August 7, 2025 • 27 mins
Welcome to part two of our deep dive into the world of Freelee the Banana Girl. In today's episode, we explore the drama that unfolded at Freelee’s Thai Fruit Festival, her explosive break up with Durianrider and her move to the jungle.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We want to issue a trigger warning as we will
be discussing themes around eating disorders and domestic violence. Hi everyone, my.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Name's Freely, and today I'm going to show you how
much fruit are.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
In a day.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Freely the Banana Girl, was the face of the online
vegan movement in Australia. The og wellness warrior captured mainstream
attention when she claims she ate fifty one bananas. Fifty
one bananas today, this is finished.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Oh my god, I'm really fool ooh.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
What started out as a mission to spread awareness about
veganism quickly became a toxic crusade for online power and clout.
Rather than fighting for the rights of animals, Freely fought
with other vegans and influences, and instead of progressing the
vegan movement, she instead progressed her own personal agenda. These days,
Freely is somewhat of an Internet urban legend of the
(00:50):
twenty ten's. Internet whispers say she's still living off the
grid in a jungle, despite her influence being at full
power over a decade ago. Her rule to fort die
is still being blamed for fueling followers eating disorders. We
are journalists Sophie and Kate Torbert, and we are fascinated
by the world of influencers and the psychology of cancel culture.
In this series, we will delve into Freeley's biggest scandals
(01:13):
for full from Grace and the Danger of Influence. When
we last left you, Freeley and her boyfriend Durian Ryder
had just lost a court battle between rival fitness couple
Kayla Atsinas and Toby Piss. We also dived into some
of Freeley's biggest controversies, but we weren't done there. Today
we are going to explore further Freeley's relationship with Durian Ryder,
(01:37):
also known by his real name Harley Johnston. Doesn't quite
have the same ring to it, doesn't Harley Johnson, No,
it doesn't.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
So.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Freely and Harley light traveling together a lot. They spent
most of their time in the US and Thailand, attending
vegan festivals and cycling. Now, Thailand held a special place
in their heart because of the fruit, in particular Durians,
and at the time back in Australia, if you can
believe it, Durians cost eighty dollars. However, in Thailand they
(02:05):
would give them away for free. That is insane. Because
I mean we grew up going to Malaysia where Durians
are very popular and they were so cheap to buy
on the street. I had no idea that they were well,
I mean, they'd be even more money now. I think
it was also around the time when bananas were really
expensive in Australia. I think it was a drought or
too much rain, something was going on. I had a
bit of a Google and for a ten kiloground box
(02:28):
of Durians to be shipped over that cost you three
hundred and twenty five dollars. So they're still very expensive. Well,
they actually have a really bad odor to them, and
a lot of Southeast Asian hotels banned them, so you're
not allowed to bring them in because of the smell.
It seems like people either love them or hate them. Now.
In twenty fourteen, Freely and Durian Rider launched their very
own vegan festival in Chang Mai called the Thai Fruit Festival.
(02:52):
And this wasn't a novel idea. The pair had been
involved in a similar festival in New York called Woodstock
Fruit Festival. God, it sounds like a place that I
would not want to go. I mean, how boring. Does
that sound a festival that fruit? I mean, I do
love a bit of fruit now and then, but I
don't think i'd be as fanatical as these people.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Now.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Durian had been a governor on the event's board. However,
he was controversially voted out because his vegan ideologies clashed
with theirs. Yeah, because Durian, writer and Freelly were renowned
for their raw Tal four diet, which incorporated cooked food. However,
the festival promoted only raw food, so Freely and Durian
(03:30):
essentially took the idea but moved it to Chang Mai
and it was the perfect destination for the festival because
it was the home to so many vegan restaurants, and
this was at a time when vegan restaurants were quite
rare in the Western world. We're seeing a lot of
influencers at the moment holding retreats for them and their followers.
For instance, Tammy Hembro, She's hosting one in Egypt this year,
(03:51):
and last year she held one in Greece, and her
followers were paying upwards of ten thousand dollars in order
to just spend time with her at this retreat, and
obviously for the accommodation. But when it came to Freely
and Durian Riders event, it was free to attend. Yeah,
and attendees got to train with Freely and Durian as
well as cycle around the city's hills, eating vegan restaurants
and listen to their ted talks. Is that because fruit's
(04:14):
pretty cheap? I know, there was obviously a few of
these experiences going on. To me, it was more about
getting into the minds of these people. So Freely and
Durian said that they were happy to donate their time
to help expand the movement and bring people together Red Flag.
They said the only feat was a couple of dollars
to eat at the vegan restaurants, and as for flights
and accommodation, attendees had to take care of it themselves. Now,
(04:35):
I would love to play some audio from the events
twenty fifteen promotion. This is Durian Ryder speaking.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
What I really loved about it is every day less
and less people would come to my talks because they'd
be hanging out with new friends, meeting new people, and
that was the goal. That was the goal, is to
introduce people, to create a little environment where people can
just bounce ideas off each other, meet other vegans and
fruitarian lovers and whatever stuff like that. So bring or
new yves or experienced people. Just bring people together and
(05:02):
create the community. So so many YouTube channels have sparked up.
Other Facebook groups have sparked up. Where to stay? Where
should I book a hotel? Harley, just fucking rock up,
Just cruise around whatever the fucking hotel you like to watch,
stay out, stay there. You don't have to book anything.
You will always get reservations in the chain. My there's
seven hundred hotels. Relax, jump on that plane, turn off.
(05:25):
Doesn't matter how fit you are, how fat you are,
what you look like, whatever, you're welcome. TI Fruit Festival
twenty fifteen, June first, June twenty first, Facebook group down below.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Look, I don't know if this sort of marketing would
fly now, but it doesn't surprise me because I feel
like the sorts of people who are fruitarians or vegans.
I might be generalizing here, but they probably wouldn't mind
staying at backpackers like they're probably not expecting some red
carpet experience. Maybe like Tammy's followers who want to be
in the best accommodation in Greece. Yeah, well, just shows
how far these events have come. And in the first year,
(05:57):
two hundred and fifty vegans from around the world joined
the festival. The following year, the festival doubled in size,
attracting five hundred people, while in twenty sixteen the event
was open to just cyclist and renamed the Raw till
four Bike Festival. Now, while the event ran smoothly in
twenty fourteen, it was marred by controversy in its second year.
So several young women accused a middle aged man connected
(06:21):
to the event of sexual assault. So these women were
staying at this guy's house in Chang Mai at the time,
and when they made the allegations, the man offered the
women free accommodation to try and smooth things over before
eventually kicking them out of his house. And the incident
caused a lot of talk in the vegan community, which
forced Freely and Jurian to respond. So Freely told her
(06:43):
YouTube subscribers that she didn't want to feed into the drama.
Let's throw to more of what she said, all right.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So many people focused on shit and drama and you know,
be a victim hol me that sort of vibe and
I don't want to be around people like that. Okay,
I decided along time ago. I don't want to be
around that energy. I don't want to be sucked into
that war text.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Wow, that's a lot of victim blaming there, particularly for
young women who have made very serious claims about an
older man. I'm very surprised by that. It shows how
far we've come in ten years.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Freely's comments didn't go down well. Someone commented on the
video saying, you're saying rape doesn't need our attention. The
person then went on to say that rape should receive
the same amount of attention as animals do.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Freely responded saying, no one got rape life out loud.
A thigh massage and hand touching is not rape. I
know this was ten years ago, but I'm absolutely rocked
that this is the way that a large influencer and
someone with status in a community would talk about someone
coming forth, a group of women coming forth and talking
about sexual assaults. Well, it gets worse. So Dury and
(07:48):
Ryder discredited the women's claim saying that they were just
attention seeking. Let's say to more of what he said.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Annie and Jill love drama, I love creating drama. I
love attention. And that's fine girls, but that's at my event.
I'm going to call out of it.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
He then went on to say this.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
I think if Jill built her fitness level up along
with Annie, if they trained together and got if they
got their if they got their doings to take time
under forty two minutes, their whole paradigm, mental paradim the
mental health would just like be so much better.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
But they do enough sport.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
They so sit around like just dramatazic to sit around
and be applying makeup and like spending four hours editing
like an Instagram Poto or whatever.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Can you imagine if an influencer put this out these
days like they would be anyone canceled. I can't believe
that he would name the women on a public scale
like this. I know he didn't use last names, but
it's pretty identifiable using their Christian name. Well, he sounds
very familiar with them to his first name basis. And
then to denigrade them by saying that they just love
gossip and drama and applying makeup and well, what about
(08:51):
the bit where he said that they need to be fitter.
So maybe if they were fitter that this wouldn't have
been a problem. But what has that got too crazy? Now?
A year later, a second the unrelated sexual assault incident
at the event came to light, and Durian received an
email from the victims accusing another man of pretending to
be vegan to gain their trust, and then, following the
(09:12):
twenty sixteen Fruit Festival, Harley took to Facebook to accuse
little known vegan YouTuber is or Mazard of being predatory
to teenage girls at the event. Durian shared a photo
of the YouTuber and wrote, I can't confirm one hundred
percent yet if this is true, but this piece of
shit is allegedly in Chang Mayan asking teenage girls for
money and I assume probably sex, etc. Is he another
(09:35):
If you see him in town or know what hotel
or apartment he is staying in, then please tell me.
You can remain anonymous. Of course, I know some of
the guys have spoken to me about him and want
to confront him, but until we can confirm anything, let's
keep it relatively nonviolent. If he has broken any rules,
we will citizens arrest him and hand him over to
the Thai police. If they don't do anything, then yes,
(09:57):
we can serve justice to the amount we feel is fair.
We have a large number of very trusting young women
in our community, and we want to set a loud
example that predators would be better avoiding our group at
all times, and if they want to pray, then we
will prey on them harder and faster. What an absolute
turn of events. You know, a few years before, women
are making legitimate claims about sexual assault and harassment that's
(10:19):
been perpetrated at these events or by people connected to
these events allegedly, and then now suddenly a guy who's
not connected to you, who is some sort of rival YouTube.
But you're saying, oh my god, we have such a
community of women that we've got to protect. It's all
of his fault. And I mean, it's clear that Jurian
has been trying to protect his festival at all costs,
and he realizes that this is a systemic problem and
(10:41):
it's running rampant, so he's got to blame someone else.
Things change, though, when Jurian writer continued to level very
serious allegations against isel So Durian accused him of being
a pedophile, having a criminal record, and claimed he lured
young girls to his apartment in Changmi for unsolicited sexual encounters.
He also threatened to send goons around to his apartment
to kidnap him. Now Izel verminently denied these allegations and,
(11:04):
in a bit to clear his name, shared his criminal
record on YouTube. He hid back, saying Durien has targeted
him because he called Freely out on his YouTube channel.
Is also went on to apologize to Freely over the videos.
He also claimed the dispute came down to their differing
vegan values, and during the war of words, Isel even
challenged Harley to a boxing match. Aw that's very Jordan
Simmi of him and Logan Paul. Now, as this controversy intensified,
(11:30):
Isel created a fundraising campaign to raise money to sue
Durian for defamation, and he ended up raising six and
a half thousand dollars. This didn't stop Durian, though, Instead,
he confronted Isel during a live chat and asked him
what he'd done with that money.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Now.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Jurian claimed the Isel had stolen this money for the
upcoming court case from his followers and was using that
money to support himself. Gosh, it's just It's such a
slinging match, isn't it. This drama is next level. Like
I think about some of the things that we talk
about on our podcast as being a big deal, and
I'm like, this is actually very serious. Should have had
the podcast ten years ago. Now. Whilst trying to find
(12:08):
out whatever happened with this defamation case, I came across
a blog that Isizel still actually updates, and in November seventeen,
he had shared an update entitled Durian Writer the Court
Case Final Update and Reflections. But when I went to
go and look at the video, it turned out the
video had been deleted, and it appears the bulk of
(12:30):
the videos associated with these allegations have also been deleted,
which leads me to believe that the case must have
been settled out of court and both parties were perhaps
told to remove the offending material, because that quite often
happens in these situations, a bit like what happened with
Durian Writer and Kaylorestinas. Now, Harley's claims against Isel ended
(12:51):
up coming back to bite him because in twenty sixteen,
a YouTuber called Hannah alleged that Durian had sexually harassed
her while he was on a break from Freely. In
twenty fifteen, Hannah uploaded a YouTube video saying she felt
like she had to go public after hearing Durian make
the same accusations against Isle. Now, Freely got on the
(13:11):
front foot and she labeled Hannah a liar, and she
said that Hannah got a world of hate for her lives,
a pretty bold statement. Hannah then came out and refuted
what Freeley said. She claims that Freely contacted her when
she was on this break from Durian Ryder and said
that and said that Durian had been with a lot
(13:32):
of young girls while they weren't together. Then, of course,
Freeley got back with Durian and completely changed her tune.
They did break up again though, in June twenty sixteen.
Around the same time, Durian also became embroiled in another
online stout, this time with a YouTuber called Jen Now Tragically.
Jen was sharing her battle with breast cancer, and she
(13:52):
asked her subscribers to help her with donations for her treatment,
as she sadly couldn't afford it now. Rather than helping
amplify Jen's requests for help, Durian jumped on his channel
and called her a scammer. He questioned the legitimacy of
Jen's claims and said he looked into her eyes in
the video and saw darkness. He said in a now
(14:13):
deleted video that Jen Girl is too much of a
victim for her immune system to be strong enough for recovery.
In my opinion, again, I'm open to be proven wrong.
I mean a bit of a bold statement that you
can just tell in someone's eyes that they're not actually
going through a cancer journey. Absolutely awful. Now, Jen ended
up sharing her medical paperwork to prove that she did
(14:35):
in fact have cancer. How disgusting is that that someone's
actually got to go to the next level of having
to provide their medical records. She also went on to
document her treatment. Sadly, though, Jen had to stop treatment
after she couldn't raise enough money to continue it, and devastatingly,
she passed away shortly after. That is just absolutely tragic.
It is so awful, and I do find it ironic
(14:56):
how the figureheads of this online vegan community spent most
of their time fighting with other vegans instead of actually
focusing on progressing the vegan movement. They were instead all
about progressing their own personal agendas, and it wasn't an
isolated incident with Freely and Jury, and it was very
common in the vegan community. The personal attacks were very
ingrained with vegan vloggers because they clearly were more interested
(15:19):
in building a following and also being the figureheads of
that community. There seemed to be a lot of competition
amongst them. Yeah, and I think a big part of
the problem were these individuals putting their face and identity
to the cause, so the emphasis was then placed on
the individual to represent the movement. And it's a clear
example of mixing your moral philosophy with your own personal brand,
(15:41):
and it definitely gave the vegan movement a very bad name,
which I don't think they've actually managed to get rid
of yet. Yeah. It's a very strange one because at
the core of the vegan movement, its supposed to be
peaceful because you're trying to protect the rights of animals.
Yet everyone was literally spending their time personally attacking one another. Yeah,
and I think a lot of them thought they were
wholely than now because they were vegan, and it seems
(16:02):
like many of them thought that being vegan made them
better people, and it was all about ego and trying
to get the title of top dog or top guru
of the vegan movement. I mean not to call the
vegan movement a cult, but you do see in a
lot of cults that there are usually figureheads who really
get off on telling younger people and people in the
less powerful positions what to do. And there's so much
(16:25):
hype around who the leaders are and people just blindly
follow whatever they say, which seems to be taken to
a grander scale when you have an online platform like
they did. Yeah, and I mean I can understand it
from a strategy perspective because these scandals that they were
creating by battling it out for the title of the
best vegan really did create engagement of views. But a
(16:45):
lot of non vegans were no doubt tuning in and
just laughing about it. And unfortunately, throughout this whole time,
an Almals really played second fiddle to the vegan vloggers
because they put their personal ego and brands ahead of
the course. After being one another's biggest supporters, Freely and
Durian quickly became each other's biggest enemies. So the pair
(17:07):
called it quits in June twenty sixteen, but went public
with the news in September. Now, the announcement spiked one
of the biggest vegan fights the Internet has ever seen,
so Jurian uploaded a YouTube video entitled why We Broke
Up the one hundred percent Truth, which we were seeing
all big influences doing this at the time. I heard
that baby. That was a very similar title to chiny
(17:30):
Grimman's video about Jonathan sour like why we Broke Up Now.
In the video, Durian cried as he revealed that their
happy online relationship was volatile and sometimes violent behind the scenes.
Durien labeled Freely the best manipulator he had met in
his life. Let's throw too more of what he said.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Truth is man. She was so abusive to me, she said,
he me what and I was got of called it.
But then last year I'd hit her back. You know,
I think, if you're going to hit like a man,
then you've got to get got to get hit back.
And I never ever hit feeling in the face. I
never used any more force than was needed. I would
(18:12):
just push her off with a pin it out and
just punch on the leg with hord and just say
is non acceptable? Behavior, control your anger. She's just got
a really bad temper. Man aster brothers, and I guess
she saw me as a brother and you know we'd
have our arguments, and that she did not up just
coming at me. You know, she should scratch me so
hard in my arms, you know, the bleed things like that.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
That's very confronting to listen to. And it's very sad
to hear that that was allegedly going on behind the scenes.
It's really ran now to hear influences open up about
their relationships online. We don't often hear people speaking about
domestic violence and what goes on behind the scenes when
both parties are known, and particularly in that manner. I mean,
(18:56):
currently this country is going through a crisis when it
comes to domestic violence, and it's really hard to hear
someone detail all of that and weaponize it against a woman,
and to hear dury and say, oh, it's okay that
I hit her because she hit me, and then not
to have her side of events. Now. Harley also went
on to claim that Freely stole his lifestyle concept. He
(19:19):
also alleged that Freely had been using botox since twenty
thirteen and intentionally hit it from him, as well as
accusing her of forcing her new boyfriend to get a vasectomy. Now,
the reason she would have hid from Harley and her
audience that she got botox is because it's not vegan,
so it's actually made from a bacteria that can be
found in animals like pigs and fish. Oh wow, I
didn't realize that. I thought it might have come down
(19:40):
to the fact that she wanted to portray that she
looked so youthful and young because she was eating this
vegan diet and it wasn't that she was relying on
cosmetic procedures. But also, if you're really picky about what
you're putting into your body, it's interesting that you woul
choose to put some sort of poison in your face
to help you look better. Well, there is a lot
of hypocrisy with lifestyle influences even now. Yeah, Well, Freely
(20:01):
did come out and deny the majority of Durian's claims.
She was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying, if
it was true that I was beating him up all
the time, then why did he stay? I mean again,
we know that that Rhada is Yeah, why did he
have no marks on him? Even though he was making
daily videos because it's not true. Him accusing me as
an insult to real sufferers of domestic violence. It makes
(20:22):
light of their suffering. Now Freely did, however, admit that
there were times during their relationship that they were somewhat
physical with each other. She said, The irony is he
actually hit me many times, and not in defense. He
has swung a bag violently at my face and left
a scratch across my face. He has punched me in
the face with his fist after I affectionately nibbled on
his ear, which was apparently sore. He reacted by punching
(20:44):
me in the face and saying why the fuck did
you do that. He has punched and kicked me so
hard and leg before multiple times that I couldn't walk
properly for the rest of the day. Again, that is
just so confronting to hear, antually awful. It really surprises
me that that was a quote that was published. Well,
maybe not so much when you realize it was in
the Daily Mail, but it's very alarming to hear that.
(21:05):
Now Freely also claimed that Durian's alleged violent behavior was
caused by steroid abuse, which Durian has vehemently denied. It's
so interesting that she has hit back at his botox
claims by saying, oh, well, he was on steroids, because
now you're questioning, well, what part of your lifestyle was genuine?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Freely did end up denying that she used botox. She
did admit to using a plant based alternative product, though,
and in addition to defending herself, Freely leveled her own
claims against Durian. So she accused him of cheating on
her with multiple women, and she also alleged that Jurian
expressed interest in one of their underage followers, as well
as blackmailed her to continue to do videos with him. Gosh,
(21:46):
this is also dark and sinister. It really is now.
In twenty twenty two, six years after their breakup, Durian
addressed the split again in an episode of his podcast,
Durian Writer Raw Truth. In the episode, he accused Freely
of ripping him off by at least five hundred thousand dollars.
He explained that he pursued her legally in a civil
(22:08):
family court in a bit to divide their assets, but
claimed that Freely fled to Ecuador to avoid the court case.
On the episode, Duren also said, I'm telling the truth.
She's full of shit, you know, and that's hey, that's women,
you know, and feminine men. He went on to say
that he didn't end up pursuing a defamation case against
Freely like Johnny Depp did with Amber Heard, because he
(22:30):
didn't have the money and the lawyers just win out.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
He also said this, but he really got understand the
responsibility as a boyfriend, as a lover. If she's making
someone calm and then I feel rejected by you one day, damn.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Yeah, you know, you could end up in some really
hot water. So again, just want to reiterate, got no
hate for Freely at all. You know, I totally understand
where she's coming from. I did make her feel rejected.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
This has made me feel so sick. I mean, I
listened to the whole podcast. He spoke a lot about
women climaxing in this sort of context, and it just
made no sense to me. I'm like, what are you
going on about it? It's revolting. I can't believe that
this podcast aired in twenty twenty two and this guy
still has a platform. I'd often know having downloads he
got on this. I don't think there's a lot of
people who listened to it, So would have you been
(23:21):
excited when it popped up that there was one extra
from you for this? Yeah? Well. He also went into
more detail about the alleged domestic violence claims he accused
Freely of pulling a knife on him and neeing him.
He said that Freely should be a UFC fighter, as
he's never been hit harder by anyone before. It was
around the time of the breakup that Freely's YouTube channel
really started falling apart, and instead of blaming the content
(23:44):
or maybe what had been going on, she said that
it was YouTube's fault because at the time the platform
was having issues with their big advertisers and it was
dubbed ad apocalypse. Yeah, so basically what was happening were Yeah,
So basically what happened was big advertise started pulling their
ads from YouTube because they didn't want their ads shown
alongside controversial and problematic content like Freely and Durian Writers,
(24:08):
and in response, YouTube tightened its content moderation Policiason demanetized
a lot of channels, so it caused a lot of
backlash from creators, including Freely. Freely claimed her subscribers were
not only not being shown her content, but being automatically unsubscribed,
and to try and combat the algorithm, Freely moved away
from call out videos and began filming a lot of
(24:30):
ASMR videos. She also started up a new channel called
the Frugovore Diet, where she still uploads call out videos
and vegan lifestyle videos. It never quite had the same
traction as her original YouTube channel. Not long after her
very public breakup, Freely took a bit of a hiatus
from YouTube, and in February twenty eighteen, she revealed that
(24:51):
she had moved to Ecuador to live off the grid.
Now she moved into a cabin in the South American
jungle with a new partner called Snowban like snow Feed
better than dream Rider. Very cute, isn't it, And at
the time she revealed she felt freer than ever, saying,
I spend most of my day's nude, free of restrictive clothing.
I feat mostly on organic fruits and vegetables picked from
(25:12):
the land. I shower in monsoonal rains and drink from
pristine creeks. I quit an unhealthy relationship and found peace.
I haven't shaved my body hair dyed my hair, or
worn makeup in over six months Soun's liberating Wow Yeah Well.
By May twenty eighteen, Freely's followers began getting suspicious about
her supposed grid free lifestyle, and in late June, Freely
(25:35):
addressed the allegations on Instagram, revealing her life had been
really tough at times. She wrote one comment, I said
I was lying and living in a mansion out here,
and I have a photographer who follows me around taking
all my picks. Not quite, honey. In reality, I have
been living in a tent under a shed for many
months through monsoonal rain and gale force winds. Yes, I
do have a smartphone but no reception, laptop and Internet
(25:57):
made possible through a satellite connection necessary tools of communication
and income. This means I can share with you what
I see as an empowering, urgent message. At this stage,
I can't send you that message telepathically. I can see
the whole hypocrisy of it, though, because it's like I'm
living this very off the grid lifestyle where I'm free
and away from the judgment of others. Yet I'm still
(26:18):
going to create content that I upload to the Internet
to show you all like it just doesn't really make sense,
does it? And monetize it now? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Now.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
In September twenty eighteen, Freely confirmed that she had moved
from Ecuador to the Australian Jungle, where she still lives now.
At the time, she revealed that she was working on
the most controversial book she had ever written, which almost
cost her relationship with Snowpea. Now we are still awaiting
the launch of that book, and that is where we
are going to leave things. Well, I really hope that
(26:49):
this book doesn't see the light of day, because I mean,
if this is her most controversial book, what sort of
advice is she providing in there? Yeah, And as we
discussed in the first episode, a lot of people, people
who followed her Raw till four Guide are still dealing
with the damage it caused them all those years ago.
I'm guessing this would have to be self published because
she doesn't have an engaged community anymore. Who would want
(27:12):
to put their neck on the line and say, I'm
backing this woman and I'm publishing this book. Yeah, I
think she would have struggle to find a publisher. Well,
thank you for listening to this special series of Outspoken.
It has been really interesting looking back ten years ago,
which seems like about thirty years ago. I think things
have changed so much for the better over the last decade.
If you do enjoy the podcast, we would love if
(27:34):
you could share it with a friend. This podcast was
recorded on the traditional land of the Ghana people of
the Adelaide Planes. We pay respect to elders past and present,
We want to issue a trigger warning as we will
be discussing themes around eating disorders and domestic violence. Hi everyone, my.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Name's Freely, and today I'm going to show you how
much fruit are.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
In a day.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Freely the Banana Girl, was the face of the online
vegan movement in Australia. The og wellness warrior captured mainstream
attention when she claims she ate fifty one bananas. Fifty
one bananas today, this is finished.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Oh my god, I'm really fool ooh.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
What started out as a mission to spread awareness about
veganism quickly became a toxic crusade for online power and clout.
Rather than fighting for the rights of animals, Freely fought
with other vegans and influences, and instead of progressing the
vegan movement, she instead progressed her own personal agenda. These days,
Freely is somewhat of an Internet urban legend of the
(00:50):
twenty ten's. Internet whispers say she's still living off the
grid in a jungle, despite her influence being at full
power over a decade ago. Her rule to fort die
is still being blamed for fueling followers eating disorders. We
are journalists Sophie and Kate Torbert, and we are fascinated
by the world of influencers and the psychology of cancel culture.
In this series, we will delve into Freeley's biggest scandals
(01:13):
for full from Grace and the Danger of Influence. When
we last left you, Freeley and her boyfriend Durian Ryder
had just lost a court battle between rival fitness couple
Kayla Atsinas and Toby Piss. We also dived into some
of Freeley's biggest controversies, but we weren't done there. Today
we are going to explore further Freeley's relationship with Durian Ryder,
(01:37):
also known by his real name Harley Johnston. Doesn't quite
have the same ring to it, doesn't Harley Johnson, No,
it doesn't.
Speaker 4 (01:43):
So.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Freely and Harley light traveling together a lot. They spent
most of their time in the US and Thailand, attending
vegan festivals and cycling. Now, Thailand held a special place
in their heart because of the fruit, in particular Durians,
and at the time back in Australia, if you can
believe it, Durians cost eighty dollars. However, in Thailand they
(02:05):
would give them away for free. That is insane. Because
I mean we grew up going to Malaysia where Durians
are very popular and they were so cheap to buy
on the street. I had no idea that they were well,
I mean, they'd be even more money now. I think
it was also around the time when bananas were really
expensive in Australia. I think it was a drought or
too much rain, something was going on. I had a
bit of a Google and for a ten kiloground box
(02:28):
of Durians to be shipped over that cost you three
hundred and twenty five dollars. So they're still very expensive. Well,
they actually have a really bad odor to them, and
a lot of Southeast Asian hotels banned them, so you're
not allowed to bring them in because of the smell.
It seems like people either love them or hate them. Now.
In twenty fourteen, Freely and Durian Rider launched their very
own vegan festival in Chang Mai called the Thai Fruit Festival.
(02:52):
And this wasn't a novel idea. The pair had been
involved in a similar festival in New York called Woodstock
Fruit Festival. God, it sounds like a place that I
would not want to go. I mean, how boring. Does
that sound a festival that fruit? I mean, I do
love a bit of fruit now and then, but I
don't think i'd be as fanatical as these people.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Now.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Durian had been a governor on the event's board. However,
he was controversially voted out because his vegan ideologies clashed
with theirs. Yeah, because Durian, writer and Freelly were renowned
for their raw Tal four diet, which incorporated cooked food. However,
the festival promoted only raw food, so Freely and Durian
(03:30):
essentially took the idea but moved it to Chang Mai
and it was the perfect destination for the festival because
it was the home to so many vegan restaurants, and
this was at a time when vegan restaurants were quite
rare in the Western world. We're seeing a lot of
influencers at the moment holding retreats for them and their followers.
For instance, Tammy Hembro, She's hosting one in Egypt this year,
(03:51):
and last year she held one in Greece, and her
followers were paying upwards of ten thousand dollars in order
to just spend time with her at this retreat, and
obviously for the accommodation. But when it came to Freely
and Durian Riders event, it was free to attend. Yeah,
and attendees got to train with Freely and Durian as
well as cycle around the city's hills, eating vegan restaurants
and listen to their ted talks. Is that because fruit's
(04:14):
pretty cheap? I know, there was obviously a few of
these experiences going on. To me, it was more about
getting into the minds of these people. So Freely and
Durian said that they were happy to donate their time
to help expand the movement and bring people together Red Flag.
They said the only feat was a couple of dollars
to eat at the vegan restaurants, and as for flights
and accommodation, attendees had to take care of it themselves. Now,
(04:35):
I would love to play some audio from the events
twenty fifteen promotion. This is Durian Ryder speaking.
Speaker 5 (04:42):
What I really loved about it is every day less
and less people would come to my talks because they'd
be hanging out with new friends, meeting new people, and
that was the goal. That was the goal, is to
introduce people, to create a little environment where people can
just bounce ideas off each other, meet other vegans and
fruitarian lovers and whatever stuff like that. So bring or
new yves or experienced people. Just bring people together and
(05:02):
create the community. So so many YouTube channels have sparked up.
Other Facebook groups have sparked up. Where to stay? Where
should I book a hotel? Harley, just fucking rock up,
Just cruise around whatever the fucking hotel you like to watch,
stay out, stay there. You don't have to book anything.
You will always get reservations in the chain. My there's
seven hundred hotels. Relax, jump on that plane, turn off.
(05:25):
Doesn't matter how fit you are, how fat you are,
what you look like, whatever, you're welcome. TI Fruit Festival
twenty fifteen, June first, June twenty first, Facebook group down below.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Look, I don't know if this sort of marketing would
fly now, but it doesn't surprise me because I feel
like the sorts of people who are fruitarians or vegans.
I might be generalizing here, but they probably wouldn't mind
staying at backpackers like they're probably not expecting some red
carpet experience. Maybe like Tammy's followers who want to be
in the best accommodation in Greece. Yeah, well, just shows
how far these events have come. And in the first year,
(05:57):
two hundred and fifty vegans from around the world joined
the festival. The following year, the festival doubled in size,
attracting five hundred people, while in twenty sixteen the event
was open to just cyclist and renamed the Raw till
four Bike Festival. Now, while the event ran smoothly in
twenty fourteen, it was marred by controversy in its second year.
So several young women accused a middle aged man connected
(06:21):
to the event of sexual assault. So these women were
staying at this guy's house in Chang Mai at the time,
and when they made the allegations, the man offered the
women free accommodation to try and smooth things over before
eventually kicking them out of his house. And the incident
caused a lot of talk in the vegan community, which
forced Freely and Jurian to respond. So Freely told her
(06:43):
YouTube subscribers that she didn't want to feed into the drama.
Let's throw to more of what she said, all right.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
So many people focused on shit and drama and you know,
be a victim hol me that sort of vibe and
I don't want to be around people like that. Okay,
I decided along time ago. I don't want to be
around that energy. I don't want to be sucked into
that war text.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Wow, that's a lot of victim blaming there, particularly for
young women who have made very serious claims about an
older man. I'm very surprised by that. It shows how
far we've come in ten years.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Freely's comments didn't go down well. Someone commented on the
video saying, you're saying rape doesn't need our attention. The
person then went on to say that rape should receive
the same amount of attention as animals do.
Speaker 5 (07:28):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Freely responded saying, no one got rape life out loud.
A thigh massage and hand touching is not rape. I
know this was ten years ago, but I'm absolutely rocked
that this is the way that a large influencer and
someone with status in a community would talk about someone
coming forth, a group of women coming forth and talking
about sexual assaults. Well, it gets worse. So Dury and
(07:48):
Ryder discredited the women's claim saying that they were just
attention seeking. Let's say to more of what he said.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Annie and Jill love drama, I love creating drama. I
love attention. And that's fine girls, but that's at my event.
I'm going to call out of it.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
He then went on to say this.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
I think if Jill built her fitness level up along
with Annie, if they trained together and got if they
got their if they got their doings to take time
under forty two minutes, their whole paradigm, mental paradim the
mental health would just like be so much better.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
But they do enough sport.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
They so sit around like just dramatazic to sit around
and be applying makeup and like spending four hours editing
like an Instagram Poto or whatever.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Can you imagine if an influencer put this out these
days like they would be anyone canceled. I can't believe
that he would name the women on a public scale
like this. I know he didn't use last names, but
it's pretty identifiable using their Christian name. Well, he sounds
very familiar with them to his first name basis. And
then to denigrade them by saying that they just love
gossip and drama and applying makeup and well, what about
(08:51):
the bit where he said that they need to be fitter.
So maybe if they were fitter that this wouldn't have
been a problem. But what has that got too crazy? Now?
A year later, a second the unrelated sexual assault incident
at the event came to light, and Durian received an
email from the victims accusing another man of pretending to
be vegan to gain their trust, and then, following the
(09:12):
twenty sixteen Fruit Festival, Harley took to Facebook to accuse
little known vegan YouTuber is or Mazard of being predatory
to teenage girls at the event. Durian shared a photo
of the YouTuber and wrote, I can't confirm one hundred
percent yet if this is true, but this piece of
shit is allegedly in Chang Mayan asking teenage girls for
money and I assume probably sex, etc. Is he another
(09:35):
If you see him in town or know what hotel
or apartment he is staying in, then please tell me.
You can remain anonymous. Of course, I know some of
the guys have spoken to me about him and want
to confront him, but until we can confirm anything, let's
keep it relatively nonviolent. If he has broken any rules,
we will citizens arrest him and hand him over to
the Thai police. If they don't do anything, then yes,
(09:57):
we can serve justice to the amount we feel is fair.
We have a large number of very trusting young women
in our community, and we want to set a loud
example that predators would be better avoiding our group at
all times, and if they want to pray, then we
will prey on them harder and faster. What an absolute
turn of events. You know, a few years before, women
are making legitimate claims about sexual assault and harassment that's
(10:19):
been perpetrated at these events or by people connected to
these events allegedly, and then now suddenly a guy who's
not connected to you, who is some sort of rival YouTube.
But you're saying, oh my god, we have such a
community of women that we've got to protect. It's all
of his fault. And I mean, it's clear that Jurian
has been trying to protect his festival at all costs,
and he realizes that this is a systemic problem and
(10:41):
it's running rampant, so he's got to blame someone else.
Things change, though, when Jurian writer continued to level very
serious allegations against isel So Durian accused him of being
a pedophile, having a criminal record, and claimed he lured
young girls to his apartment in Changmi for unsolicited sexual encounters.
He also threatened to send goons around to his apartment
to kidnap him. Now Izel verminently denied these allegations and,
(11:04):
in a bit to clear his name, shared his criminal
record on YouTube. He hid back, saying Durien has targeted
him because he called Freely out on his YouTube channel.
Is also went on to apologize to Freely over the videos.
He also claimed the dispute came down to their differing
vegan values, and during the war of words, Isel even
challenged Harley to a boxing match. Aw that's very Jordan
Simmi of him and Logan Paul. Now, as this controversy intensified,
(11:30):
Isel created a fundraising campaign to raise money to sue
Durian for defamation, and he ended up raising six and
a half thousand dollars. This didn't stop Durian, though, Instead,
he confronted Isel during a live chat and asked him
what he'd done with that money.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Now.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Jurian claimed the Isel had stolen this money for the
upcoming court case from his followers and was using that
money to support himself. Gosh, it's just It's such a
slinging match, isn't it. This drama is next level. Like
I think about some of the things that we talk
about on our podcast as being a big deal, and
I'm like, this is actually very serious. Should have had
the podcast ten years ago. Now. Whilst trying to find
(12:08):
out whatever happened with this defamation case, I came across
a blog that Isizel still actually updates, and in November seventeen,
he had shared an update entitled Durian Writer the Court
Case Final Update and Reflections. But when I went to
go and look at the video, it turned out the
video had been deleted, and it appears the bulk of
(12:30):
the videos associated with these allegations have also been deleted,
which leads me to believe that the case must have
been settled out of court and both parties were perhaps
told to remove the offending material, because that quite often
happens in these situations, a bit like what happened with
Durian Writer and Kaylorestinas. Now, Harley's claims against Isel ended
(12:51):
up coming back to bite him because in twenty sixteen,
a YouTuber called Hannah alleged that Durian had sexually harassed
her while he was on a break from Freely. In
twenty fifteen, Hannah uploaded a YouTube video saying she felt
like she had to go public after hearing Durian make
the same accusations against Isle. Now, Freely got on the
(13:11):
front foot and she labeled Hannah a liar, and she
said that Hannah got a world of hate for her lives,
a pretty bold statement. Hannah then came out and refuted
what Freeley said. She claims that Freely contacted her when
she was on this break from Durian Ryder and said
that and said that Durian had been with a lot
(13:32):
of young girls while they weren't together. Then, of course,
Freeley got back with Durian and completely changed her tune.
They did break up again though, in June twenty sixteen.
Around the same time, Durian also became embroiled in another
online stout, this time with a YouTuber called Jen Now Tragically.
Jen was sharing her battle with breast cancer, and she
(13:52):
asked her subscribers to help her with donations for her treatment,
as she sadly couldn't afford it now. Rather than helping
amplify Jen's requests for help, Durian jumped on his channel
and called her a scammer. He questioned the legitimacy of
Jen's claims and said he looked into her eyes in
the video and saw darkness. He said in a now
(14:13):
deleted video that Jen Girl is too much of a
victim for her immune system to be strong enough for recovery.
In my opinion, again, I'm open to be proven wrong.
I mean a bit of a bold statement that you
can just tell in someone's eyes that they're not actually
going through a cancer journey. Absolutely awful. Now, Jen ended
up sharing her medical paperwork to prove that she did
(14:35):
in fact have cancer. How disgusting is that that someone's
actually got to go to the next level of having
to provide their medical records. She also went on to
document her treatment. Sadly, though, Jen had to stop treatment
after she couldn't raise enough money to continue it, and devastatingly,
she passed away shortly after. That is just absolutely tragic.
It is so awful, and I do find it ironic
(14:56):
how the figureheads of this online vegan community spent most
of their time fighting with other vegans instead of actually
focusing on progressing the vegan movement. They were instead all
about progressing their own personal agendas, and it wasn't an
isolated incident with Freely and Jury, and it was very
common in the vegan community. The personal attacks were very
ingrained with vegan vloggers because they clearly were more interested
(15:19):
in building a following and also being the figureheads of
that community. There seemed to be a lot of competition
amongst them. Yeah, and I think a big part of
the problem were these individuals putting their face and identity
to the cause, so the emphasis was then placed on
the individual to represent the movement. And it's a clear
example of mixing your moral philosophy with your own personal brand,
(15:41):
and it definitely gave the vegan movement a very bad name,
which I don't think they've actually managed to get rid
of yet. Yeah. It's a very strange one because at
the core of the vegan movement, its supposed to be
peaceful because you're trying to protect the rights of animals.
Yet everyone was literally spending their time personally attacking one another. Yeah,
and I think a lot of them thought they were
wholely than now because they were vegan, and it seems
(16:02):
like many of them thought that being vegan made them
better people, and it was all about ego and trying
to get the title of top dog or top guru
of the vegan movement. I mean not to call the
vegan movement a cult, but you do see in a
lot of cults that there are usually figureheads who really
get off on telling younger people and people in the
less powerful positions what to do. And there's so much
(16:25):
hype around who the leaders are and people just blindly
follow whatever they say, which seems to be taken to
a grander scale when you have an online platform like
they did. Yeah, and I mean I can understand it
from a strategy perspective because these scandals that they were
creating by battling it out for the title of the
best vegan really did create engagement of views. But a
(16:45):
lot of non vegans were no doubt tuning in and
just laughing about it. And unfortunately, throughout this whole time,
an Almals really played second fiddle to the vegan vloggers
because they put their personal ego and brands ahead of
the course. After being one another's biggest supporters, Freely and
Durian quickly became each other's biggest enemies. So the pair
(17:07):
called it quits in June twenty sixteen, but went public
with the news in September. Now, the announcement spiked one
of the biggest vegan fights the Internet has ever seen,
so Jurian uploaded a YouTube video entitled why We Broke
Up the one hundred percent Truth, which we were seeing
all big influences doing this at the time. I heard
that baby. That was a very similar title to chiny
(17:30):
Grimman's video about Jonathan sour like why we Broke Up Now.
In the video, Durian cried as he revealed that their
happy online relationship was volatile and sometimes violent behind the scenes.
Durien labeled Freely the best manipulator he had met in
his life. Let's throw too more of what he said.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Truth is man. She was so abusive to me, she said,
he me what and I was got of called it.
But then last year I'd hit her back. You know,
I think, if you're going to hit like a man,
then you've got to get got to get hit back.
And I never ever hit feeling in the face. I
never used any more force than was needed. I would
(18:12):
just push her off with a pin it out and
just punch on the leg with hord and just say
is non acceptable? Behavior, control your anger. She's just got
a really bad temper. Man aster brothers, and I guess
she saw me as a brother and you know we'd
have our arguments, and that she did not up just
coming at me. You know, she should scratch me so
hard in my arms, you know, the bleed things like that.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
That's very confronting to listen to. And it's very sad
to hear that that was allegedly going on behind the scenes.
It's really ran now to hear influences open up about
their relationships online. We don't often hear people speaking about
domestic violence and what goes on behind the scenes when
both parties are known, and particularly in that manner. I mean,
(18:56):
currently this country is going through a crisis when it
comes to domestic violence, and it's really hard to hear
someone detail all of that and weaponize it against a woman,
and to hear dury and say, oh, it's okay that
I hit her because she hit me, and then not
to have her side of events. Now. Harley also went
on to claim that Freely stole his lifestyle concept. He
(19:19):
also alleged that Freely had been using botox since twenty
thirteen and intentionally hit it from him, as well as
accusing her of forcing her new boyfriend to get a vasectomy. Now,
the reason she would have hid from Harley and her
audience that she got botox is because it's not vegan,
so it's actually made from a bacteria that can be
found in animals like pigs and fish. Oh wow, I
didn't realize that. I thought it might have come down
(19:40):
to the fact that she wanted to portray that she
looked so youthful and young because she was eating this
vegan diet and it wasn't that she was relying on
cosmetic procedures. But also, if you're really picky about what
you're putting into your body, it's interesting that you woul
choose to put some sort of poison in your face
to help you look better. Well, there is a lot
of hypocrisy with lifestyle influences even now. Yeah, Well, Freely
(20:01):
did come out and deny the majority of Durian's claims.
She was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying, if
it was true that I was beating him up all
the time, then why did he stay? I mean again,
we know that that Rhada is Yeah, why did he
have no marks on him? Even though he was making
daily videos because it's not true. Him accusing me as
an insult to real sufferers of domestic violence. It makes
(20:22):
light of their suffering. Now Freely did, however, admit that
there were times during their relationship that they were somewhat
physical with each other. She said, The irony is he
actually hit me many times, and not in defense. He
has swung a bag violently at my face and left
a scratch across my face. He has punched me in
the face with his fist after I affectionately nibbled on
his ear, which was apparently sore. He reacted by punching
(20:44):
me in the face and saying why the fuck did
you do that. He has punched and kicked me so
hard and leg before multiple times that I couldn't walk
properly for the rest of the day. Again, that is
just so confronting to hear, antually awful. It really surprises
me that that was a quote that was published. Well,
maybe not so much when you realize it was in
the Daily Mail, but it's very alarming to hear that.
(21:05):
Now Freely also claimed that Durian's alleged violent behavior was
caused by steroid abuse, which Durian has vehemently denied. It's
so interesting that she has hit back at his botox
claims by saying, oh, well, he was on steroids, because
now you're questioning, well, what part of your lifestyle was genuine?
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Freely did end up denying that she used botox. She
did admit to using a plant based alternative product, though,
and in addition to defending herself, Freely leveled her own
claims against Durian. So she accused him of cheating on
her with multiple women, and she also alleged that Jurian
expressed interest in one of their underage followers, as well
as blackmailed her to continue to do videos with him. Gosh,
(21:46):
this is also dark and sinister. It really is now.
In twenty twenty two, six years after their breakup, Durian
addressed the split again in an episode of his podcast,
Durian Writer Raw Truth. In the episode, he accused Freely
of ripping him off by at least five hundred thousand dollars.
He explained that he pursued her legally in a civil
(22:08):
family court in a bit to divide their assets, but
claimed that Freely fled to Ecuador to avoid the court case.
On the episode, Duren also said, I'm telling the truth.
She's full of shit, you know, and that's hey, that's women,
you know, and feminine men. He went on to say
that he didn't end up pursuing a defamation case against
Freely like Johnny Depp did with Amber Heard, because he
(22:30):
didn't have the money and the lawyers just win out.
Speaker 5 (22:32):
He also said this, but he really got understand the
responsibility as a boyfriend, as a lover. If she's making
someone calm and then I feel rejected by you one day, damn.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Yeah, you know, you could end up in some really
hot water. So again, just want to reiterate, got no
hate for Freely at all. You know, I totally understand
where she's coming from. I did make her feel rejected.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
This has made me feel so sick. I mean, I
listened to the whole podcast. He spoke a lot about
women climaxing in this sort of context, and it just
made no sense to me. I'm like, what are you
going on about it? It's revolting. I can't believe that
this podcast aired in twenty twenty two and this guy
still has a platform. I'd often know having downloads he
got on this. I don't think there's a lot of
people who listened to it, So would have you been
(23:21):
excited when it popped up that there was one extra
from you for this? Yeah? Well. He also went into
more detail about the alleged domestic violence claims he accused
Freely of pulling a knife on him and neeing him.
He said that Freely should be a UFC fighter, as
he's never been hit harder by anyone before. It was
around the time of the breakup that Freely's YouTube channel
really started falling apart, and instead of blaming the content
(23:44):
or maybe what had been going on, she said that
it was YouTube's fault because at the time the platform
was having issues with their big advertisers and it was
dubbed ad apocalypse. Yeah, so basically what was happening were Yeah,
So basically what happened was big advertise started pulling their
ads from YouTube because they didn't want their ads shown
alongside controversial and problematic content like Freely and Durian Writers,
(24:08):
and in response, YouTube tightened its content moderation Policiason demanetized
a lot of channels, so it caused a lot of
backlash from creators, including Freely. Freely claimed her subscribers were
not only not being shown her content, but being automatically unsubscribed,
and to try and combat the algorithm, Freely moved away
from call out videos and began filming a lot of
(24:30):
ASMR videos. She also started up a new channel called
the Frugovore Diet, where she still uploads call out videos
and vegan lifestyle videos. It never quite had the same
traction as her original YouTube channel. Not long after her
very public breakup, Freely took a bit of a hiatus
from YouTube, and in February twenty eighteen, she revealed that
(24:51):
she had moved to Ecuador to live off the grid.
Now she moved into a cabin in the South American
jungle with a new partner called Snowban like snow Feed
better than dream Rider. Very cute, isn't it, And at
the time she revealed she felt freer than ever, saying,
I spend most of my day's nude, free of restrictive clothing.
I feat mostly on organic fruits and vegetables picked from
(25:12):
the land. I shower in monsoonal rains and drink from
pristine creeks. I quit an unhealthy relationship and found peace.
I haven't shaved my body hair dyed my hair, or
worn makeup in over six months Soun's liberating Wow Yeah Well.
By May twenty eighteen, Freely's followers began getting suspicious about
her supposed grid free lifestyle, and in late June, Freely
(25:35):
addressed the allegations on Instagram, revealing her life had been
really tough at times. She wrote one comment, I said
I was lying and living in a mansion out here,
and I have a photographer who follows me around taking
all my picks. Not quite, honey. In reality, I have
been living in a tent under a shed for many
months through monsoonal rain and gale force winds. Yes, I
do have a smartphone but no reception, laptop and Internet
(25:57):
made possible through a satellite connection necessary tools of communication
and income. This means I can share with you what
I see as an empowering, urgent message. At this stage,
I can't send you that message telepathically. I can see
the whole hypocrisy of it, though, because it's like I'm
living this very off the grid lifestyle where I'm free
and away from the judgment of others. Yet I'm still
(26:18):
going to create content that I upload to the Internet
to show you all like it just doesn't really make sense,
does it? And monetize it now? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Now.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
In September twenty eighteen, Freely confirmed that she had moved
from Ecuador to the Australian Jungle, where she still lives now.
At the time, she revealed that she was working on
the most controversial book she had ever written, which almost
cost her relationship with Snowpea. Now we are still awaiting
the launch of that book, and that is where we
are going to leave things. Well, I really hope that
(26:49):
this book doesn't see the light of day, because I mean,
if this is her most controversial book, what sort of
advice is she providing in there? Yeah, And as we
discussed in the first episode, a lot of people, people
who followed her Raw till four Guide are still dealing
with the damage it caused them all those years ago.
I'm guessing this would have to be self published because
she doesn't have an engaged community anymore. Who would want
(27:12):
to put their neck on the line and say, I'm
backing this woman and I'm publishing this book. Yeah, I
think she would have struggle to find a publisher. Well,
thank you for listening to this special series of Outspoken.
It has been really interesting looking back ten years ago,
which seems like about thirty years ago. I think things
have changed so much for the better over the last decade.
If you do enjoy the podcast, we would love if
(27:34):
you could share it with a friend. This podcast was
recorded on the traditional land of the Ghana people of
the Adelaide Planes. We pay respect to elders past and present,
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