, 44 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: totally confident in his status as one of the biggest 45 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: box office attractions in the world. One hit like Pulp 46 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: Fiction follows another like die Hard with a Vengeance, which 47 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: is in theaters at that very moment. There's almost a 48 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: kind of irony in someone as famous as Willis ambling 49 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: along on horseback in Idaho. Would Sylvester Stallone have done this? 50 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: Would Harrison Ford? Would Meryl Straight be seen riding at 51 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: Clydesdale in a town with just a handful of traffic lights. 52 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: Probably not. But Bruce Willis isn't here to preserve the 53 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: mirage of the Hollywood actor, which is in these pre 54 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: Instagram days, something that still feels larger than life. At 55 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: age forty, He's not worried about denting his reputation in 56 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: the movie business, which has never been stronger. He's John McClain, 57 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: one of the most iconic action here of the late 58 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: twenty century. He's married to Demi Moore, making him one 59 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: half of the classic nineties power couple troupe. There's not 60 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: a street in America Willis could walk down or gallop 61 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: down without being recognized. But here in Haley, Willis believes 62 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: he's found the one place in the world he can 63 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: go to be well himself, and Haley has welcomed him 64 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: with open arms. But when Wayne A. Dair published that 65 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,200 Speaker 1: photograph of Willis on the horse on the front page 66 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: of the Wood River Journal, maybe that's when both Willis 67 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: and Haley realized things weren't going to be easy. We 68 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: got a call that David was published from one of 69 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: his angry attorneys saying we had no right to publish 70 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:57,840 Speaker 1: his image because he based his living based on selling 71 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:02,039 Speaker 1: that image. And day gorham Field is that called on 72 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 1: paper day I was not there in the morning. Then, 73 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: paraphrasing the conversation, said, you know, when somebody rides down 74 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: the middle of Main Street on our horse in the 75 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,719 Speaker 1: fourth a job parade, we can take their picture. We 76 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: damn what I want to And that's the last we 77 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: heard her. Yeah, not exactly. For Bruce Willis, Haley was 78 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: the thing he had been searching for since he became 79 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 1: a household name, a place to escape, a place he 80 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: could mold and shape to fit his needs, to make 81 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: it not just a small idahotel, but a place worthy 82 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,919 Speaker 1: of being the home of a global movie star. He 83 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:52,359 Speaker 1: found it in tiny Haley, Idaho, population five thousand, well 84 00:05:52,920 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: five thousand and one. For I Heart Radio, I'm Anishwarts. 85 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:07,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Haleywood, an I Heart original podcast. On my podcast, 86 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: Noble Blood, I tell the true stories of historical royals. 87 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: This series is a little different, a few centuries and 88 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 1: an ocean apart. It's a story of Hollywood royalty, about 89 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,080 Speaker 1: a man who, for the better part of two decades, 90 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 1: had millions of people lining up for his movies, making 91 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,919 Speaker 1: him one of the highest paid actors in the world, 92 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: and about someone who was a brand, the everyman action 93 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: star who could seamlessly switch from firing machine guns to 94 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: intimate character dramas, a man who got so famous he 95 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 1: ran out of places to just be Bruce until he 96 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 1: came to Haley. What happened next is something the people 97 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: of Haley have never been eager to talk about until now. 98 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:06,000 Speaker 1: It's a strange story about Hollywood and identity, the need 99 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: for privacy, and the trappings of ego and much much 100 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: more episode one his own Private Idaho. Of all the 101 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: places near Sun Valley, Idaho, Haley is the most serene. 102 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,800 Speaker 1: Cars don't speed, people don't walk too briskly. Depending on 103 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: where you are, the only noise you hear would be 104 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:39,680 Speaker 1: the gentle current of the Big Wood River. Some places 105 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: can seem idyllic, but only in your imagination, only when 106 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: the mood is just right. Haley is not like that. 107 00:07:47,320 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: It's the real thing. The town was founded in the 108 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: late eighteen hundreds by John Haley, a gold prospector who 109 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: thought that the area would soon be a hub of 110 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: mining and transportation. And that's what happened. For a while, 111 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 1: Hailey was full of blue collar workers who got their 112 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: hands dirty and then closed the local bars. Businesses catered 113 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 1: to the miners. Then the mining gave way, and only 114 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: families remained. By the early nineties nine nineties, it was 115 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: the kind of town where when you turn onto Main 116 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: Street you see mountains where you'd half expect to see 117 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 1: Bob Ross putting the finishing touches on the scene, where 118 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: one of the landmarks is a museum holding one of 119 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: the world's largest collections of political campaign buttons, where most 120 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,200 Speaker 1: of the residential streets are lined with trees, and homes 121 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: are set twenty five ft from the street to keep 122 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: their occupants safe. Where people at the diner know you, 123 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 1: and you know them, and probably their siblings and parents 124 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: and kids too. When you hear the phrase small town values, 125 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: someone is thinking of a place like Haley. It's May 126 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: Street was hallmark movie quaint, with a surprising amount of 127 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 1: traffic thanks to the Sun Valley Ski Resort, a kind 128 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: of alternative to Aspen about fifteen miles away. A lot 129 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 1: of people would go through Haley, but not many stopped. 130 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,760 Speaker 1: If they did, they'd see a lot of historic buildings 131 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: made of brick, some still with tin ceilings. An old bar, 132 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:28,559 Speaker 1: still home to career drinkers, stood tall nearby. A rundown 133 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 1: movie theater opened since the nineteen thirties, but in dire 134 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: need of renovation. A community planner once described Haley as 135 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: being just one breaststroke away from being vibrant, like a 136 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: painting that needs just one more color to come to life, 137 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:56,360 Speaker 1: or maybe someone with a vision. That's what made such 138 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: an interesting year. That was when a number of proper 139 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,439 Speaker 1: these around town that had been sitting dormant or ignored 140 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 1: for years began to rumble with activity. Someone was buying 141 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:13,319 Speaker 1: them That old miner's bar, the Mint was picked up, 142 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: so was the building next to it, which used to 143 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:20,120 Speaker 1: house Mama Riley's Pizza. So was the Rundown Movie Theater. 144 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:26,559 Speaker 1: Other commercial buildings followed, some promising but empty lots too. 145 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: It was clearly a concerted effort to acquire choice pieces 146 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:36,440 Speaker 1: of Haley, but for what purpose no one knew. A 147 00:10:36,559 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 1: cursory search revealed that the company behind the purchases had 148 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: a strange name. Here's Wayne A. Dare. We kept hearing 149 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,360 Speaker 1: that a corporation named x may I x in a 150 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,719 Speaker 1: Y was making offers to to buy some properties right 151 00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: on Main Street, and we couldn't find out who was 152 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: the force behind XNY the xnay Investment Trust. That's the 153 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:07,360 Speaker 1: pig Latin version of Nicks, which means to put a 154 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:11,600 Speaker 1: stop to something. It was kind of strange. Everyone in 155 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: Haley was used to knowing everyone else's business. The fact 156 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 1: that xnay was a mystery was well a mystery. Rumor 157 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: had it that Kmart was after some of the lots. 158 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: A month went by and then two Haley wondered if 159 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:32,239 Speaker 1: they would soon be overrun by national chain stores. Goodbye 160 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 1: main Street. What Haley needed was someone who could sniff 161 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 1: out the truth, someone who could peel back the layers 162 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 1: of bureaucratic red tape, someone who could figure out who 163 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: was behind XNA. This was a job for Wayne's top gun, C. J. 164 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:56,160 Speaker 1: Carra Margin, reporter for the Wood River Journal, and he 165 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: was just a bulldog at at going after the stories 166 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: and uh he did some really outstanding work for a 167 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 1: you know, small town newspaper. Carra Margin worked the phones 168 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:15,079 Speaker 1: and came to an unlikely suspect, a guy named Joe McAllister, 169 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: a relatively recent transplant to the area. McAllister was behind 170 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 1: x Nay for what purpose, care Margin wasn't quite sure, 171 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: but the acquisitions were definitely newsworthy. Someone was looking to 172 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: invest in Haley in a big way. The denizens of 173 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: Haley were talking. It was the kind of diner and 174 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: coffee shop talk that the town hadn't enjoyed since Bruce 175 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: Willis bought a home there a few years prior. Willis's 176 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,680 Speaker 1: private home was in the housing subdivision known as the 177 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: Flying Heart Ranch. Flying Heart Ranch was a place between 178 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: two mountains. A river literally ran through it. With his 179 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: wife Demi Moore and a growing family. Willis had escaped 180 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: to Haley to avoid the spotlight cast on the mega 181 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,959 Speaker 1: famous Willis was a huge star thanks to a hit 182 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: detective show, Moonlighting and then the die Hard films. So 183 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:20,680 Speaker 1: a quiet house in the mountains to get away from 184 00:13:20,679 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: it all. Who doesn't want that? He was just outside 185 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:26,960 Speaker 1: of town. You know, I'm not quite sure i'd called 186 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: her mansion, but he probably was was close to one. 187 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 1: And I've never been one whose star struck. I wouldn't 188 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: walk across the street commutic as movie star. But I 189 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:42,319 Speaker 1: liked his uh TV series bood Lighting. I love die 190 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:44,720 Speaker 1: Hard and some of these other movies at all. Bruce 191 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,080 Speaker 1: Willis this year, that's kind of fun. He wasn't in 192 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: the news much for a couple of years. He just 193 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: was living there now. Reporter c J. Carra Margin was 194 00:13:56,200 --> 00:14:00,960 Speaker 1: on the trail of Haley's next big story, the XNA 195 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 1: property grab, but Joe McAllister was elusive. He wouldn't say 196 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: much of anything. Then Cara Margin noticed something something big. 197 00:14:13,760 --> 00:14:18,080 Speaker 1: C J. Uh, you got some paperwork on Xnay and 198 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,560 Speaker 1: noticed that there was a mailing address attached to the company, 199 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: and he did a little uh research and realized that 200 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:32,320 Speaker 1: the the address for the company was the same post 201 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: office box that the Willis's head. So you know, put 202 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: two and two together and you got a pretty solid 203 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 1: for there. Bruce Willis was the one on the spending spree. 204 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: This was unusual. Sun Valley definitely attracted celebrities, some of 205 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: whom bought seasonal or permanent homes in the area. Arnold 206 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: Schwarzenegger had a place nearby, so did Clint Eastwood. But 207 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: that's all they did. They bought homes, old bars, not 208 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: empty lots, not vacant drug stores. So what exactly was 209 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 1: Willis doing? Carr Margin tried to dig deeper, but he 210 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: couldn't get anywhere, couldn't breach the wall of silence surrounding 211 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: Haley's most famous resident. Then suddenly he didn't have to. 212 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: Dan gorm got a call. He was the papers editor 213 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: and publisher. Carr Margin's phone rang two. It was Bruce Willis, 214 00:15:35,600 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 1: But instead of explaining what he was doing, he tried 215 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: to get them to lay off the story, to brush 216 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: aside the fact that Bruce Willis was becoming Haley's premier 217 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: real estate investor. The Wood River Journal wasn't going to 218 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 1: do that. Bruce Willis, once a quiet resident of Haley, 219 00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:03,280 Speaker 1: was now suddenly in probably a developer. Not only that 220 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:07,520 Speaker 1: he had an entire company devoted to his business interests 221 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 1: in Haley, a company that had seemingly materialized out of nowhere, 222 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: and he had a growing staff attending to all of it. 223 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:20,760 Speaker 1: It had been happening right under Haley's collective knows Willis 224 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,720 Speaker 1: did let a few things slip out. He told Gorham 225 00:16:25,040 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: he didn't want to live his life in the public eye, 226 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 1: that he had moved to Haley to avoid exactly that. 227 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: Willis also told Gorham that while he understood the interest, 228 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: he didn't want to be price gouged by sellers who 229 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,760 Speaker 1: had built the movie Star. However, you know, he was 230 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 1: buying properties right on Main Street, and he was going 231 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:47,520 Speaker 1: to have to go to the Planning and Zoning Commission 232 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,440 Speaker 1: and the city Council for you know, for any kind 233 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: of approval. So, uh we failed. It was our duty, 234 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:01,560 Speaker 1: our journalistic responsibility to let our readers know exactly who 235 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: was buying property on Main Street. And uh, I think 236 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: he was less than happy with us over that. Willis 237 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,120 Speaker 1: and the Wood River Journal would soon have a dust 238 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 1: up that made the carra Margin incident seem quaint in comparison. 239 00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 1: It makes you wonder what exactly happened to Bruce Willis 240 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,959 Speaker 1: that made him so reluctant to deal with the press, 241 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:33,639 Speaker 1: and why was he so insistent on Hailey's reporters staying 242 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:38,480 Speaker 1: out of his business. There's an answer, maybe not the answer, 243 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 1: but an answer nonetheless, and it involves Tom Hanks being 244 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:59,639 Speaker 1: just a little bit of a jerk. A couple of 245 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: years before Willis began what would grow into a love 246 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:06,760 Speaker 1: affair with Haley, he had already decided he wasn't going 247 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: to be overly cooperative with the press. Stardom had put 248 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,919 Speaker 1: him in the sights of the tabloids. Reporters seemed to 249 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: want to know who he was sleeping with, not who 250 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 1: he'd be working with. His transition from being anonymous to 251 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: famous had happened virtually overnight. Once Moonlighting premiered in March 252 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:31,360 Speaker 1: nineteen five. The show was a hit, but Bruce seemed 253 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: completely unprepared for the scrutiny that accompanied being a successful actor. 254 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: The media had made a big deal of his relationship 255 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:45,320 Speaker 1: with Sybil Shephard, his Moonlighting co star. Moonlighting Wars Jealous 256 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:50,400 Speaker 1: set turns into battleground. That kind of thing. The rumors 257 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: sold papers and magazines. Willis estimated he was on a 258 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 1: tabloid cover at least once a week. People enjoyed reading 259 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,280 Speaker 1: about Bruce Wood Willis being a jerk, even if virtually 260 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: all of it was embellished or made up. Bruce Willis's 261 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:12,600 Speaker 1: shocking arrest, the untold story Bruce Willis and X rated 262 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: actress Bruce Willis and Miami Weis Galley in new romance 263 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:22,399 Speaker 1: Pals warn He'll break your heart. Rather than cope with 264 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 1: the press, it became easier to ignore it. He felt 265 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:29,480 Speaker 1: the media sometimes made actors a target, that there was 266 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,199 Speaker 1: a certain time when it became someone's turn to be 267 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: cut down a peg. For Willis, it came with Hudson Hawk, 268 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: a crime caper musical he released. In That's Right, a 269 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:48,160 Speaker 1: musical starring Bruce Willis, Willis played a cat burglar who 270 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: enjoyed a little singing during his art heists. Willis helped 271 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,240 Speaker 1: conceive of the story and even helped write the theme song. 272 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:59,159 Speaker 1: His producer was Joel Silver, who had made Willis a 273 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,880 Speaker 1: box office star with the die Hard Films, and Willis 274 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:07,000 Speaker 1: loved shooting the movie mostly because while on location in Hungary, 275 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 1: no one really knew who he was. But the director, 276 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: Michael Lehman, complained that his ideas would be challenged or 277 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: vetoed by Willis, who wielded so much influence in Hollywood 278 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 1: that even a director would have to defer to him. 279 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:27,119 Speaker 1: At one point, Willis insisted his character Hudson Hawk needed 280 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:30,640 Speaker 1: a pet monkey named Little Eddie. No one else really 281 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,439 Speaker 1: wanted the movie to have a monkey, but Willis wouldn't 282 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,880 Speaker 1: let it go, so producers decided that Willis's character Hudson 283 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: had a monkey past tense. The monkey was never shown 284 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,360 Speaker 1: on camera because it turns out Little Eddie had been 285 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 1: murdered while Hudson was in prison, So yeah, you couldn't 286 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: maybe see where this might be going. One source on 287 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,400 Speaker 1: set said that Willis thought he was making a hip 288 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,719 Speaker 1: MTV style movie, but it was really more of an 289 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:05,640 Speaker 1: homage to the fast talking caper comedies of the nineteen forties. 290 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:10,439 Speaker 1: He had trouble describing it in interviews. It was, he said, 291 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: a film that needed to be experienced more than explained. Yo, 292 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:21,080 Speaker 1: did I miss anything? Gates dries a blackmail me. You 293 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,840 Speaker 1: asked me, did I miss anything Gates. Gates killed you say, 294 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:26,960 Speaker 1: did I miss anything? I bet you? Going up to 295 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:29,439 Speaker 1: Mrs Lincoln at the Fourth Theater said how is the show? 296 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: Did I miss anything? No one felt like they missed 297 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:41,159 Speaker 1: anything With Hudson Hawk, critics were unkind It flopped at 298 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:45,600 Speaker 1: the box office, making just seventeen million dollars against a 299 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:49,159 Speaker 1: fifty million dollar budget. Today it has a score of 300 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:55,879 Speaker 1: just thirty three on Rotten Tomatoes. To Willis, it seemed 301 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,399 Speaker 1: like there had been a concerted effort by the media 302 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,879 Speaker 1: to curb his start um. It would happen with Kevin 303 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:05,680 Speaker 1: Costner and water World and to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Last 304 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:10,119 Speaker 1: Action Hero. The press seemed to relish those moments, and 305 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:14,640 Speaker 1: Willis resented them for it. They'd cut him before too, 306 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:18,639 Speaker 1: during the fallout from The Bonfire of the Vanities. The 307 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: film released in starred Tom Hanks, Melanie Griffith, and Willis, 308 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,560 Speaker 1: all three of them actors at the top of their games. 309 00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:34,639 Speaker 1: Seemed like a recipe for a hit. Bonfire was an 310 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: adaptation of Tom Wolfe's novel about greed and corruption among 311 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,920 Speaker 1: the powerful and protected class in New York's high society. 312 00:22:43,359 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: Willis played Peter Fallow, a predatory tabloid reporter, a not 313 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:51,120 Speaker 1: very subtle jab at his adversaries in the press. When 314 00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:54,120 Speaker 1: Willis was asked why he took the part, he'd shoot back, 315 00:22:54,440 --> 00:23:01,479 Speaker 1: why do you think, Oh, excuse me, I have introduced myself, 316 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: have I? My name is Peter Fallow. I'm a writer. 317 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: But you know that already. Unless you haven't read a 318 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:12,119 Speaker 1: newspaper or seen a television in the last few months, 319 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,960 Speaker 1: you know exactly who I had. But despite how well 320 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,840 Speaker 1: regarded the novel was, some people considered it too complex 321 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: to be adapted. They warned it might even be unfilmable, 322 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: and it looks like they were right. The film was 323 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,080 Speaker 1: a disappointment, blown out of the water during the holiday 324 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,879 Speaker 1: season by Home Alone. To be fair, every movie was 325 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 1: blown out by Home Alone, but still it was a 326 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: black mark for all involved, and Willis was no exception. 327 00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,120 Speaker 1: But he had reason to regret the film beyond its 328 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:50,320 Speaker 1: box office. The movie's director, Brian de Palmer, had allowed 329 00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 1: a journalist named Julie Salomon, unprecedented access to observe the 330 00:23:55,520 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: production from casting to release. It was an opportunity Nitty 331 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 1: rarely afforded to the media, because well filmmaking can be messy. 332 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,679 Speaker 1: Salmon got to see it all and report on it all, 333 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: all the creative tension, all the tumultuous exchanges. Salomon even 334 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: captured a moment between Willis and Hanks, who were both 335 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 1: watching playback of a scene on a monitor. Hanks, with 336 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,919 Speaker 1: some apparent glee in his voice, made a show of 337 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: pointing out when Willis smirked in the scene. It was 338 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,360 Speaker 1: the same smirk that had made him such a hit 339 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: in Moonlighting and die Hard and in other films. Hanks 340 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,959 Speaker 1: playfully pointed it out there. It is that big sing Gren, 341 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,880 Speaker 1: he said. It was not very Tom Hanks thing to say. 342 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,800 Speaker 1: A brooding Willis said nothing. Smirk was a Willis trademark. 343 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: It was sacra sanct Tom Hanks was reducing it to 344 00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:01,719 Speaker 1: a crutch. Salomon's book was released in nine It was 345 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,720 Speaker 1: titled The Devil's Candy, A great book. The Bonfire the 346 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: Vanities had become a bad movie, and thanks to Salomon, 347 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: a bad movie had inspired a pretty good book. It 348 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: was well received by most everyone except Willis. He hated 349 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: the fact Salmon had observed him, had criticized him. He 350 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: hadn't even granted her an interview, and he still got 351 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: bad press. If he was pressed shy before Salomon may 352 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:35,159 Speaker 1: have made him press loathing, Hollywood loathing. Even when he 353 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:39,639 Speaker 1: consented to an interview, he usually regretted it, and so 354 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:44,639 Speaker 1: did the journalist. A thousand its views, and I would say, 355 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,800 Speaker 1: there's a handful four or five that were just a 356 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: complete nightmare. Bruce was one of those nightmares. That's Martha Frankel. 357 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:56,280 Speaker 1: Martha writes books now, but in the nine nineties she 358 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,920 Speaker 1: was focused on entertainment journalism and she was good at it. 359 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:04,520 Speaker 1: She wasn't fawning, she wasn't insulting either. She was just 360 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: doing her job, and she laid out what she perceived 361 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,959 Speaker 1: as a mutually beneficial transaction. I used to say this 362 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,080 Speaker 1: one when I would sit down with somebody, I'd say, listen, 363 00:26:14,359 --> 00:26:17,360 Speaker 1: here's how it works. I'm getting paid five grand. You're 364 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:20,120 Speaker 1: getting paid five million. My job to make you seem 365 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,320 Speaker 1: even cooler than you are. Some more people go and 366 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:25,959 Speaker 1: you can make six million next time. So let's just 367 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,160 Speaker 1: have a conversation. This is what I would say. And 368 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:34,160 Speaker 1: most people were like, that sounds great. Bruce Willis did 369 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: not think it sounded great. When Movieline Magazine sent Frankel 370 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,600 Speaker 1: to interview Willis in Europe. In it was the beginning 371 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: of one of the most torturous experiences of Frankel's professional career. 372 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 1: And I went to England to do a story about him, 373 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: and like, I thought we were going to be like, 374 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 1: you know, it was gonna be cool. We had this history, 375 00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: and you know, we knew a lot of people in 376 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:00,800 Speaker 1: common and a lot of my friends of Kiss directors 377 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: and actors. And he wanted no part of that. He 378 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 1: didn't want to talk about it. He wanted no part 379 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:10,440 Speaker 1: of it. I was in a spa in Windsor waiting 380 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: for him, supposed to be there one night. I was 381 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: there for nine Frankel stood vigil as Willis seemed to 382 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,919 Speaker 1: weigh whether or not he really wanted to be interviewed. 383 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: I had the two bitchest editors in magazine history, so 384 00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,439 Speaker 1: they would spend fortune sending you around the world in 385 00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,960 Speaker 1: the hope that you hated your subject. So I mean 386 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: I kept calling them every day and saying, I don't 387 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: think this interview is happening. I think I should come home, 388 00:27:36,080 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 1: and they were like, nope, you're staying because even if 389 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: you never get to interview, and that will be the 390 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:46,000 Speaker 1: story Martha persisted, tried different tactics to appeal to Bruce. 391 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:49,440 Speaker 1: It was raining, pouring, and there was no good food 392 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:52,280 Speaker 1: to eat, and I was stuck in the spa. I 393 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,119 Speaker 1: mean all I did was swim, so and every day 394 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 1: I would write to him and say, let's do it today, 395 00:27:57,200 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: Let's do it today. And I had some funny ideas. 396 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: I thought, you know, he has a big entourage. He 397 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,040 Speaker 1: always had a very big entourage. And I was there 398 00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:06,160 Speaker 1: all alone. So I said, why don't we just sit 399 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 1: down me, you and your people will play poker for 400 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,199 Speaker 1: an hour, the interview will be over. It'll be a 401 00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:13,880 Speaker 1: great interview. You know, I'll make you sound even funnier 402 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:15,920 Speaker 1: than you are. He said, no, we have a lot 403 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:17,919 Speaker 1: of people in common. I don't want to talk about that. 404 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:23,440 Speaker 1: So we really were at odds. Finally, after well over 405 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:26,359 Speaker 1: a week, Willis agreed to meet when I do an 406 00:28:26,359 --> 00:28:29,199 Speaker 1: interview on somebody. I watched everything, and so when I 407 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,800 Speaker 1: went to meet Bruce, I had seen all the clunkers 408 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:34,920 Speaker 1: and all the good stuff. You know, the die Hard 409 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:37,399 Speaker 1: movies are fantastic to watch. They take you to a 410 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: place you've never been before. And so he wanted to 411 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 1: talk to him about that, and he didn't want to 412 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: talk about that. He didn't really want to talk about anything, 413 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: which is funny after you've waited nine days in a 414 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:54,960 Speaker 1: spa in Windsor. I did the interview and he made 415 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,120 Speaker 1: them shut down the restaurant in the hotel, and then 416 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: he like, oh, it's just a dragon. He wasn't fun 417 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:03,960 Speaker 1: and he wasn't funny, and I know he's all of 418 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 1: those things. You know, I had seen him in action. 419 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 1: I know he can be that. He was, you know, 420 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: very serious, and he just kept telling me how you know, 421 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:13,760 Speaker 1: Hudson Hawk was a great movie and this one. I 422 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: was like, Bruce, you know I saw it. You can't 423 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,480 Speaker 1: convince me of that. And it was really one of 424 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 1: the first interviews that I just put it into the 425 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: story and said, I didn't like this guy. He didn't 426 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 1: like me. We didn't have fun. Willis was touchy and evasive. 427 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 1: He kept asking her to turn off the tape recorder 428 00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,240 Speaker 1: for him to explain what went wrong with Hudson Hawk, 429 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 1: as though there had been potential for anything to go 430 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: right with Hudson Hawk. Naturally, Frankel's editors at movie Line 431 00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:47,400 Speaker 1: loved it. They weren't unhappy that it went like that. 432 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: I mean, I was because I want to light the 433 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:54,920 Speaker 1: people I interview, I want them to do well. I 434 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 1: want to root for them, and there was no way 435 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: I could root for Bruce will Say. After this, four 436 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: months and years afterward, people would approach Frankel with the 437 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: idea that she and Willis were rivals, enemies. They wanted 438 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 1: her to talk about what a jerk Bruce Willis was 439 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:17,240 Speaker 1: poked and prodded on. She'd sometimes indulged them. He had, 440 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,760 Speaker 1: after all, kept her waiting for nine days and then 441 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,960 Speaker 1: stonewalled her, and there was something else that bothered her. 442 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 1: So I was already annoyed at him when he walked in. 443 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 1: And then he made them shut the restaurant. He made 444 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 1: them shut it down for two hours during dinner service 445 00:30:31,920 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: so that nobody would come over for his autograph. And 446 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: then he didn't throw three hundred bucks on the table 447 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,880 Speaker 1: for the waiter, so I did. So I was already like, 448 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,360 Speaker 1: this is not okay. You know, I want rich people 449 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 1: to be more generous than not rich people. And Bruce, okay, 450 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: he wants the restaurant close. I get it. Then pay 451 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: the guy for the two hours that he missed. He 452 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: didn't have that attitude, So we were really at hots 453 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:01,080 Speaker 1: But you know, it was the best think. He walked 454 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,520 Speaker 1: in and out of that hotel and nobody said a 455 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:10,840 Speaker 1: word to if nobody recognized him. So it's kind of 456 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:15,120 Speaker 1: important this part, because even when people weren't looking at 457 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,680 Speaker 1: Bruce Willis, he could feel eyes on him. He felt 458 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:21,480 Speaker 1: the need to get away, felt the need to keep 459 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:25,320 Speaker 1: to himself. All of that would fuel what would happen 460 00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: in Haley when journalists plowed forward. Well, that's when Haley 461 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 1: was exposed to another side of Bruce Willis, the one 462 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:56,840 Speaker 1: where he's most definitely not smirking. When word of Willis's 463 00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: real estate acquisitions got out, a lot of Haley residents 464 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,680 Speaker 1: were excited by the possibilities. There hadn't been any radical 465 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:09,160 Speaker 1: changes to Haley in decades. Some people thought Haley's buildings 466 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,760 Speaker 1: were quaint, others thought quaint was just another word for 467 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:18,240 Speaker 1: old decrepit. Now someone with a singular vision was snapping 468 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 1: up properties and professing his love for the town. It 469 00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: was like having a benefactor, or, as one columnist put it, 470 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:30,760 Speaker 1: Haley had found a sugar daddy. A few people had 471 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:33,680 Speaker 1: some fun with it. A local high school paper ran 472 00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:38,040 Speaker 1: a cartoon that depicted main Street as Planet Haleywood, a 473 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: nod to Willis's involvement in the Planet Hollywood restaurant franchise. 474 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:47,239 Speaker 1: Another paper, the Idaho Mountain Express, ran in editorial that 475 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,080 Speaker 1: cheekily suggested Willis should just buy the entire town as 476 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:55,080 Speaker 1: a holiday present to himself. That got the papers publisher 477 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,719 Speaker 1: an angry phone call. Willis did sometimes talk to the press, 478 00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:05,880 Speaker 1: but he usually had to be angry. First. Things came 479 00:33:05,920 --> 00:33:08,080 Speaker 1: to a head on that front when the Wood River 480 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: Journal ran a story that Bruce Willis didn't care for 481 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:18,200 Speaker 1: not a bet. We did a story, and I can't 482 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 1: remember the exact year, but I've been there for several 483 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:24,960 Speaker 1: years by then. We again, editor of the Wood River Journal. 484 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: The Forest Service would lease uh land to private individuals. 485 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:34,160 Speaker 1: They've been doing it for decades. It was right on 486 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,400 Speaker 1: a lake, I think it was red Fish, like a big, 487 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 1: beautiful natural lake. But somehow Willis got one of these 488 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: leases and he built a really nice home on the 489 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,560 Speaker 1: right on the lake. This was another Willis property and 490 00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:55,040 Speaker 1: escape a little further up the road from his escape. 491 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,360 Speaker 1: And we were doing a story because there was a 492 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:02,160 Speaker 1: lot of discussion in Washington. They wanted to drastically increase 493 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 1: the prices that people had to pay for these leases. 494 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,080 Speaker 1: Bruce Willis, I'm sure it didn't bleeve twice about a 495 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:12,840 Speaker 1: price height, but the normal people and they were concerned 496 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,920 Speaker 1: about it. So the Wood River Journal wrote about it. 497 00:34:16,200 --> 00:34:20,160 Speaker 1: We did an article about the about the proposal to 498 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:26,080 Speaker 1: increase the lease rates up there, and we took a 499 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:30,759 Speaker 1: picture of the outside of Bruce Willis's house and we 500 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,200 Speaker 1: published it. We didn't identify it as Bruce Willis's place. 501 00:34:34,239 --> 00:34:36,960 Speaker 1: We just used it to show that these were not 502 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:39,360 Speaker 1: all just tar paper shacks up there where. There was 503 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: some really nice, high end residences up there, of which 504 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:50,600 Speaker 1: this one was by far the nicest. The cabin could 505 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:53,520 Speaker 1: have been anyone's. There were a total of twenty three 506 00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 1: cabin owners who leased property at Pettit Lake on the 507 00:34:56,800 --> 00:35:00,239 Speaker 1: Forest Service land, including Willis. There was nothing about his 508 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:04,279 Speaker 1: cabin that was demonstrably Willis esque. His name wasn't on 509 00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 1: a plaque out front or anything. But Bruce Willis stormed 510 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:14,279 Speaker 1: into the offices of the Journal, angry his privacy had 511 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:19,319 Speaker 1: been violated. He was enraged the fact that we didn't 512 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:26,640 Speaker 1: identify it. Um didn't assuage the matter whatsoever and what 513 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 1: little advertising he did with us he canceled. I'm sure 514 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,319 Speaker 1: he if you asked him today, he would, you know, 515 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:36,279 Speaker 1: still have a chip on his should about it. I 516 00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,960 Speaker 1: know what you're thinking, What did Bruce Willis need to 517 00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:44,840 Speaker 1: advertise in the Wood River Journal. It's coming promise, but 518 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,440 Speaker 1: for now the Wood River Journal had broken its unspoken 519 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:52,600 Speaker 1: vow to protect its famous residence. Of course, losing any 520 00:35:52,640 --> 00:35:56,280 Speaker 1: advertising is something that you don't want to have happened. 521 00:35:56,280 --> 00:36:01,040 Speaker 1: But you have to have journalistic integrity. And if if, uh, 522 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:05,400 Speaker 1: somebody wants to cancel their advertising because of a story 523 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,319 Speaker 1: you did, if it's a story that was solid and 524 00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:11,280 Speaker 1: it's a story you stand by, it's sorry you feel 525 00:36:11,280 --> 00:36:17,279 Speaker 1: that way, Better luck next time. Willis also phoned reporter c. J. 526 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:22,520 Speaker 1: Carra Margin and said something pretty strange. Willis said that 527 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,960 Speaker 1: he heard the reporter had quote a vendetta against him, 528 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:30,839 Speaker 1: like they were feuding families in The Godfather. But Cara 529 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:34,560 Speaker 1: Margin argued he was just doing his job, just digging 530 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:38,680 Speaker 1: up information that was in the public interest, information like 531 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:43,560 Speaker 1: just what exactly Bruce Willis was planning for Haley. No 532 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:47,360 Speaker 1: one had a vendetta against Willis. He was investing in 533 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:51,400 Speaker 1: real estate and leasing federal land. Bruce Willis seemed to 534 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:56,799 Speaker 1: take reporting on his public activities very, very personally and 535 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:02,920 Speaker 1: with a dramatic flare. The tension became almost operatic, like 536 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:06,799 Speaker 1: Willis wasn't being reported on for business ventures so much 537 00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:11,239 Speaker 1: as being besieged by goons out of die Hard. But 538 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:15,480 Speaker 1: Haley residents were mostly on Willis's side. He wasn't just 539 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:19,520 Speaker 1: snapping up properties. He was investing in the community too. 540 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:23,680 Speaker 1: Willis and more made donations to a local group advocating 541 00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:27,280 Speaker 1: for victims of domestic violence. He donated to the local 542 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,840 Speaker 1: library and the Little League. One winter, when Haley seemed 543 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:33,880 Speaker 1: as though it might be overrun by snow, he donated 544 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:38,080 Speaker 1: snowblowers to the town. There was a real philanthropy in 545 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:41,880 Speaker 1: what Willis was doing. He was community minded in many ways. 546 00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:45,320 Speaker 1: He was very generous in many ways, and uh I 547 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:51,800 Speaker 1: admired him for that. Haley was his hometown, now his escape. 548 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:54,840 Speaker 1: He could spend up to six months out of the 549 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:59,400 Speaker 1: year or more recuperating from the demands of stardom. No 550 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:02,840 Speaker 1: one in hay Haley asked Bruce Willis for his autograph. 551 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:07,640 Speaker 1: Sometimes city officials would float his name in political circles. Willis, 552 00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:11,960 Speaker 1: they said, should consider running for mayor. Hey, there was precedent. 553 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:14,719 Speaker 1: Clint Eastwood was mayor of Carmel by the Sea in 554 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:19,040 Speaker 1: California in the nineteen eighties. But Willis wasn't about to 555 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,080 Speaker 1: run for office. What he wanted was to build up 556 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:26,239 Speaker 1: Haley more discreetly, and that's what Wayne A. Dare C J. 557 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,920 Speaker 1: Carre Margin and the town of Haley would soon realize. 558 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:33,880 Speaker 1: For Willis, there seemed to be appeal in treating Haley 559 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:38,440 Speaker 1: like a big, fresh, unpainted canvas. He was here for 560 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:41,680 Speaker 1: that final brush stroke. He had come to get away 561 00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:44,520 Speaker 1: from it all, But in doing so, he realized he 562 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:48,319 Speaker 1: didn't necessarily want to get away from it all, just 563 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:53,640 Speaker 1: the parts he disliked, the unwanted attention, the insecure Hollywood types. 564 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:57,360 Speaker 1: At some point Willis might have realized he could start 565 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:02,440 Speaker 1: painting that canvas in his own image. The Willis effect 566 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:05,919 Speaker 1: was coming like a tidal wave, and with it would 567 00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:10,560 Speaker 1: come some good things like prosperity and culture and movie stars. 568 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:14,600 Speaker 1: But there was always a sense that what Bruce Willis giveth, 569 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:21,440 Speaker 1: Bruce Willis could also taketh away. In Willis opened an 570 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:25,000 Speaker 1: office and retail complex that he dubbed the E. G. 571 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:29,960 Speaker 1: Willis Building after his grandfather Willis had bought the building, 572 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:33,280 Speaker 1: renovated it, and then least out space to a jeweler 573 00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:36,719 Speaker 1: of furniture store and others. It was a pretty standard 574 00:39:36,719 --> 00:39:41,799 Speaker 1: developer move, nothing too flashy. Nonetheless, Entertainment Tonight came out 575 00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:47,239 Speaker 1: to cover the grand opening. One of the existing occupants 576 00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,399 Speaker 1: of the E. G. Willis Building was the gang at 577 00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:54,480 Speaker 1: the Wood River Journal. He bought the building that we 578 00:39:54,480 --> 00:39:57,879 Speaker 1: were in. We were in the building before he owned it. 579 00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:01,920 Speaker 1: He purchased it, and you weren't sure what was gonna happen. 580 00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:07,600 Speaker 1: Dad gorm wrote an editorial about the odd situation. I 581 00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:10,680 Speaker 1: remember I put a headline on the editorial it's hit 582 00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:18,120 Speaker 1: Bruce Willis stars as quote the landlord, and uh, we 583 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:20,759 Speaker 1: were trying to make a little bit light of the situation. 584 00:40:22,080 --> 00:40:25,920 Speaker 1: When the lease for the Journal expired, Willis's company didn't 585 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,719 Speaker 1: renew it, Wayne and Dair C. J. Carr Margin and 586 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:32,839 Speaker 1: the rest of the crew would have to move. We 587 00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:35,040 Speaker 1: ultimately had to move, But I don't think it was 588 00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:38,160 Speaker 1: I don't think he was any animosity towards us that 589 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:42,640 Speaker 1: to end our lease. It worked out fine because we 590 00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:45,920 Speaker 1: got a better office in a bigger office just half 591 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:50,640 Speaker 1: a block away. So all's well, that end well. It 592 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:55,160 Speaker 1: was clear Willis wasn't overjoyed with the Journal, but who 593 00:40:55,239 --> 00:40:58,080 Speaker 1: could complain When he did make a move, Like with 594 00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:01,440 Speaker 1: the E. G. Willis Building, he put dozens of trades 595 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:05,399 Speaker 1: people to work for years at a time, carpenters, bricklayers. 596 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:09,120 Speaker 1: Haley was beginning to radiate with the glow of a 597 00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:13,000 Speaker 1: movie stars affection. It was Hudson Hawk all over again, 598 00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:17,560 Speaker 1: where Willis could have almost complete control. But thanks to 599 00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:21,560 Speaker 1: his infamous press silence, no one knew what else Bruce 600 00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:24,719 Speaker 1: Willis was planning for Haley, or that it would soon 601 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:29,440 Speaker 1: grow to include secret rooms, a clandestine security force, and 602 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:34,560 Speaker 1: car chases. Not movie car chases, but the real thing. 603 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:42,560 Speaker 1: This season on Haleywood, Bruce kind of thought that he 604 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:45,759 Speaker 1: would have the same effect as he would in New Jersey, 605 00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:49,040 Speaker 1: and of course that wasn't true at all. It was 606 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:52,799 Speaker 1: just a whole different world, cowboy country. You know, you're 607 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:56,160 Speaker 1: getting out in the real West. He was flying a 608 00:41:56,360 --> 00:42:00,279 Speaker 1: G two arm in arm with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was 609 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:02,680 Speaker 1: also flying a G two, and he would fly in 610 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:05,400 Speaker 1: at two o'clock in the morning, and I mean that 611 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:08,839 Speaker 1: woke you up. And there was this Victorian house Bruce 612 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,120 Speaker 1: Willis had bought for Tony Moore at that point to 613 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:14,239 Speaker 1: house or doll collection of course, Bruce and get up. 614 00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:16,480 Speaker 1: There was a while it's harmonic and try to ruin 615 00:42:16,560 --> 00:42:20,200 Speaker 1: it all. I'm just kidding, but I'm not a big 616 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:24,160 Speaker 1: lover of that kind of musy. Then something went sour 617 00:42:24,440 --> 00:42:27,680 Speaker 1: and it was like, boy, biggo sour with Willis, You're 618 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:32,080 Speaker 1: likely to lose. He looked roughed up Fara and he 619 00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:35,600 Speaker 1: said they smashed my equipment. Roughed me up, said they 620 00:42:35,600 --> 00:42:38,080 Speaker 1: told me to get the hell out of town. Mr 621 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:41,399 Speaker 1: Willis doesn't like your newspaper type people are out here. 622 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:55,520 Speaker 1: You don't want to come into Mr Willis's town. Haleywood 623 00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:59,200 Speaker 1: is hosted by Danish Woods. This show is written by 624 00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:04,280 Speaker 1: Jake Ross, editing, sound design and mixing by me Josh Fisher, 625 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:09,920 Speaker 1: Additional editing by Mary Doo, Original music by Natasha Jacobs, 626 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:15,240 Speaker 1: mixing by Jeremy Thal, Research and fact checking by Jake Rosson, 627 00:43:15,480 --> 00:43:20,279 Speaker 1: Austin Thompson and Marissa Brown. Show logo by Lucy Quentinia 628 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:24,360 Speaker 1: Our Senior producer is Ryan Murdoch and our executive producer 629 00:43:24,440 --> 00:43:27,680 Speaker 1: is Jason English. Special thanks to the people of Hailey, 630 00:43:27,719 --> 00:43:32,000 Speaker 1: Idaho and all those who've shared their stories. Haileywood is 631 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:35,319 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio Until Next Time.