At the time, Leroy existed in a world of both mystery and celebrity, publicly schmoozing with Lou Reed and Winona Ryder while shrouded in a blonde wig, large sunglasses, and wide brimmed hat.īut the "Terminator" turned out to be 40-year-old Laura Albert. Leroy, an HIV-positive young prostitute from West Virginia, penned memoirs of childhood abuse under the elusive nom de plume "Terminator" during the late '90s. "Author: The JT LeRoy Story," Amazon Prime In "Sour Grapes," filmmakers Jerry Rothwell and Reuben Atlas investigate how Kurniawan pulled one of the biggest wine world scams in history. However, elements of his origin story - how he accumulated his collection, how he learned about wine and how he made his money - started to unravel once a French winemaker started looking into his claims. And people loved him! He was a wine genius who had always had an encouraging word (and often a spare bottle of wine) for everyone. Kurniawan soon became a wine world darling as restaurant owners, Hollywood producers and billionaire Bill Koch purchased from his collection of Burgundies. But in 2006, Rudy Kurniawan, a 30-something Indonesian wine collector, seemingly burst out of nowhere when an auction company broke records by selling $35 million worth of his wines. The world of high-dollar wine is one filled with excess, tradition and gatekeepers. The series also highlights infamous WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann and "Soho grifter" Anna Delvey.Īs co-creator Angie Day told Salon, "Everyone wants to think that they're too smart to be conned, but actually, anyone could be conned." And that even includes the producers of "Generation Hustle," whom almost got conned by one if its subjects. In "Hollywood Con Queen," a con artist swindles the pocketbooks of aspiring artists, luring them across the globe with the promise of high-paying jobs. "Generation Hustle" depicts the ploys of a dozen con artists and scammers – from faux Saudi princes, a German heiress and EDM kingpins. "Love Fraud" investigates the case of Richard Scott Smith (that's just one of his names, by the way), a Kansas native who would try on different identities to lure new romantic partners - though just long enough to marry them and make off with their cars, credit cards and hearts.Ī number of women who were scammed by him hire Carla Campbell, a pint-sized bounty hunter with a foul mouth and quick temper, to track Smith down before he strikes again. This four-episode docuseries looks into a man who has taken catfishing to an absolutely wild extreme, resulting in a multi-state manhunt spearheaded by all the women he's left in his wake. From an extreme catfisher to a man who donates forged art to museums, there's something for you. If you're fascinated by the scammers and schemers, the imposters and hoaxsters who walk among us (such as Anna Delvey as seen in "Inventing Anna"), then check out some of Salon's favorite documentaries and docuseries about some of the most intriguing cons in recent history. RELATED: "WeWork had all the bad red flags" It's also a brand of true crime that's a little lower stakes - and inherently less problematically salacious - than some of the gorier serial killer stories. In those narratives, there's often a really appealing push-pull between admiring the artfulness of the fraudster and rooting for the investigators on their trail. Sometimes there's nothing more satisfying to watch than a good con or, at least, watching how someone who has perpetrated one gets caught.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |