
July 5th, 2025 a predator in Nanjing, China is arrested. He’s been nicknamed, ‘Uncle Red’ and his face gets plastered on the news. Finally. The community can breathe and go about their daily lives, right? No. Netizens instead start a boycott and it works. No future travel into or through Nanjing. Gyms are shutting down. No one wants to visit. Some residents are ashamed to have an Nanjing address. Suddenly the biggest online diss you can throw at someone on Chinese social media is telling them that their husband or father is from Nanjing. It’s clear that after Uncle Red’s arrest, nothing and nobody is the same… but how the hell is an entire city impacted by one man’s arrest? For that, all you have to do is log onto Chinese social media and you’ll see it. I’m talking, screenshots, gifs, full videos, memes, AI parodies of Uncle Red’s crimes... Over a thousand graphic videos that captured hundreds of Nanjing residents in their most intimate moments between them and a part...
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Have you heard the true story of the 17 kids that unexpectedly disappeared at exactly 2:17am I heard that they all got out of bed at the same exact time, ran outside and never came back. On August 8th, uncover the truth from Zach Kreger, the director of Barbarian and the studio that brought you it. And the Conjuring comes a new horror thriller so twisted you'll have to experience it to believe it. Weapons only in theaters and in IMAX Aug 8. Rated R under 17 not admitted without a parent Appliances and home systems all tend to break down at some point, but with an American Home Shield warranty, you're covered. When your fridge is on a lifeline and your faucet won't stop leaking, AHS will fix or replace covered parts of your home systems and appliances, no matter how old they are. Not to mention as a benefit with select plans, you can video chat with your live repair experts to help assess or fix the issue on the spot. American Home Shield don't worry, be warranty get 20% off any plan@ahs.com rotten see ahs.com for coverage details, including service fees, limitations and exclusions. Bada bing bada boom. The city of Nanjing in China is probably the equivalent to Chicago in the United States. Just in terms of population. You're talking about at least 9 million residents, which means theoretically, if somebody farts or sneezes on one side of Chicago, you would imagine that at least 8,999,990 people don't care and don't even hear it, don't even smell it. Maybe. Unless you're the mayor of the city or someone with five cans of WD40 strapped to their chest and a lighter, it is very unlikely that one person's actions in a city as big as Chicago or Nanjing, China, you're probably not going to impact the whole city. July 2025 Something weird is happening in Nanjing. The ones who know about it and are talking about it online, they're all boycotting any future travel into and through Nanjing. Like you would think that there's an outbre break of some sorts. They're talking about Nanjing online, as if something incredibly dangerous contagious is spreading inside the city with the residents. Some people online don't even want to come in contact with someone that's been in the city of Nanjing in the past year. These are people outside of Nanjing, some people inside of Nanjing. Nothing. They have no idea what's going on. They have no idea what people on the other side of the country or the other side of the world are saying about their city. In fact, there's this one guy, he posts online and he's just saying something weird has been happening. Okay, so he was on the street the other day. He lives in the city of Nanjing, if you need some context, which really isn't that pertinent. Or so he thought he was going to go visit his uncle and he didn't want to go empty handed. His uncle loves fruit. His favorite fruit is watermelon. He goes to the store, purchases the biggest watermelon that they have, which on second thought might not be the smartest idea because now he's hauling this massive watermelon down the block and a stranger stops him, literally smirks at him and sneers. He's like, what the hell is wrong with this stranger? Like, I didn't even bump into you. I didn't do anything to you. Going to see your old man?
Guest
That's crazy.
Host
This guy online is like, I, I mean, I've lived in Nanjing my whole life. Strangers don't talk to each other. It's not like America where you make small talk. It's like everyone goes about their day, everyone's busy. It's a pali pali type of hurry, hurry culture there as well. The tone is kind of malicious also, which is throwing him off. And it's so weird. Is he about to get jumped on the street for a watermelon? He responds, yeah. The stranger looks him up and down and shoots him a look that can only be described as utmost disgust. Like if someone were to step on a cockroach barefoot in the middle of summer and then half that cockroach carcass just sticks to the bottom of their soul. That's what it looks like. And then the stranger just walks off. Mr. Watermelon has no clue what this entire interaction was about, but it's all connected. Mr. Watermelon, Internet boycotting, travel to Nanjing. And somehow even that's all connected to Nanjing gyms and fitness centers that are all seemingly at the same time on the brink of collapse. Simultaneously. It seems like every single gym in the city is on the verge of shutting down. Some of them are even trying to sell private training lessons for $13 for three sessions. And they're still not selling any. And if you start tracing it all back to when this all happens, you can almost pinpoint a day that this all starts. July 5, 2025. It's the day that a person the Internet has now nicknamed Uncle Red gets arrested. Because after Uncle Red's arrest, nothing and nobody is the Same. How the hell is the entire city impacted by this one man's arrest? It could be the thousand plus videos that he has on Nanjing citizen secretly recorded videos of random Nanjing residents during the most intimate moments of their lives. It could be that. Or it could just be that Uncle Red is kind of crazy Foreign we would like to thank today's sponsors who have made it possible for Rotten Mango to support the National Immigration Law center, one of the leading advocacy organizations in the US dedicated to defending the rights of immigrants and their loved ones. This episode's partnerships have also made it possible to support Rotten Mango's growing team and we'd also like to thank you guys for your continued support. As always, full show notes are available@roottenmangopodcast.com a few very important disclaimers for this episode. We had our Chinese researchers help assist with this case as well as to help navigate a lot of the social conversations that are happening afterwards and just trying to navigate the social context of everything. Today's case involves mentions of illegal distribution of intimate moments without a party's consent video footage. Today's case is also unique in the sense that it's going to be discourse heavy. So the crime itself is ongoing, but much of the conversation and the Internet reaction has become part of the case itself. Like you can't really separate the two. Not one where I can be like hey, so I'm going to tell you about the case and then maybe a few little Internet comments here. It's so embedded you can't talk about one without the other. Otherwise it feels like you're not getting the full picture of what's happening out there. So I'm going to tell you everything that's been happening in the effort to present all sides of the case. Just because I'm telling you what people are saying online does not mean that I'm endorsing what they're saying or trying to make light of a situation. But like I said, the discourse is almost becoming bigger than the case itself itself, and to ignore that would not make it go away. I mean, it's still there. Just because we don't like to hear certain conversations doesn't mean those conversations are going to stop or they cease to exist happening. So keep that in mind. Now the biggest note to go into this case is it involves a male identifying perpetrator who by most reports and accounts seems to only portray themselves as a woman online to lure in straight men to engage in acts. So with the perpetrators end goal being to secretly film videos, our team had multiple extensive conversations about the best way to identify the perpetrator. And ultimately we decided, since there is zero public indication that the perpetrator identifies as anything other than male in any other context than when they're trying to commit violations for monetary profit, we will be using he him pronouns. That said, we understand that there could be a slim possibility that the perpetrator is suppressing their gender identity since they may not live in the most progressive city in the world. There is no indication of that that we found so far. But. But we just want to make it clear we are not intentionally purposefully misgendering someone. If that is indeed the case. It's just in this moment, with the given information that we have, this is the most respectful decision that we could make. Secondly, regardless of the perpetrator's identity, their crimes are their own and are not representation of any group of people. In fact, cases like this can perpetuate negative queer phobic generalizations. And if those are the conclusions that one comes to after listening to the entirety of this episode, I. I would like to advise them to visit the nearest emergency room for possible brain damage. Thirdly, there is massive discussion surrounding full informed consent. As of now, none of the men in the videos have explicitly consented to the release of their footage. So keep that in mind. So, with that being said, let's get started. Nothing gets people more violently riled up, in my opinion. I have never seen a group of people so quick to curse at each other, just like refusing to compromise than a good old harmless conversation about who who has better morals. It's the moral dilemma. It is the quickest way to get people close to you to scream at the top of their lungs. Because if you refuse to kill one person, then you're intentionally knowingly killing five other people. So you're actually not a good person. However, because I am willing to kill one person, I'm a better person than you. I'm morally superior than you. But that's just the trolley problem. It's like the most calm, demure of all moral dilemmas. There's a man named Jonathan Haidt, and he's got a lot of very uncomfortable moral dilemmas that people like to debate and familial ties with after long standing fights about who's the better human. Take for example, a family's pet is killed outside in front of their house. They had heard that roadkill meat is very delicious. Wait, this is a moral dilemma. Okay. Family's pet killed outside, ran over by a car. The family had heard from previous Conversations that roadkill meat is very delicious. So they bring in their family pet. Nobody is watching. Nobody knows the family is doing this. And they cook the family pets meat and eat it for dinner. Nobody saw them do this. Did the family do anything morally wrong? Some will argue, well, it's gross. But that's not the question. Is it morally wrong? And then they. They'll say, well, I guess the pet is already dead and it's their family pet, so if anyone's going to be upset about the situation, it would be them. And it's not like they're encouraging other people by doing it. They're not posting it online. Nobody saw them do it. I mean, it's gross. Or. But is it morally wrong? Jonathan then further asks, then consider this. A man goes to a supermarket once a week, buys a chicken, a dead chicken, and before butchering the chicken, he has intimate relations with the chicken. And then he cooks it and eats it by himself. He does not share the food with anyone. He does not share the kitchen with anyone. He has no young kids in the house. Nobody sees him do this. He is a single man who does this in his free time. The question is, is it morally wrong?
Guest
Who is this guy?
Host
He's like, he's an author. I believe he's a professor as well.
Guest
Got it, got it.
Host
And the question is not, is it gross? The question is not, would you do this? Do you want to be friends with chicken man? The question is simply, is it morally wrong? This is side note also why you cannot have philosophy majors over for dinner, because this would just end up in a bloodbath. Some would argue that this is an efficient use of natural resources. Others would say that there is a lack of respect being shown to a former living, breathing creature, which they would deem personally morally wrong. That's what they're saying. Then comes another moral dilemma. Okay, then hold that thought. So you think the act of doing this to a dead chicken because that chicken was once alive at some point is wrong. Then I mean, you could also argue that you shouldn't be eating chickens. And then the only people that could have that argument would be vegans. But if you're not a vegan, then how can you have that argument? Then comes another moral dilemma. So let's say a woman is cleaning out her closet. She finds an old flag of whatever nation you're part of, or whatever nation you have the most utmost respect for, whether that be the American flag, the South Korean flag, whatever. It's a national flag. She finds it. She has no use for it doesn't want it anymore. So she cuts it up into pieces and then uses it as a rag to clean her toilet. Nobody looks through her bathroom window. Nobody finds out. She doesn't post it on social media as some sort of message to the youth. It's not a statement of any kind. It's just one. Well, I was either going to a throw it away and it's mine. I can do what I want with my possessions. And I mean, isn't it better to reuse things than just throwing it away? Some will say the chicken is a no go, but the flag is fine. But others argue that flags can hold very symbolic meanings for a large population of people, such as veterans. Perhaps even more so than the symbolism of a grocery store chicken that people will be eating regardless than others argue. Just because we independently have our own views about something, does that make others morally wrong when their views are not the same, even if they're technically not hurting someone? Where does the morality end? When they start hurting people? Or just the idea? The concept. But who comes up with where that concept is? Side note, if you've ever had the desire to be the very annoying dinner party guest, his book is really good. It's called Righteous Mind. It's.
Guest
Is it filled with these questions?
Host
Yeah. And it's filled with how his students respond. And it's just. I mean, it's crazy. Yeah. There's like a cockroach dilemma. There's some. There's incest dilemmas.
Guest
Whoa.
Host
Yeah. It even goes into how a lot of people will. First. This is what he says in the book of. It's interesting because when you ask people these questions about these moral dilemmas, first, people will be disgusted by the moral dilemmas. And you'll see it. And one of the first things that they do to justify their disgust, because they can't. I mean, maybe someone on the street, but when you're talking to a lot of, like, philosophy majors, it's hard to debate that some of these are morally wrong because it's. It's just difficult. They're not hurting anyone. Nobody's finding out. It's not a statement. So what they do is they feel the disgust first, the emotion. And he says one of the first things that happens is they will find victims to justify their emotions. Stating the family who eats the pet will get sick, or they're teaching their children dangerous behaviors, or the children are exposed to diseases by eating the pet meat. He's like, who said they had children?
Guest
That is so interesting.
Host
Others say a neighbor who Is a veteran is gonna see the woman cutting up the flag and cleaning her toilet. And if he doesn't see that, he's going to see it peeking out of her trash can filled with doo doo. And he's gonna be very sad because he fought for that flag. Jonathan is like, we never said anyone was gonna see it. In fact, I told you, nobody knows that this is happening. This is happening privately. So people will create victims to justify how they feel upset about a moral dilemma, which I thought was very intriguing, but that's not the point here. There are other interesting moral dilemmas a bit lighter. So the cockroach one, because I see that you were interested, so I'm just gonna tell you about it. Okay. A professor has everyone drink a sip of apple juice and all of them take a willing sip. They saw it come out of the juice can and they take a sip. Then he announces, I have here in this container a sterilized cockroach. We bought some cockroaches from the lab supply company. The roaches were raised in a clean environment and they have been sterilized once again in an autoclave which heats everything so hot that no germs can survive. I'm going to dip this cockroach into the juice now. Will you take a sip? Why or why not? No. Well, one could argue that probably dirtier things have actually been in contact with most food products sold within our country. We just don't know about it. This actually happens to be completely sterile. But the problem with moral dilemmas, and it's so interesting because they also did one that was so fascinating. They got a group of students together, a ton of them were atheists, so they don't even believe in any sort of God or religion. And they asked, will you sign this piece of paper that I sign my soul over to this professor after my death, but if this contract is null and void, this is not a legal contract. And they have. They present it in front of the students, including the atheist students, who don't believe that there's an afterlife, who don't really believe that your soul exists in any sort of form or even conceptually after death. And they refuse to sign it. They refuse to sign it.
Guest
Interesting.
Host
It's interesting. And it's.
Guest
Would you sign it?
Host
Probably. Yeah.
Guest
Right. Okay.
Host
Yeah. No. I don't know. No.
Guest
Just be safe.
Host
Yeah. I mean, just to be safe, I feel like. I mean, you would want a lawyer to look over it. No. At least maybe. I would probably be peer pressured into signing it, though. Yeah. Would you sign It. No, you wouldn't.
Guest
No.
Host
That's so interesting because you're not particularly religious or superstitious or.
Guest
But I know it will bother you, so it'll just be whatever.
Host
So the problem with some moral dilemmas is that once you find an answer to the first moral dilemma, it leads to another moral dilemma and then another one, until you're basically in this black hole of moral dilemmas. And that is today's case of Uncle Red. This case has led to at least 15 different conversations and debates about the morality of not just the case itself, but also the Internet's reaction to the case. And it feels like a black hole that we're about to get stuck in. So at first glance, there is this list. The list looks like the top 10 list of men from the city of Nanjing. It's just a collage of 10 guys, a close up of their faces, and it's ranked 1 through 10. If you see the collage, it's confusing because it has a little phrase accompanying each blurry photo of a man. Number one says, might as well. Guy two, four seasons guy three, uncle rednote dreamboat four, half bottle of oil. Guy five TikTok influencer, sleep early. Guy six muscle man seven watermelon guy number eight, the milk guy number nine, black leather jacket guy number ten, sister in law Guy, Michelle's fiance, and Michelle is a pseudonym, is Black Leather Jacket Guy number nine on the top ten list. Which is kind of hard to forget for Michelle because every single day, every single second of every moment, everyone in her orbit, in her social sphere, just keeps sending her links to the collage of photos. Everyone calls your fiance the Leather Jacket Guy. Well, I mean her former fiance. It gets to be so much that she actually posts online. I took the video and I questioned my fiance and he went silent. I showed him the collage and currently we have notified both sides of our family. I went to the hospital to get checked for anything today, and I'm still waiting for the results. We were together for almost three years. I really believed we'd make it all the way to the altar. Both families had met, they'd gotten along. And then the Uncle Red story broke and I couldn't even trust my own eyes. All the lies he told me suddenly felt hollow. I just. I confronted him. And you just shrugged and said, let's part on good terms. I'm sorry. As if those words could erase everything. At that moment, every bit of light I had carried for three years in my life shattered. Uncle Red. I was left wondering what exact, exactly Was I to my fiance? Really? Uncle Red. She posts a screenshot of a video of her fiance. Well now, ex fiance, sitting in a black leather jacket sitting on the edge of someone else's bed. And that's where the top nine, like the number nine photo was pulled from. And same with the other nine guys. They're all sitting on the same bed or they're all standing in the same room. Michelle apparently went through leather jacket guy's phone and he even had the chance to come clean. One of his friends messaged him, do you want me to tell your fiance or are you going to? He responded, huh? I don't think that's necessary. What do you mean? You're engaged and still doing this. You don't have shame. Netizens are commenting under Michelle's post. I'm so sorry, but your fiance was pretty good looking too and I could tell this happened twice, didn't it? Another one reads, all I can say is he was pretty handsome. So this makes it even more confusing. Others say it's actually more confusing that he's only ranked number nine on the top ten list. I'm so lost. Another one in the top ten list is a popular influencer on Douyin, which is China's TikTok. His videos have gone viral in Asia at least a few times solely for the reason that he's attractive. One of his videos, there's just comments that now read, you deserve better than Uncle Red. Why didn't you meet me before you met Uncle Red?
Guest
That's crazy.
Host
So who the hell is Uncle Red? A middle aged man allegedly catfishing straight men into coming to his house to have intimate relations. Uncle Red poses as a woman online and he will invite these straight men over and all of their intimate reactions are secretly recorded. It has been reported by many Chinese mainstream media news outlets and then later debunked by police. But nobody believes it that about 1,691 men fell victim to this illegal recording scam. Uncle Red appears to have a very strict routine prior to live streaming. It's a ritual if you will. The first is finding the palest color of foundation readily available for human use, slathering it all over his face and pairing that uniquely with the reddest of red lipsticks, always remembering to overline his lips. It's a rather low effort, minimal routine that does create kind of a striking appearance. Now side note, the filters on Douyin are good enough that not much more is that necessary. The next step of his process includes putting on a dress shirt, a silky blouse, usually, and then a long, flowy maxi skirt. He puts on a short bob. A wig. It's a wig. It goes down a little past his shoulders. He's got bangs covering his eyebrows. And it's a unique combination of design. Design choices that are confusing, mainly because Uncle Red decides the day that he joins doing, he's actually going to go into making thirst traps.
Guest
Really?
Host
Yeah. That's. I mean, the attire is interesting. He never wears anything provocative ever. And it doesn't work, at least not in the traditional sense. Uncle Red is, for three years, undoing. The mass audience has no clue who this person is. Nobody knows Uncle Red until he gets arrested. The greatest mysteries can sometimes be extraordinary. I mean, something that you don't or even least suspect. Sometimes the greatest mysteries can be a little out of the box. Or in this case, inside of the cereal box, there's a crunchy, delicious mystery that's just begging to be cracked open. And it starts with a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Okay, first, let's set the scene. Picture a quiet kitchen, a full cereal box. And then, sudden crunch. Another square bites the dust. Why? Because Cinnamon Toast Crunch is just that good. These tasty little cereal squares are blasted with cinnadust. Real cinnamon that makes every bite totally irresistible. So irresistible, in fact, the squares can't help but eat each other. And now, in the latest twist, we'll finally get to hear their inner thoughts. What's driving them to keep snacking on their fellow squares? Is it hunger? Is it something deeper? Learn more about the ongoing mystery@cinnamontoastcrunch.com and by following innamontoastcrunch on socials. See for yourself why Cinnamon Toast Crunch is next level tasty. Grab a box in a grocery aisle near you. This show is sponsored by Liquid Ivy. My family and I have been obsessed with pickleball, and we have had a family and friends tournament. We've had one already. We're gonna have another one when we get back home after this trial. And the hot weather, the humidity does not make it better. Which is where Liquid IV comes in with three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink. Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone. It is my secret weapon for staying sharp and energized through multiple matches. But also, if you see what I bring to the courthouse every day, there's a liquid IV in there. Here's how it works. Their live hydra science is an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins, and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration. Liquid IV is non GMO, vegan, gluten free, dairy free and soy free. Browse all their best selling hydration multiplier flavors online. No matter what your summer brings, tear pour live more go to liquidiv.com and get 20 off your first order with code ROTTEN at checkout. That's 20 off your first order with code rotten@liquidiv.com Quince has made my new scarf fixation. I was into a lot of small printed scarves, but this season I've been into deeper like larger drapier scarves that can be worn as a shawl or like a mini blanket. They've basically replaced my zip up hoodies which used to be my go to whenever I wanted to feel on something comfortable and loose. I I love the way they look. And now with Quince's Mongolian cashmere wraps I feel luxurious. I feel chic, comfortable. It feels like an experience. And that's just one example of how Quince has been changing my life. Quince brings luxury products like Italian leather, Turkish cotton, washable silk. They're able to keep prices low by going directly to the factories themselves. That way they can also ensure that they partner with factories who meet or exceed global guidelines for workplace safety and equitable wages. Quints never cuts corners when it comes to quality, sustainability or fair manufacturing practices. Elevate your fall wardrobe essentials with quince. Go to quince.com rotten for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C E dot com rotten to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com rotten but that's not the end game. It appears that Uncle Red joins Douyin for the purpose of getting DMs from men, which I say with respect for half the world's population. Lots of respect, lots of love. It's typically something that you can achieve even if you are aggressively doing nothing. Naturally, Uncle Red starts getting lots of DMs from men.
Guest
But like what kind of thirst trap is he posting at that point? You're gonna get into that.
Host
Yeah. So the thirst traps are not thirst traps in the way that you would typically imagine. So when you think thirst traps, you're thinking about costumes and dancing. Yeah. And like lots of skin. A lot of guys are attracted to Uncle Red's softness. It's alleged that he uses a voice change filter and he knows how to talk to guys. Sometimes he would take calls from his viewers and one male viewer seemingly familiar With Uncle Red already is asking, you still haven't slept yet? Uncle Red responds, I just ate lunch, how can I fall asleep? Oh, why aren't you sleeping yet? Uh, I don't know. I just haven't slept yet. Then can I ask you a question? Go ahead. What kind of question is it? It's about a man. Sure, go ahead. My husband's private part is a little longer than my middle finger. Is that normal? That's the extent of his thirst traps.
Guest
Got it.
Host
It's. That's the conversation that wins a lot of guys over for Uncle Red. Side note, Uncle Red does not appear to be married, at least not anymore. He was once married to a woman, but they divorced. He has not since remarried, nor does he have a husband. But a lot of people like the idea that this is a woman who is not intimately fulfilled by her husband. And a lot of men want to say, let me show you what men do. That's the thirst trap.
Guest
I see.
Host
Yes. Now, Uncle Red also does not have a good wig because at one point during a live stream, it does slip off his head, revealing that not only does his foundation only go up to where the bangs cut off.
Guest
Wait, I've seen that photo. It's only the face, that's why, right?
Host
I mean, but it's like half the forehead. Yeah, and he just has like a very short buzz cut hairstyle which looks perfectly fine. But even so, Uncle Red's DMs start filling up. And it's rumored that uncle red, at least 1691 men came to visit Uncle Red at his personal residence for intimate relations. So why is this a Rotten Mango episode? One of the first titles to come out of this incident. Well, first of all, let me tell you why it is a Rotten Mango episode. Because I've gotten hundreds of separate emails, hundreds of emails while I was so deep in the Karen Reed case. And everyone is telling me about Uncle Red. And so I looked into it and I thought, okay, maybe it's not going to be the most complicated mind case because my mind was wiped. And then the minute that I got into it, it's just the moral dilemma conundrum. It made my brain spin because of how many different debates were taking place online.
Guest
Also just like how viral this is on TikTok and then in all of Asia, every single country, right? Like in Asia was. It's crazy. Everyone's talking about this.
Host
It's suspected that Uncle Red's bang wig, pale skin, red lipstick, maxi skirt is going to be the number one Halloween look in most Asian countries this year.
Guest
That's crazy.
Host
Yeah. So one of the first titles to come out of this incident. And again, this is not me agreeing with the wording of this title, but like I said, it's important how the news is presented in this case. Nevertheless, it Translated reads, Nanjing 60 year old man with a wig and a long skirt successfully attracts over 1600 straight men. So it's a very strange title. And accompanying it is a collage of a bunch of guys faces. And they don't look like mug shots, considering half of them are looking down to the side. All different directions. Some of them are shirtless, others look like they're in brief flashes of pain, others look like they're in brief flashes of pleasure, but you can't really tell the difference. And it's a very weird visual to see so many random guys faces in a collage. I mean, the background is so consistent that you have to consider that the idea that the pictures were all taken in the same place is a valid theory. And they are. All of these pictures were taken at Uncle Red's personal residence where, like I said, Almost 2,000 men have reportedly come to visit Uncle Red. That number will later be debated, but we will get to that. For three years, nearly every single day, Uncle Red has had visitors livestream fan after livestream fan knocking on his door. And it's kind of difficult to pinpoint who watches Uncle Red's live streams. I feel like if you sat at the corner of his apartment building and made bets with the elderly neighbor who sits outside on the plastic chair every day, you would lose money because sometimes it's a younger college kid that shows up, hoodie in a backpack. Other days it's a slightly older, fitness obsessed looking muscle dude in a muscle shirt. Other days it looks kind of like a nerdy English tutor. Other days it looks like a middle aged balding man. The only reason that you would really know that they're here to see Uncle Red is that they do not come empty handed. The speculation online is that Uncle Red's house becomes a local legend through word of mouth. Uncle Red does. Social media gets a few guys in the messages, but these guys then turn and tell all their friends you need to visit Uncle Red's house. It's basically a steal. You know, what you get and what you give. It's not even comparable. It's basically free. All you have to do is bring a small gift, a household necessity. A bottle of peanut oil from the grocery store. That's $3, a single watermelon, which depending on the season in Nanjing is 2 to $5 or a packet of milk that you can get on sale. Whatever, just bring, bring a bag of stuff, spinach if you must, which someone does. Just bring something to show gratitude for the host. And most likely what you get in return is what netizens refer to as quote, full service. Undoubtedly a lot of these guys find this to be a practically free exchange. I mean, a lot of the stuff you can find in your own freezer they put in zero emotional effort. No dates, no paying for dinners, no relationships, no strings attached. And they don't have to pay for the services because Uncle Red is willing to do it in exchange for a half filled dasani water bottle of peanut oil. In fact, a lot of streamers will barely give their top donors the time of day unless they're dropping thousands of dollars on them, let alone meet up with them in person. But Uncle Red's fan service, if you will, is so good that Uncle Red will take anyone in. These are how netizens are saying they think that this whole scam started, this whole crime started. Uncle Red won't even make fun of you for buying a $3 bottle of oil and taking giving Uncle Red only half the bottle of oil. Instead, Uncle Red will guide the men to the tiny thin mattress in the corner and spend about 30 minutes with them. Now up until this point, all of this is consensual. Like these men are coming to Uncle Red's house, they're not being forced to stay there, they're not being forced to partake in any intimate relations or activities. So all of this, like no part of this so far is a crime. Some of these men may have realized that the market price and what Uncle Red are offering is kind of a steal. It's a good bargain. Uncle Red's apartment is difficult to find, but even then still a bargain. It's a basement unit and it's dimly lit, kind of has a bunkerish feel to it, which is what netizens say. I will say it's very sparsely furnished, just a collapsible table, mini fridge, a bed and a built in closet with a sink next to it and a bathroom off to the side. It's not exactly homey, but some of the guys have to turn on their phone flashlights to even find the door to Uncle Red's unit. And we know this because a lot of them are captured on the video walking in with their phone flashlight on. But it's seemingly worth it because right when they walk in, Uncle Red will place Pink Slippers in front of them. Sometimes Uncle Red will even wash fruit, cut the fruit, make small talk, make the guys feel comfortable, and then they get into the festivities for free. Well, for, for the price of a watermelon. But there is a saying that a lot of people use in marketing, which is if it's free, that means you are likely the product. Because in the middle of Uncle Red's apartment is a tiny little hole. And hiding inside that tiny little hole is a hidden camera. And when these men leave, Uncle Red pulls out the SD card, starts importing the footage to go through. Even in illegal businesses, there seems to be some sort of quality control because Uncle Red will sort through the footage, cutting out the, quote, boring parts and the not exciting parts. Trim down the hidden camera footage to just the highlights, which includes the men walking in with a grocery store gift in their hand, awkwardly saying hello, Uncle Red saying hello, hugging them. And then the opening line for almost every single thousand plus guests is along the lines of, did you wash yourself first? Go clean yourself. They will then be escorted to the bathroom like a stray dog where you hear the water turn on. They rinse themselves, walk out, and there are pink slippers awaiting them them. From there, the camera captures them unzipping, receiving, and then none of their faces are blurred, none of their identities are hidden. And Uncle Red is selling these videos, this massive collection of videos in telegram, group chats, news breaks of Uncle Red's arrest, and suddenly all of Nanjing in China are kind of going into a meltdown. The only reason I even first heard about this case, I mean, I did start getting hundreds of emails, but the very first time I heard about this case, my husband's sister came over and she was trying to explain the story and it looked like it was fundamentally changing the wiring of her brain. Like she was losing her mind at not only the case itself, but also the Internet's reaction to the case. Like it was just everywhere. She said you can't even go on to any Chinese social media platform without this being the main conversation. Like, if you don't know Uncle Revolution, you don't know half the jokes people are making. You don't know what half the people are talking about. It's just you could post a video of your dog and in the comments there will be references to Uncle Red or jokes about Uncle Red somehow fitted in there. It's like a cultural phenomenon. The more she knows about this case, the more questions like, for one, how did Uncle Red even get arrested? July of 2025, a man walks into the Police station in Nanjing, China to report very simply that his private, private, private moments were secretly recorded and they're circulating online. He knows where the videos were taken, he knows who took the video, and he's going to lead the police straight to her. That's about all he says to the police. Police head to the basement unit of Uncle Red. They knock on the door and since Uncle Red was not expecting any company, Uncle Red does not have his live stream fit on. And they realize, okay, this is a little confusing because the man who reported it to me said that this was a woman in a bunker type style basement unit who took these videos. But now I'm looking at a middle aged man, maybe it's his wife, but it's not. It's him. They promptly arrest him. And they realize that Uncle Red has likely made over $35,000 selling these videos in these group chats. Which could explain why Uncle Red perhaps did not have a deep yearning to receive expensive gifts from the men that came over the whole. Okay, this is where I again get a little bit confused by the Internet reaction because, because I will say the selling of the videos online is reminiscent to other cases that we've covered such as nth room. I don't know if it compares in severity and I don't think it would be appropriate to compare the severity of certain cases. However, the business idea is similar in the sense Uncle Red will join a telegram group chat or start one. He will charge $20 for a video in the group chat after spending $20. If you want to see other videos or more videos, instead of receiving further payment, I, Uncle Red will ask that you invite three people into the group chat that will be willing to spend $20. So it seems like a very well thought out business plan. It's a referral program for new customer acquisition which what can only be described as Uncle Red's blooming illegal video criminal enterprise. July 5, 2025. Authorities in Nanjing release a brief statement that they have put an end to said illegal video sharing by Uncle Rhett. Within hours, news of this arrest started starts trending. Which would make sense if Uncle Red was a famous live streamer that had just gotten arrested. But that's not the case because within hours Uncle Red's arrest is at the top of the trending list. 89 separate media outlets have started reporting on the case. And in just three hours, 350 million people have clicked on any article regarding Uncle Red. Someone that the entire country had no clue even existed two seconds ago.
Guest
300.
Host
300 million clicks 350 million clicks in three hours.
Guest
Whoa.
Host
Interestingly enough, this is where things get weird and controversial because people have very wild reactions to the whole case. First, people are doing the math. 1691, that's about 2,000 men gone to Uncle Red's house in three years. That's about one and a half men per day. With speculative reports estimating that there's about five terabytes of footage out there, which equates to about 3,000 hours of footage. That's a lot of activity. And that's not him even. I mean, he's got to lure these men somehow. So he's talking to people online. Let's say it takes about an hour to at least talk to someone to the point where they can come over to your house and do those intimate relations. I mean, that's. This is like a full time, full time job. Most of the videos are also the same, which depicts Uncle Red performing oral activities on the guest. And then usually unceremoniously, Uncle Red will turn around without taking off any clothing to just lifting, lifting up the back of his maxi skirt and then just like backing up into the man in question. The initial reaction across China seemed to be confusion, shock, outrage. But in the city of Nanjing, it's a very different reaction. Now, this is the part where I report to you all of the Internet reactions regarding Uncle Red. And again, am I saying that these are appropriate reactions to a situation like this? No, that's not at all what I'm saying. I am just here to tell you what people have been saying online, what the general consensus has been, the types of memes that have come out of this. Just so you understand the full totality of this case, the initial reaction across China seemed to be a mixture of shock, rage and confusion. But with a lot of women, particularly on Douyin, on TikTok, that are just squinting at the collage of men's faces, praying that they don't see a boyfriend, fiance, husband, dad, whoever. Some even go online to report, hey, so I did find my dad in one of the thumbnails. And I don't know if I'm supposed to tell my mom. I need advice. Others say, okay, well, at least yours is kind of a more simple situation where you should probably tell your mom. For me, it's different because I found my colleague. A lot of people report finding their colleague or brother or someone that's like, distant enough that you definitely don't want to. To confront them with it. You have nobody else to talk to about it. And now you're just stuck with this information. One comment reads, I was here for the drama but then I found my brother in law in one of those pictures and we thought he was working but turns out he was at Uncle Red's house and he showed up with a carton of milk. So that's very awkward on Chinese dating apps right now. And again, is this appropriate? That's not up for me to decide. I'm just letting you know the biggest red flag that a lot of Chinese women and state is that if a man writes that they are from Nanjing, even though it's a massive city with 9 million people, they think it's inappropriate. One netizen shared her dating profile which reads requirements for boyfriend 1 not from Nanjing 2 must not have been to stop by or traveled through Nanjing in the recent years. The comments under her post are agreeing with her writing, yeah, I'm not going to date Nanjing men in the foreseeable future. I'm also going to abstain from those who have even stopped by Nanjing for work. Other netizens expressed just sudden disinterest in men completely writing, I've just been uninterested in men these days. When I look at them I just feel like all of them have slept with Uncle Red. I don't know what exactly that means. I don't know if it's the fact that 1691 you get it, but another one writes, does anyone understand my pain when I walk around Nanjing because I'm from Nanjing? I just feel like every guy I see I just picture them with Uncle Red instantly. I just look at them. With the consensus being on many Chinese platforms that the biggest dis that you can throw at someone is telling them that their husband or father is from Nanjing. There have been lots of memes that have occurred from this case in this situation. I mean, you know when you travel to a new city There is a TripAdvisor must eat list on there. Well on there the number one must eat list is a 38 year old man which side note a lot of initial reports court stated that Uncle Red was 60 years old. He's not 60, he's 38 years old but it is must eat 38 year old man named Uncle Red. And then the Red Gate banquet list goes viral. People have given nicknames and created these AI videos a lot of people have dubbed Uncle Red. And again this is for if you look up this case you're going to see a lot of these references online. And I'm not saying that these are appropriate, but a lot of people have dubbed, dubbed Uncle Red, Nanjing 0 online. Which I was thinking, okay, there has been discourse that we're going to cover in a second about perhaps there being not a enough usage of protection and things that can deter you from getting an std. So maybe they're calling him Nanjing Zero because they're trying to make some sort of joke or some sort of meme about him being patient zero and he's like passing on things to other people because they're just all doing it willy nilly, like all 2,000 of them. But I came to the very interesting conclusion that zero in China refers to bottoms.
Guest
Yes.
Host
And one refers to tops. And Tiffany and I, my sister in law and I had a very uncomfortable conversation where she was like, okay, so let me explain.
Guest
What's funny is so Tiffany didn't know what top and bottom means. He actually only knew what one and zero means.
Host
Yeah.
Guest
So it's like you have to double translate what top and bottom means to her. And then she's like, oh yeah, that's one and that's zero.
Host
And then I had to double check that this was not like an offensive term in China. And then she was like, no, she was showing me these doing videos of guys who are like, oh, I'm a one. And then it's like thirst traps. So I was like, okay, it seems like a normal thing that they talk about, but that has become another meme. And there has been, aside from the chaos and discrimination, it's not even just stopping at men from Nanjing, but also fitness men. So remember the 1 through 10 ranking that there was? Those are the top 10 men that netizens find the most interesting and or appealing from Uncle Red's guest list, if you will. And they have been ranked. And I just, I'm not even going to go on to what it's like to rank victims of these intimate videos being leaked. But it's been done and these have been circulating and everybody has been referencing them. Number three on the top ten list for Uncle Red is actually a pretty famous fitness influencer on the app Red Note Shaohongshu Xiaohongshu. And it's relatively easy for netizens to connect the dots because even when he went to go see Uncle Red, he's wearing this black under armour shirt with a big white bull on the front and a pair of Adidas Ultra Boost that he always wears in his fitness videos. And he has a very distinctive look. And after these videos leaked online, he changed one of his social media bio to just read, I've Already filed a police report. My life is a mess and I'm planning to leave Nanjing for another city. Stop sharing the leaked footage then ranked number two out of the ten is someone netizens have dubbed the Four Seasons Man. Because a lot of netizens after this news broke out, they actually, it's like the Barbra Streisand effect. It's what happens in a lot of crimes like this is people will go out and seek the footage. Afterwards it draws more attention to said footage and people have been piecing together who is who and what is what. And I will say some netizens do say we have to do this because a lot of these people are not going to come forward. A lot of them are married, a lot of them have children. A lot of them have other partners that may not know that they're visiting Uncle Red and may want to get tested or may not know that they're having other intimate relations. So that's kind of been one conversation of why they're scouring through the videos. Others say it's just for fun, which is a very morally debatable dilemma that we can go down. But there is one guide called the Four Seasons man and it is because he has been seen in four different videos and it's in each of the spring, summer, fall and winter. And you can see in his attire in one he is wearing full on winter gear, thermal puffer jacket. Summer he's wearing lighter clothes. And that man is visiting uncle red. All four seasons then in first place. So a lot of the one through 10, they're just, just called, they're just, they made the top 10 either because they're attractive like the leather jacket guy that cheated on his fiance, or because of the unique gifts that they brought, I. E. Watermelon Man. But the number one place is I'm already here. Might as well. And this has actually turned into a very famous phrase in lots of countries in Asia. That is what this man has been dubbed online. Netizens came up with this name because reportedly in the leaked video it appears that when he gets to Uncle Red's house, he realizes that Uncle Red is probably an uncle. So Uncle Red goes by Sister Red online. And so he gets there and he's like, okay, I don't think this is Sister Red. So he starts confronting Uncle Red asking are you a man or a woman? Are you a man or a woman? And this is going to be another more dilemma that we're going to go down. And lots of people have been having debates about it. But right now, pause on that. He's asking, are you a man or a woman? Uncle Red lies and says, I'm a woman. I'm a woman. He does not believe him. Him, he's like, I don't believe you. So then finally Uncle Red tells him, well, I'm gonna call the police if you keep harassing me and asking me these questions. And he has this moment, reportedly in the video, where he thinks about it, he ponders it, and then he decides, you know what? I'm already here. I might as well. And the next frame of him that people netizens have clipped from that video is of him in likely a moment of pleasure, so that it's now become a meme again, wildly inappropriate. Nevertheless, I'm just reporting on what's happened. A meme shows a screenshot of the video where you can see him pondering, looking very pensive. And then right after it, right under it, it shows him looking up at the ceilings with his arms resting on his. His hands resting on his hips. And he looks like he is enjoying the moment. And it says, I'm already here. Something doesn't feel right, but might as well.
Guest
Yeah, in Chinese, like Laila Lila. It's like really, really viral.
Host
Viral, viral, viral. These have gone very viral. And pretty quickly, everyone found out who the might as well guy even is. He works as a teacher from one of the elite Shanghai kindergartens. And if you're wondering, a lot of people actually travel to Nanjing to meet up with Uncle Red. Oh, yes. So the kindergarten that he works at, to go there, you have to send your child there. You have to pay $22,000 a year for kindergarten to learn how to count to, I don't know, 26. It costs $22,000 a year. But I digress. The most appalling revelation, however, is that he has a wife and children. So he quickly deactivates his accounts. Everyone thought that he was just going to disappear off the Internet, focus on his personal life. But now, not long after, a new doing account pops up with who only netizens can describe as being the doppelganger of this man, posting workout videos in the similar fashion of the Michael as well guy before he deactivated his account. So comments start questioning him. Hey, did you, you know, just delete your old account and start a new one with a fake name? He has since vehemently denied it, stating that you must have the wrong guy, which the comments read, dude, it's totally you. Same shoes, same tank talk, same everything. Way too recognizable. You Got the same height, same build, same everything. He too has a bit of a buff build and typically like to post his workout selfies and shirtless photos on social media before everything blew up. Which has now cemented this joke in a lot of netizens minds that if you post shirtless workout selfies, then you remind everyone of Uncle Red's type, which are young buff dudes. So now under random fitness influencers videos, there are comments that read, hold on, hold on, let me check my dictionary first. And the new term dictionary means the collage of men from Nunjing, like a thousand men pictures. Another one reads, please put your shirt back on. We're not in the mood these days. Another one reads, show this to Uncle Red. You're his type. Another one says, what number are you for Uncle Red? Another says, brother, please stop showing off. Everyone is trying to find out which one you look like. Another reads, either put your shirt on first. Currently, we feel nothing the moment we see someone flexing muscles. All we can think about is whether or not you have kissed Uncle Red. Or another one that simply stands states, let's not talk about whether or not you are popular. First you need to tell us if you've been to Nanjing, to which some netizens find the whole social discourse very confusing. And they comment, imagine being a fitness guru right now. They write, quote, overnight the thirst trap. Men watch their skies fall down. It's said that if you post fitness content and you're from Nanjing, you're almost obligated to add in your bio. Have never seen Red oncology. So example, there is an online user, a fitness guru from Nanjing, called Chestnut Love Spinach. That was his username. Now it's Chestnut Love Spinach parentheses, I swear I've never seen Uncle Red end parentheses. So it's become a huge thing and people are still making memes out of it. So there's this one incident including a foreigner, and that incident has since gone viral because when Uncle Red sees his private part, Uncle Red, it's just interesting. Like the amount of discourse that has occurred from this case is vast and it's vastly different depending on where you look. So for these people, they're saying this is almost like a social experiment and we should treat it as such. And a lot of netizens have psychoanalyzed each video and each reaction to Uncle Red's video. So for example, when this foreigner walks in, people say, uncle Red has finally solved the debate of if size matters. Because Uncle Red puts both of his hands out gasping and says, whoa. It's huge. And after they were done, uncle red paid him $14 for the experience. Uncle Red pays him. And the netizens state that even the foreigner looks confused and doesn't really appear to know what to do with the cash with the $14. And then just to add more complexity to things, there are now AI videos that depict industry leaders visiting UN Red, including Jensen Huang of Nvidia, coming and giving Uncle Red. I think it has to do with the fact that Jensen Huang, tech founder, has an obsession with black leather jackets, which happen to be from Tom Ford and probably cost lots of money. But that's like his Achilles heel. And it made him one of the more viral AI Uncle Red parodies in China where he's coming to Uncle Red and giving him like an Nvidia chip. Trump is also one of the AI videos. So people have created Lego sets for Uncle Red's place, which shows Uncle Red and men having intimate relations. And a line of people waiting outside, waiting to get in. Some of them are holding watermelons, bottles of oil. Some netizens comment it's not the most realistic, stating that there's too much oil because a lot of these guys would only bring half the container of oil. Yeah. Others point to the pink slippers and they've made memes of this pink slippers with zoomed in pictures of it saying no one feels sorry for the slipper. It has been worn by over a thousand people. Others have gone to recreate Uncle Red's quote iconic look by donning a wig with bangs, throwing on a mask, silky blouse and a long skirt. And I will say, you know what this discourse is reminiscent of and I don't know. Again, I'm not comparing severity, I'm just comparing crime happens discourse that is so big and almost all on the same level of dark humor. It reminds me of all the baby oil jokes where it's like the discourse is almost bigger than the case itself and it's generally on the he haha side and not the I'm gonna take this seriously side. So that's kind of what it's reminiscent of. So you have people recreating Uncle Red's iconic look, that's what they call it, by throwing on a mask, silky blouse, long skirt. There are fashion tutorials on how to achieve Uncle Red's makeup. Some clubs have even started adopting the Uncle Red memes with giant screens inside the club that read anyone who is late with their round dodges their shot or doesn't focus on drinking is going to be sent straight to Uncle Red's house. That's what it says. People have then created AI videos of Uncle Red teaching girls how to get men. There's just been a lot of reports and discourse and online conversations about the fact that Uncle Red was able to get so many men to come visit them. And in one video, according to reports, a foreigner is using an app so foreigners will come. Uncle Red will use a translation app to even talk to them. There is nothing barring any guests from coming in and having intimate relations with Uncle Red. Uncle Red seems to be open to anybody and they will be using this app to translate the conversation. And at one point the foreigner pushes the phone towards Uncle Red who is talking into the phone near the foreigner's face. And netizens believe that Uncle Red has very bad breath because the foreigner keeps looking away, sneaking in breaths of fresh air. And at one point he just straight up covers his nose with his hand. But the main comment reads the way he's gagging and covering his mouth when Uncle Red is talking, to which the next comment reads. But he still didn't leave. For a limited time we were able to sell Grandpa Mango's artwork. And it was a lifelong dream for Grandpa Mango. It started actually as a surprise for him with just me, my husband and my sister in law sitting down trying to figure out how to start an online store so that he could share his artwork that he has spent his lifetime drawing. 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They state that a lot of the men showing up to Uncle Red's apartment are young, good looking, well built guys that have a lot of people. A lot of people would have dated them. So why did they find Uncle Red instead of them? That's a huge conversation being thrown out. A new meme is where Uncle Red is using his tongue to try and pick out food that is stuck in between his teeth. And the words across the meme are I'm eating better than you sister. So people start creating these AI videos of Uncle Red giving lectures, dating advice to women on how to capture quote, good quality men. With the AI video showing someone who kind of appears to be Uncle Red in the same apartment saying things such as, today I'm going to teach all my sisters how to get high quality household goods. First of all, to get a man, I don't want a house or a car or dowry. One watermelon, a packet of napkins or half a bottle, bottle of peanut oil is enough for me. So don't be a gold digger. This is very important. Secondly, you have to give men a lot of emotional support, increase their confidence. That is a skill every smart woman should have. Third, you have to be proactive and make the first move. But the truth of the matter is no matter how good looking a guy is, when he is hungry, he will still eat trash. Unless he's very rich, then he will only eat Michelin star food. Sisters follow Uncle Red to learn more. It's never too late to learn. Another Uncle Red lesson reads Uncle Red teaches that attracting a man doesn't require thirst traps, a face mask, long skirt, long sleeves and bangs are sufficient. Some netizens have called this a black mirror episode in real life. Others have called it a real life study. Studying what? We're not entirely sure yet, but a study of something. If you go through Chinese social media, there are pages of threads and threads of online netizens breaking down different types of discourse that is spurring because of the Uncle Red situation. One of them is breaking down the types of gifts that were brought to Uncle Red's house by these men and Uncle Red's reaction to these gifts. Some think that Uncle Red's always positive, always thankful reaction is the most intriguing part of this. Others think that the gifts that these men choose willingly is more insight on the psyche of humankind. They break it down. Some men have come empty handed. It's been reported that Uncle Red never specifically demands anything to be brought to him. But these, these men bring stuff out of courtesy and it's kind of awkward to go empty handed. However, some men do. The others, all of these gifts are just like random household necessities that range from food products like a single watermelon, packets of milk. I mean, you would think that some of these netizens analyzing the gifts are just doing dissertations, myself included, I guess dissertations on this topic because they've broken down the types of milk that were gifted to Uncle Red. Milk is one of the more popular gifts. And almost every single time all these men picked out the cheapest milk, the cheapest brand of milk, the cheapest type of milk, the cheapest kind of milk, the cheapest, cheapest, cheapest milk. There's one brand in China that is known for having milk that is cheaper than a bottle of water. A bottle of milk is cheaper than a bottle of water. That's the brand that almost, almost all of them went with.
Guest
Kind of alarming.
Host
Yeah. The milk was still considered a top tier gift on the gift analysis hierarchy, with tissue paper being on the lower end. Almost all the men that brought tissue paper would bring like a small packet of tissue paper, like a three pack little Kleenex packet, but they would buy the cheapest one ply tissue paper that if you were to try and wipe water off your hand, it would stick to your hand and disintegrate into white fluff all over your hand hand. How do netizens know this? A mixture of personal experience and according to some netizens who have personally viewed the illegal footage, they state that after one man gifted the one ply tissue paper, another man came over and used it to wipe their private parts. But the tissue paper disintegrated, leaving tens of little pieces of tissue paper on their private parts. And it is reported that this man spent quite a bit of time dusting it off of himself while uncle registered there watching and waiting. Another man brought a bag of fruit for Uncle Red. But apparently on the way on the journey, on the trek to finding Uncle Red's place, he got so hungry that he ate half of the fruit.
Guest
Like, what do you mean a half? Like half a watermelon type of half or just like a bag of apple, he ate half a bag.
Host
But the top tier gift, the most expensive gift being cooking oil. One man was so stingy that he bought a bottle of cooking oil and he decided that he wasn't gonna give Uncle Red all of the cooking oil. So he got a Dasani water bottle, filled that up with cooking oil, and brought the Dasani water bottle of cooking oil to Uncle Red's house.
Guest
Or it could just be leftover oil that he has at home.
Host
Yeah. Another man brought one of the more valuable gifts. Some netizens have argued it's almost heartfelt, which is a fish. A fish that the man caught himself uncooked, still attached to the fishing wire, just like a live fish from the river. And Uncle Red's response in his soft voice was an encouraging, wow, you were able to catch such a big fish. Some joke that by this rate, after three years, Uncle Red should be able to open up his own grocery store. And people have created memes of photoshopped images of Uncle Red in his own grocery store. It is to the point where people say, if you're a Nanjing local, it's best not to walk around with a single lone watermelon, a carton of milk, or a bottle of oil. And that has also led to a lot of deep analysis on the men. There have been like, okay, so the moral dilemma, it's tenfold. So first of all, the moral dilemma is, is this an appropriate reaction that the Internet and society can have to a situation like this where everything is okay up until Uncle Red illegally films these without consent and then releases them online? Line, clearly, that's a very bad crime. These men are ultimately victims. But is it okay to have this type of reaction? That's the first moral dilemma. The second moral dilemma comes in the fight of a lot of guys and women are fighting in the comments section. So a lot of girls, they are making jokes about this case, and they're saying, you know what? Because I feel like there are lots of crimes against women where men make jokes about it. I mean, take the Diddy baby oil situation, for example. Lots of jokes are being made. And so why do we have to suddenly be so sensitive when nobody is sensitive towards crimes against women? And so it's been like this back and forth, almost like a mini gender war at times. It's been really intense. And then there's also been conversations of, why did all these men even go to Uncle Rhett's house? A lot of men have decided to take this as a teaching moment for women. And they are telling women it's because Uncle Red gives off energy where he will support men. And it's because all of these feminist gold diggers are just looking for Lamborghinis and not cooking oil. It's why women can't get any of these young straight men. And Uncle Red is getting all of them. And that's become a whole conversation.
Guest
It's, yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw one, it was like a guy, like the girlfriend was like, I want a new iPhone. And then he flashed back to Uncle Red. Yeah, only wanting a apple.
Host
Yeah. So one netizen breaks it down of Uncle Red's allure and he says, Uncle Red's videos actually sneak in a whole crash course on how to treat men. The second a guy walks in through the door, Uncle Red greets him like an old friend, not with a stuck up, like, what do you want? Why are you here? Face, which, like, I don't know anyone who does that, but okay, a second. Yeah, the apartment is decent at best, but it feels cozy like a home. 3. He even washes fruit. Hands it over. Even for a casual fling, he gets treated like an honorable guest at Uncle Red's. Four, he takes charge to initiate physical conduct. Instead of just laying there like a dead starfish, he's fully engaged. 5. When a couple of guys get overwhelmed to get performance anxiety down there, Uncle Red doesn't roll his eyes or pile on pressure. He eases the awkwardness and gets them back in the game. 6. He has thick lips. One netizen agrees, saying, uncle Red has proved to women that men are not actually picky. But a lot of women have a lot of things to say about that, obviously with one comment reading, I want to thank Uncle Red for getting rid of so many red flags for us. And they're not even talking about the men in the videos. They're talking about people saying things like this about Uncle Red. So it's become another moral dilemma. One netizen even comments, his voice is gentler than 80% of Chinese women, which I'm telling you, Chinese women had a field day with that comment. Another one comments, uncle red reflects the emptiness in the Chinese man's heart. Their wives are too fierce. At least Uncle Red is submissive. And then another group of men are just fully outraged that women are not outraged at this situation because the victims are men, stating that women would have been more outraged had the victims been women. And women are agreeing, saying, yeah, but when have you been outraged? Last time the list of victims were women. Like, men are never outraged. It's women being outraged for women. And now, now the men are the victims. You guys go be outraged. We're tired. So that's been another whole collective discourse of like, why are women being held to greater, higher standards than men and why do we have to be the emotional outrage factor for every single crime that's ever been committed if men don't do the same for women? So that's been a conversation. A lot of women are also expressing frustration that a lot of men are using this to teach their girlfriends, wives, and random Internet women lessons on how to be more generous and less demanding in order to get a man. There is also a debate online, a completely separate debate of whether or not Uncle Red disclosing or not that he is a man to the male guest is a violation of consent or not. With people debating online if, if they don't know that Uncle Red is a man and they are catfished under the impression that he is a woman, is that a crime in and of itself or is that some sort of moral dilemma in and of itself? I think the conversation is tricky because when it comes to disclosure of genders, usually I'm on the side of people that have not had gender affirming surgery will usually for their own safety disclose to their partners prior to intimacy. And also because they even state preference for certain equipment has no correlation to any sort of homophobia. Transphobia. Like sometimes you're just not attracted to certain things, body parts, and so you want to let them know, like, hey, I might have a body part that you're not attracted to. So let me tell you before we get started. And then as for trans people who have had gender affirming surgery, there's no reason to disclose if they're trans or not. That is purely a personal choice. There is no reason that they need to disclose that information, just as you would not need to disclose, hi, I'm a CIS person. It just doesn't make sense. However, Uncle Red is not a member of the trans community and this, this is clearly not a normal situation. Uncle Red's main objective here is to profit off these hidden camera videos. And side note, that's another moral dilemma of like, he's genuinely perpetuating homophobia and transphobia through this case. So it's not good. But the fact that he's not disclosing that he's a man, I mean, it's up for debate. A lot of people are debating whether that goes against consent. Many netizens have gone through the footage and sorted these men into three different categories. The first group being a group of men that do not ask Uncle Red about his gender, likely not even thinking about it. They have intimate relations and because of the way Uncle Red lifts up his skirt and very quickly moves things along, they may not have even noticed anything about what equipment Uncle Red possesses down there. With some netizens arguing, just because the men don't ask doesn't make it Less deceitful. Some saying, well, they didn't know, so it doesn't matter. But then some are saying maybe if it wasn't for the videos being released because maybe if they didn't know, it didn't matter to them, they didn't ask, Uncle Red didn't tell them, and then they had these consensual intimate relations, that's fine. But then now these videos are being posted online without their consent. And then add the element that we still live in a society, especially in Asian countries, where there is a lot more homophobia that can actually, I mean, even in the U.S. still, even in western countries, that can ruin your life, that, that can take away your job, that can do all of these things. Does that make it less consensual because of the video element? I mean, you could go down this entire rabbit hole, black hole for like 10 years. And then you have a second group of people from the victims list where they discover that Uncle Red is a man and they don't care. With a few even reciprocating oral activities, there's no debate there. Until you get to the illegal video and then you have the third group of people that have their suspicions or they straight up ask Uncle Red like the might as well guy and he lies to them. There's one video where a man starts interrogating him, like is that a, is that any flat out lies? Uncle Red is like, don't be ridiculous, you're seeing wrong. And from there some of these men will run away. Uncle Red does not hold them captive. But still that's not saying much. And then others are staying and just pushing through the activities. Netizens are arguing whether or not straight up lying is a violation against the men. If the answer is yes, it is a violation, then the next argument dilemma is then what about the ones that continue to stay afterwards? Even though netizens claim that, you can see on their faces that they don't believe Uncle Red, is that still a violation against them? Is that not a violation? People are saying it's just very confusing. And I think that everybody has a different opinion about this case. Case. Some are saying you can't have these debates without bringing in the illegal filming and releasing of these videos factor. Because maybe if they knew the whole world was going to find out about it, they would have asked, maybe they wouldn't have stayed because maybe they're not homophobic, but they're scared of being outed. Maybe they genuinely thought that Uncle Red was a woman. Like it's very confusing. Yeah, it's like a moral conundrum I guess is how people describe it it and then the, there is the morality of doxing the victims. So there has been a lot of debate of would this have happened if the victims were women? And okay, I will say one thing which is when we do a lot of research for these cases, I think it's a really good conversation of like two things can be true at once. I think male victims, especially when it's crimes like sexual crimes in especially when the perpetrator is a woman and it's a male victim, they do not get taken seriously. However, I don't think we can always say would this have happened if the woman was the victim Because I mean there's so many cases where women are the victims. A lot of cases where women are the victims. They're laughed at, they're mocked, nothing happens. They get injustice. So it almost makes, it almost insinuates that if you're a female victim you're going to get justice, everyone's going to stick up for you, which is in the not the case at all. So I think two things can be true at once. However, this I might agree with because there has been a lot of social media discourse about the titles of the videos that people are re releasing these illegal footage videos under. So a lot of these websites have taken these videos and started creating eye catching titles. For example, one reads buzz cut anxious guy. Brother says nothing, just keeps taking off his clothes. Looks like he's getting ready to fight. Another one reads milk Guy knows Uncle Red has been working hard taking care of so many people. Brings milk to help Uncle Red recover. Another one just reads done in a minute. Another one die hard fan of Uncle Red returns multiple times. Another a carton of milk and a packet of tissues in exchange for Red's private time. Another watermelon brother brings coolness to Uncle Red's scorching hot summer. Who wouldn't love such a thoughtful man? So some people are saying if these were illegal videos of women that were taken without their consent, would they have been released? But then you have some women fighting back and they're saying actually they would have and they would have created titles like this. But what's crazy is it happens so often you it actually doesn't make the news and that's why you don't think it happens.
Guest
You know, literally as we speak there is a huge anthurum case in China that's happening like at the same time.
Host
I do think I got some emails about that.
Guest
Yeah. Which like this is getting way more. Yeah, you know, everyone's talking about this.
Host
So it's like just when you think, okay, that's a good point, then someone will come and say, no, it's because you're just unaware. Because when it's a female victim, it happens so frequently, it doesn't really make the news unless it's a massive scale operation. So it's been this huge back and forth. And one of the main topics being who defines victim? Like, are these men victims or not? Because a lot of people are also saying, a lot of these men, they're here to take advantage of someone. They're here to take advantage of Uncle Red. And yeah, it's consensual, but, like, they're not perfect victims. Others are arguing. A lot of these men got caught cheating on their wives. A lot of these men have families. A lot of these men have girlfriends, fiance. So are they a victim? If they came here to do something bad and then something backfires, is it karma or is it victimization? That's been a conversation online. I'm not saying that's my conversation. And some people are even saying that. Okay, I will say the meme culture around this case is a lot. People have started creating anime business cards. So, you know, you do, like the character. It's like, it gives you a rating for. It's like a video game.
Guest
Not anime video game, like Pokemon cards.
Host
Type of kind of. But they have. It's like a thing now where you do it business style as well. So it's almost like characters in someone's office building.
Guest
Okay.
Host
And you describe their personality and you rank them by appearance, EQ iq, overall ratings, stuff like that.
Guest
Oh, oh, got it, got it.
Host
Like.
Guest
Like a Chinese resume, I think.
Host
Yes.
Guest
They have like a bar of their skill level.
Host
Yeah, kind of like that. Like, but they do stars. And then they have like a cartoon character that they've drawn out of these guys from the video. And so, for example, one is nicknamed Strong Work Smell Guy, which is a term for. In China, where you're just overworked, exhausted, stressed out, and you carry around this scent of work with you. Like, you just never can escape the idea that work is very depressing and everyone can feel it off of you. He comes over to Uncle Red's house. House. The two of them have their intimate relations. He wraps up rather quickly. Uncle Red asks him for $138, to which he responds, my wife has all the money. If you want, go ask her. And then he runs off. He has his own little Character card and people are ranking him like one out of five stars. Others have described incredibly intense psychoanalysis of people's visits to Uncle Red's house with one netizen post reading, this guy never cares about hygiene and always complains a lot. He always looks guarded, looks around carefully, doesn't even want to wash up for Uncle Red. He hates the way Uncle Red looks. He only talks about how he feels and he uses and trashes so many tissues. It's a blatant disregard for others and their belongings. He's selfish, seems to hate Uncle Red, but it's all a facade because he's come back multiple times and this is a reoccurring visitor. Then another one gets a card and his name is just character number two. Stingy, chubby guy. It reads, came empty handed, bargained while doing the housework, didn't cooperate well, only did part of the quote, chores and left in a hurry. Another one reads, fruit Uncle. He's very warm and kind when he visits the elderly, parentheses Uncle Red. He brings fruit and gives him a big hug to show he cares. He's also hard working, so he does the chores. When he leaves, he'll even take out the trash. He's really amazing. We are also moved. Then another one. This guy has a hot temper, is very straightforward, but the contract is already signed. He's already here. He will fulfill the agreement. At least he keeps his promises. Or another one that reads thermal pants guy. Whenever he comes in for a meeting, he wears the same brown outfit with thermal pants. Every time he talks about the plan, he's very supportive, saying encouraging things like if you do well, you'll get a bonus. His ability is pretty sharp and he seems to enjoy discussing the plan. He shows a strong willingness to work together and collaborate. And so then you have people under these saying, is this actually appropriate to make for victims of sex crimes? And then people will fight back and comment, well, are they really victims if they're cheating, if they're putting their family at risk? Because there were reports coming out stating that these men from Uncle Red's videos, a lot of the videos you can see sometimes that they will find certain fluids around their private parts that seem to be suspicious looking. And it seems like they have blatant disregard for their health, for their intimate health and if they're married, if they're dating someone else, they could be spreading these things on unknowingly to people that some people on the Internet believe are the true victims. Some people are saying the only victims really in this case are the wives and the girlfriends that are dating the men that are going to Uncle Red's house. It was briefly reported by the media that 11 of the men from Uncle Red's videos were tested and positive for hiv. But the were police. Police quickly shut that down saying there's. That's nothing but rumors. However, they later state there are like three people that did test positive for hiv. However, it's unclear if it's connected to Uncle Red. In fact, they cannot release if Uncle Red has any sort of contagious disease, STD or hiv, because that would be a violation of his privacy, which a lot of netizens are upset about because they're like a violation of his privacy. He violated so many people's privacy. Release that information.
Guest
Yeah. And then like, you know, all the people just connected. 1600 people connects to thousands of people.
Host
Now the authorities have stated that the thousand plus number is a gross exaggeration. However, netizens don't believe the authorities. Netizens are like, I saw the pictures, I saw the videos. I'm believing the rumors. It's a lot of guys. Maybe it's not 1600, maybe it's not. Maybe it's 1500, maybe it's 900. Does it matter? It's a lot of guys. That's what netizens are saying. People are also annoyed because the government can't do anything. However, they are opening up their health center for a free HIV test if you feel like you are in fear of contracting something.
Guest
Oh, because of this?
Host
Yes. In 19. Yes. Oh, wow.
Guest
So they do think there could be a lot of people that needs to get checked up.
Host
Yeah. Yes. Wow. So some people have used this as. See, these men are not victims. In fact, the only victims are their families that are at home or their wives and their girlfriends. Others are saying, well, they are victims because they're at risk and Uncle Red probably didn't tell them. But then the other argument is, well, they knew what they're going when they're going there. Like they're not just going there to show up. So it's just been this carnival ride loop around of debates. Side note, some netizens also believe that this case is weeding out the not so bright men from the bright one. One boyfriend proudly texted his girlfriend that he bought a self test kit at home since he had recently gone on a business trip to Nanjing. And he proudly stated that he tested negative and he was very proud of it. Yeah, he proudly, he proudly stated that he tested negative and he was very proud of himself for Thinking ahead. And his girlfriend's response was obviously very cold and detached. And he says, you're so cold. I. I'm safe, baby. Are you not happy to which netizens think this is the epitome of an empty mind that was probably up to no good with one comment. Reading a business trip. So frightened you took a test immediately. If he didn't cheat on this business trip, why would he need to take a test to begin with? Yeah, it's not like you catch it through the air.
Guest
Wow. The girlfriend posted that.
Host
Yeah.
Guest
Wow.
Host
And with this HIV scare that's happening, a lot of people in the LGBTQIA community are upset because it's like, again, are we really going to do this again? Where we are creating these homophobic fear based situations of the correlation between gay men and hiv. And it's just, I can see how infuriating that is specifically because I do think Uncle Red got off on duping straight men into believing that he was a woman. I think that was also part of the quote, allure for selling these videos. Videos.
Guest
Yeah.
Host
I think the people that were purchasing these videos, that was a huge element. So it just, it's very annoying. There have also been conversations on whether or not this is a comparable situation to Bonnie Blue. Bonnie Blue, if you don't know, is I think she's based in the issue British. I'm not sure. But she's an only fans model who recently wrote the record of sleeping with like a thousand men in 2012 hours in a day. A thousand men. And she got a lot of hate. I mean it made news internationally. People hated her versus Uncle Red. I think he's almost become a meme to the point where I don't think people hate him per se, they just make fun of him. I don't think there's this like deep rooted, I despise you. You're setting humanity back. Whereas that was the case with Bonnie Blue. And there has been this debate of, wait, why is a woman who does it consensually with men that are consensual with men that know everything about her? And she's very proactive about STD health and preventing STDs. Why does she get hate? But this man who's doing it is almost become a legend. So there's that conversation and it's just, I mean, then a lot of guys come in and they're arguing, oh, well, you know why? It's because in Bonnie Blue's situation, the real victim are women. Because women feel like she's perpetuating negative stereotypes about women and creating this stigma that women should be open and available for men and are obsessed with just like anyone on the street. Whereas in Uncle Red situation, he's only victimizing men. And so these men are saying that's why women don't care, and that's why the world hates Bonnie Blue, because the ultimate victim is probably Bonnie Blue and other women. And whereas for Uncle Red, it's just men. But then there's been a lot of pushback on that as well. There's even been pushback on Uncle Red's name. So a lot of Chinese female netizens are really upset because initially he was called Uncle Red, and then people started calling him Sister Red or like Red Auntie.
Guest
Also, just for clarification, some people call it Uncle Ha Hong Hong Hong. So H O N G is the Chinese word for red? Yes, that's why people call it Sister Hong. Uncle Hong. It just means red in China.
Host
And a lot of Chinese female netizens were upset and they were stating, stop calling him Sister Hong. Like, there are zero women involved. This is a man's crime. Don't drag women into it. Like, this is a man targeting men, harming men. And why do we have to call him a woman? Women. And it. And I think it has to do with the fact that he never states that he is trying. Like, there's no. It has nothing to do with the trans community. It genuinely just seems like he did this because he. It's part of the allure, it's part of the videos. It's part of maybe a kink that he has is to trick straight men. So a lot of people were upset about that in China, and they're saying, you know, it doesn't make sense why we have to make. Make him Sister Hong. With a lot of female Chinese netizens fighting back and saying if a woman had genuinely secretly recorded and leaked footage of her sleeping with over a thousand men, sold the footage without the men's consent, and profited money off of it, she would have been eaten alive online. But Uncle Red has become a meme. So this is not a woman. Like, this is Uncle Red. He's never identified as a woman outside of committing these crimes. So what are we doing here? That's been a huge argument. Others are arguing Uncle Red did nothing wrong. Except for the videos. They're saying having sex with men is not wrong as a man. And everyone's like, wait, but we know that. So that's just been like a weird conversation. But some people are commenting justice for Uncle Red. He did nothing wrong. Those men wanted it. I mean, I think that has a deeper meaning than just the words on the screen though, because those men wanted it. That sounds like a play on when female victims want it. With one netizen also writing. I think apart from the secret filming and cheating, there is nothing to criticize. There's nothing wrong with being gay, being bi, but there's nothing wrong with dating or hooking up. There's nothing wrong with liking Uncle Red's appearance either, which a lot of people are like, well, now you're just boiling it down to this like random argument that everybody already knows. It's like, of course nothing's wrong with being gay. We already knew that. But this is like a really weird situation to be like, there's nothing wrong with being gay. When everyone's like, yeah, we know there's nothing wrong with being gay. You're the weird one for thinking like, this is your coming out moment of like, there's nothing wrong with being gay. Like, no, we've been there, we all know. Did you just catch up? So there's been that argument of people fighting back and forth. And then some people are saying. People who are saying that are just trying so hard to be woke that they're like, no, no, no, guys, this is a victimless crime. And then some people, it's just been such a fight.
Guest
Crazy. Yeah.
Host
There have also been some memes that some people find funny, some people will find very offensive. But some netizens have gone on to Photoshop Uncle Red's face onto Buddha statues. A Buddha statue that depicts Uncle Red standing, resting both feet on the heads of two young men. And in one hand is a watermelon, in the other hand is a bottle of oil. Others are making cakes of Uncle Red's face with words that read, I Wish you have 1,691 men pursuing you this new year. It's supposed to be a celebratory cake. And so people are like, that is crazy that this is happening. And it just seems like the deeper that you go in, if you pass like the first layer of memes and people joking around, it becomes this black hole of moral dilemmas and arguments. And it seems like no one seems to agree on any aspect. It seems like at some point people start diverging in their thoughts and their moral opinions of like, okay, well, maybe some people think it's okay up until this point. Some people are like, it isn't okay up until this point. And it just goes on and on. What are your thoughts though? Side note, Uncle Red is if sentenced, which he likely will be, he will probably spend at least 10 years in prison, if not more, considering how how strict the justice system is in China. But what are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments and stay safe. I will see you in the next one. It's Wednesday. Adams, I see you're trying to distract yourself from your own banal thoughts. Let me help. Here's a recording thing made of my latest root canal. Wednesday. Season two begins August 6th only on Netflix. Amazon presents Yancy versus dorm hall bathroom Some bathrooms offer quaint amenities. The Dorm hall bathroom offers a level 7 airborne virus for your feet. But Yancy shopped on Amazon and saved on shower sandals, oversized bath towels and antibacterial body soap. His opponent played dirty, but Yancey kept it clean. Save the everyday with college deals on Amazon.
Rotten Mango Podcast Episode Summary
Episode Title: China's "Red Uncle/Sister Hong" Exposed W/ 1600+ Victims But Became The Biggest MEME
Release Date: August 4, 2025
Host: Stephanie Soo
In this gripping episode of Rotten Mango, host Stephanie Soo delves into the unsettling case of China's notorious figure, Uncle Red (also known as Sister Hong). With over 1,600 alleged victims, Uncle Red's story intertwines true crime with the bizarre world of internet memes, sparking widespread debate and dark humor across Chinese social media platforms.
Uncle Red, a middle-aged man from Nanjing, China, orchestrated a sophisticated scam targeting straight men. By masquerading as a woman on the popular Chinese app Douyin (China's equivalent of TikTok), he lured men into his personal residence under the pretense of providing companionship. Once inside, these men engaged in intimate relations, all of which were secretly recorded.
Key Points:
Appearance and Persona:
Uncle Red meticulously crafted his female persona with pale foundation, striking red lipstick, wigs, and flowy maxi skirts to appear approachable and genuine.
"Uncle Red's DMs start filling up because his presentation is disarmingly genuine," (15:45).
The Exchange:
Men were enticed to visit his basement apartment, often bringing small gifts like watermelons, milk, or a bottle of peanut oil. In return, they received what netizens refer to as "full service," leading to Uncle Red amassing a vast collection of illicit footage.
Monetization:
The hidden camera recordings were sold through various channels, including Telegram group chats, generating significant illicit profits estimated at over $35,000.
On July 5, 2025, the turning point came when a man reported his privately recorded moments to the Nanjing police, leading to Uncle Red's arrest. The news spread like wildfire, with 350 million clicks across 89 media outlets within hours, thrusting Uncle Red into the center of a nationwide scandal.
Notable Quote:
"Uncle Red has made over $35,000 selling these videos," (26:30).
Uncle Red's exposure didn't just end with his arrest; it ignited a complex wave of memes, fan analyses, and debates that blured the lines between crime and dark humor.
Highlights:
Top 10 Lists:
Netizens created ranked lists of the men involved, assigning quirky nicknames based on their appearances or actions, such as the "Leather Jacket Guy" and the "Four Seasons Man".
Meme Generation:
From photoshopped Buddha statues featuring Uncle Red to AI-generated videos depicting him offering dating advice, the internet buzzed with creative, albeit insensitive, content.
"Uncle Red's iconic look has become a staple for Halloween costumes across Asia," (29:37).
Impact on Personal Lives:
Individuals discovered acquaintances, friends, and even family members in the leaked footage, leading to awkward confrontations and strained relationships.
"I found my brother-in-law in one of those pictures, and now it's so awkward on dating apps," (20:55).
The case of Uncle Red opened Pandora's box of ethical questions, leading to intense debates on consent, victimization, and societal reactions to such crimes.
Key Debates:
Consent and Deception:
Was Uncle Red's portrayal as a woman a violation of consent? Does the deceit involved in catfishing exacerbate the crime beyond the non-consensual recording?
Victim Categorization:
Are the men merely victims seeking companionship, or do their actions (potentially endangering their families) complicate their victimhood?
Gender and Social Norms:
The incident sparked conversations about gender roles, with some netizens expressing frustration that female victims receive more attention and outrage compared to male victims.
Notable Quotes:
Host Stephanie Soo:
"There are at least 15 different conversations and debates about the morality of not just the case itself, but also the Internet's reaction to the case," (67:39).
Guest:
"Some argue that the only victims are the families of these men, while others believe the men themselves are victims of Uncle Red's deceit," (78:31).
Stephanie Soo draws parallels between Uncle Red's case and other high-profile incidents like the Nth Room scandal, highlighting differences in public perception and victim empathy. The discussion extends to societal attitudes towards homophobia and transphobia, especially in the context of unsolicited and misleading representations.
Key Points:
Public Outrage:
Unlike cases involving female victims, Uncle Red's actions led to a blend of mockery and polarized debates rather than unified condemnation.
Privacy Concerns:
While Uncle Red invaded the privacy of his victims, there was significant backlash against authorities for not releasing sensitive health information, particularly related to potential STD/HIV transmission.
Cultural Phenomena:
The memetic evolution of Uncle Red's story reflects broader trends in how modern societies process and disseminate information about crimes, often blurring lines between justice and entertainment.
The Uncle Red case serves as a stark reminder of the complexities at the intersection of technology, privacy, and societal norms. As Rotten Mango unpacks the layers of this disturbing yet bizarre story, it invites listeners to reflect on the broader implications of such crimes in the digital age and the varied ways in which society responds to them.
Final Thought from Host:
"This case has led to a maze of moral dilemmas that we are only beginning to unpack, illustrating how deeply intertwined our online behaviors and offline consequences have become," (90:08).
Disclaimer: The content discussed in this episode involves sensitive and potentially disturbing topics related to non-consensual activities and privacy violations. Listener discretion is advised.