Spencer Pratt, Oscars and Ruby Franke

Summary

Episode Summary: Spencer Pratt, Oscars, and Ruby Franke
Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald
Release Date: March 4, 2025

In this compelling episode of Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald, Heather dives deep into three major topics: a comprehensive recap of the recent Oscars, an in-depth interview with Spencer Pratt covering personal struggles and local controversies, and a revealing conversation with a journalist specializing in the Ruby Franke case and the darker side of family vlogging.

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1. Oscars Recap

Heather begins the episode by dissecting the highlights and lowlights of the recent Oscars ceremony. She offers her candid opinions on various aspects, from hosts to fashion and unexpected moments.

• Host Performance: Heather praises Conan O’Brien’s hosting, highlighting his adaptable tuxedo changes and commendable attitude. She contrasts this with her disappointment in Robert Downey Jr.’s attire, describing his pants as “flowy, weird” and “womanly” compared to Conan’s tailored look.

  "Robert Downey Jr. wore these, like, kind of, like, flowy, weird. I'm starving to say it. Womanly pants." – Heather McDonald [05:15]

• Fashion Statements: Heather lauds Demi Moore’s gowns as “the best dresses I have ever seen” and Mikey Madison’s win as Best Actress for her role in Honora Mackenzie. She reflects on Madison’s acceptance speech where she thanked “everybody in the sex worker industry,” finding it both “weird” and fascinating due to Heather’s personal interest in films featuring sex workers.

  "Mikey Madison...thank you everybody in the sex worker industry or something to that effect." – Heather McDonald [09:45]

• Noteworthy Moments: She highlights memorable instances such as Kendrick Lamar’s bold accusation against Drake and Adrien Brody’s unconventional gesture of throwing a chewed piece of gum to his girlfriend during his acceptance speech.

  "He said pedophiles. Y'all pedophiles. Y'all pedophiles." – Ricky Gervais (Heather’s commentary) [13:30]

• After-Party Drama: Heather touches on the Vanity Fair after-party, mentioning Elton John’s performance alongside Chapel Roan and the tension between Sutton and Lisa Rinna regarding donation contributions.

  "Sutton called out Lisa Rinna for never paying to come to the after-party." – Heather McDonald [11:50]

Overall, Heather concludes that while the ceremony had its glamorous moments, it lacked any super scandalous events, making it a solid yet uneventful Oscars night.

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2. Interview with Spencer Pratt

Heather welcomes Spencer Pratt to discuss his personal challenges, notably the aftermath of the Palisades fire, his ongoing lawsuit, and his perspectives on local governance and disaster preparedness.

• Palisades Fire and Lawsuit: Spencer shares the harrowing experience of the Palisades fire, expressing frustration over inadequate fire preparedness and the city’s lack of resources. He details his efforts to recover personal belongings amidst bureaucratic hurdles and the emotional toll of legal battles against the city.

  "My lawsuit isn’t about $100 million. It’s about getting my house and my furniture back." – Spencer Pratt [22:30]

• Local Government Critique: He criticizes Mayor Karen Bass and the former fire chief for their handling of the fire, questioning their accountability and the effectiveness of their responses. Spencer emphasizes the need for criminal charges against officials responsible for negligence.

  "If you burn down a whole city, you're responsible for it. You should face criminal charges." – Spencer Pratt [31:53]

• Community Response: Spencer discusses the lack of communication from city officials during the fire, noting the absence of fire trucks and sirens despite the impending danger. He advocates for community-driven solutions like the Citizen Brigade, which played a crucial role in saving homes when official assistance was insufficient.

  "The Citizen Brigade helped save my friend’s house because no fire trucks came." – Spencer Pratt [29:00]

• Future Preparedness: He shares his hopes for an investigation led by Governor Gavin Newsom to uncover the reasons behind the delayed fire response and inadequate resource allocation, aiming to prevent future tragedies.

  "I hope the investigation reveals why the planes left and then came back." – Spencer Pratt [40:45]

Spencer’s candid recounting sheds light on systemic issues within local disaster management and underscores the importance of holding public officials accountable to protect communities effectively.

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3. Conversation with Journalist on Ruby Franke and Family Vlogging

Heather transitions to a critical discussion with Spencer Pratt, now in the role of a journalist focusing on Ruby Franke’s case and the broader implications of family vlogging on children’s privacy and well-being.

• Ruby Franke Case: Spencer outlines the disturbing story of Ruby Franke, a once-popular family vlogger who was arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse after her children escaped a toxic environment. He explains how Ruby’s public persona as a loving mother and vlogger masked the severe abuse her children endured.

  "Ruby Franke was a picture-perfect family vlogger, but behind the scenes, it was a terrible abuse situation." – Spencer Pratt [69:58]

• Impact of Family Vlogging: The journalist delves into how family vlogging often exploits children, stripping them of privacy and subjecting them to undue pressure. She emphasizes the psychological toll on children who grow up under constant online scrutiny without the ability to consent to their portrayal.

  "Claire...doesn't think family vlogging should be legal at all, ever." – Spencer Pratt [50:22]

• Legislation and Protection: Spencer discusses the current state of laws protecting child vloggers, noting that only three states (Illinois, Minnesota, and California) have enacted measures similar to the Coogan Law for child actors, which mandates a percentage of their earnings be set aside in trust funds. He advocates for broader legislative action to safeguard children’s rights and privacy in the digital age.

  "They need protections similar to the Coogan Law to ensure children are not exploited in family vlogging." – Spencer Pratt [50:41]

• Ethical Concerns and Future Implications: The conversation highlights ethical dilemmas faced by parents who monetize their children’s lives online. Spencer points out the risks of children becoming targets for predators and the long-term consequences of having their childhoods publicly documented without their input.

  "There are pedophile groups searching through influencer content, making it dangerous for children." – Spencer Pratt [63:28]

• Personal Stories and Anecdotes: Spencer shares poignant anecdotes from his interviews with affected families, illustrating the emotional and psychological struggles children endure in high-exposure environments. He underscores the necessity for societal awareness and support for these vulnerable individuals.

  "One child escaped the abusive environment and barely survived, highlighting the urgent need for intervention." – Spencer Pratt [71:42]

This segment serves as a powerful exposé on the hidden abuses within the world of family vlogging, advocating for increased awareness, better legal protections, and ethical responsibility among content creators.

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Conclusion

Heather McDonald’s episode masterfully navigates through glittering Hollywood glitz, personal turmoil in Spencer Pratt’s life, and the unsettling realities of family vlogging exposed through Ruby Franke’s case. By intertwining celebrity insights with serious societal issues, Heather delivers a multifaceted and engaging discussion that not only entertains but also informs and provokes thought among her listeners.

Notable Quotes:

• "If you burn down a whole city, you're responsible for it. You should face criminal charges." – Spencer Pratt [31:53]
• "Claire...doesn't think family vlogging should be legal at all, ever." – Spencer Pratt [50:22]
• "Ruby Franke was a picture-perfect family vlogger, but behind the scenes, it was a terrible abuse situation." – Spencer Pratt [69:58]
• "There are pedophile groups searching through influencer content, making it dangerous for children." – Spencer Pratt [63:28]

This episode stands out as a thorough exploration of high-profile events and personal stories, maintaining a balance between lighthearted commentary and serious investigative journalism.

Transcript

[Heather McDonald]

You don't wake up dreaming of McDonald's fries. You wake up dreaming of McDonald's hash browns. McDonald's breakfast comes first.

[Spencer Pratt]

I can say to my new Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, hey, find a keto friendly restaurant nearby and text it to Beth and Steve. And it does without me lifting a finger so I can get in more squats and anywhere I can.

[Heather McDonald]

1, 2, 3.

Will that be cash or credit?

Credit. 4 Galaxy S25 Ultra. The AI companion that does the heavy lifting. So you can do. You get [e-mail] compatible select apps requires Google Gemini Account results may vary based on input. Check responses for accuracy.

This episode of Juicy Scoop is sponsored by booking.com so I love using booking.com you know, I travel a lot, but I travel doing different things and booking.com has a huge variety of options from hotels to vacation rentals. And I'm always able to find something that fits my specific needs. I found that booking.com has something for everyone. No matter who you are, booking.com helps you find the stay that's ridiculously right for you. Find exactly what you're booking for on booking.com booking. Yeah, Heather McDonald has got the juices. Scoop.

When you're on the road, when you're on the go. Juicy Scoop is the show to know. She tops Hollywood tales For real life, Mr. Segment, serial data and Cereal Sister. You'll be addicted and addicted fast to the number one tabloid real life podcast.

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Hannah McDonald, juicy scoop. Hello and welcome to Juicy Scoop. You guys, I have such a packed show for you. I'm going to cover the Oscars and then I'm going to talk to Spencer Pratt. He's going to give us the latest of everything that's going on. And then I also have a great interview that I recorded a couple weeks ago, but I wanted to save for when the Ruby Frank documentary came out on Netflix. Ruby Frank is doing up to 30 years for child abuse, but at one time she was one of the biggest moms in family vlogging with a YouTube channel called 8Passengers. I watched the documentary over the weekend. It's absolutely, it's very disturbing, but it's so fascinating. Really sticks with you. And this interview that I did with a journalist who's writing a book about it. She has also interviewed many other children of family vloggers that are anonymous still at this point. But such a juicy interview. So we have a really packed show for you guys. So let's just get into the oscars. Okay? Conan O'Brien was the host. I think he did absolutely great. He had such a great attitude. He changed his tuxes a few times, and he looked great. On the other hand, I didn't like Robert Downey Jr. S look. You're like, Heather, I can't believe you're talking about the male outfits. Well, yeah, I am, because Robert Downey Jr. Wore these, like, kind of, like, flowy, weird. I'm starving to say it. Womanly pants. I just did not think it looked good compared to Conan's fitted pants. It just that. Sorry. That's what I'm going to say. The show opened up beautifully with a wicked. You know, with the two girls singing and their love for each other and bowing to each other and singing and sounding fabulous. Also, all of their dresses were stunning. I. I really don't think anybody wore a bad dress, except at the after party, which was at Vanity Fair. Oh, and then also there was an after party that. That Elton John always has that that they said made over $8 million for AIDS. He's had this forever. And his husband and his two twin sons, who are like teenagers now, made an appearance, which we never see, but they're very cute and polite. And he sang Pink Pony Club with Chapel Roan, and she also did his classics. And that looked like a really fun party. To remind you, this is the party that Sutton called out Lisa Rena for. For never paying to come to. What I remember, allegedly, is Sutton got a table because she's a rich lady and charitable and invited Lisa Rinna to sit at her table and mention that she never, like, made a donation or paid her back. And Lisa Rinna was like, I've always been invited because I'm Lisa Rana, okay, with Harry fucking Hamlin. And so anyway, I just wanted to just make always a housewife reference in a. In the biggest night in Hollywood. So Demi Moore, who has worn the best dresses I have ever seen, the best gowns, her body's amazing. She did not win. Okay, well, this was kind of juicy. So Mikey Madison, she's very young. She won Best Actress for Honora Mackenzie saw it. A lot of other people I know saw it, and they're like, heather, you will love it because it is about a sugar baby or a sex worker. She gets up on stage and along with thanking all the appropriate people for the film, she says, and I'd like to thank everybody in the sex worker industry or something to that effect. And it was just kind of weird to hear, like, an audience of Hollywood elites, like, cheer for that. But honestly, I thought about it and Some of my favorite movies involve stories involving sex workers. I'm obsessed with it, from Pretty Woman to Monster. So I looked up how many actresses have won for roles where they play a sex worker. And there are so many or they've been nominated. And I think that these, you know, I think it's. My mom used to say, oldest profession in the world. And it is something. It's very intriguing storytelling. It's very juicy. And, you know, when you're not living it, you're intrigued by it, like someone like me. That's why I also like affairs and those. That type of film genre, too. And fidelity. I like that stuff. So I'm excited to see it. And of course, she was very gracious in her acceptance speech as well about being with everybody, like Demi Moore and so many others that were nominated. Okay. Oh, Conan in his. In his monologue. I think he did great. And he went there, you know, not Ricky Gervais went there, but kind of trying to be. He called out the actress that was nominated for Amelia Perez, who did not win for her horrific tweets, saying, and if you're gonna tweet about this, I'm Jimmy Kimmel. And that was good. She's right in front of him. He brought it up. He also said, oh, the show is halfway over. So this is when Kendrick Lamar comes out and calls Drake a pedophile. Just saying the word pedophile is a memorable moment in a Hollywood award show. Again, Ricky Gervais. Y'all pedophiles. Y'all pedophiles. He said pedophiles. Y'all pedophiles. I don't care. I don't care. Don't ask me to host the Golden Globes again. Like, it was good. But he was self deprecating and funny and like I said, I liked his tailored suits. It was just a really good show. There was a beautiful moment, another great act, which they did a James Bond thing and sang Diamonds Are Forever. And it was just great. Like, all of it. I mean, yes, it took long and everything. There wasn't any, like, super scandalous moment. And it was good. But now let's talk about the horrible outfits. Well, Julia Fox. And you know what? She knows what she's doing because the only time we're talking about her, she's not really. She's not in movies, she's not dating anyone. Exciting is when she goes on the red carpet and wears something weird. So she knows what she's doing. So she saw what happened with Bianca, who, you know is now Dating, married to her ex boyfriend, Kanye. She did a sheer dress too, but she wore a long wig and put. Had full nip out, but then had the long wig, kind of like Adam and Eve come down to cover just the split part of the vagina. So that was classy. Zoe, who won Best Supporting Actress for Emilia Perez, she had a great speech and she also had a great moment where someone asked her, oh, you know, how do you feel about, you know, Mexican people not liking this movie because it takes place in their country or something like that. She was very diplomatic in her answer and just so well spoken. And her speech was great. Thanking her mom and her and her husband. So she had, I thought, an incredible speech. But anyway, there was that naked outfit. Sofia Vergara came and I just thought her outfit was just. Her dress was nothing great. She had the cutouts. If anyone did the sheer thing, which I think is definitely on its way out. It was only at the after parties, nobody wore it, like, to walk out. Oh, Olivia Wilde did a really sheer one. Like, bottom of the nip showing full bread, whatever. I just. But you know what? We're talking about you. I wouldn't have mentioned you if you were in a sequence. Strapless, well fitted, beautiful gown, because that's what everybody wore. You know, there were, you know, Selena Gomez. I always wonder, like, how they change then, like when they're. They're a presenter and then they go to the party. Then I was like, heather, they obviously have a hotel room and glam is waiting there to go immediately there, change and then go to the next party. But anyway, her dresses were beautiful. I didn't realize how much shorter her fiance was. Not a big deal. People had a bigger problem that he was chewing gum. Oh, Adrien Brody, who won Best Actor, he was chewing gum. And then when he went up to do his speech, he took out his gum and threw it to his girlfriend. And I guess she caught it. That was like, big moment. Whatever. His speech was nice. And that's it, you know. No, I was here recovering. Had a great show at Agua Caliente Saturday night with Brandi and Julie. We had so much fun, and I wasn't feeling well and I was like, how am I gonna. I've only probably performed three times when I'm not feeling a hundred percent. And they sometimes are the most fun shows. I don't know what happens. God comes down and blesses me for an hour and a half. But to everybody who came, I really had such a good time and thank you so much for coming to Live shows. They are just so much fun.

All right, you guys.

And now for my first interview with Spencer Pratt. I want to get into everything that's going on, but right before we started, you mentioned some Oscar thoughts and I just did a little recap on the Oscars. So let me get your thoughts on it and then we'll get into all. Everything that's going in your. Going on in your world.

I was just so surprised that Demi or Demi thought she was going to beat Anora, even though, you know, I wish the best for her, but she's living the real life substance. So of course, of course the young version of her is going to beat her in the Oscars as the. Like, Like. So I just saw that coming and, and her reaction, I thought everyone on the lip readers on Tick Tock says she says nice. I think she says F U C K. But maybe I want it. I want to see that. You know who I thought really loved it, though? And I wish they cut to her face, but it's not the Grammys, so they don't do that type of stuff, is Kylie Jenner. I would have loved to see Kylie's reaction to. To Demi. Is it Demi or Demi? Demi.

Why? Why would Kylie's reaction matter?

Oh, you don't remember what Demi did to Kylie with that whole viral thing at the whatever award show. It was you.

Oh. And she kind of rebuffed her, but I think it was just that who she was sitting with were people she actually knew and worked with. I. I remember that whole thing with Debbie Moore and Kylie, and I just think she didn't know Kylie. And I don't think she's trying to be rude, but I felt like Kylie, you know, has been such a great girlfriend, which is interesting because a lot of people wondered if that relationship was real. But I think two years in, I do think it's real. And I was thinking how Kris Jenner has really risen in her daughter's dating. Because it used to be like, whoa, remember when they were so excited and Kris and Kim came down on the field when what was the first boyfriend? That was when Reggie Bush won the Super Bowl.

No, it was the. Was not the Super Bowl. It was just like the road. Like, I think maybe it was the Rose Bowl. It was like.

No, I think it wasn't.

This was.

Well, I don't know.

I thought it was a Trojan.

Well, he was a Trojan, but I.

Don'T think they were dating when he was a Trojan.

I don't think she ever got super bowl clout.

Really? Okay. And then of course, you know, NBA with, you know, with Lamar, and I'm like, now it's Oscars and.

And married a Nazi. So that's horrible. Horrible.

I know. I'm like, what if north has to do a book report on Anne Frank? That'll be an awkward day at dad's house.

I mean, disgusting. Just. Okay, back to the. What else about the Oscars?

Yeah.

Speaking of Kylie, though, I was thinking, if I was Timmy Chalamet's agent this morning, I would be thinking if Kylie is not good for his, like, brand. Like, I'm sure that's an agent's thing because he didn't win the Oscar. And there is it too, like, as he takes his acting so serious, and then he has like a, like a Kardashian Jenner relationship. And I wonder if the Academy, like, if I'm playing Hollywood agent. That's my first thought. Like, oh, you didn't win. Maybe this is not a good look. Like, initially they were very private until this, like, award season, and they, like, for some reason pivoted. So I was just. What I was saying on the car ride with Heidi, I was like, if I was an agent, I would be like, I'll know about this one.

But I think that Kylie, out of all of them, has, like, kind of conducted herself in a different way, maybe because she was raised in it so young and, you know, like, keeping her first pregnancy private, keeping this initially private as the girlfriend, she's shown up looking stunning. A lot of, like, the look I thought was a lot of less makeup, too, on a lot of people. But she sort of started that. She looks really good. She's, you know, never trying to draw attention from him. So I don't know. I think she has a. I think she has her own kind of following that respects her that's separate from the rest of them. Like, when Kit like Kim's outfit for the after party, did you see that? It looked like someone's like, comfort the wedding.

Yes.

Very, very weird. Like, like, it was just. It didn't look good.

And I never thought I'd feel bad for Kim, but I don't think anyone deserves to have an ex doing like, Kim has worked so hard to now just have. It's the craziest toxic cloud nightmare just haunting. There's no way. That can't be. You can't just compartmentalize that.

So I totally agree. I've said over and over, I don't think there's a worse person that you would have to co parent four kids with. And I give her that. And she's in such a difficult position to be in. Thank God she divorced him before this got to this level because there were stuff that I think where he was acting crazy that got her to the place to finally say, I've got to leave you. But thank God it didn't happen on her watch.

She just needs to do, like a real public apology to her and get the Swifties back on her side right now.

He's not.

But he's not sorry.

Like he was just seen, not Kanye.

Oh.

Kim needs to, like, do multiple interviews about how she like, played Taylor out and get Taylor, you know, and like, give Taylor $500 million to do a skims campaign. And. And just. Yeah, because it's hard for me, even as a Swiftie, to have any sympathy publicly for her. But if she did a real effort to be like, I messed up, please forgive me. And you know, kind of like the Zelinsky thing if she, you know. But yeah.

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Have our favorite childhood memories. Maybe it's you performing in a play or Christmas morning I came across all these VHS tapes of my first time doing standup. Also you know, at the Groundling Sketch Comedy Theater. And I want you guys to see it. Well, you're going to, because I've got legacy box, and Legacy box makes it so easy. You just fill your legacy box with old VHS tapes or camcorder tapes, pictures. Their team professionally digitizes everything by hand in the usa and you'll get a bath plus your originals on the cloud. That makes it so simple to share, stream, and download the memories. Like, I am so excited to do this, you guys. I'm gonna get such great content out of it. And I'm a little scared, but kind of excited to see what my first jokes were. Go to legacybox.com juicy to get an incredible 50 off buy today. Send in when you're ready. Go to legacybox.com juicy legacybox.com juicy wait. Also, speaking of Swifties, how do you feel about Taylor Swift being dragged into the Blake Lively Justin Baldoni mess and not taking a stand either way, but also not inviting her to be in the suite at the Super Bowl?

The dragon stuff, I'm sure spooked her up a little bit. Unless, you know, unless she call, you know, we don't know. Maybe Taylor refers herself as a dragon secretly. I don't know. And that's the part we're missing. But if I were Taylor, I'd be like, huh? And that whole setup where, like, timing Justin's meeting and having Taylor show up with Ryan there. But again, I've already said I've been bought off by Ryan and Mint Mobile and Blake Lively. So I'm trying to get another Mint Mobile commercial. So I think they're great. Jolly old folks.

Wait, did you. What do you mean you've done? I've done. There's been Mint Mobile ads on this show.

They gave us that commercial that aired during the Golden Bachelor, and it was an incredible check that I will forever be thankful for. So I don't bite the hand that feeds me. You know, that hand is writing scripts they shouldn't be writing or whatever, right?

Well, you know, it's the honesty of you that keeps the Juicy scoopers in your back pocket because you are so transparent about everything. And so let's get into your life this morning. You finally got to meet with the appointment. Tell us about that. About the.

No, no. That. That is coming up. I was supposed to meet them this morning. I told them I was going to be late. So. No, I found two guys right now. I don't know if what's going on with immigration and checkpoints or it is impossible to Hire anybody to just. I want to dig all of my shattered crystals out of the rubble before the Army Corps comes in. So I've been trying for weeks to hire anybody to come because I was trying to do it myself and just digging like, I'm not in the shape level where I could just dig everything myself, put them in buckets, carry them up the hill, like, because we lived on a hill. So I finally found two guys that specialize in debris clearance, and that's what their current job is. So they're going to help dig all my shattered crystals out of the rubble before the Army Corps supposedly comes and just clears everything and puts it in dumpsters. So today that.

That is the plan that the. That the army is going to come and clear the whole neighborhood for everyone.

If you submitted all the forms in time, you could opt in. But most of these rich people in the Palisades are choosing privately because I think you have more. I'm not. I'm not sure why you choose private, because everyone I talked to is like, minimum, a hundred thousand dollars.

Wow.

To dig out rubble.

And how are you feeling? What. Would you like to share your opinions now that it's been over, what we're almost coming on two months, right?

Yeah, I think it's 41 days or 42 days.

How are you feeling about all the theories? What do you think happened? What would you like to share with us?

Yeah, I mean, obviously, I have the court case going, so my lawyer is like, we have a big thing unfolding this week so we can catch up, but I won't know until that comes out. And I think that's Thursday. So there's a big, like, aha moment coming, which is I'm excited for. But really, the lawsuit's my only hope to ever go back to the Palisades, because we just had that fair plan since farmers had dropped us, and all you could get was a fair, fair plan, I think it's called. And that only covered the structure. And since we're on a hill to just bring our house up to code, the whole amount of fair plan money that they said it was going to rebuild our house is actually only covers the cement and the piling. So, you know, we truly need to win this lawsuit, which is hard when you sue a city because they have so many of these immunities, which are insane if, you know, if you're the reason why a house is destroyed, you should have no immunity, which is hopefully why we're gonna get our case held in front of a jury, which is the goal. But.

And is it just you guys or.

Yeah, I've added my entire. All day long neighbors are finally getting my number and texting and I keep, I think I added five houses from the neighborhood yesterday. So as I keep telling people on social media, reach out and I can add you to the case. So I want to say I have at least a hunt. I'm guessing 100 houses in the neighborhood and again probably four people are adding a day because they're looking at, you know, I think it was so much in the initial, you know, I knew right away like this should never have happened. And you know, obviously I'm not an expert and I'm in the comments section trying not to argue with, you know, firefighter accounts and you know, climate change people and you know, you know, people that are just brainwashed and I don't care what anyone says, period. I don't care about like the pre planning or whatever. All I know is when the fire first started, you could have put it out because it wasn't a surprise. Everyone said for three days there were going to be these hurricane winds and, and again these winds did not get crazy until the afternoon. I was snapchatting on the hill from 10:30am till 5:00 when it got really windy. And initially that shout out Canada. Everyone informed me there were Canadian planes. There were two Canadian planes doing a great job. But there should have been 20, there should have been 100. I mean just amount. I don't have money in my bank account because I pay since 2007 when we started making money. I pay all my money to taxes, so all of my money goes to taxes. So there should be enough for the Palisades where pays all these taxes to have 20 of these planes parked in Van Nuys or at Point Magoo at the, you know, because they got, they got a Runway there would probably take. I don't know how fast these planes are. Again, I'm not an expert for all these people that don't come attacking me in my DMs is my opinion. You park these planes at Point Magoo and there's the ocean. I watched these two. They would go and they would scoop it and they would drop it. If there have been, you know, I have friends saying 100, which I feel like the Mount Palisades paid in taxes. There could be 100 of these planes. They're not fighter jets. Keep in mind, like we got enough F22 Raptors. These things all cost $350 million a plane. These are just like Propeller looking things that dump water. So I'm not saying, like, build an air force. So.

Right.

My whole thing of. We saw what happened with the fire, the paradise fire. We saw the Woosley fire. Like, that nobody. And again, it's my bad that I haven't been making tick tocks, you know, because I was never engaged in this. I just assumed the Palisades would have water in the hydrants we have. I live on a street with a reservoir, and in the last six months, they kind of were like, working on it. And I was asking like, oh, what are you guys doing? They're like, oh, we're fixing this reservoir. I'm like, oh, there's no water in that. I'm like, oh, no. So for the eight years we've been living on our street, we have one of those reservoirs. And I know it's empty because they told me it was empty. So this isn't even the reservoir everyone's talking about. The one in the highlands that was empty. There was also one on my street that was empty as well. So let's not even count the water and the reservoirs and the no brush clearance. Because I saw this one, like, obviously paid off. Former fire chief. There could have been two football fields of brush clearance. Like, that's not true because the houses to my right that are didn't burn down on this hill. I used to always see, they were so good about their own backyard brush clearance. And those houses are all fine. So all the ones that didn't have that. So if you go back, I don't know, I'm. Again, I'm not an expert. It's all just me just thinking about this all day long now. Every day you clear the brush for, you know, maybe the wind's still going to bring it, but it's. It's not all the way up to everyone's houses. So, you know, there's the brush clearance, there's the water, there's. There not the planes. Also, my friend Shout Out Jamie Geller, who reminded me because she's a little older than me, she grew up in the Palisades. She said back when she was in high school and she was younger, she remembers on these wind events, they would have fire trucks parked on these trails going into it. So keep in mind, I've said it a million times on my social media. The reason why Heidi and I didn't really, like, believe and I think all my neighbors maybe, that our houses were going to burn down. There was never one fire truck in. I never heard a siren from 10:00am to 4:00 when I left. So I didn't hear a siren. There was no police cars coming up the streets with megaphone. Like, nobody felt that energy. I think I would have stayed and tried to, like, put out our house and probably died. Because now I go back all day long thinking, well, maybe by somebody with water, you know, because you watch it in the cameras. I'm like, oh, if I put water on that deck. And I'm. But, you know, obviously I would have needed some more friends. But my point is, that's why Malibu. This happened in Malibu. And they started, you know, all these locals started the Citizen Brigade, where they bought. They raised $2 million. They bought their own fire hoses, they bought their own fire trucks. And just like 60 days ago, the Citizen Brigade helped save my friend Brian's house in Malibu because no fire trucks came. You know, he said he was on his balcony in Malibu and he saw, you know, 100 fire trucks parked, like, going into Cross Creek as he's with his buddies putting out the fire around his house. And I'm like, what is that? And he's like, it's just the bureaucracy because first off, they don't know what streets they are allowed to go on if they're going to get there. Just so many things that, you know.

Again, because, I mean, because each fire department is only allocated which places I.

Would have to have an expert, you know, now there's a lot of citizen experts because they've lost, you know, all these friends I have from album. I will be like them, I'm sure, in a couple of years because I'm learning daily about it. But the moral of the story is they didn't have water in the hydrants. I have videos of my friends who did stay back. And they're like, I've said before, there's fire just starting on their deck. They're showing no water's coming out of their faucets, so they can't even hose it, so there's no water. And then they have quotes. We're like, oh, we weren't prepared to fight an urban fire. Like, nobody told me that. I would have said, like, give me some tax money back. I'll do what Rick Caruso did. And I'll have private tankers parked in front of my house, spraying the house down with fire retardant or whatever it's called, you know, so it's just. You just assume because we pay so much money that, oh, my gosh, they have what they need, but clearly they don't or they didn't. So, yeah, I am very confident in winning the lawsuit again. I'm not trying to sue to like have $100 million. I want my house back in my furniture. Just not give me my house, give me my furniture. Maybe some of my clothes are burned down. So my lawsuit, my intention isn't like, like, oh, give me $100 million. Like, no, give me my house you took from me back for my family. So.

And you know what? So how do you feel about the latest news where Karen Bass, our mayor, is recorded saying, I know you know, she tweeted about it. I know about these issues, but I'm still going to go to Ghana and then her subsequently then firing the fire chief.

You know, everyone's, you know, people know I. The problem with I can't even say I love conspiracies anymore because there's. Now it's like if you say that you're like an evil monster. Like I used to enjoy tick tock conspiracies. Now you can't even say that anymore. But everyone sent me the James O'Keefe investigative. That phone call, you know, I got thousand people sent me that and I wish there was more of a smoking gun. Regardless, it shows her character like that she knows something and there's like, maybe that has nothing to do with the fires, but it's just was such a weird energy. So that was my takeaway from it. I didn't think because everyone was sending it this phone call that where they have Karen Bass. Somebody in Nazi recorded her talking about before the fires. Like three days something big's happening. I can't tell you. It was just so creepy. That's the energy, you know. So I don't even know if it was the fires, you know, that they knew. Like this is probably going to. You know, I don't think they lit. I know people think energy direct weapons and you know, there. This is a land grab. You know, every single thing is sent to me. So there's nothing I haven't read. I don't think it's that. I do think it was arson. I think they can't say arson because if they say arson now, they get no money from the federal government because then it's not a natural design disaster. Oh, so I do think someone start. I think someone started it for sure because there wasn't a lightning bolt at 10am I know people, everyone will message me and they're like, it was from the New Year's Eve fire and it was rekindling and deep you know, there's that angle. There's people tell you that and there's also people say, no, they checked out that thermal imaging, blah, blah. And here's. So again, if that was it again, I could win my lawsuit. So if it was, they prove that it was rekindling from a fire that they supposedly put out. Like I should win a lawsuit. Like the city shouldn't have immunity if they mess up like that. That's not how.

Like the. What is the explanation to not have water in your own. Like, so there wasn't water in the fire hydrants, but there also weren't people's water. I what I saw what. When people have like a hose thing outside of their house and there wasn't water coming out of there. What was that?

It's all connected. So there was not enough water for the whole city, which.

Oh, because they were using some of the water. But it ran out.

Yeah, I guess it ran out fast. I think there was some, you know.

There was something that we read that was one of the reservoirs, why it was empty was because some animals had fallen in it and they wanted to clear it out and put a cover on it so no more animals could fall in it. And I'm like, but if this reserve was this reservoir, like not. It's not drinking water. It would have been the saving water. So who cares if some animals fell in? I don't understand that. Do you know about that?

Yeah, I don't know. I, I know that the COVID was damaged, but when I, when my older sister grew, grew up and everyone in the pal grew up, there was no cover on that reservoir. They used to swim in it. It was like you jump in. So I just know the reservoir didn't need a cover. So maybe this, regardless of this cover didn't exist. From the history of the Palisades, I knew because everyone used to swim in this res. So I don't know why maybe the animals were going in it and that's why they made the COVID I don't know. But I know that for the water to work that you didn't even need the COVID So also, here's another thing. This is, this is a new scoop. So I'm in like the whole Palisades WhatsApp chat. And one thing that just came out LA Times is telling again, I'm misquoting. This is an exact. This is. But they're saying they weren't ever told that their, the fire hydrants didn't have water. But all my neighbors have emails. Somehow they knew about this. I gotta read all these emails. I asked for them all to send to my lawyer, but there's emails that lots of neighbors in 2020 have evidence of sending. And they got the names of who at DWP sending these emails telling them these fire hydrants don't have water in them. So the whole storyline they're saying they know. They were unaware that there was no water in these hydrants. And I think that was just in the LA Times. That's why all these WhatsApp chats with the neighbors are all sharing their emails they've sent. So there's just so much lying and finger pointing. And back to that chief. I'm not saying she's like, I know people are like, I'm glad she threw the, the mayor under the bus. But she also didn't. I love that the mayor threw her under the bus. Because they're all. It's like that, like a meme where everyone's pointing at each other, like, which it should be. They should all be. They should all be fired. They should all be investigated and criminally. I, I want them to go like, I hate that people are just going to get away with this. And that's my takeaway that I want to become like a better citizen. Like, I'm not trying to, like, I don't want to be like political, but I just want accountability from my level. I'm like, local level. I'm not trying to get into politics. I'm just saying I want to be in a place where if you burn down a whole city, you're responsible for it. You're going to have criminal charge. Like, if a law enforcement officer, like, right now there's a sheriff, I don't know the whole story, but, like, use their Taser to. The person didn't even die. No, not even taser their Mace. They use their mace now they're getting held for. Again, these are all. Do not come at me. These are perfect facts. But from what I recall, they use their Mace, blah, blah, blah. They're now got fired, they're getting criminally charged. Why did like, as a law enforcement person, have that happen to them? But if the mayor or the fire chief causes a whole town to burn down because of ineptness, whatever they didn't do, why can't they be held? Why can't I take them to, like, criminal court? Because I feel like if people in these positions of power and sit on these city councils, if there was consequences to just like messing up like law enforcement has. I just don't I would imagine there people would be more serious about their job. Again that I love that the mayor said there should have been a thousand of these. I know we're going to hear more of it. I'm sure the mayor didn't say that they could have the funding. Like I'm not saying the mayor's right. I hate the mayor. I hate the fire chief. I hate all these people. So. But I love that the mayor did say, well, you didn't do what you're supposed to. And we've done in the past and in the. They just, the mayor's text just came out. There were no texts from. So maybe there's a different phone there. But there were no texts from the fire chief to the mayor, which the mayor's office did say, usually you call. So they're like, they didn't lie about that. You weren't calling and texting and asking for hey, because if you're saying you didn't send a thousand people because of your budgets and overtime, why didn't you text? Where's the text? Like, hey, I think we should. Can you make sure I'm cool on the budget? I need these thousand. Because it's back to the thing. If the fire started at 5:30 with the high winds, I agree with everybody, then this, this is a, a climate change event. Nothing could happen. But when I was there at 10:30.

And it was 10:30am which you have all the evidence because you were filling it.

Yeah, if I was. If you have a thousand firefighters again, maybe my house burns down up on the hill, but my parents house should not have burned down on the other side of the Palisades. So that's my whole take. I'm not saying they could have stopped houses from burning down. I just feel like if we'd had the resources, the planes, the helicopters again, I know the wind came, but for three hours they were flying. And then when they left and then they came back, I don't know. I know there's conspiracies about that and I got attacked for even mentioning that. So I don't know why they left and came back. My friend thinks they out of like protocol, they left because the wind and then when they realized the firefighters like get back here, protocols over, like if you know, if you can do it. And then they came back because they realized, oh my God, everything's going to burn down. So you know, I think there's gonna, I hope because I know Newsom, our awesome governor said there's going to be an investigation. So I hope in the investigation we hear why the planes left and why the planes came back. And then in the future, if it looks like there's an emergency, don't leave. And you know, these pilots. And then people argue with me in my comment section. It looks like it's doing less than it really is. Yeah. With two of them. But 100 of these planes, you know, so whatever. I know. I'm so. I'm so mad.

Well, you're probably thrilled to know that Gavin is doing all he can because he is starting his own podcast. It's just gav or something. So maybe you can be his first guest. Because he says, I want people that disagree with me. I think personally he's like, everyone else has a podcast and has cool people come to their mansion. I'm going to start my own. So in case I'm not the governor anymore, then I have this to look forward to.

All my joke on social media was since Alex Earl left the unwell network, I thought Gavin would be perfect for the unwell network because it seemed like such an unwell mental. You know, it's 100%. That's what it is. He's like, oh, I can't. Now that I burned down L. A. I probably won't be president. I better have my wine and my podcast. So I'm sure he'll be selling wine ads on his podcast.

Absolutely. Okay, now before we wrap up, tell me the latest that's happening with Heidi. I love the Pitbull I played at the end of my last four of my live shows. We danced to it at the end of the show. The I'll do it with Pitbull. What is going on in that world?

Heidi has a huge record with one of the most famous artists alive. Top, I'd say as famous as you can be talented, you know, superstar. So that record's done. That artist even directed the music video, edited it. So that's coming out within the next four weeks, I would say.

Oh, wow, that's awesome.

So that's incredible. That artist like reached out, wrote the song with this other Grammy nominated producer for Heidi about, you know, it's. It's a very uplifting song. So that's.

Oh my God, I love that.

Really exciting. Heidi's now living a dream that she never imagined would come true in the sense that she's gonna have to be a mom that, you know, she has a show in Seattle. She's like, she's like a juicy scoop. She's like, you mom. So she has Seattle, San Francisco. She's performing at the Hoop Hoopla in England in front of 30,000 people. So it's very.

Are you guys going with her or is she going to just go be gone for two days and come back?

I'm going with her. Her mom and dad are going to come stay with our kids. So that's great.

Yeah.

And I'm going to go with her because somebody needs to, you know, film her and sell the merch. I'm going to be in charge of the merch booth. So it's very.

As someone with two young boys who was traveling, the few times that I would like, I remember, like one time I was like, oh, my God, I'm doing, you know, three nights and five shows at like, some Phoenix improv. So I made it that we could stay at this hotel that had like a water slide at it so that I could, like, be with my kids in the day. And of course, my younger son wasn't tall enough to go down the water slide. It was extremely traumatic for the whole family. But, you know, you're so tired, honestly, you need to save your energy for the day. That my suggestion to any mom, if it's the short stints, is to not bring the kids. Rest during the day. Rest your voice, not be exerting energy and then, you know, and then come back and just be gone for a short period of time and then come back.

Yeah. Like I said, if we, like, if we'd gotten a reality show, then you bring the family and it's just like the Griswold, you know, international tour. And then at least the insanity of parenting and traveling to the show, then there's a purpose to it. But I was like, if there's no reality show, these are just strike missions. But yeah, that was my initial pitch. Like, this is it. This is the show. We travel the world. And Heidi's looking at me like, no, we're not doing that.

It's too much. You need to have your downtime.

Yeah.

You know, it.

It'll be already too much, which is great. But again, these are all high class problems because, you know, thank God these opportunities are happening so that I'm looking into a teepee, like, and like a really large teepee to put on our former house. Since we can't build a house, I'm like, well, we could get a nice one. Is nice teepees like you see in Saudi Arabia and these deserts, you know, like the, like really nice teepees.

So why a teepee? Why not one of those, like, where they talk about These homes that are like 3D and can be like, made like a Lego and. And could be still nice and temporary, but maybe you could just make that your adu at the end or something. Like, what about something like that?

Our house is like on a hill, so that's why we can't rebuild because we would need the pilings, you know, to put. So teepee could be on the side of a hill. Like, you know, more like camping style.

Okay.

Vision. So like, like those. The Swiss family Robinson style is the vibe like seeing our future.

Okay. And. And you know, so well, I'm hoping that that happens sooner than later. I love that you become the Aaron Brockovich of the Palisades and so much more and, you know, spreading the word.

Any listeners that know any one of the Palisades, what I need right now is any wire sparking because they didn't turn the electricity off until like 5:00 or whatever. Like, it's. That's supposed to go off way. So if I have footage when the Palisades fire started of wire sparking transformers, gonna be really good for the case. So keep that. You know, any juicy scoopers, you see anybody in the Palisades post and DM them and say, you have anything on your camera, Rol Some wires sparking.

Oh, that's good.

Yeah.

All right, well, thank you so much for taking the time. I know how busy you are.

Love you.

And hopefully you can come back in studio soon and you have a minute and we.

Well, I think I'll be in your studio once a week coming up, so.

All right, I'll be available.

Yeah, we're gonna. I think we're gonna be sharing the facility very soon here.

Okay. I love that so much.

Okay, I love you. Bye.

All right, that was such a great time talking to Spencer. And now for my interview with the journalist who cracked open the case and is a Ruby Frank expert about family vlogging and exposing your kids on social media. Very juicy. Let's go.

This episode of Juicy Scoop is sponsored by booking.com so I love using booking.com, you know, I travel a lot, but I travel doing different things. Sometimes I'm by myself, but I bring a couple featured comedians as well. And we need nice hotel rooms that have accommodations. We need a gym, we need the coffee in the room, that type of thing. And then other times, I've got my family, and maybe you're a family with little kids and you're traveling a lot and you want to make sure that they're taken care of that there's enough for them to do the kind of food they like. Or maybe you want an included meal and for breakfast, which makes it so easy because you know, these kids wake up and they're bouncing around and then they're going to go jump in the hotel pool. All of that can be found. And booking.com has a huge variety of options from hotels to vacation rentals. And I'm always able to find something that fits my specific needs. I found that Booking.com has something for everyone. No matter who you are. Booking.com helps you find the stay that's ridiculously right for you. Find exactly what you're booking for on booking.com booking. Yeah.

[Spencer Pratt]

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[Heather McDonald]

Juicy Scoop guest here recommended by a Juicy Scooper. I love when you guys come across someone interesting that you want me to interview and we've got that today. I've got Fortessa lat TF E. Yes. Okay, I said it correctly. Yeah, I really love what you are doing on social media, but I know you're a journalist and you wrote this article for Teen Vogue about influencer parents and the kids that had their whole lives documented without their consent because they're children. And I've talked about this on the show a little bit and some of the changes I think there's only. Is there only one state or three states?

[Spencer Pratt]

Three now.

[Heather McDonald]

And what is that law now that protects those kids and what does that entail?

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, so there's one. The first one was in Illinois and It basically is. So in California, we have the Coogan Law for child actors, which is the 15% of their profits goes into a trust that is saved until they're 18. So that's basically the same kind of idea in Illinois, Minnesota, and California.

[Heather McDonald]

Oh, at least we have it, too.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

Cause I was like, if we don't have it, come on.

[Spencer Pratt]

I know. We just got it.

[Heather McDonald]

Oh, really?

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

Was the first.

[Spencer Pratt]

Illinois was first, Minnesota was second, and California was third. So.

[Heather McDonald]

So let's start out with. You know, you've interviewed quite a few of these kids, but why don't you tell me? Because you're a journalist, so why don't you tell me, like, one of the ones that really struck you as, like, wow, this is something I really want to explore more.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, sure. So the. The main young woman in this story, I call her by the name of Claire. That's a pseudonym. So people are always trying to figure out, like, who it is, but nobody will figure it out. That was very important to me to keep her protected. But she grew up in a YouTube vlogging family. She first went viral when she was a toddler. And their channel has over a billion views, so it's very popular. And weirdly enough, that doesn't even really narrow it down for who it is, because there are so many family channels that have that many views.

[Heather McDonald]

Wow.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

And so how did you find her to talk to her?

[Spencer Pratt]

I found her through an advocate in the space. So there are people who work for protections, and I was reaching out to them, and I was like, I'm working on this story. And they were like, well, we know this young woman, and she's in this circumstance. And now that I've done a lot of work on that, and I've reported on it for the Washington Post and for Rolling Stone and Teen Vogue, and I'm writing a book about it now. People come to me, which is great. So I'm looking for them, but they're looking for me, too, because they want to tell their stories.

[Heather McDonald]

And when the first time you wrote an article about this, interviewing somebody, what. How did that come about? Was that your idea or was that an assignment from your editor?

[Spencer Pratt]

That was my idea.

[Heather McDonald]

Okay. And what made you think something's not right here? And I want to explore more of it and see how children are affected as adult. Young adults.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. I mean, I was thinking about basically how there are, like, reality TV kids. Right. And they're also not protected the way that child actors are. And I grew up in the time of, like, teen mom and sixteen and pregnant. And I would see these kids, like, now they're reaching the age of 16, and they're still on TV. And I remember watching that and then looking at influencer kids just on my phone on TikTok and thinking, this is the same, but with fewer protections. And it's basically like, the parent is the producer. And what does that do to that relationship when you make your parent or your parent makes themselves your boss?

[Heather McDonald]

So true. And also with reality tv, the way I know it, and maybe they've changed it, but I don't believe they have. Is, let's say, Real Housewives, only the housewife is getting paid.

[Spencer Pratt]

Right.

[Heather McDonald]

The husband and the kids that are standing in the back with the dog are part of it. And that's, you know, and only the only time the kids aren't part of it is when there's a contentious divorce and the dad is like, screw you. The kids can't be on it till they're 18. And the wife is so mad because she wants the audience to see her make turkey tacos and being a cute mom instead of just getting. Throwing wine at people. Yeah, but I've even talked to some of those housewives when they've been mad about it, and they're like, no, but my daughter wants to do it. And this was, like, years ago when I was friendly with one of them and this was the case, and I said, I know you don't want to. You know, I know I don't want to be that friend that says, your husband's right. But I'm like, it's not the worst thing in the world. Like, so what? Then she can come around. Hopefully you'll be on TV and she can do it when she's 18. You know, if she. If she still feels that way.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, I don't think there's any harm in being cautious about things like that, especially.

[Heather McDonald]

So tell me about this interview with this girl. What was her experience? Like, how's she dealing with it now? How's her relationship with her parents? Tell me everything.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, it was. Oh, my gosh. I mean, I could have written an entire book just about her. It was just so interesting. But basically, like I said, she first went viral when she was a toddler, and her parents thought, okay, this is an opportunity. They.

[Heather McDonald]

And where'd she go viral for? Was she dancing? Was she cute? What was it? Sassiness?

[Spencer Pratt]

It was like a skit. Oh, okay. Yeah, it was just like a skit on YouTube. And this was, like, in the Heyday of, like, when all the family vlogging skits were, like, doing really well and kind of.

[Heather McDonald]

So this would be like before we had Instagram, before we had TikTok. So this is really where you were watching regular people, like you would. A TV.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. On YouTube. And when family vlogging was really, like, at its peak. Although I would argue that it's at another peak now, but it's just. Just on TikTok instead of on YouTube. Got it. But, yeah, Claire, she just had this experience where her parents decided, okay, this is gonna be our business. We're gonna put everything into this. And eventually they made enough money that they both quit their jobs, they got a new house, they got a new car. You know, all this stuff they kind of got.

[Heather McDonald]

And how old was she when that. When they got to that place? Was she a little older than her?

[Spencer Pratt]

She was still a young. She was, I guess I would say, like a young adolescent.

[Heather McDonald]

Okay.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. So it took a few years.

[Heather McDonald]

Did she have any siblings?

[Spencer Pratt]

I can't.

[Heather McDonald]

Okay.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. I don't want to get too specific.

[Heather McDonald]

With her, but that's also a burden, too, that if you didn't want to do it. Right.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

Then it's like, well, that's the thing.

[Spencer Pratt]

She. So I asked her, have you ever told your parents that you don't want to do this? And she said, I told my dad. And he said, okay, yeah, that's fine, but we're going to have to move out of our new house. Mom and I are going to have to go back to work. There's not going to be enough money for nice things. Things. That was the quote that really stuck with me. And so when you're putting that much pressure on a kid, like, is that really a choice? I don't know that it is.

[Heather McDonald]

Right. So how. When did she finally get out of this situation? Or. She's still participating it.

[Spencer Pratt]

I can't get into it.

[Heather McDonald]

Okay.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

Okay.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

So she like her. So. Yeah. So she's still anonymous. Nobody knows.

[Spencer Pratt]

Nobody knows. Yeah. Nobody knows who she is. Yeah. She did tell me that eventually she wanted to share her actual name and she wanted to, you know, come out against this practice. But I think it's very difficult because people often ask me, like, why aren't more kids speaking out against this? And I'm like, because that's speaking out against your parents. Like, that's very difficult. That's. I mean, that's your family still, you know, So I don't blame these kids for being cautious.

[Heather McDonald]

Yeah. It's Always that really hard situation. Because even. Even when you look back at your own childhood or whatever, and there's things that you might look back and are like, well, that was fucked up.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. Like, whoops. But then you're also like, but they tried their best.

[Heather McDonald]

Yeah.

Like, I mean, you know, like. Because it's not. It's not, you know, sexual physical abuse or anything like that. So even if you're like, God, can you believe that mom and dad did that?

Whatever.

And it was weird. But then you're like, you know. No, but still, like, we, you know, had a nice home and it was fun, and we had some fun. And also, it's like, yeah, there's. It's also because they're young kids, so they aren't mature enough to really, like, speak or whatever. But then also, it's kind of like your own little cult.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

If you turn on the cult, then the other kids that might still be doing it or. You know, the thing is, it's like if you have a couple kids and the oldest one you send to soccer, and he's really, really good at soccer, now you're traveling to all the soccer things. So then the next kid, you're like, let's do soccer. And the third kid, you're like, let's do soccer. If either one of them are not that great at soccer or don't wanna do it, you don't have the bandwidth to go, okay, let's start ice skating. With child three, you don't. It's like, so it could be that too. It could be. The first kid is a total ham, Loves it, wants to do it, may never wanna stop. But just like a kid that loves gymnastics at 6 and then at 14 is like, I hate it. I don't wanna do it anymore. And the parents are like, what? We've just put all this money, they change their mind. So even if your kid was super enthusiastic and into it at a certain age.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

They lose interest or they don't want to. And the thing is that this isn't just a sport. This is a sport, a thing that the whole world is seeing.

[Spencer Pratt]

Right. And I think it's important to note that even if the child is really interested and wants to be doing this, the. The onus is on the parents to make sure that there are boundaries in place and that they're not sharing things. That maybe later when they grow up that they'll be like, wait, why was that on there? You know, like, if something's like, really personal and like, let's Say you're three or four years old and you really love being on camera, but then you are a teenager and you're like, why are there YouTube videos of my potty training on? You know, because this is not like a. And I can make these examples because there are so many. Like, most YouTube families have videos of, like, this is how we potty trained so and so. And, like, it has, like, millions of views. And you just, like, wonder, like, what it's gonna be like to grow up and be able to look up your potty training on YouTube. I don't know.

[Heather McDonald]

It's so crazy. And, you know, did you ever see the movie the Truman Show?

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, I know.

[Heather McDonald]

It's so crazy that millions of people are living the Truman show. And for my audience that doesn't know it, Jim Carrey starred in it. And it was this really fascinating idea. And I remember reading an article about how the. How the scriptwriter came up with it, the writer of it. This idea of basically this. This kid doesn't realize he is in the most popular TV show on earth. And he doesn't realize he's even in a sound studio until he tries to leave. And it's like the backdrop at Paramount that looks like a. The clouds. And he, like, goes to, like, leave, and he can't leave. And. And yeah, it's like, they don't know. Like, I've read. I've read some of your stuff and seen some of your videos where, you know, somebody, like, walk goes up to people that goes up to a kid, and they're like, why do they know who I am? Why? You know, and that must be, like, very. Because they don't know that. They're, like, in a thing. And the thing is that the phone is everywhere and the iPad is everywhere. So the fact that your parent is, like, going like this, like, since from the moment you're like six months old, you're used to that, but then all of a sudden you're like 8, and someone's like, yeah, oh, I saw it. And they're like, what? Like, there was something. Was that you that wrote the thing where the person's like, why? Why did everyone see my dance? Or something was like, what was that story?

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, I mean, there's a few that are like that. But it's like, I. In my book, the research that I'm doing for my book, that's coming out in a year, so stay tuned, because speaking of juicy scoops, like, I can't even tell you, like, what I've found in the Research for this book. But I mean, kids will literally be like in the supermarket. And this influencer mom told me that they were in the supermarket and they're, you know, in the cart, whatever. There's like a toddler and someone comes up and just starts talking to the toddler. And the mom is like. Was like very taken aback and she's telling me like that really made me rethink about whether I want to show them online. She didn't end up changing it, but.

[Heather McDonald]

It is like she still shows them online because it's. Because you get into a comfortable thing. You know, it's like any job that you're like, ugh, I don't really like this job, but the paycheck's worth it. But in this case, it's like the paycheck's worth it. Or this way I could be home with my kids and I'll just make sure that they don't get kidnapped. But like, now there's no now. It's really scary with the AI stuff.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

So I mean, not to get gross, but I'm gonna get gross right now. Like when I've done my research, which is really with really younger kids, which is even the grosser, like where they'll say, isn't it strange that this video of this little cute, sassy, whatever cute thing, two year old, it's been. This video has been saved, you know, 18 million times saved. I've never even saved one video of anybody's. You know, like I have my own videos on my phone. Who's saving and then how many times it's been shared and you. But me as like a young mom, I see some little sassy Shirley Temple type, you know, which is also weird when you really think about Shirley Temple. But like, there's some little Shirley Temple type. And I'm like, oh my God, what a little sassy cute thing. And I'm watching and I know the mom's feeding her lines and things like that. And. But then I was like, wait a minute, I'm not saving this and I'm not sharing this. Who the is like, this isn't for another mom who likes seeing little cute kids. This is for a pervert.

[Spencer Pratt]

I mean, you. That is a worry. I think that is definitely a worry. And the New York Times did this incredible and harrowing story where they basically were talking about how there are like pedophile groups who like search through this, like influencer content. And so it's difficult to share it with each other. Yeah. And I mean, these parents also are aware of this as a problem because when in my reporting, I've talked to parents and I've asked them, is this something that you worry about? And so for example, I talked to this mom who has twin daughters. They're very young and one of them is a dancer. And so obviously, you know, she wears like dancer clothes and like, like you said, like someone normal would see that and it's just like, oh, a kid like dancing, whatever. But I asked her, do you worry about like posting things that people might like use it in the wrong way? And she said, I do worry and I notice that people save more like when it's the dancing content. And so I asked her what she does and she said, well, I only share it once in a while. And I understand, like what I hear from parents is that we can't let people, bad people dictate how we share online. But.

[Heather McDonald]

But the child can't give that consent. Like when we grew up, you know, it's like, even if I did a play and they filmed it for the school, I don't think we ever put that VHS tape ever in the, in the TV to ever watch again.

[Spencer Pratt]

Never.

[Heather McDonald]

We'd be like, as if we're gonna sit down and be like, you know what? Let's watch Heather's Ave Maria. Like we never did, you know. And you know, and it is when it first started, it was so great that a grandparent could like, you know, follow and everything. And now it's just like. Yeah. To see every. Yeah. Every little weird thing, every awkward thing, every, you know, like you were saying. Oh, but getting back to the toddler thing, this was really disturbing. So there was when I followed this girl who was kind of exposing it too. There was this woman and she would. What's that thing what people do when they're just eating food called monkey what? Munch.

[Spencer Pratt]

Oh, Mukbang.

[Heather McDonald]

What is it called?

[Spencer Pratt]

Mukbang.

[Heather McDonald]

How did that name even come about?

[Spencer Pratt]

I'm not sure.

[Heather McDonald]

Mukbang. Anyway, it's just like people eating. So they would put their little beautiful little whatever one year old in the high chair. And now she's gonna try this, you know. Well, they give her a big long popsicle. It's the first time she's going to try a popsicle. And this was 30 million views of her sucking on a long popsicle. And to think that what that could become with the help of AI, it's just. And this is your child, this is your. And when it was brought to this woman's attention, I don't even think she removed it.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. I mean, even, like, regular parents are worried about this kind of stuff. Like, I wrote a story for the Washington Post about regular non influencer parents who are deciding that they're not going to show their kids online at all because they're worried about AI, they're worried about online footprint, they're worried about privacy. And so, you know, people are making this decision as technology changes. They're just like, why? Why even, like, take the yes and.

[Heather McDonald]

The photo text to have a family shared album and email. Like, you're right. Like, why? So you told this one, you interviewed this one girl about when she got her period. Can you tell that situation?

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. So her mom was a mommy blogger. So not. She was like, when. So there were like, the mommy bloggers came first and then the family vloggers came on YouTube, and then after that came Instagram and TikTok. So this was.

[Heather McDonald]

And what years did this kind of begin?

[Spencer Pratt]

I would say that the first mommy bloggers got really big around 2005 to 2008. So it's been just about 20 years.

[Heather McDonald]

Okay.

[Spencer Pratt]

Which is why I think it's so fascinating that it took so long for legislation to happen, because this has been a thing for two decades now. But this young woman, her mom was a mommy blogger. And when she got her period for the first time, her mom got a sponsored brand deal for menstrual pads. And so she had to do a brand deal about getting her period for the first time. And she said it was mortifying and she wanted to crawl in the wall.

[Heather McDonald]

So the child also had to participate. It wasn't just the mom saying, oh, my God, yeah, that is like, so awful. Like, is there anything.

[Spencer Pratt]

It's so personal and it's so difficult. And like, I just think about, like, when I got my period for the first time and how, like, how hard it was and how scary and how weird you feel. And like, imagine that, like, being online and like. And like, that kind of stuff is, like, still happening, you know, Like, I wonder.

[Heather McDonald]

And like, I wonder who even thought to do the brand deal. Like, was it a woman executive? I'm gonna guess maybe it wasn't. Because I just think sometimes, I just think sometimes men, they just don't get it. They just don't understand because it's not their experience. And it's like, in raising my sons, I feel like I've done a really good job in telling them, but it's also been a education for me in how it's not really men's Fault. They just have a totally different life experience than us.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

So it's just like, they don't know what it's like to get a period and have it for 40 years. They don't know every month.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, totally.

[Heather McDonald]

You know, it's, like, kind of insane Now. What is the. Ruby Frank.

[Spencer Pratt]

Ruby Frank.

[Heather McDonald]

Can you remind everybody of who Ruby Frank is and what's happening with her situation?

[Spencer Pratt]

So Ruby Frankie was a huge family vlogger. Yeah. Their channel was called Eight Passengers. They. They were Mormon. They lived in Utah, which most. Not most, but many family vloggers. Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

Which is also interesting.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. Which is a whole thing.

[Heather McDonald]

They went from, like, MLMs to, you know, and now there's so many reality shows now in Salt Lake City with the Mom Talk. Selling Salt Lake is another show about realtors in Salt Lake. And yeah. It's kind of interesting.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, they're busy.

[Heather McDonald]

Yeah.

[Spencer Pratt]

But, yeah, Ruby Frankie, they had two and a half million subscribers at their peak, and she eventually ended up being charged and arrested on aggravated child abuse. It was just this terrible story, and people were fascinated by it because it was like this, like, picture perfect, you know, YouTube family vlogger. And then behind the scenes, like, this terrible thing.

[Heather McDonald]

And just to remind it, she and her husband had separated. She was living. Right. Or were her kids living with her podcast partner who was, like, teaching. I have this different way of. Of disciplining the kids.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

And there were people that would watch these videos in which she was basically telling on herself as an abuser, saying, oh, well, I got a call from the school that my daughter needed me to bring a lunch. And I was like, nope, I told her to pack her own lunch. And she didn't, so she can starve. And this another kid, like, didn't have a bed.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. For a while. Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

And she would share that. And so this. So then the kids were, like, living. A couple of the kids that were abused were living. Where were they living? At the other woman's house.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. With Ruby. And this other woman's name was Jody Hildebrandt. And so that the. Allegedly. The kids were living with them.

[Heather McDonald]

I don't think it's allegedly because they were convicted.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, no, they were. I just don't know, like, how long they were. Like, I'm just being a journalist. Like, I don't know how long they were living there or if they were. Whatever. But that is where they were arrested is at this house.

[Heather McDonald]

Because finally a child, one of the children escaped. Escaped from the house and was, like, starving and had Initiated and had, like, masking tape on his legs where he was. So his limbs were tied together.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

And they were, like, 10 and 12, I think those kids were. And so the older daughter. So they. They've been convicted, both the women. Do you recall how long Ruby, the mother, is doing? How much time?

[Spencer Pratt]

So it's. It depends, but at least four years and up to 60. So she had four counts, and she got one to 15 years for each count. So at least four years and up to sixty, which is the max you can get in Utah.

[Heather McDonald]

Wow. And so tell me what you know about her daughter.

Who is the.

Now, what. Of the six kids, what number is the daughter? She's the eldest, and she has a book.

[Spencer Pratt]

It just came out today.

[Heather McDonald]

Okay.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

And what can you tell us about her story?

[Spencer Pratt]

I mean, it's a terrible story. It's obviously, it's very complicated because there's, like, the family vlogging aspect, and then there's this thing. Sherry, the daughter, she calls it, like, the kind of, like, cult aspect with the whole thing with Jody and all of her teachings. But what I took from it, at least with the family vlogging, is that Sherry doesn't think. And I interviewed her for Rolling Stone. She told me she doesn't think family vlogging should be legal at all, ever. I asked her if there are any exceptions, and she said no. She doesn't think that that's how her childhood should have been. She doesn't think it was fair, the privacy, the consent.

[Heather McDonald]

Can you recall how old she was when it began?

[Spencer Pratt]

She was around 11 or 12, I want to say.

[Heather McDonald]

That's a great age to.

[Spencer Pratt]

I know. She's like a little awkward, little adolescent. Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

And then was. She also probably had the burden of caring for the other kids as well as making all this content and having to be a delight all the time. Right.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. I mean, I'm not sure, but being the oldest is obviously very difficult.

[Heather McDonald]

Yeah. Wow. Okay. So. So what else did she tell you?

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, I mean, she. It was. There were a few, like, bombshells in the story. She said that Ruby and Jodie were in some type of relationship, which was, like, lovers or. Yeah. Yeah. So that was huge. She. There was always questions about, like, how involved her dad was and, like, where he was when all of this was happening, but he had kind of been like, pushed out of the family, and so he wasn't around when.

[Heather McDonald]

Did you remember how she met this woman Jody, if she was married at one time? How did. How did this woman come in and infiltrate their lives.

[Spencer Pratt]

Jody was recommended to them as like a therapist type figure, but it turned out later that she had had her mental health licensure revoked years before. And so I think that's also why Sheri seems to consider her like a cult like figure is because of this, like, pull that she had on people. And she obviously did so.

[Heather McDonald]

And so did she share anything of, like, where. Where was she when the two younger kids were living? You know, what happened? Was she aware this was happening at this time?

[Spencer Pratt]

No, she had already left. She was in college. She was the oldest. She was in college. And also Jody and Ruby had kind of driven, like a stake in the family. And so Sheri wasn't really allowed to have contact with the other kids because they kind of like, I don't really know why, but they kept Cherry kind of to one side and did the same with the dad. And so, yeah, it was just terrible. And Sherry, as the eldest, you know, was like, she writes in her memoir, she was calling the department of child protective services over and over. She was asking them, you know, to do something.

[Heather McDonald]

And what response was she getting there?

[Spencer Pratt]

There wasn't enough to go on or. You know, it's interesting because in Utah specifically, there are like these free range parenting laws.

[Heather McDonald]

And like, what does that mean?

[Spencer Pratt]

Well, it's basically that, like, parents should have like the final say and they can, like, you know, it's, it's very like a very conservative, like, like if.

[Heather McDonald]

You want to hit your spanker kid or whatever.

Yeah.

[Spencer Pratt]

Or like you want to let them like, take care of themselves a little bit more than like, maybe in another state that would be like, considered neglect. But in Utah, it's like, considered like free range parenting.

[Heather McDonald]

Like a free range chicken. Let it run around.

[Spencer Pratt]

I. I guess so.

[Heather McDonald]

Yeah, you're right.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. Oh, my God.

[Heather McDonald]

Okay.

[Spencer Pratt]

So that made it difficult. The, the, the political climate of the state made it difficult also because they're very like, you know, small government and let people do what they want and it's not the state's business. And, you know, so that made it more difficult.

[Heather McDonald]

Well, I'm excited for you to keep exploring this and tell everybody where they can follow you, because you do, you, you're constantly doing interviews with people.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah.

[Heather McDonald]

And you like, mask their voice and stuff. And they are interesting when they share their stuff.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah. It's really incredible stuff. I mean, the things that I've found and the people that I've talked to, it's just incredible. You can find me anywhere online at high fortessa h. I F O R T E S A TikTok, Instagram, wherever. Yeah, I have a lot coming out, and my book is really gonna blow people's minds, I think.

[Heather McDonald]

Thank you so much. This is great. Follow her. And yeah, be careful what you post.

[Spencer Pratt]

Yeah, thanks for having me.