Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - A TV Show Made Him Kill His Gay Friend - The Scott Amedure story

Episode Date: February 8, 2025

This is the story of Jonathan Schmitz and Scott Amedure, who had an encounter after Scott confessed his love for Jonathan on the Jenny Jones show

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Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandul.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 gambler. One day, this guy gets a phone call and it's a producer from a daytime talk show. And the producer says, hey, we're doing a show about secret crushes. And someone in your social circle has a secret crush on you. And we want you to come onto our TV show and we'll reveal to you who it is.

Now the guy, his name's Jonathan, and Jonathan can't figure out who this crush might be. I mean, he had just broken up with his longtime fiance six months ago. So he's thinking maybe it's her and maybe she wants to get back together. And so he decides, yeah, if it is her, I'll get back with her. I'm going to marry her. So boom, they fly him out to Chicago, they put him in a hotel, and the next day he goes to the studio to appear on the show. It's the Jenny Jones show.

And so they're taping, and he's there backstage waiting. And then, kapow, they call him out. And he walks out on stage, and he sees not his ex-fiance, but rather two of his close friends sitting there, Scott and Donna. And that is the moment where Jenny Jones drops, an absolute bomb on Jonathan. Well, guess what? It's Scott that has the crush on you.

You lied to me. It's actually his friend Scott who has the crush on him. And Jonathan seems to take it pretty well. You know, he's laughing it off. Well, you know, it's flattering, but... It's flattering, but you're not interested. There's no way. So, the taping ends.

And Jonathan and his two friends, they fly back home together. And it's all good. They party a little on the plane. He gives them a ride home from the airport. And later that night, they all go out for drinks at a local bar. They drink, they chat, they have a good time. And then at 2 a.m., they go back to Jonathan and Donna's respective apartments, which are in the same building. Now, here's where the story gets dicey.

Potentially, at some point during that night, Jonathan and Scott, they've had a lot of drinks, and they allegedly start flirting. And this flirting evolves into a slow dance and eventually a kiss, allegedly. And I'll talk more about this later. But three days after that night, Jonathan arrives home one morning from a different friend's house, and he finds a note on his front door, a sexually suggestive note. It says, John, if you want it off, you'll have to ask me. It's basically suggesting they smash, and it's obviously from Scott. And for some reason, this is the moment where Jonathan just snaps.

He fills up with rage. How could his friend embarrass him at the taping like that? in front of that whole TV studio audience. Now they're all going to think he's gay and what are his parents going to think. He can't have that. He's not going to let that slide. So he drives to a local bank

and he withdraw some money from his savings. And then he goes to a store and he buys a pew-poo. Then he drives to Scott's trailer and he gets there and he confronts him about the note. And Scott, he doesn't think much of it. He apparently just smiles back at him. I mean, they're friends. He doesn't feel threatened.

So then Jonathan leaves the trailer and he goes back to his car. and he gets his pew-pue, and he goes back inside, and he confronts Scott again. But this time, with the weapon. And he points it at him, and Scott screams, and Jonathan pulls the trigger twice. And then he leaves, and he goes to a nearby gas station, and he calls 911 on himself. And he confesses that he just unalived his friend. So police arrest Jonathan, here's his mugshot, they charge him with murder, and they throw him in jail until his trial starts.

Meanwhile, this story makes the news, and it bludely. up making national headlines. And people start to look at this situation and go, okay, Jonathan is definitely responsible for this murder. But maybe the Ginny Jones show might be partly responsible for this too, since they're the ones who ambush Jonathan at the taping with this information that his gay friend has a crush on him. And this sparks this whole national debate

about whether or not it's okay for talk shows to humiliate people like that. Even though Jonathan didn't seem to see him, all that humiliated when he was on camera. Regardless, five months later, bam, Scott's family files a lawsuit against the Ginny Jones Show for $75 million, claiming that the show is responsible for Scott's death. Now, it's actually at this trial that witnesses allege that Jonathan and Scott had gotten romantic that night after they had flown back home. He called through the office and came over to my desk and told me that they had hooked up And as Ron said, it was a love connection.

But that part of the story has never actually been confirmed. I guess only Jonathan and Scott know the truth about that. Now, despite what caused him to do it, Jonathan eventually goes to trial, twice. And he's ultimately found guilty of second-degree murder, and he's sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison. And he does 22 of those years, and he's out now. While the Jenny Jones show is found liable for Scott's death, and a judge instructs the show to pay Scott's family 29,

million dollars. But then later, the Jenny Jones show appeals, and the original decision is overturned, and they're found not liable. So ultimately, they don't have to pay anything. Shout out to Michigan.