Transcript
Mr. Ballin (0:00)
Hey prime members, you can binge eight new episodes of the Mr. Ballin podcast one month early and all episodes ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. Several years ago, prank videos were huge on YouTube. Basically a prank YouTube channel would go out in public and they would do something crazy to some unsuspecting person and they'd film their reaction and that reaction video would get tons of views on YouTube. Well, during this prank heyday on YouTube, there was one YouTube channel that pulled off a prank that really stood out amongst the thousands and thousands of other pranks that were getting pumped out around this time. And the reason this particular prank stood out so much was because one, it was masterfully planned, two, it was brilliantly executed, and three, most memorably, it had massive intended and unintended consequences. We're talking international scandal level consequences. And amazingly, this story has yet to be converted into a major motion picture. And so I would imagine that most of you have actually never heard of it. But before we get into today's story, if you're a fan of the strange, dark and mysterious delivered in story format, then you've come to the right podcast.
James (1:10)
Because that's all we do.
Mr. Ballin (1:11)
And we upload twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday. So if that's of interest to you, please go into the follow button's cell phone and change their emergency contact to Papa John's. Okay, let's get into today's story. Hey prime members, have you heard you can listen to your favorite podcasts ad free. Good news. With Amazon Music you have access to the largest catalog of ad free top podcasts included with your prime membership. To start listening, download the Amazon Music app for free or go to Amazon.com adfreepodcast that's Amazon.com adfreepodcast to catch up on the latest episodes without the ads.
Narrator (2:11)
They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune and lives can disappear in an instant. Follow Hollywood and Crime, the Cotton Club, Murder on the Wondery app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
James (2:37)
On the night of February 12, 2017, a young woman named Siti Aisha saw something coming over to her that surprised her so much that she gasped and she put her drink down on the bar. The bar she was at was called the Hard Rock Cafe in Kuala Lumpur, which is the capital city of Malaysia. This night for city had already been one of the best in recent memory, but now it was getting Even better, because a waitress was walking over to her carrying a birthday cake with a candle lit in the middle, and City knew it was for her. So she stepped forward kind of bashfully and all of City's friends who were there with her kind of formed up around her. And as the waitress came over to City, the friends all immediately began singing Happy Birthday to City. It was City's 25th birthday and she could not believe how far she had come. Here she was in this beautiful American styled restaurant surrounded by her friends who were these big TV show producers. And tonight they were throwing a party for her. Something that did not happen often in City's life to this point. After Siti's friends finished singing Happy Birthday, City leaned forward and she blew out her candle. But she didn't even make a wish before she blew it out, because to her, she felt like she had everything she had ever wanted. And so instead, as she blew that candle out, she just made a point to feel incredibly grateful for the life that she now had. Because not long ago, Siti's life looked very different. Siti had grown up in a tiny town inside of a jungle in Indonesia. She was the youngest of three children, and her parents were very poor farmers that barely made enough money to provide shelter and food for their kids. In fact, Siti's parents were so poor that they couldn't afford to send her to high school. They needed her to stay home and go to work to help support the family. Siti would end up getting married and she would have a son with her husband, but her husband would divorce her and not provide any support for their kid. And. And so suddenly, Siti was the single mother trying to look out for her son while also trying to provide for her parents and her other siblings. And eventually it became so difficult to find enough work to provide for all these people that Siti was forced to go abroad and look for work elsewhere outside of Indonesia, which meant she had to leave behind not only her parents and siblings, but also her son. Her son had to stay with her parents. Siti would ultimately find work as a masseuse in a hotel in Malaysia called the Flamingo. Now, Siti really did not like this work at all, but it paid well enough and she needed the money badly enough that she decided to just keep on doing it. Sometimes City, like a lot of the other girls that she worked with at the hotel, would daydream about being discovered as a model or a singer or an actress and getting taken away from this life to a life of luxury and wealth and Leisure. But Siti never really expected that to happen. Next to City at the bar was her producer, whose name was James. And James had his arm around her, and he suddenly flashed her his cell phone. And he kind of pointed to the screen. And City looked at it, and she saw there was a text message from someone, but it was in a language that she didn't recognize. And she asked James, you know, what is that? And James grinned at her and said, this is my boss telling me that you are already a superstar in Korea. And when Sidi heard this, she was totally embarrassed, but also really excited. City had met James about a month ago in January of 2017, when City and some of her friends from the hotel had decided to go out for the night. Now, Citi very rarely went out. She basically worked and slept and then sent home her money to her family. But for whatever reason, she had been convinced by her friends to go out and have a good time. And so she was all dolled up. And she and her friends were standing in line to get into a bar when a very handsome man wearing a suit, James, walked up to Siti and said, have you done any acting? And City, wearing her best clothes with her friends, she suddenly felt bold. And she told this guy, who she didn't know, that, no, I haven't, but I'd like to try. And so James asked her if she'd come with him, and she said, okay. And they went to this cafe and they sat down, got coffees, and James explained to Siti who he was, and he told her he was a Japanese television producer who specialized in hidden camera prank videos, and he needed actresses to put on pretty clothes and pull pranks on unsuspecting people on camera. City had initially been very skeptical of James and this proposition, but at the same time, back then, prank videos were all the rage on YouTube. They were on mainstream TV. They were everywhere. And City knew that. But she had never thought about being in one. She just sometimes liked to watch them. But James would tell her, this is really easy work, and you'll get paid well for it. And so City had ultimately said, okay, yeah, I'll do it with you. And after she said yes, her life had been a whirlwind. No longer was she a masseuse at a hotel, but instead, she was like a celebrity flying all over the country filming all these prank videos. And James bosses were so pumped, they kept messaging him, telling him how amazing she was and how every video she was doing was outperforming anything they hoped it could do, mean everything. Was going perfectly. City took a few more bites of her birthday cake, and then she checked her watch and saw it was almost 10pm which for James and her other friends might be early, but for City, that was pretty late. Plus, she had already had a lot of alcohol that night, and so that was making her more tired. And so she told James and the others she was going to leave. She thanked them for the party, and then she headed out and went to her hotel. As soon as City was in her room, she immediately called her mother. City and her mom talked all the time, sometimes multiple times a day. And this night, City just really missed her mom and she really missed her son. And as soon as she called her mom, her mom picked up and they chatted for a bit. And City told her all about how she'd had this amazing birthday party and how excited she was about the next day because they were shooting a really big prank. It was going to be their biggest one yet, and it would have the biggest payout of any of the videos she had done so far. This one tomorrow was going to pay her US$100. And Siti told her mom, don't worry, I'm sending all of it back home to you all. Siti's mother was so thankful and so excited for her daughter, and she said, that's wonderful. Get a good night's sleep and I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. And after that, City talked to her son for a couple of seconds and. And then they hung up and City crawled into bed. She turned off the light and she tried to sleep, but she couldn't. She was too excited about tomorrow's shoot. She and James had been talking about this particular prank for the last week, and they'd been rehearsing it over and over again. And now here she was on the precipice of actually doing it in real life. The pranks that City did were all pretty similar and pretty simple. She and James would go to some train station or some hotel or some other public area, and they would identify an unsuspecting older man. And then City, all dressed up, would go up to the sky while she was being filmed at a distance, and she would either kiss the man on the cheek or spray him with perfume or rub chili oil on his hand, and then she would giggle and run away. And then the camera crew would zoom in on the man's face as he's kind of bewildered and trying to figure out why that had just happened. But tomorrow's prank, even though it was pretty similar to the ones she had done it would be the first time she'd be working with another actor, in fact, two other actors. One of the actors was a woman who would be doing the pranking with City. And then their target, the unsuspecting man, was also an actor. James. And the Japanese television production company had insisted that for this prank to work, this guy really did need to be in on it. City had already met and rehearsed a couple of times with the other woman who she'd be doing this prank with. But she had not met the third actor, the unsuspecting man, yet. She'd be meeting him the next day. Actually, during the prank, City would eventually fall asleep that night, and then her alarm would go off fairly early the next morning. And when it did, City immediately got out of bed and she got dressed in a dark form fitting outfit. She put on some red lipstick, and then she hustled out of her room, downstairs and out of the hotel to meet James, the woman actress she'd be working with that day, and the other producers who were involved in the production. Then as a big group, they hopped in a cab and went to the international airport where this big prank was going to take place. And when they got there, they made their way to a restaurant in the departures area to wait for the third actor, the unsuspecting man, to show up so they could begin the shoot. And while they waited, City and the other actress she'd be working with struck up a conversation. The other actress's name was Duan Ti Huang, and she was a 28 year old woman from Vietnam. And just like City, she had come from a poor family and she had gone abroad to find work to help support her family. And it was during this time that she was abroad that she was recruited to star in these prank videos. But unlike Siti, who daydreamed about maybe being a singer or a model or an actress or something someday, for Doan, acting was the only thing she ever thought of. Her whole life, the only thing she ever wanted, was to be an actress. In fact, Do Won had left school to pursue a career in show business. She had been on a show called Vietnam Idol, but unfortunately did not make it past the first round. And she had actually done a few other prank videos with a different production company, but neither of those two ventures had ever really panned out. It wasn't until she was recruited by James and his team to be a part of these videos that Dowon finally felt like she was on the right track. And as they talked, City couldn't help but feel like Doan was just a little bit weird. She did like Doan. She had no issues with her. But Do Won had chose to wear for this big shoot today a very childish outfit. Instead of wearing something similar to what City had on which City imagined she would be, Dowon was wearing this weird childish looking T shirt that just said LOL on it. And she was carrying around with her everywhere this huge oversized teddy bear. But City just chalked it up to, you know, maybe James and the other producers told Doan to dress this way. And that's why the group took their time at breakfast inside of this restaurant just waiting for this third actor to show up. And finally at 9am so after an hour of just sitting there, one of the producers actually said, hey, there he is right there. And so City and Dowon and James, they looked out into the very crowded area and and sure enough, where the producer was pointing was this guy who looked exactly like all of their other victims. He was this middle aged, stocky guy carrying a briefcase who totally blended in with the hundreds of other people out there. And the producers told City and Dowon that it looked like this actor had already begun the scene. He was already heading over to the self check in kiosk, which was like the start of this prank. And so they told City and Dowan like go, go start the prank. And so City grabbed the perfume that she was given to spray in this guy's face and the producers rushed to rub this oil on Doan's hands along with give her a wet cloth because that was what she was going to need for her side of this prank. And then City and Dowan stood up and began making their way out into the very crowded terminal. And as she walked, City couldn't help but feel very nervous because she knew this was her big chance to show James and the other producers that she could work well with other actors and and that she could do a fairly complex prank.