What a Creep Season 10, Episode 7: Billy McFarland and the Fyre Festival (2024 replay & update)

This week, we are taking a short break to celebrate Labor Day, a three-day long weekend dedicated to honoring the hardworking people of our country. However, we have some important news about one of the biggest scams of recent years. Believe it or not, the notorious Fyre Festival is returning; unfortunately, people are still buying into the hype. Fyre Fest is already sold out for its upcoming 2024 event.

On April 28, 2017, a tweet by Trevor DeHaas, also known as @trev4president, went viral. The tweet included a photo of a meager meal consisting only of bread, cheese, and undressed salad with the caption, “Here’s the dinner they fed us tonight. Literally sliced bread, cheese, and salad with no dressing #fyrefraud #fyrefestival #dumpsterfyre.” This was just the beginning of the Fyre Festival fraud, which 25-year-old Fyre Media

CEO and founder Billy McFarland masterminded. The festival left hundreds of people stranded and millions of dollars unpaid. Join us as we delve into the story of one of the youngest and biggest fraudsters we have covered on this show.
Sources for this episode:

 

 

What a Creep Season 21, Episode 7: The Boy Scouts of America

Welcome to today’s episode, which may be a topic of controversy for some listeners. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is a highly respected youth organization with a long-standing history of over 100 years. Many renowned Americans, such as Steven Spielberg, Neil Armstrong, Gerald Ford, and Mike Bloomberg, have participated in BSA programs. As a matter of fact, a son of a friend of mine achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, which is an outstanding accomplishment.

The organization’s motto is “Do a good turn daily,” and its influence on American culture is significant. Nevertheless, there have been several scandals within the BSA, and numerous individuals feel that the organization has not handled these situations appropriately. In today’s episode, we will explore these issues in depth.

Trigger warning: Sexual abuse and grooming

Sources for this episode:

 

 

 

What a Creep Season 21, Episode 6: Shein & Temu

If you scroll through your social media channels, you’ve probably seen ads and sponsored posts about Shein and Temu.

Shein mainly sells fashion and clothes, and Temu offers just about everything: clothing, appliances, furniture, and even power tools. Both are online retailers based in China.

And they have a few other things in common, too, including accusations of violating labor laws and stealing designs. Super cool stuff!

Sources for this episode include:

Links to help Maui Wildfire victims:

 

 

 

What a Creep Season 21, Episode 5: Below Deck Down Under & The Biggest Loser

Reality TV is having an awakening right now; Bethenny Frankel announced on her Instagram that she is entering the fight for reality show casts and crews to unionize. She is working with top-notch lawyers Mark Geragos and Bryan Freedman, who sent a letter to NBC that they are planning a class action lawsuit against the network with over 80 people signing on so far to talk about mistreatment while filming Bravo shows for the last 15+ years. This is BIG news.

Today, we are discussing two shows under the NBCUniversal/Bravo umbrella accused of mistreating their casts–Below Deck and The Biggest Loser.

How it is listed on the Bravo page to this day! “Ashton Pienaar Gets In Kate Chastain’s Face After a Question Throws Him Into a Rage. Ashton loses it when Kate asks about his mother.”

Sources for The Biggest Loser
The Biggest Loser Wikipedia
The Atlantic
NY Times
The Guardian
New York Post
KQED
Distractify
People
Nikki Swift
Cracked
ET Online
ET Online 2
Breaking Muscle

What a Creep Season 21, Episode 4: Mark Wahlberg


Can you feel it, baby? We can, too. It’s time to talk about former rapper-turned-actor Mark Wahlberg. From Marky Mark and Calvin Klein ads to BOOGIE NIGHTS and TRANSFORMER movies, Wahlberg has done a lot, including hate crimes. Let’s talk about it.
Sources for this episode:
Trigger warning: Racism and homophobia

 

 

What a Creep Season 21, Episode 3: Beatrice Sparks (Go Ask Alice & Jay’s Journal)

In the 1970s & 1980s–entertainment designed to reach teenagers (and cure them of society’s ills) fell to YA writers, TV Movies, and “After School Specials.” One of the most compelling stories was the subject of 1971’s Go Ask Alice.

Based supposedly on the true story of a teen girl who delved into drugs and ultimately lost her life, it was designed to scare the audience, and the 1973 film cemented its importance as a tool for communicating between generations.

Beatrice Sparks billed herself as an adolescent psychology expert with an uncanny ability to write stories based on true-life journals and in-person interview sessions (thousands, she claimed.) But how true were her supposed nonfiction works?

Trigger warnings: Addiction and discussion of suicide

Sources for this episode:
Quillette:
Beatrice Sparks Wikipedia
Esquire magazine
Jezebel
Rolling Stone
New York Times
Salt Lake City Weekly (1998)
Houston Public Media
Salt Lake City Tribune
Sydney Morning Herald
Rick Emerson: Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter Behind the World’s Most Notorious Diaries”
The New Yorker
Slate
Vanity Fair

 

 

 

What a Creep Season 21, Episode 2: The AMPTP and the Hollywood Strike (Support Union Labor!)

The writers’ and actors’ guilds are on strike. While movie and television studios have earned record profits, the workers who make those profits possible are not getting their fair share.

So, let’s talk about it. This episode will be a little different than our usual episode. We will explain who the players are, what the strike is about, and why we should be supporting it because the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are the creeps in this situation.

Sources for this episode:

If you want to help, you can donate to the Entertainment Community Fund or The Snacklist, which provides food and other necessities to strikers in Los Angeles.

Follow Jen Kirkman’s Blog as well! https://www.jenkirkman.com/

WGA Social Media Kits

What a Creep Season 21, Episode 1 Anthony Pellicano

Today’s episode gives you the world of underground Hollywood creepiness of the 1980s & 19990s variety. Anthony Pellicano (Whose New York Times documentary Sin Eater is available for streaming on HULU) was a high-profile “fixer” who made life horrifying or amazing, depending on whether you were his client. (Hint–for $25,000, he will bend A LOT of rules and laws to help your cause.)

Here, we talk about his unusual career, why he ended up being sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, and who enabled him to succeed as long as he did.

Sources for this episode:
Daily Beast
Daily Mail
Hollywood Reporter
Pop Sugar
TODAY show 2009
Hollywood Reporter (2)
The Sun UK
Vanity Fair
Biography
Newsweek
The New Yorker
The Los Angeles Times
Variety
Variety (2)
New York Post
Los Angeles Magazine
The New York Times: Sin Eater; The Crimes of Anthony Pellicano
Chicago Magazine (2007)

 

 

What a Creep Season 14, Episode 6 (REPLAY): Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas is a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States. He’s only the second African-American to serve on the Court, after Thurgood Marshall. Since 2018, Thomas has been the longest-serving member of the Court, with a tenure of 30 years. He’s also a creep with a history of sexually harassing women. Oh, and his wife, Ginni Thomas, is a creep, too.
Sources for this episode:

What a Creep Season 20, Episode 10: Russell Simmons

Russell Simmons helped create hip-hop culture as we know it. From music and videos to fashion and movies, he helped create a global audience for rap music. And he got rich doing it, making more than $300 million. He’s also a creep who has allegedly sexually assaulted 18 women that we know of. What a creep!
Sources for this episode
Trigger warning: Sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape

List of Hip Hop Nonprofits:
The Center for Hip Hop Advocacy Podcast: Hip Can Save America! https://www.hiphopadvocacy.org/podcast/

The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy is a source of independent journalism, curating and creating articles, editorials, and multimedia pieces that help tell hip-hop’s complete story. The Center for Hip-Hop Advocacy conducts original, primary research, measuring hip-hop’s impact on the arts, culture, community, education, politics, activism, philosophy, and more.

Hip Hop for Change Hip Hop For Change breaks down barriers between youth and justice issues that affect their lives and communities using Hip hop as a vehicle. Through this work, we educate, employ, and empower historically marginalized communities and inspire the next generation of leaders advocating for change!

HipHopForChange Inc (HH4C) is reclaiming hip-hop culture as a vehicle for education, empowerment, and cultural innovation to enhance opportunities for marginalized people in the Bay Area. Out of displacement and neglect, inner-city neighborhoods birthed Hip Hop as an outlet for oppressed people to address socio-economic injustices and validate their experiences through music, artistic expression, and storytelling; however, this beautiful cultural art form has been co-opted.

Ladies of Hip Hop: Ladies of Hip-Hop (LOHH) is a nonprofit organization that provides artistic opportunities for girls & women in Hip-Hop culture. Through female-powered workshops, performances, public talks, and professional development training, LOHH educates and cultivates Hip-Hop’s next generation of female leaders.

Rihanna Global Scholarship Program
Rihanna has recently launched her global scholarship program that will grant funding to international students enrolling in a U.S. university through her Clara Lionel Foundation. The scholarship will be awarded to students who are natives of Barbados, Cuba, Brazil, Haiti, Jamaica, Grenada, and Guyana. The foundation was founded to pay respects to Rihanna’s grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite.