"Do you know Philips Fraser?"
Dustin asked as he looked up at Aiden. There was some unknown horror in his eyes as he narrated the events of what exactly had happened.
"He's the president of the American Press association."
Aiden muttered. An image of a man who was balding formed in his head. He was fairly average by all margins but he was a very influential person in all of Hollywood.
Aiden had met the man briefly in one of the events that he had attended. It was an event hosted by Zetflix during the time of [Sherlock of the Shadows].
He remembered Philip had praised Aiden for his performance.
"I saw him there. He was with someone young. I later found out it was a young actress who had come to the event just like me. Someone she knew invited her and she came looking for better opportunities. They were standing very close together and I could see that she was not uncomfortable."
"You mean…?"
Aiden made a guess and Dustin nodded.
"He was molesting her. I knew him by face and instinctively, I reacted, walking towards them and getting him off her. The actress quickly ran away. She looked very scared but Philip just glared at me. He didn't do anything as there were other people there. It was busy as people kept wanting to talk to him. I thought it had ended there."
Dustin let out a frown, recalling those events. His eyes turned to hatred now.
"I thought he would forget me as I was just one of the tens of other small actors there. After all, the industry is too big and you rarely remember someone until it's someone big but after lunch, he found me."
"What happened then?"
"He asked me about my career, what I have done and what I wanted to do. I didn't want to say for a moment as I thought he was just collecting information but he could get it easily if he asked around. So, I told but then, I started to feel uncomfortable around him too. The man was acting way too close for some reason. There was a weird smile on his face as he talked and asked me questions. Everyone thought it was friendly chatter but it wasn't."
Aiden widened his eyes hearing that.
What Dustin was saying was very clear to him. Philips molested him after the girl!
It was a scenario that he had never imagined. At best, his imagination had made him think that Philips blacklisted Dustin for interfering and being a witness of him molesting a young actress.
But it was way worse than he thought.
Not only Philips molested the young actress, he tried to do the same to Dustin.
He never knew that the president of such a prestigious organization was this kind of a person. But it wasn't a full surprise.
People in power are way more likely to be disgusting.
"What happened next?" Aiden asked.
"I ran away. There was no other way. Left the party as fast as possible and just got to my apartment before I felt a bit better. But a disgusting feeling always stayed with me. It was eating me like a parasite."
"You didn't go to the police."
"Not yet. I asked around for advice from a few people that knew me and they said that it was better to complain to APA rather than involving police. The police won't be able to do anything with so many people in power. He would just get bail as it was a minor attempt."
"So, you filed a complaint?"
Dustin nodded his head.
"I did. The organisation formed an internal investigation committee to look into it and questioned me a lot. They even found that young actress but she refused to say anything like that out of fear. She told me she didn't want anything like this in the beginning of her career."
Aiden sighed. A lot of people would do something like that even if they were a victim. Because one could lose a lot just by voicing out things like these in the industry against powerful people.
"Back then, I didn't understand exactly what she was saying but as the investigation was going on, I noticed that I was getting less and less offers for auditions. I first thought it was nothing but eventually, it was very clear. No one wanted to work with me now because APA had blacklisted me."
"What was the result of the investigation?"
"Nothing really. Philips Fraser admitted that he tried it but he said it was just a joke. They believed him but didn't believe me. Now they are asking me to sign an agreement to not talk about it anywhere."
Dustin stopped there and Justin, who was silent till now, opened his mouth.
"It's not asking. It's basically forcing. They have already blacklisted him. What else can they even do?"
He cursed under his breath and Aiden took in a deep breath. The whole event was very unfortunate and because of a corrupt bastard, Dustin was now suffering.
"Why don't you go to the media? Talk about it."
Aiden said and Dustin just gave a short smile like he had already thought it over.
"It's useless. You know there was a girl three years ago. A small-time actress like me who talked about molestation against a big producer. Every media channel clambered to her for an interview but after the hype was down, the producer had no troubles. His lawyers were handling it for him and the girl, well, her career is over. She would probably take 50-60k dollars from the man and end it. Her acting career will never see the light of the day as most of the industry won't work with her. No big star or director even came forward in her support when the media was around her."
Dustin was basically describing most of the allegations of sexual assault charges against rich people.
A lot of them just end outside court. Even if the media is giving you attention, hiring lawyers and everything is a hard job. A working adult can't always be involved in these things, especially if you are against a rich individual.
They have so many connections and resources that they could destroy lives easily.
In times like this, one understands how fickle everything was and how imbalance was the power system in society.
"Dustin, so are you just going to stop everything?"
Aiden asked after a while. He didn't know what Dustin's next move was going to be.
"I don't know. Haven't thought about it yet but I know I can't go against APA in any way. My career is already close to ending. I can't afford lawyers, so I will probably head out to find random small role auditions like the time when I just started out."
Dustin muttered as he shook his head. Then he smiled.
"Though, I doubt anyone will reject me with my pretty face."
It was like he had returned to his old self with that statement but Aiden knew that it was just a fake smile.
He was helpless inside and Dustin knew that. Justin had told Aiden that he had even comprehended leaving everything and flying back to his hometown.
Aiden asked whether he could help in any way but Dustin just told him to just focus on his award ceremony.
He also said that he would be watching it and rooting for Aiden. That night, Aiden didn't want to leave the house of Dustin but he had no choice.
***
For the next few days, Aiden's whole mind was occupied with Dustin and the whole incident.
A part of him was telling him to forget everything and move on with life. The best thing he could do was to help out Dustin with a few roles.
With his influence now, he could easily get him a few roles even if they are small. They would help him not give up on acting.
But was it really right?
Another part of him was telling him to fight for Dustin. After all, he was his friend and this was the least Aiden could do for him.
But could he really risk his whole career. He knew that if he said anything, there was a risk of him getting blacklisted too. Even A-listers have been targeted by it in the past.
There was always someone stronger and more powerful than you.
Aiden didn't know. His brain didn't work and there was no one to take advice from. After all, people were just going to tell him to stay silent.
With this moral dilemma, the day of the Golden Globes approached.
The second best award show in the world was organised by the American Press association, the same organisation that had blacklisted Dustin.
Aiden was wondering if he should just leave the show. All the excitement had left him these past few days but there was no option.
He had to attend it.
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