June 2, 2026 • 51 mins
She made a name for herself in the world of True Crime TV. But it was not a good name. Mary Carole McDonnell was known to run a fly-by-night TV production company that paid poorly and paid late. But that was only a part of the story. She was also a faux nepo baby posing as an aerospace heiress. Which she leveraged into bank fraud to the tune of millions and millions. Further proof, in Hollywood, nothing is ever at it seems.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous Crime. It's a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Elizabeth Dundonnette oh Man. Nice to see you, Good to
see you. I always look forward to seeing what shirt
you were going to wear into the studio.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Yeah, it's a good one, thank you.
Speaker 4 (00:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Is that Nick Steve Stevie Nicks? Right, that's Nicky Sex.
Your shirt all about Nicky six.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
It's about Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham in the nineteen
ninety seven performance of Silver Springs.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Always good, so good.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I'll watch it. There are two two videos that come up.
I'll watch them every time. That performance.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
She's staring a hole in his eyes.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
She's just like, that's it, the White Witches on the Move.
The other one is Tom Holland doing Umbrella Relic Show.
I can't pass that up. I love that.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm so happy for you.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
You found those two where that they found you. I
don't know how you roll a little bit of both. Yeah, well,
I got a question for you.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Please.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Do you know what's ridiculous?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I do. I did prove it. Some things are only
available Walmart. And that's a little ridiculous because Walmart has
displaced all the mom and pop shops around the world.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yes, I can be critical of Walmart, whatever you've done.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I don't think, however, I don't think that this is
something that the mom and pops would worry about. I'm
going to read you a line. For over one hundred years,
we've cared about flavor. Now meet the unexpected sides you
didn't see coming.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
We know that whole.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Like the clause. The change there makes you think that
they no longer care about flavor.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
You would think.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yeah, So the company I'm talking about is Bush's Beans.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Okay, I'm still with the previous thoughts.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
And this news hit the newsstands extra extra. You read
all about it. So many rude dudes were like, alerted us,
alerted us, Terry, try the assistant, huh uh not please
with how much they had to read about.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Really, did they tell you they said there's a bad
one coming. I was like, Okay, they never warned me.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
No, they don't. That's because I pay them off anyway,
Thanks Terry. So what we have here is Bush's Beans.
They haven't teamed up with anyone other than Walmart to
sell this on their own. They can do bad all
by themselves. Saren. They've come up with three new summer
flavors of baked beans.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
It's one of them. Roadkill might as well.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Be the first one apple Pie baked beans. Okay, it's
a blend of brown sugar, cinnamon spice, and sweet apple
pie flavor. It's a dessert inspired twist on classic cookout side. Sure,
then there's I don't know which one I want to
tell you about. Next there's three. So this one's dill
(02:52):
pickle baked beans. You know, they couldn't bring Grilla up
in here. Grillo is as busy they're messing around where
they're not supposed to.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Be messing around.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
This is tossed in a tangy sauce with a bunch
of dill pickle.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So this is kind of like when you have all
your stuff on the plate at the cook at the
cookout and the pickles to the beans.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Okay, sure about like three natty lights deep. So what
do you care? You just mix it all up and eat.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's all going to the same place.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And then the last one, Rocket Pop baked beans. It's
quote the red, white, and blue, bursting with notes of
cherry lime and blue raspberry. Bush's Rocket Pop baked beans
offer a sweet, playful take inspired by the iconic frozen
treat nostalgic and very unexpected. This flavor packs of firework
(03:43):
a fruity taste. Start a conversation at your next cookout
with these unexpected, buzzworthy flavors.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Playful and unexpected, like a kick in the cross.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
You can order them online here right. And the thing
is is that these came into us, uh you know,
I don't know, back second to last week of May,
and they were already sold out. But they are starting
to be sold at Walmart May twenty third.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
When they're sold out, do they make like twenty I mean, like,
how do you can go to.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
The Wallsmart, I think and get some. But if you
wanted to order them direct from bushes in a special
like limited edition variety packs sold out?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Darn oh darn.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Yeah, it's a mess. It's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Why they constantly I know why because like you and
I talked about them, they're.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Okay, well and they got to keep me in business,
that's all I got to say.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, thank you for that, Elizabeth, thank you for playing
the game of can you make Zaron yack inside of
his throat?
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Anytime?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well? I got a question for you. Yeah, what is
it Shakespeare? Yeah, famously once asked what's in a name?
And as we all know now, having a famous last
name can be very lucrative. Yeah, especially once you realize
you can cash in on that famous name.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
Okay, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
This is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast about absurd and outrageous capers, heists,
and cons. It's always ninety nine percent murder free and
one hundred percent ridiculous ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Oh, Elizabeth Sar.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Technically you know we cover true crime. I know, but
obviously our one percent murder free guarantee, we don't cover
the grizzly part of true crime, the ones with murders
and bloodshot and whatnot. But I got to ask you,
when you're away from the mic, do you enjoy any
true crime TV shows that do feature one percent violations?
Like You're back Home and your True Crime Dojo? Do
(06:03):
you ever get down with the blood of your side
of things?
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
I only asked because I wanted to see if you've
ever heard of these true crime shows writing pop quiz.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Number one, Pop Quiz, Hotshot, It Takes a Killer, It
Takes a Killer number two.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
There's another one, Murderous Affairs.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Oh, these are like, I see these pop up when
I'm scrolling through.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
So number three bizarre murders. Number four, I married a murderer, No,
thank you. Number five corrupt crimes. No, okay, do you
know what those true crime shows all have in com No,
they are real.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
I thought you were trying to like do you watch these?
And I go, yeah, I love them, and you're like, oh, yeah,
well they don't exist.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I just made them up, sucker. So the answer is
those shows were all created by Bellum Entertainments in War. Yes,
in case you didn't know it, Bellum is a big
production company specializes in true crime. But you are obviously
do know that Bellam means war in Latin, so the
company's name really means war entertainment.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
It's like, that's creepy.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
What are we doing there? It's like, you know, if
like me, you might think they make shows for like
the History Channel or maybe one of those new cable
channels that I watch with a name like Camo or
Boots or whatever.
Speaker 6 (07:17):
The one that you watch you were telling me about
called Great.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah, that's why I watch Rockford Files.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Great.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, anyway, you may be thinking, Sara, why do you
bring up Bellam Entertainment and all these BS shows. Great questions,
Elizabeth's fair questions. Turns out I do have a reason
Bellam Entertainment plays a central role in today's story. Really, yes, because,
as I learned from some light reading, Bellam Entertainment was
a terrible place to work. Oh, I say was because
(07:45):
Bellam Entertainment is no longer with us. The company shut down.
I guess they couldn't figure out a way to make
true crime pay anyway, tough. Here's another curiosity. Bellam Entertainment
originally started out as children's programming.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Wait was it called Bellamy?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Apparently? And then they pivoted to alien and conspiracy minded shows,
and then they branched out into blood soaked true crime shows.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
That's the History Channel totally. You know where they used
to be smart stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Hm, like documentaries you might learn something from.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Right now it's all like solid alien digital And then
the dentist is an alien Bravo, And now that was dope.
You know, how messed up is your Face? That's the
new show.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
So what kind of children's programming are we talking about
from Bellam Entertainment? Really interesting question, Lizabeth, Not where I
thought you'd go with it At all to answer your question.
Bellam Entertainment had one show called Animal Atlas. It was
an educational wildlife show for young kids. There was another
kids show called Zoo Clues, not to be mistaken with
Blues Clues but instead it's a cheap knockoff, another you know,
(08:54):
blatant cash grab from bell Entertainment. It also featured creatures
from the Animal Kingdom and answered kids style questions like
do dogs sweat? And can birds fly backwards? If you're
wondering kinda And yes, dogs don't sweat like we do,
but they do sweat, but since it's not as effective
as a human sweat, dogs have to pant when they're overheated.
(09:15):
And secondly, yes, birds can fly backwards, such as hummingbirds,
but they're also morblers, egrets, herons can all fly backwards briefly. Anyway,
back to Bellam Entertainment and their lineup of uninspired shows.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
I Love This Tommy Moore.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
After failing to find a profit making cheek Code and
children's entertainment, the company moved on to a slate of
alien and conspiracy based shows, shows like Unsealed Alien Files
and Unsealed Conspiracy Files. Those were both nationally syndicated shows.
Eighty percent of markets carried them, and they were both
based on released government files that came into public view
(09:51):
back in twenty eleven thanks to the Freedom of Information Act.
And they were another blatant cash grab from Bellam Entertainment
and they also failed to f in an audience. Now,
my favorite show from Bellam Entertainment has to be Wildlife Jams.
Wildlife Jams, Yes, and you may be wondering, Saron, what
is Wildlife?
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Have an idea in my head and I'm really excited
to see if it lines up with what you're about
to say.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
It was a half hour long children's show, one that
aim to inspire kids to feel a sense of stewardship
about the natural world by teaching kids about how animals behave.
And the best part is the lessons on animals and
nature were accompanied by jazz.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Music, because kids love jazz.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
That's the title Wildlife Jams.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
I thought it would be like animals like running at
each other in the wild, attacking each other to a
heavy metal soundtrack.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, you're going like like Jock Jams, right, like a
little bit more upbeap. Actually, I guess that's more party
music and no.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
I wanted like heavy metal, heavy metal, where this is
like the Gazelle's running for it and the lions like Buddy.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Currently, the kids did not get hype to learn about
animals backed by a jazz soundtrack. Who knew? You may
be wondering, I want.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
To know what was it? Like Kenny g jazz?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
It was not good jazz, Baker, No, No, I don't
think it was like classy jazz. I think it was.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yeah, like fusion jazz, Airport Hotel.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Post Miles Davis, cool jazz.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Yeah, or just experimental noise Jackie, just.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Like Don Cherry, just cotting nuts.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
No.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
You maybe naptime is not happening today, kids, but it's
not pouncing up the walls now. You may be wondering,
Zaren other than offences against good taste along with cheap
attempts to cash in on entertainment trends and their strange
experiment in low effort children's programming mixed with jazz music.
I'm not hearing a lot of crime.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Well, Elizabeth, against taste.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
That's because I haven't gotten to the main reason I
brought up Bella entertainment. It was, as I said, by
all accounts, terrible place to work like criminally bad.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
The production company was described as quote a pressure cooker operation,
and workers complained constantly about their work conditions. According to
the Guardian newspaper, the workers who created all those uninspired
shows accused Bellam Entertainment of quote producing new shows at
a breakneck pace and attempting to finance them with money
from old shows sold at dirt cheap prices. So, for instance,
(12:28):
how does this all work? Well, there was one worker
at Bellam Entertainment, the production company office manager, a woman
named Stephanie Manos. And at first she loved her job
at Bellam Entertainment. That is until she started to work there. Yeah,
this was back in twenty sixteen. Things went downhill fast
as soon as she said, I'll take the job. So,
(12:48):
for one, she lived in Los Angeles at the time.
But to take the job, she needed to relocate to
New Orleans. That meant she had to give up her
apartment at Echo Park. That was a big ask for
two reasons. One, she lived there for two decades and
to her rent was only seven hundred and fifty dollars a.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Month rent control.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes, that was hell the cheap, even back in twenty sixteen.
Only Yeah, but she did it. She gave up her
beloved Echo Park apartment, relocated to New Orleans, and once there,
she learned that she was the production company's only salaried employee.
Everyone else was a contract player.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
I know.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
So they might be an editor or an actor for
re enactment, but they got paid per job.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Well, she was the only regular employee, which makes you
wonder why we she called an office manager if there.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Was no office to manage exactly, But her.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Job title was also questionable, since Stephanie Manos did far
more than manage an office that had no regular employees.
For instance, on any given day, she might find herself
working on a set, doing things like working as the
set dresser responsible for decorating it for the shoot that day,
or she might be asked to handle the extras like
the way a first ad would be on a more
(13:56):
legitimate set.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
That's not office manager.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
On other days, she was asked to step in front
of the camera and act what she would play the
part of a mother of a murder victim.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
It's like the sweeper yeah, or.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Perhaps she played the murderer for reenactment. Yes, she did
it all wow. So basically her being the office manager
was a very loose job description, but despite it all,
Stephanie Manos mostly enjoyed the work at first, because you
know life on a set, it can be fun, exhilarating,
feels awesome.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
It's like pure. Other duties is a sign, yes, exactly,
take two items on the list and then other duties
is a sign.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Now for another example of working at Bellam Entertainment, we
have Nigel Bellis. He was a contract player who worked
as a show runner. He also had to relocate to
New Orleans and before he moved he was warned by
our friend that Bellam quote have a habit of not
paying on time. So I guess he needed the work
because in twenty seventeen, Nigel Bellis went out to New
(14:50):
Orleans to become a show runner for Murderous Affairs. Now,
as a showrunner, Nigel Bellis produced fifty episodes of Murderous
Affairs and sure enough he found that payment was indeed late,
but eventually he would always get paid by Bellam Entertainment,
which may explain why when Bellam asked him to relocate again,
he went for it. He moved out to Los Angeles
(15:12):
to continue working with Bellam, but then within a month
of moving to LA the checks stopped a coming no
longer late. The money just completely dried up. Yeah, that
included the money he'd been promised to relocate to Los Angeles,
money that he had put forward was waiting to be
compensated for along with his back pay, So he was
out both sides, his own savings and his income. So,
(15:34):
as Nigel Bellis told The Guardian, quote, I had very
little after the move. I was absolutely counting on that money. Now,
I don't mean to rub salt into a wound. But
his friend did try to warn him, But I guess
true Nigel had to learn it for himself the hard way.
You know, for some of us it's hard to believe
it'll happen until it happens to us.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Sure, but also think, I know the job market's difficult
and so and in an industry like this where it's limited,
thinking like you got to take job, I gotta take
the jobs opportunity.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I'll go to my next job unless this one takes
all of my savings. No. Meanwhile, back to office manager
Stephanie Manos, what happened to her? Well, Ben Bellam Entertainment
went belly up. Poor Stephanie couldn't afford to move back
to Los Angeles. For one, that apartment she had to
cost seven hundred and fifty dollars a month. It was
now renting for twenty eight hundred dollars a month.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
My god, that poor thing. She should have.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Sublet oh completely.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Now.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Secondly, she was also owed a bunch of backpay, just
like the Bellis Nigel Bellis. Yeah, so penniless as she was,
she had to stay in New Orleans. You're now citizens
of New Orleans. And also since she was now unemployed,
she had to find a new job. That took her months.
It ate up her savings, but she found one. She
finally found a job, Elizabeth. But since they are on
as many jobs in TV production in New Orleans, Stephanie
(16:51):
Manos eventually had to take a job at a funeral parlor.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Well, I mean it's so similar.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Completely, it's a lot of makeup, a lot of like,
let's put them in a different post. Stemany Manos told
The Guardian quote, it was like a knife in the back.
She took advantage of all of us.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Wait, she who's she's a great.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Question, Elizabeth, And after these messages, we'll be back with
more and I'll tell you who she is.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Excellent. Thank you back in.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Two and two.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
And we're back, Elizabeth. Now, before the break, I brought
in a mysterious woman, referenced her only by the pronounce
So who's she?
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Oprah again?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
That's a fantastic question, Elizabeth, And it is not Oprah.
The she in question is the owner of Bellam Entertainment,
a woman named Mary Carol McDonald.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
I was so hoping her name was Bella.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
No Belton, Bella. Well, Mary Carol McDonald is our crimer
of the day.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Now, Mary Carroll McDonald was both the owner and the
brains behind Bellam Entertainment's blatant cash grab programming and it's
fly by night business model. But rather than tell you
about her, Elizabeth, what close your eyes?
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Okay, I'd like you to picture.
Speaker 7 (18:23):
It's a Tuesday morning in Burbank and you're running a
bit late to work.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
You left your home early while the world was still quiet.
You heard the morning birds singing their songs when you
finally crawled into your suv and started the engine. Traffic
across the valley was light at first, but you ran
into some construction which slowed traffic down to an agonizing crawl.
Once you manage to get through that slow down, and
once you're again driving at normal speeds, you spy the
(18:55):
time on the clock in your car, and you know
you'll need a bit of luck if you are to
make it on time to this hastily called morning meeting.
Just outside the offices of the production company Bellam Entertainment
where you work, you find a parking space in the lot.
When you get out and close your car door, you're
careful not to spill your coffee. Crossing the parking lot,
(19:16):
you recognize a few cars, folks you haven't seen in
the office for what feels like months. You rush into
the building. Your heels click against the Moorish style hard
tile floor. Just before you hit the door to the
conference room, you check your phone. Look at that you
made it. You're not late. You yank the door open,
and a small sea of nervous faces greet you. You
(19:37):
share a polite smile. You take your seat at the
conference table. Now you and everyone else wait together for
the arrival of your boss, Mary Carol McDonald. A few
folks around the table chad in hush tones. They seem
to be trying to figure out what this meaning is
about no one seems to know. Luckily, for you all,
your boss doesn't make you wait long. She's inarguably late,
(19:59):
but it doesn't matter. It's her company. She can do that.
That's the privilege of being the owner of the production company.
When she does finally swun into the conference room, the
CEO is all smiles, backed by a happy faced demeanor.
She sets down her bag, her green tea, and she
takes the seat at the head of the conference table.
She greets the gathered group and tells you she has big,
(20:20):
big news. She says it with a singsong voice, and
then she launches into what feels like a rehearsed speech.
Mary Carol McDonald begins by listing the shows this group
has produced distributed. She says she could not be prouder
of your work on such shows as bizarre murders, corrupt crimes.
I married a murderer and it takes a killer. She
(20:41):
says that the company started out in children's programming with
animal Atlas, and now look at how you all have
grown into a true crime empire. She says, making high
quality content on a low quality budget is what makes
her feel like her life has meaning and purpose. She
hopes you all feel this. Her speech seems like an
odd sort of backhanded compliment, but you nod politely. Then
(21:06):
her face grows serious. She takes a dramatic pause, punctuated
by a short, sharp inhale of air followed by a
long side. Then the CEO pushes her chair back from
the table and stands up. Here it comes, you think,
whatever the real cause is for this morning meeting, Standing
before you all, the CEO of Bellam Entertainment looks around
(21:27):
the room at the collection of nervous faces staring back
at her, and then she starts to speak. Mary Carol
McDonald launches into a sad voice to apologia, which also
feels practiced. Then she gets to the meet of her speech.
She says that in the past, there have been a
few difficult days, times when the payroll was delayed, other
times when projects required you all to stay late to
(21:50):
work over time and to come back early the next
day in order to hit your production deadlines. But you
all did it. You all came together and you made
it happen. She says, this is another one of those
times you all will need to be there for each other.
She pauses, clears her throat. Somehow, this also seems practiced,
created for effect. Then Mary Carol McDonald lets the hammer drop.
(22:12):
The CEO of Bellam Entertainment informs you that the company
is shutting down, effective immediately, and that you are all fired,
also effective immediately. There are a few shocked gas followed
by a stunned silence, and again Mary Carol McDonald pauses
for dramatic effect. As a silent chaos reigns inside the
minds of everyone in the conference room. Mary Carol McDonald
(22:35):
stands there saying nothing. After her brief pause, she starts
to speak again. She announces that the immediate shutdown of
the company is not her fault. There are factors outside
of her control. This sounds like a lie when she
says it. Meanwhile, she goes on to explain that the
company was the victim. You wonder what the company was
the victim of besides mismanagement. Thankfully, she provides the answer.
(22:58):
You see, there was an episode of what she calls
significant bank fraud. That's why everyone's paychecks were late. She
corrects herself to say are late. She promises to get
it all straightened out as soon as she does. You
could all expect your final paychecks to be mailed to you.
One of the editors, a guy who worked with you
a few times, let's out a loud bronx cheer, and
(23:20):
then he says, this is a bunch of bs. He
gets out, grabbing stuff, storms out of the conference room.
The door slams shut behind him. The CEO, Mary Carol McDonald,
watches him go and then tries to make a joke.
She says, I guess he's no fan of bank fraud.
No one laughs. The those days are over. No more
fake laughs for the boss, mostly because she's no longer
(23:40):
anyone's boss. You wonder to yourself how you're going to
pay your rent As the silence following your former boss's
bad joke competes with the sound of the air conditioning
in the conference room. Guess your plans to fly back
east to see your mother will have to be put
on hold. But your mom did warn you that Hollywood
can be a rough business, so that's fun. Your mom
was right again, So there you go, Elizabeth. Now, after
(24:04):
that unfortunate meeting in June of twenty seventeen, when Mary
McDonald informed her employees that they were all out of
a job, things went further south and did so quickly.
You see. Two months later, in August of twenty seventeen,
McDonald was the subject of an investigation by the United
States Department of Labor for a raft of violations. So
there was a group of fifty of her former workers
(24:27):
who all filed complaints with the Department of Labor, fifty
fifty that she had paid them late, like in the
case of Nigel Bellis, or that she entirely miss payroll
again like the case of Nigel Bellis.
Speaker 8 (24:38):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
So, when the Department of Labor launched its investigation, they
found that Mary Carol McDonald had a curious habit of
classifying her workers as independent contractors rather than employees of
her company, which explains why Stephanie Manos was an office
manager of an office but no employees. Elizabeth that one
life act kept the company's costs down because if she
had no employees, then she could avoid things like payments
(25:02):
for employees' healthcare.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
That's like uber, isn't it pretty much?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
It's very common these days. Also, she could avoid paying
overtime because they were contractors, so it's up to them
to manage their time. Also, she could avoid things like
OSHA violations because she doesn't have employees and it's just like, look,
you're in charge of your own safety. This is also
why Mary Carol McDonald was investigated by the California Labor
Commission for abuse of employees and their trust and a
(25:28):
well documented pattern of non payment of wages. Now, in
an interesting twist, some of the folks who came forward
to file complaints against Bellam Entertainment were former FBI agents
and former police officers. What the ones who'd been on
camera as experts on the various crime shows. Those former
FBI agents with former cops, the ones appeared on the
(25:48):
shows as experts on crime, They became victims of crime
thanks to Mary Cheryl McDonald.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Oh the irony, Well, they're just all starstruck, so stoked
to be on.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Oh totally, can I get my hair and makeup? Now?
It wasn't just her form employees that she screwed over.
She also skated out on paying her debts to other
companies that she had contracts with. For instance, there was
launch Pad Entertainment. She had licensed footage from launch Pad
for her syndicated shows, and she left launch Pad holding
an unpaid receipt for two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars.
I hope you weren't planning on that cash. Naturally, as
(26:20):
the smoke started to clear and many lawsuits were filed,
there were two companies they had once worked with Bellam Entertainment,
and both had to go to court to try to
get a judge on their side. Those two breach of
contract suits were for production deals, and Bellam had contracted
with the companies to produce one hundred and four episode
true crime shows. As Deadline explains, quote, the two breach
(26:41):
of contract suits filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court
appeared to be describing the same one hundred and four
episode crime show, but with different titles and two different producers.
And also, according to Deadline, these two companies were quote
both represented by the same attorneys and claiming that Bellam
breached their contracts to the tune of more than three
(27:03):
million dollars each. Yes see according to the filed lawsuits, quote,
on or around February third, twenty seventeen, Bellam entered into
a commissioning and distribution agreement. These agreements, Elizabeth, they explicitly
required Bellam Entertainment to quote pay the purchase price of
three million, five hundred and ninety seven thousand dollars. Okay,
that did not happen.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Yeah, I can't imagine it is.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
And it's deadline. Further outlined, those two suits are identical.
They seek the same damages and give the same dates
for the payment schedules that Bellam allegedly failed to meet.
So she double dipped conned them all and they're like,
where's my three point five mil? Right?
Speaker 3 (27:39):
She used all the same paperwork.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
For pretty much. She was like, yeah, a copy paste.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So, by the way, one of those shows was called
They Kill for It. The other show was called Lady Killers.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Lady Killers but ladies to kill. You know it is
not no wait, people who kill ladies.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yes, you have to keep in mind this is back
in twenty seventeen, at the peak of true crime, you know,
the trend, back when you could make millions in Hollywood
by walking into a meeting and just saying, fellas fun fact,
ladies love a show when ladies get killed.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
We have the no dead ladies promise. Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
We're like the opposite of Bellam entertainment exactly. Now, the
fallout of all this financial fraud.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
And mismanaged entertainment.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Oh look at you flexing the Latin latins coming out. Yeah,
I'm liking that. So Mary McDonald's nephew had to come
out when there was all the financial fraud and mismanagement
was revealed. His name was Peter McDonald and he was
the vice president of Bellam Entertainment for ten years. And
he stepped forward to reassure everyone involved that none of
this was his fault, right, and then also he knew
(28:44):
nothing about it. He said that he said all that
because he was the one stuck having to explain to lawyers, investigators,
predators that there was no money and that they weren't
going to get paid. He also wanted them to all
know that he was no longer with the company, so
stop asking him for anything, you see. Nephew Peter officially
quit on July thirty first, which is a full month
(29:04):
after that meeting back in June when you and everyone
else got fired. Yeah. Well yeah, So to exculpate himself,
nephew Peter also told anyone who would listen that his
aunt had screwed him to He claimed that he was
owed ten thousand dollars and old nephew Peter also pleaded
full ignorance of what his aunt was up to. He
said that he was quote unaware of any bank fraud.
(29:25):
So guys, you know, be cool, be cool man.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
I'm just as messed up about this as you.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yeah, don't keep my car right to lease. Now. By
November twenty seventeen, there was another group from the FEDS
who got involved, along with many investigations into what went
wrong at Bellam Entertainment Elizabeth. That group was known as
the FBI. Oh oh yeah, granted the power of subpoenas
and blessed with a small army of investigators. The FBI
(29:51):
launched its own investigation to figure out what happened and
where all the money went. Didn't take the folks from
the FBI long to get to the bottom of things. Now,
before I tell you what the FBI found, Elizabeth, Yeah,
I have a question. Yeah, you know what a nepo
baby is.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Right, I certainly do.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
How would you define it?
Speaker 3 (30:07):
Well, it's a beneficiary of nepotism, which is, you know,
bestowing upon a relative, you know, a position for monetary gains.
So basically, you get a job because of a family
member very good or name recognition.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
That's a great answer from what I learned. Nepo baby
first became popular as a term back in the twenty teens,
but back then we use the more formal nepotism baby.
This was in the press.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
However, in twenty twenty the blog pop culture died. In
two thousand and nine, they shortened the term to the
more familiar and fun to say, nepo baby.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
And then came twenty twenty two. There was this little
show out called Euphoria. You may have heard of it.
It starred maud Apato who happened to be the daughter
of her famous film director father jud Apatoe and her
famous actress mother, Leslie Mann.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
I've never seen you for you either.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
People talking about it, so I have a sense of.
Speaker 4 (31:01):
What it is.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
I don't even have that.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Let your two steps behind them out purpose you know, Zenda,
isn't it She's okay, there you go.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Is it about high school kids.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Who? Oh I didn't answer for me. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
I don't know. Tune me up.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
It's about people who were young. They're young, apparently very horny.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
And I feel like there's drugs. There's a lot of drugs.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
That's why I get the idea. Yeah, I do, honestly
do not know.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Okay, yeah, yeah, so I don't know who else could
be in it, and happy for them all.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
In May of twenty twenty two, someone on Twitter pointed
out that maud Apatow was the daughter of Judd and
Leslie Mann, and they launched a viral conversation about the
career prospects of these NEPO babies. Yeah, the next NEPO
baby combat It moved over to TikTok, where went massively viral.
That's when New York Magazine hopped on the trendy term
and they declared twenty twenty two as the quote year
(31:53):
of the NEPO baby. I did not celebrate it as such.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
So it like Chinese New Year. There's different years.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Near of the fire and Nepo Bob.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
That's when you build an effigy of Chet Hanks set fire.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
To bumba Clatten. According to a Vox article with the
headline they hate to see a nepotism baby winning published
in August of twenty twenty two, NEPO babies were a
decidedly Unamerican phenomenon, and author alex Abed Santos explained in
their article thanks to help from a professor from Columbia. Quote,
Americans tend to have a strong optimistic belief in meritocracy,
(32:29):
the idea that hard work demonstrates exceptional skill and that
if you have both, you will be rewarded accordingly. However,
as this professor would further explain to Vox, quote nepotism babies.
They deprive us of that feel good American dream story.
So there you go. That's why people do not like
nepo babies bs.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
I mean, we love a dynasty, we love an entertainment dynacy,
and some people I mean, like yeah, the Barrymore family,
the Kennedys. I sometimes I feel like, you know, there's
talent that can be passed down, whether it's do nature
or nurture. It's the ones that they wheel out there
who have no understanding of up from down.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Oh, like that the new girl on the Saturday Night Live.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Yeah, her parents are like comedy writers and that didn't
get to her.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
And I see everyone complain about it. I can't e
think of her name.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Trickle down economics of it didn't his.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Ran a little dry on that one. Now you may
be wondering, Saren, what does all this have to do
with Bellam Entertainment and Mary McDonald.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Well, their nephew works there.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
That's a good point.
Speaker 7 (33:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
But also, and that's just a generally fantastic question, Elizabeth.
The answer is there are two ways to become a
nepo baby, Okay. One you can follow your parents' success
and work in the same field as them, aided by
their connections their experiences. Or two you can just lie
and tell people you are the son or daughter of
someone famous and make that work for you. Love that, that, Elizabeth,
(33:51):
is what Mary Carol McDonald decided to opt as her
choice in She is what she might call a faux baby.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Wait, I'm so excited to find out who she said
she was the.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Does it mean that Mary Carol McDonald pretended to be
the daughter a relative of two time OSCAR nominated actress Mary.
Speaker 6 (34:08):
McDonald, who was named after her mother.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
No, No, she did not. Yeah, Instead she went with
a much different McDonald family. Elizabeth, are you familiar with
the former defense contractor McDonald Douglas, which is now a part.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
Of Boeing's I'm the Mary McDonald of the McDonald Douglass.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Because you have to understand the aerospace industry, was big
in southern California. You're old enough, you remember the name
McDonald Douglas. You're oh, yeah, sure, I remember that before.
Oh for those who don't know, Back in nineteen sixty seven,
the McDonald's Aircraft Corporation merged with the Douglas Aircraft Corporation
(34:53):
to form McDonald Douglas. And you may be familiar with
some of their contributions, such as the Mercury and Gemini
capsules as well as part of the Saturn five rockets
for NASA. Or there's their military aircraft like the fighter plane,
the F four Phantom and F four Phantom two, as
well as their DC eight and DC nine commercial airliners. Well,
the first part of the McDonald Douglas name refers to
(35:14):
James Smith McDonald. He was an aviation pioneer. He jumped
into the plane game way back in the nineteen twenties
and then going his own way, he started the McDonald
Aircraft Corporation in nineteen thirty nine just in time for
World War iimis smooth move for him, so during the
war years he got all these contracts. McDonald's Aircraft Corporation
made planes for the Navy and later the Air Force,
(35:35):
and famously he developed a fighter plane, the F four Phantom.
So the success of his aircraft during the war years
and has continued his success in the Cold War years.
And the jet airplane age made the McDonald's name famous
and synonymous with the aerospace industry.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
And true crime tellivienision.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
That's why Mary Carol McDonald leveraged it to make herself
a fortune, But not in the true crime space, nor
children's programming, nor whatever that's there. Yeah, the alien files
and conspiracy files shows no, no, no, because you see
Mary McDonald was a legit McDonald, not that she was
related to James Smith McDonald. When I say legit, I
(36:15):
mean if you checked her driver's license, it said McDonald
right there in print. So in twenty seventeen, when Bellam
Entertainment was in a bad, bad way and could use
a cash infusion, Mary Carol McDonald used her famous name
to get herself ill gotten cash. As the FBI discovered
Mary Carroll McDonald quote devised and participated in a scheme
(36:37):
to obtain money, funds, assets and property owned by Bank
of California, that's bank with the C. Yeah, yeah, I
don't mean a little bit of money. Elizabeth she used
her famous last name to con that bank and other
banks out of thirty million dollars.
Speaker 6 (36:53):
Just by do you know who my grandpa is?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Kinda so, how did she do it? Fantastic question? Elizabeth's
another bang up question. You're just you know, kicking it today.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Sometimes I'm like, Elizabeth, how are you so good at this?
And then I go, Elizabeth, it's because you practice.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Well, practice being patient, because after these messages, I'll let
you in on the ground floor of this thirty million dollars.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
Scanty out.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
And we're back. Elizabeth, Are you ready to hear how
one woman used the name McDonald to finesse panks out
of thirty million dollars?
Speaker 3 (37:44):
I think I'm ready, good, good.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
So, According to the agents at the Los Angeles Field
Office of the FBI and their investigations into Bellam Entertainment's
fraudulent activities, back in the summer of twenty seventeen, when
Mary Carol McDonald was busy informing her production company that
they were now her former employees, she also stayed busy
scamming banks out of millions of dollars. These two things
are happening at the same time. You see Mary Carroll
(38:07):
McDonald worked with her lawyer, this guy, Barry Rothman, to
doctor up some phony paperwork that showed that McDonald was
the heir to the McDonald aerospace fortune, okay, and that
as the air she was about to inherit eighty million
dollars from a family trust. But in the meantime she
just needed some gap financing, so she asked the Bank
of California to loan her, you know, fifteen million dollars,
(38:30):
just some little teddy cash. Well, this scam in the book, right,
We've covered this one a couple of times. The air
is scam, Like, hey, I'm about to come in.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Do you think that it just it can't happen anymore
because of digital records.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
One would think what have you?
Speaker 3 (38:44):
But apparently not.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
Apparently if you have a convincing last name and a printer.
So in order to convince the bank she was good
for it. Mary Carroll McDonald and her lawyer Rothman, they
presented the bank regulators with like a Manila file filled
with fraudulent banks statements. The dummied up paperwork show that
McDonald had twenty eight million dollars into bank account at
(39:05):
a different institution. It's a bank, you don't know. It's cool.
It's cool.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
So it's a little like boutique bank.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Yeah, it's just for rich people. El has like six members.
It's cool. So there was also other paperwork that showed
that she was the heir to the McDonald family trust
that would see her inherit the eighty million dollars. This
doctored paperwork was enough for Bank of California to approve
a bridge loan. They're like, sure for this aerospace aiirrest,
why not to it? So the bank loaned are fourteen
(39:33):
point seven million dollars, which she promised to pay back
next year. I'll get you guys back next year. Trust
comes in like December, maybe January. First. We're good banks
like cool, cool. So this works so well that once
she secured that nearly fifteen million dollars from Bank of California,
she and her lawyer Rothman, they went to other banks
and they pulled the same scam for another fifteen million dollars.
(39:55):
Multiple banks fell for the old like let me see
your driver's relationship, says McDonald. Right there, let missing the
paperwork that says twenty eight million dollars. I can read that.
Speaker 3 (40:04):
For a trust that large, there has to be like
a properly administrator for it, and.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
One would think, but nope, banks were like numbers are
on paper.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Call and then her attorney, like the phone buzzes in
his pocket, he has to leave the room.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Just like the echo of a bathroom behind him. So
guess what happened next to Elizabeth? No, don't guess, I'll
just tell you.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
I don't want to guess.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
After the loan period passed, when those banks reached out
after being being paid back the fifteen million dollars, the
banks discovered that the twenty eight million dollars McDonald claimed
to have sitting in an account was an illusion, Hollywood magic, conspiracy.
It didn't really exist. And get this, McDonald defaulted on
the loans. She was also gone. So that's when Bank
(40:49):
of California joined Mary Carroll McDonald's other mini cheated business
partners and former employers, and they went to court and
followed a lawsuit of their own. Trouble was by this point,
the phone EPO baby was in the wind gone. The
fake aerospace Heiress was one hundred percent gone. Just yes.
So that raised a rather obvious question, where in the
(41:09):
world is Mary Carol McDonald.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
Said a good question, I'm asked that.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Well, there's one place. She did show up on the
FBI's top ten most Wanted fugitive list in December of
last year, eight years after she conned and defrauded everyone
she could. Mary Carol McDonald was added to the FBI's
list for her work scamming banks out of thirty million dollars.
Really put her on the list. Of course, you could
ask her former business partners and former employees and they'd
(41:36):
be happy to tell the FBI good luck getting that
money back. But if you do find her, let me
know now if you're looking. The FBI has a list
of aliases that she has used while on the run
from justice. She has called herself Mary Carol Carrol that's
Carol with an E at the end, and Carol like
two l's like Lewis Carroll. And then she also used
the name Mary Carol McDonald that's Carol with no e,
(41:58):
just mixing it up. Also called herself Mary Carol two
els McDonald like McDonald like Ronald McDonald firm. Now there's
no news on whether or not she's ever claimed to
be an heiress to the McDonald's fortune, which would be
difficult since it. It's owned by the Croc family. But
whatever she's now on paper, what does it matter. So
as of December twenty twenty five, last year, Mary Carol
(42:20):
McDonald it was now seventy three years old. Presently she's
still on the run, still on the FBI's most wanted list. Yes,
they only added her last year. That she's still out there.
Her rest warrant was first issued back in twenty eighteen,
and since then she's been on the LAMB. No one
has seen that. The FBI believes that she fled America
back in twenty eighteen, and just like before, her criminal
(42:42):
indictment officially dropped. And as best the bureau can tell,
Mary Carroll McDonald is believed to be hiding out in
you want to guess, no Dubaiai, which as we know,
is one of the preferred spots to flee for the
modern international criminals.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
We have any dudes Dubai, go find her and get
the reward.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Right and this is this will likely fail to surprise you, Elizabeth.
According to FBI spokesperson Laura E. Miller, we believe that
she is continuing to defraud from where she is now.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
No, yes, you know, she's such a productive, working.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
Really respects people that she deals with. Now, the FBI
believes as she's living it up in Dubai, possibly continuing
her scam of posing as a fake aerospace heiress. Plus,
she has the sort of fortune that ensures no one
really asking any solid questions. But if you ask the
everyday folks that she con back when she was running
Bellam Entertainment, they are not hopeful that they will ever
(43:37):
see any of the money she's still over.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Yeah, I'm sure they've written it us.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Because, for one, the banks will clearly be first in
line to claw back the money stolen from them, which
leaves very little for any of the other victims. As
Joshua Kaufman, who I have not mentioned yet, with a
former producer at Bellam put in quote, I assume she's caught,
her assets will be seized, and selfishly, I'm concerned that
there won't be any money left over for the little
people who worked for her. Bro That is not selfish.
(44:04):
That's what you call a clear eyed awareness.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Of the fast exactly.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
I think we all know if Mary Carol McDonald is
ever found, the banks are gonna get theirs first, and
the so called little people will be at the back
of the line, which sucks.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
If she has anything, I think she probably doesn't have
any money.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Depends on she's still scamming her nuts eight years. So
if you happen to be in Dubai and you see
or overhear some seventy three year old phony aerospace eirass
swanning around being possibly rude to you know, customers, clients,
or the weight staff at a restaurant, well, maybe do
a solid for her many victims and hit up the
(44:39):
FBI tip line, which is not something you'll hear me
say often. So take full advantage, Elizabeth. If I gotta
ask you one last question, what's so ridiculous takeaway here?
Speaker 3 (44:49):
Oh goodness me. I think what I'm just struck by
is that these the people who went to work for
her were warned by others. But I've been in positions
where you're like, I got to take this job, like
there's no other job better than nothing, and then you
stay in a job because you think, like, you know,
(45:10):
I need the healthcare or whatever. I like, how many
indignities can you face?
Speaker 2 (45:14):
Probably, or you get comfortable, let's be real.
Speaker 3 (45:16):
Or you get comfortable and it's like but here, it's
like they weren't getting anything. They're not even getting paid
and yet but they were holding out hope and oh
that just it's it's heartbreaking, and it mainly just makes
me think about what, you know, what we'll do to
stay employed.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
That's rough, that's rough exposure. Would you just to let
everyone know you're working on Lady Killers?
Speaker 3 (45:40):
I love providing freely, you know. That's one of my
favorite things.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
Take away thank you for asking go ahead is having
been in Hollywood. I was surprised by almost none of this.
But one thing that does surprise me is our general
attitude that we all love movies, TV shows, podcasts, pop albums,
and yet we treat the people who'd make and deliver
these like they are just you know, field workers that
(46:07):
we don't ever want to see here or smell or.
Speaker 6 (46:09):
Just like, you know, hours in the day they have
to work frazy.
Speaker 2 (46:13):
Oh yeah, I mean they're trying to create laws to
limit the hours so people stop falling asleep while driving
home from sets and driving off the road off into
their ultimate demise. Yeah yeah, so like it's and don't
get me started on what the stunt men and stunt
women community go through. I mean, don't get me started
about all the labor violations of like extras and what
happens to them. Everybody who is not a star pretty
(46:36):
much gets treated poorly and a lot of the stars
do too. Yeah, so it's just like one of those things,
like really true. So there you go, Elizabeth my ridiculous
Thank you for so you in the mood for talkback
and we can wash this neo baby away. Really throw
that baby out with the bathwater. Produce a D can
you favors a one? O?
Speaker 4 (46:59):
God?
Speaker 6 (47:03):
I went you.
Speaker 8 (47:07):
Hey, just wanted to say thanks for the tracker recommendation.
I just got done melting my brain to the first episode,
and also wanted to mention that Randy Lanier did not
race Formula one. It was insect prototype, very different, just
for the gearhead to listen to your show. Love you guys, Thanks.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
But thank you for that.
Speaker 3 (47:33):
I apologize. You know that there's the gearheads and anyone
with like any sense knows that I don't have the
brain cells to rub together to make that happen. It's
fast cars.
Speaker 2 (47:43):
Yeah, we should have said a car.
Speaker 6 (47:45):
Cars that aren't like gross NASCAR or Formula one to.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
Be they weren't. They used to be related they used
to be you weren't like in time, you weren't that wrong.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
I apologize, though, I do apologize because that was my cat.
But I can't tell the difference between some Arena carpenter
and what's her name again, Sydney Sweeney, Like if you
showed me the two pictures and say which they either
one could be named that?
Speaker 2 (48:09):
Yes, I always want to call her Sylvia.
Speaker 3 (48:11):
Show me a car and I'm like, that's a fast car.
Speaker 2 (48:13):
Open wheel car, open wheel car. Now a one to me.
Speaker 3 (48:17):
I do apologize.
Speaker 6 (48:18):
I also apologize that does Zaren made you.
Speaker 2 (48:21):
Start listening watching start that again?
Speaker 6 (48:24):
Zaren's obsession with trackers contagious of what?
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Did I figure out the show? As I wanted to
watch Marshalls right, that's the spin off of Marsha Marsha
and Marsha Marshalls.
Speaker 6 (48:34):
Marshals.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
What's that?
Speaker 2 (48:35):
It's the spinoff from Yellowstone. It has a Casey the son.
Who is it's a Marshall.
Speaker 3 (48:40):
Yeah, it's a Dunton show.
Speaker 2 (48:41):
Ye, it's a Duton show. So I thought you might
know about it?
Speaker 3 (48:44):
Well, oh you know, are.
Speaker 6 (48:45):
You another one who's going to act like that's an
actual family?
Speaker 2 (48:49):
I'm a baby, Yeah, exactly as always. You can find
us online and ridiculous Crime that's our handle on Instagram
on Blue Sky. If you like emails, go to Gmail
and type in ridiculous Crime and Gmail and send us
an email. We'd love to hear from you. You can
go to YouTube and check out Ridiculous Crime pod. We
(49:09):
added the pod on that one, so that's obviously short
for podcast, so go check that out. They got animations.
It's if you like listening to your podcasts, you can
find them there. And also we have our website, ridiculous
Crime dot com, which has all sorts of merch and
you know there's like shirts and hoodies and coffee mugs
and all sorts of stuff. Panties yeah, I don't panties
(49:31):
like a bunch of shonies for people.
Speaker 4 (49:33):
Now.
Speaker 2 (49:34):
Also, go to the iHeart app. Please download it, leave
a talk back and maybe you get to hear your
voice here. We'd love to hear it.
Speaker 3 (49:40):
I'd love to hear it.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
And one last thing, uh, you know, if you want
to tell two friends to listen Ridiculous Crime, tell a friend. Yeah,
you get out there and be like, you know what,
you should listen.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
That's how you make friends. Yeah, that is tell them
about it. You sit and listen, and you hold hands
while you listen.
Speaker 2 (49:53):
And you laugh together. You look each other deeply in
the eyes. Yeah, laugh together, bonding people.
Speaker 3 (50:01):
We're bringing people together. Find your biggest enemy and listen
to the show with them, and huh, you'll heal hearts
hug the whole time.
Speaker 2 (50:09):
The beeg you for listening, and we will catch you
next crime. Ridiculous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Tutton and
Zaren Brennett, produced and edited by the prodigal son and
soul heir to the Boeling Fortune, Dave Acustin. Our Ridiculous
assistant is Terry Maldonado. Fong research is by our resident
(50:31):
NEPO Mommy and NEPO Daddy of Facts and Figures, Marisa
Brown and Jabbari Davis. Our theme song is by our
resident Fake Aerospace Air Metal Band Para graf Zeppelin aka
Thomas Lee and Travis Duvon. The host wardrobe provided by
Botany five hundred producer. Dave's wardrobe provided by Mister Guy
of Beverly Hills. Guest tarn makeup by Sparkleshot Mister Andre.
(50:56):
Executive producers are the inventors of the Saturn five Rock Lobster,
the preferred cocktailed Astronauts and B fifty two fans worldwide,
Ben Bolin and Noel Brown.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
Picous Crime Say It One More Time gquus Crime. Ridiculous
Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. Four more podcasts from
my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Ridiculous Crime. It's a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Elizabeth Dundonnette oh Man. Nice to see you, Good to
see you. I always look forward to seeing what shirt
you were going to wear into the studio.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Yeah, it's a good one, thank you.
Speaker 4 (00:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Is that Nick Steve Stevie Nicks? Right, that's Nicky Sex.
Your shirt all about Nicky six.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
It's about Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham in the nineteen
ninety seven performance of Silver Springs.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Always good, so good.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
I'll watch it. There are two two videos that come up.
I'll watch them every time. That performance.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
She's staring a hole in his eyes.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
She's just like, that's it, the White Witches on the Move.
The other one is Tom Holland doing Umbrella Relic Show.
I can't pass that up. I love that.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I'm so happy for you.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
You found those two where that they found you. I
don't know how you roll a little bit of both. Yeah, well,
I got a question for you.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Please.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Do you know what's ridiculous?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I do. I did prove it. Some things are only
available Walmart. And that's a little ridiculous because Walmart has
displaced all the mom and pop shops around the world.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yes, I can be critical of Walmart, whatever you've done.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I don't think, however, I don't think that this is
something that the mom and pops would worry about. I'm
going to read you a line. For over one hundred years,
we've cared about flavor. Now meet the unexpected sides you
didn't see coming.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
We know that whole.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Like the clause. The change there makes you think that
they no longer care about flavor.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
You would think.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yeah, So the company I'm talking about is Bush's Beans.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Okay, I'm still with the previous thoughts.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
And this news hit the newsstands extra extra. You read
all about it. So many rude dudes were like, alerted us,
alerted us, Terry, try the assistant, huh uh not please
with how much they had to read about.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Really, did they tell you they said there's a bad
one coming. I was like, Okay, they never warned me.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
No, they don't. That's because I pay them off anyway,
Thanks Terry. So what we have here is Bush's Beans.
They haven't teamed up with anyone other than Walmart to
sell this on their own. They can do bad all
by themselves. Saren. They've come up with three new summer
flavors of baked beans.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
It's one of them. Roadkill might as well.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Be the first one apple Pie baked beans. Okay, it's
a blend of brown sugar, cinnamon spice, and sweet apple
pie flavor. It's a dessert inspired twist on classic cookout side. Sure,
then there's I don't know which one I want to
tell you about. Next there's three. So this one's dill
(02:52):
pickle baked beans. You know, they couldn't bring Grilla up
in here. Grillo is as busy they're messing around where
they're not supposed to.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Be messing around.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
This is tossed in a tangy sauce with a bunch
of dill pickle.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So this is kind of like when you have all
your stuff on the plate at the cook at the
cookout and the pickles to the beans.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Okay, sure about like three natty lights deep. So what
do you care? You just mix it all up and eat.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's all going to the same place.
Speaker 3 (03:21):
And then the last one, Rocket Pop baked beans. It's
quote the red, white, and blue, bursting with notes of
cherry lime and blue raspberry. Bush's Rocket Pop baked beans
offer a sweet, playful take inspired by the iconic frozen
treat nostalgic and very unexpected. This flavor packs of firework
(03:43):
a fruity taste. Start a conversation at your next cookout
with these unexpected, buzzworthy flavors.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Playful and unexpected, like a kick in the cross.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
You can order them online here right. And the thing
is is that these came into us, uh you know,
I don't know, back second to last week of May,
and they were already sold out. But they are starting
to be sold at Walmart May twenty third.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
When they're sold out, do they make like twenty I mean, like,
how do you can go to.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
The Wallsmart, I think and get some. But if you
wanted to order them direct from bushes in a special
like limited edition variety packs sold out?
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Darn oh darn.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Yeah, it's a mess. It's ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Why they constantly I know why because like you and
I talked about them, they're.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
Okay, well and they got to keep me in business,
that's all I got to say.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, thank you for that, Elizabeth, thank you for playing
the game of can you make Zaron yack inside of
his throat?
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Anytime?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well? I got a question for you. Yeah, what is
it Shakespeare? Yeah, famously once asked what's in a name?
And as we all know now, having a famous last
name can be very lucrative. Yeah, especially once you realize
you can cash in on that famous name.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
Okay, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
This is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast about absurd and outrageous capers, heists,
and cons. It's always ninety nine percent murder free and
one hundred percent ridiculous ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Oh, Elizabeth Sar.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Technically you know we cover true crime. I know, but
obviously our one percent murder free guarantee, we don't cover
the grizzly part of true crime, the ones with murders
and bloodshot and whatnot. But I got to ask you,
when you're away from the mic, do you enjoy any
true crime TV shows that do feature one percent violations?
Like You're back Home and your True Crime Dojo? Do
(06:03):
you ever get down with the blood of your side
of things?
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Like?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
I only asked because I wanted to see if you've
ever heard of these true crime shows writing pop quiz.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Number one, Pop Quiz, Hotshot, It Takes a Killer, It
Takes a Killer number two.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
There's another one, Murderous Affairs.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Oh, these are like, I see these pop up when
I'm scrolling through.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
So number three bizarre murders. Number four, I married a murderer, No,
thank you. Number five corrupt crimes. No, okay, do you
know what those true crime shows all have in com No,
they are real.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
I thought you were trying to like do you watch these?
And I go, yeah, I love them, and you're like, oh, yeah,
well they don't exist.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I just made them up, sucker. So the answer is
those shows were all created by Bellum Entertainments in War. Yes,
in case you didn't know it, Bellum is a big
production company specializes in true crime. But you are obviously
do know that Bellam means war in Latin, so the
company's name really means war entertainment.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
It's like, that's creepy.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
What are we doing there? It's like, you know, if
like me, you might think they make shows for like
the History Channel or maybe one of those new cable
channels that I watch with a name like Camo or
Boots or whatever.
Speaker 6 (07:17):
The one that you watch you were telling me about
called Great.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Yeah, that's why I watch Rockford Files.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
Great.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, anyway, you may be thinking, Sara, why do you
bring up Bellam Entertainment and all these BS shows. Great questions,
Elizabeth's fair questions. Turns out I do have a reason
Bellam Entertainment plays a central role in today's story. Really, yes, because,
as I learned from some light reading, Bellam Entertainment was
a terrible place to work. Oh, I say was because
(07:45):
Bellam Entertainment is no longer with us. The company shut down.
I guess they couldn't figure out a way to make
true crime pay anyway, tough. Here's another curiosity. Bellam Entertainment
originally started out as children's programming.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Wait was it called Bellamy?
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Apparently? And then they pivoted to alien and conspiracy minded shows,
and then they branched out into blood soaked true crime shows.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
That's the History Channel totally. You know where they used
to be smart stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Hm, like documentaries you might learn something from.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Right now it's all like solid alien digital And then
the dentist is an alien Bravo, And now that was dope.
You know, how messed up is your Face? That's the
new show.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
So what kind of children's programming are we talking about
from Bellam Entertainment? Really interesting question, Lizabeth, Not where I
thought you'd go with it At all to answer your question.
Bellam Entertainment had one show called Animal Atlas. It was
an educational wildlife show for young kids. There was another
kids show called Zoo Clues, not to be mistaken with
Blues Clues but instead it's a cheap knockoff, another you know,
(08:54):
blatant cash grab from bell Entertainment. It also featured creatures
from the Animal Kingdom and answered kids style questions like
do dogs sweat? And can birds fly backwards? If you're
wondering kinda And yes, dogs don't sweat like we do,
but they do sweat, but since it's not as effective
as a human sweat, dogs have to pant when they're overheated.
(09:15):
And secondly, yes, birds can fly backwards, such as hummingbirds,
but they're also morblers, egrets, herons can all fly backwards briefly. Anyway,
back to Bellam Entertainment and their lineup of uninspired shows.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
I Love This Tommy Moore.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
After failing to find a profit making cheek Code and
children's entertainment, the company moved on to a slate of
alien and conspiracy based shows, shows like Unsealed Alien Files
and Unsealed Conspiracy Files. Those were both nationally syndicated shows.
Eighty percent of markets carried them, and they were both
based on released government files that came into public view
(09:51):
back in twenty eleven thanks to the Freedom of Information Act.
And they were another blatant cash grab from Bellam Entertainment
and they also failed to f in an audience. Now,
my favorite show from Bellam Entertainment has to be Wildlife Jams.
Wildlife Jams, Yes, and you may be wondering, Saron, what
is Wildlife?
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Have an idea in my head and I'm really excited
to see if it lines up with what you're about
to say.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
It was a half hour long children's show, one that
aim to inspire kids to feel a sense of stewardship
about the natural world by teaching kids about how animals behave.
And the best part is the lessons on animals and
nature were accompanied by jazz.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Music, because kids love jazz.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
That's the title Wildlife Jams.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
I thought it would be like animals like running at
each other in the wild, attacking each other to a
heavy metal soundtrack.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, you're going like like Jock Jams, right, like a
little bit more upbeap. Actually, I guess that's more party
music and no.
Speaker 3 (10:48):
I wanted like heavy metal, heavy metal, where this is
like the Gazelle's running for it and the lions like Buddy.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Currently, the kids did not get hype to learn about
animals backed by a jazz soundtrack. Who knew? You may
be wondering, I want.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
To know what was it? Like Kenny g jazz?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
It was not good jazz, Baker, No, No, I don't
think it was like classy jazz. I think it was.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yeah, like fusion jazz, Airport Hotel.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Post Miles Davis, cool jazz.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Yeah, or just experimental noise Jackie, just.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Like Don Cherry, just cotting nuts.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
No.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
You maybe naptime is not happening today, kids, but it's
not pouncing up the walls now. You may be wondering,
Zaren other than offences against good taste along with cheap
attempts to cash in on entertainment trends and their strange
experiment in low effort children's programming mixed with jazz music.
I'm not hearing a lot of crime.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Well, Elizabeth, against taste.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
That's because I haven't gotten to the main reason I
brought up Bella entertainment. It was, as I said, by
all accounts, terrible place to work like criminally bad.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
The production company was described as quote a pressure cooker operation,
and workers complained constantly about their work conditions. According to
the Guardian newspaper, the workers who created all those uninspired
shows accused Bellam Entertainment of quote producing new shows at
a breakneck pace and attempting to finance them with money
from old shows sold at dirt cheap prices. So, for instance,
(12:28):
how does this all work? Well, there was one worker
at Bellam Entertainment, the production company office manager, a woman
named Stephanie Manos. And at first she loved her job
at Bellam Entertainment. That is until she started to work there. Yeah,
this was back in twenty sixteen. Things went downhill fast
as soon as she said, I'll take the job. So,
(12:48):
for one, she lived in Los Angeles at the time.
But to take the job, she needed to relocate to
New Orleans. That meant she had to give up her
apartment at Echo Park. That was a big ask for
two reasons. One, she lived there for two decades and
to her rent was only seven hundred and fifty dollars a.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Month rent control.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes, that was hell the cheap, even back in twenty sixteen.
Only Yeah, but she did it. She gave up her
beloved Echo Park apartment, relocated to New Orleans, and once there,
she learned that she was the production company's only salaried employee.
Everyone else was a contract player.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
I know.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
So they might be an editor or an actor for
re enactment, but they got paid per job.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Well, she was the only regular employee, which makes you
wonder why we she called an office manager if there.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Was no office to manage exactly, But her.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Job title was also questionable, since Stephanie Manos did far
more than manage an office that had no regular employees.
For instance, on any given day, she might find herself
working on a set, doing things like working as the
set dresser responsible for decorating it for the shoot that day,
or she might be asked to handle the extras like
the way a first ad would be on a more
(13:56):
legitimate set.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
That's not office manager.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
On other days, she was asked to step in front
of the camera and act what she would play the
part of a mother of a murder victim.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
It's like the sweeper yeah, or.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Perhaps she played the murderer for reenactment. Yes, she did
it all wow. So basically her being the office manager
was a very loose job description, but despite it all,
Stephanie Manos mostly enjoyed the work at first, because you
know life on a set, it can be fun, exhilarating,
feels awesome.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
It's like pure. Other duties is a sign, yes, exactly,
take two items on the list and then other duties
is a sign.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Now for another example of working at Bellam Entertainment, we
have Nigel Bellis. He was a contract player who worked
as a show runner. He also had to relocate to
New Orleans and before he moved he was warned by
our friend that Bellam quote have a habit of not
paying on time. So I guess he needed the work
because in twenty seventeen, Nigel Bellis went out to New
(14:50):
Orleans to become a show runner for Murderous Affairs. Now,
as a showrunner, Nigel Bellis produced fifty episodes of Murderous
Affairs and sure enough he found that payment was indeed late,
but eventually he would always get paid by Bellam Entertainment,
which may explain why when Bellam asked him to relocate again,
he went for it. He moved out to Los Angeles
(15:12):
to continue working with Bellam, but then within a month
of moving to LA the checks stopped a coming no
longer late. The money just completely dried up. Yeah, that
included the money he'd been promised to relocate to Los Angeles,
money that he had put forward was waiting to be
compensated for along with his back pay, So he was
out both sides, his own savings and his income. So,
(15:34):
as Nigel Bellis told The Guardian, quote, I had very
little after the move. I was absolutely counting on that money. Now,
I don't mean to rub salt into a wound. But
his friend did try to warn him, But I guess
true Nigel had to learn it for himself the hard way.
You know, for some of us it's hard to believe
it'll happen until it happens to us.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Sure, but also think, I know the job market's difficult
and so and in an industry like this where it's limited,
thinking like you got to take job, I gotta take
the jobs opportunity.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I'll go to my next job unless this one takes
all of my savings. No. Meanwhile, back to office manager
Stephanie Manos, what happened to her? Well, Ben Bellam Entertainment
went belly up. Poor Stephanie couldn't afford to move back
to Los Angeles. For one, that apartment she had to
cost seven hundred and fifty dollars a month. It was
now renting for twenty eight hundred dollars a month.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
My god, that poor thing. She should have.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Sublet oh completely.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Now.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Secondly, she was also owed a bunch of backpay, just
like the Bellis Nigel Bellis. Yeah, so penniless as she was,
she had to stay in New Orleans. You're now citizens
of New Orleans. And also since she was now unemployed,
she had to find a new job. That took her months.
It ate up her savings, but she found one. She
finally found a job, Elizabeth. But since they are on
as many jobs in TV production in New Orleans, Stephanie
(16:51):
Manos eventually had to take a job at a funeral parlor.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Well, I mean it's so similar.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Completely, it's a lot of makeup, a lot of like,
let's put them in a different post. Stemany Manos told
The Guardian quote, it was like a knife in the back.
She took advantage of all of us.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Wait, she who's she's a great.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Question, Elizabeth, And after these messages, we'll be back with
more and I'll tell you who she is.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Excellent. Thank you back in.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
Two and two.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
And we're back, Elizabeth. Now, before the break, I brought
in a mysterious woman, referenced her only by the pronounce
So who's she?
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Oprah again?
Speaker 2 (17:50):
That's a fantastic question, Elizabeth, And it is not Oprah.
The she in question is the owner of Bellam Entertainment,
a woman named Mary Carol McDonald.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
I was so hoping her name was Bella.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
No Belton, Bella. Well, Mary Carol McDonald is our crimer
of the day.
Speaker 3 (18:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Now, Mary Carroll McDonald was both the owner and the
brains behind Bellam Entertainment's blatant cash grab programming and it's
fly by night business model. But rather than tell you
about her, Elizabeth, what close your eyes?
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Okay, I'd like you to picture.
Speaker 7 (18:23):
It's a Tuesday morning in Burbank and you're running a
bit late to work.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
You left your home early while the world was still quiet.
You heard the morning birds singing their songs when you
finally crawled into your suv and started the engine. Traffic
across the valley was light at first, but you ran
into some construction which slowed traffic down to an agonizing crawl.
Once you manage to get through that slow down, and
once you're again driving at normal speeds, you spy the
(18:55):
time on the clock in your car, and you know
you'll need a bit of luck if you are to
make it on time to this hastily called morning meeting.
Just outside the offices of the production company Bellam Entertainment
where you work, you find a parking space in the lot.
When you get out and close your car door, you're
careful not to spill your coffee. Crossing the parking lot,
(19:16):
you recognize a few cars, folks you haven't seen in
the office for what feels like months. You rush into
the building. Your heels click against the Moorish style hard
tile floor. Just before you hit the door to the
conference room, you check your phone. Look at that you
made it. You're not late. You yank the door open,
and a small sea of nervous faces greet you. You
(19:37):
share a polite smile. You take your seat at the
conference table. Now you and everyone else wait together for
the arrival of your boss, Mary Carol McDonald. A few
folks around the table chad in hush tones. They seem
to be trying to figure out what this meaning is
about no one seems to know. Luckily, for you all,
your boss doesn't make you wait long. She's inarguably late,
(19:59):
but it doesn't matter. It's her company. She can do that.
That's the privilege of being the owner of the production company.
When she does finally swun into the conference room, the
CEO is all smiles, backed by a happy faced demeanor.
She sets down her bag, her green tea, and she
takes the seat at the head of the conference table.
She greets the gathered group and tells you she has big,
(20:20):
big news. She says it with a singsong voice, and
then she launches into what feels like a rehearsed speech.
Mary Carol McDonald begins by listing the shows this group
has produced distributed. She says she could not be prouder
of your work on such shows as bizarre murders, corrupt crimes.
I married a murderer and it takes a killer. She
(20:41):
says that the company started out in children's programming with
animal Atlas, and now look at how you all have
grown into a true crime empire. She says, making high
quality content on a low quality budget is what makes
her feel like her life has meaning and purpose. She
hopes you all feel this. Her speech seems like an
odd sort of backhanded compliment, but you nod politely. Then
(21:06):
her face grows serious. She takes a dramatic pause, punctuated
by a short, sharp inhale of air followed by a
long side. Then the CEO pushes her chair back from
the table and stands up. Here it comes, you think,
whatever the real cause is for this morning meeting, Standing
before you all, the CEO of Bellam Entertainment looks around
(21:27):
the room at the collection of nervous faces staring back
at her, and then she starts to speak. Mary Carol
McDonald launches into a sad voice to apologia, which also
feels practiced. Then she gets to the meet of her speech.
She says that in the past, there have been a
few difficult days, times when the payroll was delayed, other
times when projects required you all to stay late to
(21:50):
work over time and to come back early the next
day in order to hit your production deadlines. But you
all did it. You all came together and you made
it happen. She says, this is another one of those
times you all will need to be there for each other.
She pauses, clears her throat. Somehow, this also seems practiced,
created for effect. Then Mary Carol McDonald lets the hammer drop.
(22:12):
The CEO of Bellam Entertainment informs you that the company
is shutting down, effective immediately, and that you are all fired,
also effective immediately. There are a few shocked gas followed
by a stunned silence, and again Mary Carol McDonald pauses
for dramatic effect. As a silent chaos reigns inside the
minds of everyone in the conference room. Mary Carol McDonald
(22:35):
stands there saying nothing. After her brief pause, she starts
to speak again. She announces that the immediate shutdown of
the company is not her fault. There are factors outside
of her control. This sounds like a lie when she
says it. Meanwhile, she goes on to explain that the
company was the victim. You wonder what the company was
the victim of besides mismanagement. Thankfully, she provides the answer.
(22:58):
You see, there was an episode of what she calls
significant bank fraud. That's why everyone's paychecks were late. She
corrects herself to say are late. She promises to get
it all straightened out as soon as she does. You
could all expect your final paychecks to be mailed to you.
One of the editors, a guy who worked with you
a few times, let's out a loud bronx cheer, and
(23:20):
then he says, this is a bunch of bs. He
gets out, grabbing stuff, storms out of the conference room.
The door slams shut behind him. The CEO, Mary Carol McDonald,
watches him go and then tries to make a joke.
She says, I guess he's no fan of bank fraud.
No one laughs. The those days are over. No more
fake laughs for the boss, mostly because she's no longer
(23:40):
anyone's boss. You wonder to yourself how you're going to
pay your rent As the silence following your former boss's
bad joke competes with the sound of the air conditioning
in the conference room. Guess your plans to fly back
east to see your mother will have to be put
on hold. But your mom did warn you that Hollywood
can be a rough business, so that's fun. Your mom
was right again, So there you go, Elizabeth. Now, after
(24:04):
that unfortunate meeting in June of twenty seventeen, when Mary
McDonald informed her employees that they were all out of
a job, things went further south and did so quickly.
You see. Two months later, in August of twenty seventeen,
McDonald was the subject of an investigation by the United
States Department of Labor for a raft of violations. So
there was a group of fifty of her former workers
(24:27):
who all filed complaints with the Department of Labor, fifty
fifty that she had paid them late, like in the
case of Nigel Bellis, or that she entirely miss payroll
again like the case of Nigel Bellis.
Speaker 8 (24:38):
You know.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
So, when the Department of Labor launched its investigation, they
found that Mary Carol McDonald had a curious habit of
classifying her workers as independent contractors rather than employees of
her company, which explains why Stephanie Manos was an office
manager of an office but no employees. Elizabeth that one
life act kept the company's costs down because if she
had no employees, then she could avoid things like payments
(25:02):
for employees' healthcare.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
That's like uber, isn't it pretty much?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
It's very common these days. Also, she could avoid paying
overtime because they were contractors, so it's up to them
to manage their time. Also, she could avoid things like
OSHA violations because she doesn't have employees and it's just like, look,
you're in charge of your own safety. This is also
why Mary Carol McDonald was investigated by the California Labor
Commission for abuse of employees and their trust and a
(25:28):
well documented pattern of non payment of wages. Now, in
an interesting twist, some of the folks who came forward
to file complaints against Bellam Entertainment were former FBI agents
and former police officers. What the ones who'd been on
camera as experts on the various crime shows. Those former
FBI agents with former cops, the ones appeared on the
(25:48):
shows as experts on crime, They became victims of crime
thanks to Mary Cheryl McDonald.
Speaker 3 (25:54):
Oh the irony, Well, they're just all starstruck, so stoked
to be on.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
Oh totally, can I get my hair and makeup? Now?
It wasn't just her form employees that she screwed over.
She also skated out on paying her debts to other
companies that she had contracts with. For instance, there was
launch Pad Entertainment. She had licensed footage from launch Pad
for her syndicated shows, and she left launch Pad holding
an unpaid receipt for two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars.
I hope you weren't planning on that cash. Naturally, as
(26:20):
the smoke started to clear and many lawsuits were filed,
there were two companies they had once worked with Bellam Entertainment,
and both had to go to court to try to
get a judge on their side. Those two breach of
contract suits were for production deals, and Bellam had contracted
with the companies to produce one hundred and four episode
true crime shows. As Deadline explains, quote, the two breach
(26:41):
of contract suits filed today in Los Angeles Superior Court
appeared to be describing the same one hundred and four
episode crime show, but with different titles and two different producers.
And also, according to Deadline, these two companies were quote
both represented by the same attorneys and claiming that Bellam
breached their contracts to the tune of more than three
(27:03):
million dollars each. Yes see according to the filed lawsuits, quote,
on or around February third, twenty seventeen, Bellam entered into
a commissioning and distribution agreement. These agreements, Elizabeth, they explicitly
required Bellam Entertainment to quote pay the purchase price of
three million, five hundred and ninety seven thousand dollars. Okay,
that did not happen.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Yeah, I can't imagine it is.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
And it's deadline. Further outlined, those two suits are identical.
They seek the same damages and give the same dates
for the payment schedules that Bellam allegedly failed to meet.
So she double dipped conned them all and they're like,
where's my three point five mil? Right?
Speaker 3 (27:39):
She used all the same paperwork.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
For pretty much. She was like, yeah, a copy paste.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So, by the way, one of those shows was called
They Kill for It. The other show was called Lady Killers.
Speaker 3 (27:50):
Lady Killers but ladies to kill. You know it is
not no wait, people who kill ladies.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Yes, you have to keep in mind this is back
in twenty seventeen, at the peak of true crime, you know,
the trend, back when you could make millions in Hollywood
by walking into a meeting and just saying, fellas fun fact,
ladies love a show when ladies get killed.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
We have the no dead ladies promise. Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
We're like the opposite of Bellam entertainment exactly. Now, the
fallout of all this financial fraud.
Speaker 3 (28:20):
And mismanaged entertainment.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Oh look at you flexing the Latin latins coming out. Yeah,
I'm liking that. So Mary McDonald's nephew had to come
out when there was all the financial fraud and mismanagement
was revealed. His name was Peter McDonald and he was
the vice president of Bellam Entertainment for ten years. And
he stepped forward to reassure everyone involved that none of
this was his fault, right, and then also he knew
(28:44):
nothing about it. He said that he said all that
because he was the one stuck having to explain to lawyers, investigators,
predators that there was no money and that they weren't
going to get paid. He also wanted them to all
know that he was no longer with the company, so
stop asking him for anything, you see. Nephew Peter officially
quit on July thirty first, which is a full month
(29:04):
after that meeting back in June when you and everyone
else got fired. Yeah. Well yeah, So to exculpate himself,
nephew Peter also told anyone who would listen that his
aunt had screwed him to He claimed that he was
owed ten thousand dollars and old nephew Peter also pleaded
full ignorance of what his aunt was up to. He
said that he was quote unaware of any bank fraud.
(29:25):
So guys, you know, be cool, be cool man.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
I'm just as messed up about this as you.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Yeah, don't keep my car right to lease. Now. By
November twenty seventeen, there was another group from the FEDS
who got involved, along with many investigations into what went
wrong at Bellam Entertainment Elizabeth. That group was known as
the FBI. Oh oh yeah, granted the power of subpoenas
and blessed with a small army of investigators. The FBI
(29:51):
launched its own investigation to figure out what happened and
where all the money went. Didn't take the folks from
the FBI long to get to the bottom of things. Now,
before I tell you what the FBI found, Elizabeth, Yeah,
I have a question. Yeah, you know what a nepo
baby is.
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Right, I certainly do.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
How would you define it?
Speaker 3 (30:07):
Well, it's a beneficiary of nepotism, which is, you know,
bestowing upon a relative, you know, a position for monetary gains.
So basically, you get a job because of a family
member very good or name recognition.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
That's a great answer from what I learned. Nepo baby
first became popular as a term back in the twenty teens,
but back then we use the more formal nepotism baby.
This was in the press.
Speaker 3 (30:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
However, in twenty twenty the blog pop culture died. In
two thousand and nine, they shortened the term to the
more familiar and fun to say, nepo baby.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
And then came twenty twenty two. There was this little
show out called Euphoria. You may have heard of it.
It starred maud Apato who happened to be the daughter
of her famous film director father jud Apatoe and her
famous actress mother, Leslie Mann.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
I've never seen you for you either.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
People talking about it, so I have a sense of.
Speaker 4 (31:01):
What it is.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
I don't even have that.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
Let your two steps behind them out purpose you know, Zenda,
isn't it She's okay, there you go.
Speaker 3 (31:08):
Is it about high school kids.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Who? Oh I didn't answer for me. I don't know.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
I don't know. Tune me up.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
It's about people who were young. They're young, apparently very horny.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
And I feel like there's drugs. There's a lot of drugs.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
That's why I get the idea. Yeah, I do, honestly
do not know.
Speaker 3 (31:24):
Okay, yeah, yeah, so I don't know who else could
be in it, and happy for them all.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
In May of twenty twenty two, someone on Twitter pointed
out that maud Apatow was the daughter of Judd and
Leslie Mann, and they launched a viral conversation about the
career prospects of these NEPO babies. Yeah, the next NEPO
baby combat It moved over to TikTok, where went massively viral.
That's when New York Magazine hopped on the trendy term
and they declared twenty twenty two as the quote year
(31:53):
of the NEPO baby. I did not celebrate it as such.
Speaker 3 (31:56):
So it like Chinese New Year. There's different years.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Near of the fire and Nepo Bob.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
That's when you build an effigy of Chet Hanks set fire.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
To bumba Clatten. According to a Vox article with the
headline they hate to see a nepotism baby winning published
in August of twenty twenty two, NEPO babies were a
decidedly Unamerican phenomenon, and author alex Abed Santos explained in
their article thanks to help from a professor from Columbia. Quote,
Americans tend to have a strong optimistic belief in meritocracy,
(32:29):
the idea that hard work demonstrates exceptional skill and that
if you have both, you will be rewarded accordingly. However,
as this professor would further explain to Vox, quote nepotism babies.
They deprive us of that feel good American dream story.
So there you go. That's why people do not like
nepo babies bs.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
I mean, we love a dynasty, we love an entertainment dynacy,
and some people I mean, like yeah, the Barrymore family,
the Kennedys. I sometimes I feel like, you know, there's
talent that can be passed down, whether it's do nature
or nurture. It's the ones that they wheel out there
who have no understanding of up from down.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Oh, like that the new girl on the Saturday Night Live.
Speaker 3 (33:12):
Yeah, her parents are like comedy writers and that didn't
get to her.
Speaker 2 (33:15):
And I see everyone complain about it. I can't e
think of her name.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Trickle down economics of it didn't his.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
Ran a little dry on that one. Now you may
be wondering, Saren, what does all this have to do
with Bellam Entertainment and Mary McDonald.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Well, their nephew works there.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
That's a good point.
Speaker 7 (33:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
But also, and that's just a generally fantastic question, Elizabeth.
The answer is there are two ways to become a
nepo baby, Okay. One you can follow your parents' success
and work in the same field as them, aided by
their connections their experiences. Or two you can just lie
and tell people you are the son or daughter of
someone famous and make that work for you. Love that, that, Elizabeth,
(33:51):
is what Mary Carol McDonald decided to opt as her
choice in She is what she might call a faux baby.
Speaker 3 (33:58):
Wait, I'm so excited to find out who she said
she was the.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
Does it mean that Mary Carol McDonald pretended to be
the daughter a relative of two time OSCAR nominated actress Mary.
Speaker 6 (34:08):
McDonald, who was named after her mother.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
No, No, she did not. Yeah, Instead she went with
a much different McDonald family. Elizabeth, are you familiar with
the former defense contractor McDonald Douglas, which is now a part.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
Of Boeing's I'm the Mary McDonald of the McDonald Douglass.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Because you have to understand the aerospace industry, was big
in southern California. You're old enough, you remember the name
McDonald Douglas. You're oh, yeah, sure, I remember that before.
Oh for those who don't know, Back in nineteen sixty seven,
the McDonald's Aircraft Corporation merged with the Douglas Aircraft Corporation
(34:53):
to form McDonald Douglas. And you may be familiar with
some of their contributions, such as the Mercury and Gemini
capsules as well as part of the Saturn five rockets
for NASA. Or there's their military aircraft like the fighter plane,
the F four Phantom and F four Phantom two, as
well as their DC eight and DC nine commercial airliners. Well,
the first part of the McDonald Douglas name refers to
(35:14):
James Smith McDonald. He was an aviation pioneer. He jumped
into the plane game way back in the nineteen twenties
and then going his own way, he started the McDonald
Aircraft Corporation in nineteen thirty nine just in time for
World War iimis smooth move for him, so during the
war years he got all these contracts. McDonald's Aircraft Corporation
made planes for the Navy and later the Air Force,
(35:35):
and famously he developed a fighter plane, the F four Phantom.
So the success of his aircraft during the war years
and has continued his success in the Cold War years.
And the jet airplane age made the McDonald's name famous
and synonymous with the aerospace industry.
Speaker 3 (35:50):
And true crime tellivienision.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
That's why Mary Carol McDonald leveraged it to make herself
a fortune, But not in the true crime space, nor
children's programming, nor whatever that's there. Yeah, the alien files
and conspiracy files shows no, no, no, because you see
Mary McDonald was a legit McDonald, not that she was
related to James Smith McDonald. When I say legit, I
(36:15):
mean if you checked her driver's license, it said McDonald
right there in print. So in twenty seventeen, when Bellam
Entertainment was in a bad, bad way and could use
a cash infusion, Mary Carol McDonald used her famous name
to get herself ill gotten cash. As the FBI discovered
Mary Carroll McDonald quote devised and participated in a scheme
(36:37):
to obtain money, funds, assets and property owned by Bank
of California, that's bank with the C. Yeah, yeah, I
don't mean a little bit of money. Elizabeth she used
her famous last name to con that bank and other
banks out of thirty million dollars.
Speaker 6 (36:53):
Just by do you know who my grandpa is?
Speaker 2 (36:56):
Kinda so, how did she do it? Fantastic question? Elizabeth's
another bang up question. You're just you know, kicking it today.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Sometimes I'm like, Elizabeth, how are you so good at this?
And then I go, Elizabeth, it's because you practice.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Well, practice being patient, because after these messages, I'll let
you in on the ground floor of this thirty million dollars.
Speaker 4 (37:15):
Scanty out.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
And we're back. Elizabeth, Are you ready to hear how
one woman used the name McDonald to finesse panks out
of thirty million dollars?
Speaker 3 (37:44):
I think I'm ready, good, good.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
So, According to the agents at the Los Angeles Field
Office of the FBI and their investigations into Bellam Entertainment's
fraudulent activities, back in the summer of twenty seventeen, when
Mary Carol McDonald was busy informing her production company that
they were now her former employees, she also stayed busy
scamming banks out of millions of dollars. These two things
are happening at the same time. You see Mary Carroll
(38:07):
McDonald worked with her lawyer, this guy, Barry Rothman, to
doctor up some phony paperwork that showed that McDonald was
the heir to the McDonald aerospace fortune, okay, and that
as the air she was about to inherit eighty million
dollars from a family trust. But in the meantime she
just needed some gap financing, so she asked the Bank
of California to loan her, you know, fifteen million dollars,
(38:30):
just some little teddy cash. Well, this scam in the book, right,
We've covered this one a couple of times. The air
is scam, Like, hey, I'm about to come in.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
Do you think that it just it can't happen anymore
because of digital records.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
One would think what have you?
Speaker 3 (38:44):
But apparently not.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
Apparently if you have a convincing last name and a printer.
So in order to convince the bank she was good
for it. Mary Carroll McDonald and her lawyer Rothman, they
presented the bank regulators with like a Manila file filled
with fraudulent banks statements. The dummied up paperwork show that
McDonald had twenty eight million dollars into bank account at
(39:05):
a different institution. It's a bank, you don't know. It's cool.
It's cool.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
So it's a little like boutique bank.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Yeah, it's just for rich people. El has like six members.
It's cool. So there was also other paperwork that showed
that she was the heir to the McDonald family trust
that would see her inherit the eighty million dollars. This
doctored paperwork was enough for Bank of California to approve
a bridge loan. They're like, sure for this aerospace aiirrest,
why not to it? So the bank loaned are fourteen
(39:33):
point seven million dollars, which she promised to pay back
next year. I'll get you guys back next year. Trust
comes in like December, maybe January. First. We're good banks
like cool, cool. So this works so well that once
she secured that nearly fifteen million dollars from Bank of California,
she and her lawyer Rothman, they went to other banks
and they pulled the same scam for another fifteen million dollars.
(39:55):
Multiple banks fell for the old like let me see
your driver's relationship, says McDonald. Right there, let missing the
paperwork that says twenty eight million dollars. I can read that.
Speaker 3 (40:04):
For a trust that large, there has to be like
a properly administrator for it, and.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
One would think, but nope, banks were like numbers are
on paper.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Call and then her attorney, like the phone buzzes in
his pocket, he has to leave the room.
Speaker 2 (40:20):
Just like the echo of a bathroom behind him. So
guess what happened next to Elizabeth? No, don't guess, I'll
just tell you.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
I don't want to guess.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
After the loan period passed, when those banks reached out
after being being paid back the fifteen million dollars, the
banks discovered that the twenty eight million dollars McDonald claimed
to have sitting in an account was an illusion, Hollywood magic, conspiracy.
It didn't really exist. And get this, McDonald defaulted on
the loans. She was also gone. So that's when Bank
(40:49):
of California joined Mary Carroll McDonald's other mini cheated business
partners and former employers, and they went to court and
followed a lawsuit of their own. Trouble was by this point,
the phone EPO baby was in the wind gone. The
fake aerospace Heiress was one hundred percent gone. Just yes.
So that raised a rather obvious question, where in the
(41:09):
world is Mary Carol McDonald.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
Said a good question, I'm asked that.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Well, there's one place. She did show up on the
FBI's top ten most Wanted fugitive list in December of
last year, eight years after she conned and defrauded everyone
she could. Mary Carol McDonald was added to the FBI's
list for her work scamming banks out of thirty million dollars.
Really put her on the list. Of course, you could
ask her former business partners and former employees and they'd
(41:36):
be happy to tell the FBI good luck getting that
money back. But if you do find her, let me
know now if you're looking. The FBI has a list
of aliases that she has used while on the run
from justice. She has called herself Mary Carol Carrol that's
Carol with an E at the end, and Carol like
two l's like Lewis Carroll. And then she also used
the name Mary Carol McDonald that's Carol with no e,
(41:58):
just mixing it up. Also called herself Mary Carol two
els McDonald like McDonald like Ronald McDonald firm. Now there's
no news on whether or not she's ever claimed to
be an heiress to the McDonald's fortune, which would be
difficult since it. It's owned by the Croc family. But
whatever she's now on paper, what does it matter. So
as of December twenty twenty five, last year, Mary Carol
(42:20):
McDonald it was now seventy three years old. Presently she's
still on the run, still on the FBI's most wanted list. Yes,
they only added her last year. That she's still out there.
Her rest warrant was first issued back in twenty eighteen,
and since then she's been on the LAMB. No one
has seen that. The FBI believes that she fled America
back in twenty eighteen, and just like before, her criminal
(42:42):
indictment officially dropped. And as best the bureau can tell,
Mary Carroll McDonald is believed to be hiding out in
you want to guess, no Dubaiai, which as we know,
is one of the preferred spots to flee for the
modern international criminals.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
We have any dudes Dubai, go find her and get
the reward.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Right and this is this will likely fail to surprise you, Elizabeth.
According to FBI spokesperson Laura E. Miller, we believe that
she is continuing to defraud from where she is now.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
No, yes, you know, she's such a productive, working.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
Really respects people that she deals with. Now, the FBI
believes as she's living it up in Dubai, possibly continuing
her scam of posing as a fake aerospace heiress. Plus,
she has the sort of fortune that ensures no one
really asking any solid questions. But if you ask the
everyday folks that she con back when she was running
Bellam Entertainment, they are not hopeful that they will ever
(43:37):
see any of the money she's still over.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Yeah, I'm sure they've written it us.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
Because, for one, the banks will clearly be first in
line to claw back the money stolen from them, which
leaves very little for any of the other victims. As
Joshua Kaufman, who I have not mentioned yet, with a
former producer at Bellam put in quote, I assume she's caught,
her assets will be seized, and selfishly, I'm concerned that
there won't be any money left over for the little
people who worked for her. Bro That is not selfish.
(44:04):
That's what you call a clear eyed awareness.
Speaker 3 (44:05):
Of the fast exactly.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
I think we all know if Mary Carol McDonald is
ever found, the banks are gonna get theirs first, and
the so called little people will be at the back
of the line, which sucks.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
If she has anything, I think she probably doesn't have
any money.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Depends on she's still scamming her nuts eight years. So
if you happen to be in Dubai and you see
or overhear some seventy three year old phony aerospace eirass
swanning around being possibly rude to you know, customers, clients,
or the weight staff at a restaurant, well, maybe do
a solid for her many victims and hit up the
(44:39):
FBI tip line, which is not something you'll hear me
say often. So take full advantage, Elizabeth. If I gotta
ask you one last question, what's so ridiculous takeaway here?
Speaker 3 (44:49):
Oh goodness me. I think what I'm just struck by
is that these the people who went to work for
her were warned by others. But I've been in positions
where you're like, I got to take this job, like
there's no other job better than nothing, and then you
stay in a job because you think, like, you know,
(45:10):
I need the healthcare or whatever. I like, how many
indignities can you face?
Speaker 2 (45:14):
Probably, or you get comfortable, let's be real.
Speaker 3 (45:16):
Or you get comfortable and it's like but here, it's
like they weren't getting anything. They're not even getting paid
and yet but they were holding out hope and oh
that just it's it's heartbreaking, and it mainly just makes
me think about what, you know, what we'll do to
stay employed.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
That's rough, that's rough exposure. Would you just to let
everyone know you're working on Lady Killers?
Speaker 3 (45:40):
I love providing freely, you know. That's one of my
favorite things.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
Take away thank you for asking go ahead is having
been in Hollywood. I was surprised by almost none of this.
But one thing that does surprise me is our general
attitude that we all love movies, TV shows, podcasts, pop albums,
and yet we treat the people who'd make and deliver
these like they are just you know, field workers that
(46:07):
we don't ever want to see here or smell or.
Speaker 6 (46:09):
Just like, you know, hours in the day they have
to work frazy.
Speaker 2 (46:13):
Oh yeah, I mean they're trying to create laws to
limit the hours so people stop falling asleep while driving
home from sets and driving off the road off into
their ultimate demise. Yeah yeah, so like it's and don't
get me started on what the stunt men and stunt
women community go through. I mean, don't get me started
about all the labor violations of like extras and what
happens to them. Everybody who is not a star pretty
(46:36):
much gets treated poorly and a lot of the stars
do too. Yeah, so it's just like one of those things,
like really true. So there you go, Elizabeth my ridiculous
Thank you for so you in the mood for talkback
and we can wash this neo baby away. Really throw
that baby out with the bathwater. Produce a D can
you favors a one? O?
Speaker 4 (46:59):
God?
Speaker 6 (47:03):
I went you.
Speaker 8 (47:07):
Hey, just wanted to say thanks for the tracker recommendation.
I just got done melting my brain to the first episode,
and also wanted to mention that Randy Lanier did not
race Formula one. It was insect prototype, very different, just
for the gearhead to listen to your show. Love you guys, Thanks.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
But thank you for that.
Speaker 3 (47:33):
I apologize. You know that there's the gearheads and anyone
with like any sense knows that I don't have the
brain cells to rub together to make that happen. It's
fast cars.
Speaker 2 (47:43):
Yeah, we should have said a car.
Speaker 6 (47:45):
Cars that aren't like gross NASCAR or Formula one to.
Speaker 2 (47:48):
Be they weren't. They used to be related they used
to be you weren't like in time, you weren't that wrong.
Speaker 3 (47:54):
I apologize, though, I do apologize because that was my cat.
But I can't tell the difference between some Arena carpenter
and what's her name again, Sydney Sweeney, Like if you
showed me the two pictures and say which they either
one could be named that?
Speaker 2 (48:09):
Yes, I always want to call her Sylvia.
Speaker 3 (48:11):
Show me a car and I'm like, that's a fast car.
Speaker 2 (48:13):
Open wheel car, open wheel car. Now a one to me.
Speaker 3 (48:17):
I do apologize.
Speaker 6 (48:18):
I also apologize that does Zaren made you.
Speaker 2 (48:21):
Start listening watching start that again?
Speaker 6 (48:24):
Zaren's obsession with trackers contagious of what?
Speaker 2 (48:27):
Did I figure out the show? As I wanted to
watch Marshalls right, that's the spin off of Marsha Marsha
and Marsha Marshalls.
Speaker 6 (48:34):
Marshals.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
What's that?
Speaker 2 (48:35):
It's the spinoff from Yellowstone. It has a Casey the son.
Who is it's a Marshall.
Speaker 3 (48:40):
Yeah, it's a Dunton show.
Speaker 2 (48:41):
Ye, it's a Duton show. So I thought you might
know about it?
Speaker 3 (48:44):
Well, oh you know, are.
Speaker 6 (48:45):
You another one who's going to act like that's an
actual family?
Speaker 2 (48:49):
I'm a baby, Yeah, exactly as always. You can find
us online and ridiculous Crime that's our handle on Instagram
on Blue Sky. If you like emails, go to Gmail
and type in ridiculous Crime and Gmail and send us
an email. We'd love to hear from you. You can
go to YouTube and check out Ridiculous Crime pod. We
(49:09):
added the pod on that one, so that's obviously short
for podcast, so go check that out. They got animations.
It's if you like listening to your podcasts, you can
find them there. And also we have our website, ridiculous
Crime dot com, which has all sorts of merch and
you know there's like shirts and hoodies and coffee mugs
and all sorts of stuff. Panties yeah, I don't panties
(49:31):
like a bunch of shonies for people.
Speaker 4 (49:33):
Now.
Speaker 2 (49:34):
Also, go to the iHeart app. Please download it, leave
a talk back and maybe you get to hear your
voice here. We'd love to hear it.
Speaker 3 (49:40):
I'd love to hear it.
Speaker 2 (49:41):
And one last thing, uh, you know, if you want
to tell two friends to listen Ridiculous Crime, tell a friend. Yeah,
you get out there and be like, you know what,
you should listen.
Speaker 3 (49:49):
That's how you make friends. Yeah, that is tell them
about it. You sit and listen, and you hold hands
while you listen.
Speaker 2 (49:53):
And you laugh together. You look each other deeply in
the eyes. Yeah, laugh together, bonding people.
Speaker 3 (50:01):
We're bringing people together. Find your biggest enemy and listen
to the show with them, and huh, you'll heal hearts
hug the whole time.
Speaker 2 (50:09):
The beeg you for listening, and we will catch you
next crime. Ridiculous Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Tutton and
Zaren Brennett, produced and edited by the prodigal son and
soul heir to the Boeling Fortune, Dave Acustin. Our Ridiculous
assistant is Terry Maldonado. Fong research is by our resident
(50:31):
NEPO Mommy and NEPO Daddy of Facts and Figures, Marisa
Brown and Jabbari Davis. Our theme song is by our
resident Fake Aerospace Air Metal Band Para graf Zeppelin aka
Thomas Lee and Travis Duvon. The host wardrobe provided by
Botany five hundred producer. Dave's wardrobe provided by Mister Guy
of Beverly Hills. Guest tarn makeup by Sparkleshot Mister Andre.
(50:56):
Executive producers are the inventors of the Saturn five Rock Lobster,
the preferred cocktailed Astronauts and B fifty two fans worldwide,
Ben Bolin and Noel Brown.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
Picous Crime Say It One More Time gquus Crime. Ridiculous
Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. Four more podcasts from
my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Zaron Burnett
Elizabeth Dutton
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