How Bruce Willis Took Over the Little Town of Hailey Idaho in a New Podcast Called “Haileywood”
My mom loves podcasts and she recently got into one called "Haileywood" It is about Hailey Idaho and how Bruce Willis basically bought the gorgeous little town out to make it his own. The podcast interviews locals and dives into how the charming town's changeover happened.
It all started one 4th of July parade, which Hailey has year after year, but one year things were a little more exciting for the Hailey townsfolk. On his own accord and seemly out of nowhere Bruce Willis came trotting down the middle of Main Street on a horse, dressed as a cowboy. The residents of Hailey ate it up, cheering on Bruce right at the end of his massive Hollywood Hay-day in the late 90s, early 2000s, where he was making more per movie than pretty much any other actor in the world. Little did the people of Hailey know that that seemingly fun celebrity cameo was the beginning of the end to life in little Hailey Idaho as they knew it.
The podcast Haileywood is hosted by Dada Schwartz and is described as: "Offscreen, he dodged the tabloid press and became so determined to live a private life he moved to one of the smallest towns in Idaho. But he didn’t just want to live in Hailey — he wanted to transform it. Soon, this sleepy old mining town was home to a culture clash between Hollywood spectacle and small-town values, with real-life secret rooms, car chases, and betrayal worthy of a Willis thriller."
The podcast only has 4 episodes so far but they are fascinating as Idaho residents recount what happened in Hailey. It took a long time for everyone to figure out that Bruce was behind all of the major purchases and changes the town saw.
Although he was making plans and wanted to basically buy the whole town out. Bruce ran into enough roadblocks in his plan for Hailey that he never was able to get the full grasp on the town as he wanted. An example is him wanting a private airstrip that never came to fruition.