Scamfluencers - Ballet's Lethal Start-Up | Pointe and Shoot | Part Two

Episode Date: April 11, 2022

Dancers go unpaid as American National Ballet struggles to stay afloat. Behind the scenes, Ashley and Doug Benefield's marriage takes a turn for the worse. What starts as a dream will end in murder.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to ScanFluencers add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Join Wendery Plus to listen to ScanFluencers one week early and add free in the Wendery app. Download the Wendery app in your Apple or Google Play mobile app store today. A quick listener note. This episode contains descriptions of violence, which may not be suitable for everyone. Also, if you haven't listened to episode one yet, go back and listen to it. This will all make much more sense.

What's your favorite episode? Sarah. Hey, Sachi. Have you ever had a stress stream? Yes, I have had many a stress stream. It's usually like, I'm in a car and I can drive it properly and I drive off a cliff. I'm trying to call someone but they're not picking up and it's like life or death. Well, okay. What about one where something is going horribly off the rails but you can't

do anything to stop it. Like you have to give a presentation but you haven't done any of the homework to prepare. Are you trying to make me have stress dreams tonight? Is that what's happening? Ooh, and in this dream, you're pregnant. Okay, that would be a real twist, so thank you for that. And the person you trust most in this world is not who they seem. Well, now you are just describing a nightmare.

Well, guess what? This isn't a dream or a nightmare for Ashley Benefield. This is her life. The ballet company she started with her husband Doug is falling apart. She's hundreds of miles away at her mother's home in Florida, and it's about to get worse. I'm legitimately nervous for Ashley. So let me set the scene. You know I love setting a scene. Yes. It's September 2017, Bradenton, Florida. Ashley Benefield sits up in bed and waits to see what will force her back under the covers, shooting muscle pain or nausea.

But today is a good day. It's just the typical discomfort of being six months pregnant. She gets up and makes her way to the kitchen. She looks at a calendar on the wall that has been flipped to December, and her eyes zero in on December 5th, her birthday. She never imagined turning 26 would look like this. She should be happy, right? She's always wanted a family, and she's pregnant with her first baby.

I always forgot she's not even 26 yet. I mean, like, she's still so young. Yeah, she's a kid. And she has way more troubles than any 25-year-old should have. She and Doug, her husband, have really not been getting along. Actually, that's kind of an understatement, like they've had big ugly scary fights. And that's why Ashley is still in Florida with her mom.

Ashley flips through the mail. When she sees an official looking envelope, her pulse jumps. It's from the Carlson Company, a forensic lab. Last month, Ashley sent in a lock of her hair to be tested. Doctors haven't been able to explain the sharp pains in her stomach and chest, and she's desperate for an answer.

So Ashley searched online and found a company that offers poisons and toxins testing by mail. I feel like if you have to google mail order poison and toxin testing, like you're not in a great place. Yeah, I mean, it's not great. So Ashley unfolds the document and there's a long list of substances that the lab has tested for, with results. There are all these numbers and symbols and percentages, and there's a note from the doctor in it. And he says that they detected dangerous levels

of heavy metals in her sample, aluminum, cobalt, zinc, tin, and barium. Oh my God. And the lab suggests that she's been deliberately exposed to these toxins by, quote, an individual who may be identified as the poisoner. So they are suggesting there's someone poisoning her. Yes.

And get this. Ashley thinks she knows who it is. When she got pregnant, her husband dug used to bring her hot sweet tea every morning. He said it would help with her morning sickness. It seemed weird, but she drank it. But shortly after she started to feel sick, more than just pregnancy sick, like really sick.

She's pretty sure she knows what this letter means. That her husband of 18 months might want her dead. From Wundery, I'm Sachi Kool, and I'm Sarah Hagi, and this is Scamful Inserves. So, in our last episode, Doug and Ashley Benefield got married impulsively and just as impulsively they started a ballet company. But when the dancers show up, it's clear they've gotten in over their heads. And worse, their marriage is starting to implode. And what was happening between Doug and Ashley behind the scenes is about to take center stage. This is episode two.

Point and shoot. Part two of our story begins on September 18, 2017. Back when Taylor Swift's look what you made me do was at the top of the charts and cowboy boots were making a comeback for everyone other than me. Okay, I mean, first of all, the cowboy boots thing did not happen. But also, excuse me, it happened for some. Also, 2017 was like five years ago, you're making it sound like we're really going back in time. Anything pre-prandemic is like 600 years ago. Okay, good point.

Thank you. So, it's the first official day of rehearsals at American National Ballet, a brand new dance company started by Doug and Ashley Benefield. They brought in 47 hopeful dancers to create an inclusive and diverse ballet company. Now, if you remember, when the dancers arrived, things looked a little different than what was promised. Yeah, I remember the rehearsal studio that was supposed to be under the luxury apartments

where they took their year-long leases. Not there. Right. Instead, they're going to have to rehearse in a very small space that belongs to the ballet master, Michael Wise. But they figure, okay, maybe the founders need more time to get it ready. If they have to rehearse somewhere else for now, that's fine. Yeah, and there's still that one question that hasn't been answered.

Where is Ashley? Yeah, I mean, good question. Where is Ashley? I mean, she wasn't at the welcome party, even though she had personally spoken to many of the dancers, and she brought them on board with her own stories of discrimination in the ballet world. They're hopeful that she'll be at the studio today, but she's not. Instead, they're greeted by Doug, and he looks really out of place.

The dancers are all in tights and leotards and point shoes, but Doug is in a blue suit, very official looking. He tells the dancers that Ashley is pregnant and bedridden in Florida, and that she won't be there for months. And the dancers empathize, obviously, but they can sense there's more going on. And boy, are they right? Because Ashley isn't in bed today.

Or even in Florida, she's actually right here in Charleston. Okay, so she could really be addressing these dancers, and yet she's not, and it's not because she's too sick. Well, Ashley knew that her husband would be with the dancers on their first day, so she chose then to get in her car in Sarasota with her mom and drive more than 500 miles northeast. No one's there when they arrive at the house. Ashley grabs all her stuff and then she takes one last look at her marital home. It's rustic decor with the Bible quotes on the walls and the cozy sofa where she used

to relax with Doug. And then she leaves a note on the kitchen counter and walks out without looking back. Okay, so she leaves him a classic breakup note. What's in it? Well, it's actually more like a breakup manifesto. It's a numbered and dated four-page letter with 21 bullet points describing why she's calling off their relationship.

OK, so this isn't like an impulsive decision. She really thought this whole thing out. Yeah, she had been planning it for months, but Doug is still taken completely by surprise. When he gets home from greeting the dancers, he finds the letter and starts to read. And it says that she's heartbroken, but she's ending things. She says that she can't handle Doug's volatile behavior anymore.

Sarah, do you want to read some of the bullet points? Okay, this makes me anxious. Just to even read it. But okay. Imagine getting this letter. Oh my god, it's a lot. Over this past year, we have had good times, yes, but you have also displayed scary and irrational behavior with sudden bursts of rage and fits of anger, extreme and uncontrollable anger. And then she goes on, she says, living with Doug made her constantly stressed to the point of

nausea. She says, I never know what will set you off. And so I always walk on eggshells to try and keep the peace. It's like you are two very different people. And I'm never sure when you will last shout and be overtaken with rage. She refers to a time Doug pointed a gun at his own head and she says a marriage is over. And he needs to accept it. Okay, this is a letter where it shuts all doors for him to be in her life. Yeah, it does seem pretty unequivocal.

Yeah, this is very cut and dry. I honestly don't see any room for reconciliation. She goes, do not harass or try to follow me or I will call the police and have her straining order against you. Do not call me or my mom, we will not pick up." And when Doug reads the note, he's obviously upset. But remember, he's also a deeply religious guy.

Doug says that he doesn't believe in divorce. And he plans to do whatever it takes to keep his marriage from falling apart. And Doug doesn't waste any time trying to win back his wife. While Ashley and her mom are still driving home from their secret road trip, he begs for forgiveness. I just read the note, he texts. I don't even know how to start responding. I am sorry I wasn't a stronger, better man through everything.

I will never act the way you talk about it again. Ashley ignores him. Over the next month, he sends texts daily, telling Ashley he's seeing a therapist and is locking up his guns. Still, Ashley ignores him. At this point, what else is Ashley supposed to do? I mean, sure, that giant breakup thesis telling Doug not to contact her, what could he even say to her at this point? Yeah, I mean, ideally, he would just leave her alone, but obviously that's not happening here. He texts Ashley, I've just never loved this deep before.

I lost it. I admit it and know it. Okay, so at this point, he's really spiraling, yes. And then, as another pady approaches and funding falls through, Doug writes, I'm on my knees and face before God, asking you to forgive me and talk to me.

Oh my God. Yeah, it's awful. Things are getting grimmer by the day. And for the dancers, it's about to get a whole lot worse. On Friday, October 20th, Beth Bogush and B's chief operating officer calls all the dancers into the studio. They've barely been in Charleston a month, and Shady's shit has been going down the entire time. And then, Beth hands out pieces of paper. She tells them that she has good news,

but to learn what it is, they have to sign something. The sheets she's passing out, they're non-disclosure agreements. Beth tells the dancers that if they don't sign, they have to leave immediately. So I'm failing to understand how this could possibly be good news. Like, you don't sign an NDA when something gets happening. No, no. Like in this scenario, it's like you're getting an NDA some batch that's going down. Yeah, I would say rarely do legal documents to be involved in positive and severe issues.. I have somebody else amazing to tell you, but sign this nondescoge agreement, you can't tell anyone.

Right, exactly. And so, of course, the dancers flip through the paperwork, trying to parse all the legalese, and they're looking around the room at each other nervous. They're all afraid to rock the boat. A lot of these dancers are at ANB because other companies weren't willing to take a chance on them. So the idea of leaving and starting from scratch, auditioning for companies where they don't fit the mold, it's terrifying.

Yeah, and honestly at this point, I don't blame them if they do sign because like they're just so deep into this drama I don't know what else they could do. Right. And so obviously, they all sign and Beth promises them good news. Maybe this is where it'll all pay off. And it does. No, just kidding. It definitely doesn't. Three days after the dancers sign the NDAs, A and B announces that they're merging with another dance company.

And then, as a part of the merger, they say that they're letting go of half of the company. 23 dancers fired. Just one month into their eight-month contract. Okay, honestly, it is so hard to wrap my head around the fact that it's been one month. And also, like, these people are in the prime of their careers, and they took this huge risk on a new company. And it took one month for everything to come crashing down. And now they're jobless in the middle of a season and on the hook for year long leases. The ballet world, which had such high hopes for ANB, watches and horror as the dream implodes. The fireings unleash a blitz of bad press.

Local Charleston papers run stories about it. And the dance world is furious. I found a clip on YouTube from someone named Valarina Badass. Take a listen. My favorite part was when, apparently, they said to the dancers that they fired, yeah, you're not really up to snuff for the new company we're putting together, because I guess that they're going to be melding with another company, but they said you could stay on and keep dancing with us for free, for free people.

So what do you think? I mean, it is, I really do like that this story was leaked despite the NDAs. I mean, it's crazy. Like, I feel like the dance world's probably so small. And I mean mean how can you disagree with ballerina badass? Well I certainly can't. And Beth the CEO of ANB she goes out to the press and she tries to explain. She says they lost an

investor and they had no choice. She says ANB is merging with another company. And worst of all Beth says that the dancers who were fired didn't meet the criteria for that new company, which is going to perform classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and musical theater. Okay, so in other words, they now want traditional-looking ballet dancers for traditional ballet. Yeah, I mean, it's bullshit. And it's a total about face from A&B's mission. For a lot of the dancers, this just reopens their old wounds.

It certainly does for Sarah Moroski, A&B's principal dancer. In a YouTube video about her experiences, Sarah says that A&B became the polar opposite of what it promised it would be. She calls out the arrogance, the callousness, and the remorselessness of the company's leaders. Sarah is spared from the firings, but the day after half of her colleagues are let go, she decides to resign. But in true A&B shitshow fashion, Sarah can even hand in her resignation to Doug in person. She goes to the rehearsal space looking for him, but no dice. So she resigns over email. So where is everyone? They just let everyone go in

and they're nowhere to be found? Well, co-founder Ashley is still in Florida, pregnant and sick, and when she finds out that the dancers were let go, she's furious. Nobody told her about the plans for the firings. She's just as blindsided as the dancers are. So Ashley writes a post on A&B's own Facebook page, disavowing A&B and its leadership.

Sarah, do you want to read it? Oh my God. Another manifesto. Okay, here we go. I publicly disavow my support for American national ballet and its leadership. I am completely devastated by what has been done and the way it was done.

The new leadership has destroyed all that we worked so hard to build and I cannot stand behind them or their actions. She goes on to say, everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves for how this was handled. And then she makes it clear that she is no longer associated with this organization in any way. I don't know, is it okay to disavow something you started? She's just sort of bailing on it entirely.

I mean, her anger is understandable, but she isn't really trying to help any of the dancers who got fired. Doug begs her to take down the post. He says it's hurting the dancers who are still there. And Ashley just stops answering. She cuts them off completely. And within weeks, A and B is done for good.

Oh, so now all the dancers and the staff of A and B are out of work. The company is just a shell on social media, plastered without dated cheer. For Doug, the more he tries to make it all work, the more he loses. The company, his wife, their baby. But little does he know that down in Florida, Ashley is spiraling, and she's about to make things even worse.

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And then for her 26th birthday, Ashley gets a birthday gift from Doug. She unwraps it and inside is a teapot and teacups and special TT. Damn. I mean, it's crazy because she was just thinking. He's poisoning me with tea and then she gets this present while they're estranged. Yes. And she even got a report from the lab that confirmed that she had toxins in her bloodstream. So she's not taking any chances now.

She jumps into her car with the package. She brings it to the Sheriff's office and asks them to test the tea for poison. But the results come back negative. Doug is not poisoning her. Not only that, the Sheriff's office tells her that the Carlson lab, the company that she sent a lock of her hair to, they're actually kind of shady. Sarah, this is gonna sound like I'm getting off topic, but I promise you I'm not.

Do you remember the late actress Brittany Murphy? Yeah, of course. I mean, she was iconically Thai and clueless. What do you remember about how she died? I remember it was really sad. I mean, she was so young, she was like in her early 30s and she died of pneumonia. Well, after Brittany died, her father asked for a second opinion on the autopsy report. And the toxicology report he got back said that Brittany had been poisoned,

but that report came from the Carlson lab. And in the report, they said, guess what? She was poisoned by, quote, a third party perpetrator with likely criminal intent. Okay, so I'm now understanding they're just a lab that says, people are poisoned, and maybe someone else didn't. They have a real niche. But Ashley doesn't know any of that, at least as far as I know. And she's not sure that she believes

the Sheriff's report. She still suspects Doug is up to something. And that's when she starts weaving a deadly story in her mind. Remember how Doug's first wife died of a heart condition? Yeah. Well, Ashley starts to wonder if maybe the first wife actually died from something else. Oh, so now she's thinking like,

maybe it's something Doug did. Exactly. And now she's worried about the safety of his daughter, Eva. So she calls child protective services. Okay, that's a wild stretch. I mean, like she's been told there's been no proof of foul play. I know. And CPS shows up at Doug's house, but he's not home. Eva is, and they question her about her dad. Even from hundreds of miles away in Florida, Ashley is disrupting Eva's life. Eva talks about it on 48 hours. I was constantly having people come up to my door and questioning if my dad was a good dad. And it just made me so angry, but I just kept having to repeat myself.

My dad is a good dad. He's never done anything to hurt anyone. He wouldn't hurt anyone. Okay, Sarah, what are you thinking here? We know Doug isn't a great guy to Ashley, but I do feel for Eva like she's been through so much and there's no evidence that he poisoned anyone. Eva's in a really tough spot, but Doug undergoes a full investigation, including a psych of al, and he's cleared.

So just to reiterate, there's no reliable evidence that Doug Poisoned Ashley. And Eva's mom's autopsy report was clear. She died of a heart attack, but Ashley remains deeply suspicious. Months later, in March 2018, Ashley checks into the hospital three weeks before her due date. She tells the doctor that her husband was poisoning her,

that he was physically abusive, that he locked her up. They let her check in under her middle name. And three days later, Ashley gives birth via C-section to a baby girl. And she doesn't put Doug's name on the birth certificate. There's actually no father listed at all. So she's fully eerie as Doug. Yeah, she goes back to her mom's house and just doesn't tell Doug.

Aren't they still married? I just don't think you can keep a baby a secret for that long. Doug finally learns he has a healthy baby girl about a month after she's born, and he's beside himself. So Doug lawyers up. He wants custody. In late July, 2018, Ashley and Doug once again lock eyes across a crowded room.

This time, instead of a mansion, it's at the Manatee County Historic Courthouse near Ashley's house in Florida. It's been four months since Ashley gave birth and 10 months since they've seen each other. Ashley tells the judge that Doug was poisoning her while she was pregnant, but the judge isn't buying it. I've got tape of that custody hearing and this is what the judge said.

There is not a single centilla of credible evidence that Miss Benefield has ever been poisoned or suffered from any illness of any poison. Okay, so that's like the nail in the coffin for this poisoning thing. Like, it absolutely did not happen. Yeah. The judge orders them to split custody. A few days later, Doug shows up to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. This is where Doug sees his baby daughter for the first time. And to Doug's surprise, Ashley seems happy.

She brings her daughter over and places her in his arms. Doug is overwhelmed and Ashley suggests that the three of them, her, Doug and their baby, spend some time together. Sorry, that's so weird. Like, she went from thinking he was capable of poisoning her to being like, you know what, we should all spend time together as a family. I guess I'm feeling to understand the reasoning here. It doesn't make any sense to me. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but I mean,

she just had like her first kid with this guy, so maybe she's just trying to make it work, right? Then why go through all these custody hearings? It's like, yeah, it's a good question. I don't have an answer for most of it. But Doug takes this change of heart and stride. It's all he's wanted. They spend the better part

of the next year sharing custody. Doug and Ashley start seeing a marriage counselor. They start going out together again. In early 2019, their photographs together at a black Thai gala for the Sarasota ballet, if you could believe it. They're showing their faces again in the ballet world after what happened with A and B. So like, things are just fine now? Not at all. Dog and Ashley's marriage is about to go through its most dysfunctional stage yet. And even though they're playing nice, Ashley still thinks Dog tried to poison her. So she signs herself and their three-month-old daughter for 26 sessions in an oxygen chamber

for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Do you know what that is? Yeah, isn't that what they do for scuba divers when they've been underwater for too long? It like takes away poison or whatever. Yeah, kind of. And it's definitely not for tiny babies whose moms believe without any prooflets, however, that they were poisoned. The equipment at the center is, of course, way too big for the infant.

The baby had to wear a ring around her waist to prop up the helmet and let she look like a little ballerina. I don't even know what to do with that. Yeah, me neither. And by May 2020, their kid is two years old and has only known this kind of chaotic back and forth. They're both so stubborn. It doesn't seem like anything will change. And then Ashley tells Doug that she wants to try again. Doug tells us a journey that Ashley is willing to go to a trauma therapist together.

They start planning a fresh start as a family. They'll relocate to Maryland where Doug has a new job and where years ago Ashley got her start as a ballet dancer. I just don't believe in this reconciliation after everything they've gone through Like two years of this awful back and forth and now it's just fine. Yeah, you're not alone I do not trust her at all. Doug writes to his lawyer no matter how much I hope for her change But by now we know Doug Zemo, he will not quit. It's Friday, September 27, 2020. Doug Benefield parks a U-Haul in the driveway

of Ashley's mom's house. Tomorrow, he and Ashley plan to head to Maryland. Things have been rocky, but he holds out hope that the next chapter will be better. At dusk, Ashley's mom decides to get some fresh air. She takes the baby for a walk to the neighborhood park. And while she's away, four shots ring out in the humid night. Next door, John Sant sits at home. John is a former pilot and retired major. He's been in combat and he recognizes the sound of gunshots right away. Moments later, someone bangs on John's door.

It's Ashley. She's holding a 45-calibre gun, and she's sobbing, saying that Doug attacked her. Ashley drops her handgun in John's entryway and collapses in tears. This is just trying and collapses in tears. John calls 911. Why don't you just wait for the police, okay?

All right, if you could just get them here quickly. So you were in an argument? She came in, she was quite hysterical. I didn't see a tap her and she shot him. The weapon is here. Where is the gun? Is it with her? I have it right here. I'm also armed. It's reduced move and try to harm her to still be what he knows.

At this point, he doesn't know what happened. He's worried Doug might still be out there. Dangerous. I just don't want her to get hurt. Yeah. No, I totally think. When EMT's arrive, Doug is on the bedroom floor still breathing. But an hour later at the hospital, he dies. Let's go. Eva wakes up the next morning in Charleston. Nobody has called her from the hospital, and Ashley hasn't reached out either. But even knows something isn't right. Because every day, her dad sends her

a good morning text with a Bible verse, but not today. So she sends him a text and another and another. And she calls him, but no response. Wow, honestly, it feels like Eva kind of always knew this would end in a really tragic way, one way or another. And the fact that just not getting a response from her dad was enough to be like, something's going on, that really says a lot,

especially because she witnessed the most volatile moments in their relationship. But then she gets a call from her uncle, and there's something in her that already knows what's happened. Here's Eva on 48 hours. I said, what's wrong with my dad? And he said, there's been an accident. And I said, she killed him. Didn't she?

And he said, yeah, she shot him twice. Honestly, this is so striking to me. Like, if your dad doesn't text you or like you don't hear from your dad, your immediate assumption isn't his wife murdered him. I wonder a lot if Doug had just stayed in Charleston and let his marriage fall apart. What would have happened? Like, maybe all of this would have been avoided. There's no way to know, but also this is truly one

of the saddest endings to a scam I've ever heard. It's really tragic. And it gets worse when you look at the police report. It says that Doug was shot from a few feet away. And police say that based on the entry wounds, it does not appear that he was facing Ashley when she began shooting. Doug was unarmed.

And the report says that he hadn't taken any defensive or competitive stances. But Ashley's mom tells police that she and her daughter had been living in fear of Doug for three and a half years. So since this all happened in the fall of 2020, Ashley has been charged with second-degree murder, which basically means intentional murder, but without premeditation. And what about the baby? Ashley's mom has custody of Doug and Ashley's baby. And since Ashley is free on bond until her trial in 2023, she's still able to see her daughter, even though she has an ankle bracelet and a curfew.

Wow, I mean, that's honestly way more freedom than I thought she would have at this point, considering, I don't know, everything. But how is Eva doing? Well, Eva dropped out of the college of Charleston. These days, she sells landscape paintings on Etsy, and she uses TikTok as a form of therapy. She calls herself an IRL Cinderella, and a lot of her videos are about her evil stepmom Ashley. In January of 2022, she posted this life update. I lost my best friend, and a lot of people assumed that I got money from either my mom or

my dad dying. No, I was left with basically nothing as a 19 year old except for the support of people in my life. It's been a crazy tough year for me. I've had ups and I've had a lot of downs. But now a year and some change later, I can say I did everything basically on my own. I want to be an example to show you that you can do hard things and you can stay positive and things are going to work out for the better.

Wow. I mean, it really does sound like her life is really together considering. Considering? Yeah. I mean, both her parents are dead. This very public murder of her father. Well, also her half sibling is in the custody of the woman that she thinks killed her dad. Yeah, I mean, this TikTok is a lot, but good for her, I guess.

She's kind of the only person you can really refer to this whole thing. Yeah, she's the only truly innocent party here. With the exception of the dancers, it's actually so crazy to think that this tragic story started with a scam. But I wanna know like what did actually happen to all these former A and B dancers? Great question. And it just so happens that I looked it up.

So Sarah Moroski, the dancer who was too tall for the Pennsylvania Ballet, she's now in New York City, and she still performs. I looked her up on YouTube, and there's actually a few videos about her time at A&B. She says that she's still processing it. Yeah, no kidding, but what about what about the other dancers? All of them are still dancing, but mostly with smaller ballet companies. Michael Wise is still teaching too. I mean, it's good that a lot of them haven't really given up on their dreams. However, this would have totally broken me.

I really feel like if I was in that situation, I would have quit forever. So good on them! Sarah, it's time to do my other favorite thing, other than setting a scene. Which is to run this whole thing through our scam flints or index. So for people playing along at home, our index is based on both scam and influence. So the size and complexity of the scam and the influencer reach got it. So on a scale of one to a hundred, where do Doug and Ashley fall on our index? So one is being like a trained goldfish could do it and a hundred is like the smartest scam genius

in the world could only pull this off. I think I'm gonna give this like an 85. An 85? Yeah, hear me out. Like this was a very involved scam. It took a lot of creative thinking to make it happen at all. And they got dancers to send in audition tapes.

They had to get instructors and the space to for everyone to like dance there. And it wasn't like a standard, oh, I'll help you earn money if you give me a hundred bucks thing. Like, it was like, change your life. Quit your job. Come to Charleston. I mean, I guess, but like, the scam merely lasted that long. Like, most people were starting to get suspicious of it. They only lost money on the scam, right? I mean, I don't know. I guess the dream was big, but it was truly the opposite of a successful scam. So you're gonna land a

85. I'm landing at 85. What about you? I would probably be somewhere around 45. Okay, we're agreeing to disagree here. Well, I think that's gonna happen a lot. Well, maybe next time we'll line up because we have plenty of scam flancers we're going to cover in future episodes about people who are not who they seem. And until then, trust no one but us. We will not scam you. For now. Hey, Prime members, you can listen to scam flancers ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. This is episode two of our two-part series, Ballet's Lethal Startup. We use many sources in our research, a few that were particularly helpful,

where Alice Robbs article in Vanity Fair, and 48 hours as documentary The Black Swan Murder. I'm Satya Kohl, and I'm Sarah Haggi, and just a quick note about our scenes. In most cases, we don't know the exact details about what happened, but everything in our show is grounded in research. Marina Templeman and Sarah Ennie wrote this episode. Additional writing by us, Sachi Cole and Sarah Haki. Ryan Taylor White is our producer. Charlotte Miller is our associate producer. Sarah Ennie is our story editor.

Our senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Our senior producer is Jen Swan. Our audio engineer is Sergio Enrique. Additional Sound Assistance by Adrian Tapia, sound designed by Marcelino Villopondo. Our executive producers are Janine Cornelot, Stephanie Gens, and Marshall Lui. For Wundry. you