499: Trainwreck: The Real Project X

Summary

---

True Crime Obsessed – Episode 499: "Trainwreck: The Real Project X"

Released May 12, 2026
Hosts: Patrick Hines & Julie Benzavale
Summary prepared by Podcast Summarizer

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Patrick and Julie recap the Netflix documentary "Trainwreck: The Real Project X," which digs into an infamous 2012 event in a small Dutch town where a teenager’s accidentally-public birthday invitation on Facebook led to viral chaos, social media hysteria, and a real-world riot. True to TCO’s style, the hosts approach the true crime with wit, heart, and a fair amount of exasperated disbelief, offering cultural commentary and personal anecdotes alongside their walk-through of the story.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Scene: How A Simple Birthday Went Viral

• The Invitation Mishap: Merta, a Dutch teenager, makes her 16th birthday invite public on Facebook instead of private, which quickly snowballs.

  • [05:01] Merta: “So I created the event… invited 78 people, to be exact. It asked whether I wanted to make it public or private. I clicked public.”
  • Patrick: “Which also seems like too many to start... for a 16th birthday party is too many people to invite...” [05:17]

• The hosts highlight how unfamiliarity with platform privacy settings was widespread in 2012 and how this underestimation laid the groundwork for disaster.

The Facebook Domino Effect

• Within hours, a mischievous classmate, Lawrence, invites 500 more people, escalating the situation.

  • Julie: “He individually invites over 500 people. And he’s like, it took a long time… Poor you…” [09:45]
  • Patrick: “There’s no excuse for going into your contacts and inviting 500 people.” [10:21]

• Viral escalation continues as a local 18-year-old, Yorick, creates a copycat event after the original is deleted, fueling rumors and meme-driven interest.

  • Yorick: “I was an 18-year-old kid and I just wanted to experience the one epic party like the Project X... So that’s when I created the copycat event…” [15:00]
  • Julie: “She’s a 16-year-old girl who accidentally kind of doxxed herself. And now the stranger has made it his mission to invite thousands of other strangers…” [15:33]

Cultural Obsessions & Movie Influences

• The phenomenon was accelerated by the recent release and popularity of "Project X," a film depicting an epic, destructive house party.

  • Julie: “Project X is a movie that came out in 2012. It’s about a teenager throwing a super chaotic and destructive party. We’re told it’s every parent’s worst nightmare.” [12:58]
  • Patrick: “As a parent, I can confirm.” [13:06]

• Dutch fascination with American party culture is explored, with the hosts reflecting on different drinking cultures and cinematic myths fueling real-world recklessness.

The Spiral Into Chaos: Memes, Media, and Municipal Mayhem

• In the days leading up to the party, new Facebook event clones are launched, memes are created mocking Merta, and local government officials (the "Day Mayor" and "Nightmare" Chris) scramble ineffectively.

  • Julie on Yorick: “…now making memes of Merta, this 16-year-old girl... about how they’re gonna destroy her house…” [18:10]
  • Patrick: “This was like so boomery to me because… Yorick loves memes, like really loves them.” [18:30]

• Local officials are depicted as largely clueless about digital virality, with the press and radio inflaming the hysteria.

  • Patrick: “My favorite thing that the city council did to deter people from finding Merta’s house was they took down the street signs.” [33:11]
  • Julie: “The destruction is starting immediately... Merta and her mom are out of here.” [33:42]

The Riot Erupts

• Despite official attempts to redirect the event or mitigate the fallout, thousands pour into Haren, culminating in destruction, looting, and street violence.

  • Julie: “What starts to happen is that… they’re lighting things on fire, they’re knocking down streetlights, they’re throwing more bottles… and then the police show up and do the worst thing they could have done, which is, quote, fire warning shots. And now there’s a full blown riot.” [38:05]
  • Patrick: “Now, these kids are pissed… major destruction… cars are on fire, they’re looting, they’re breaking into other people’s homes.” [38:21]

• Merta’s father stays at the house, narrowly escaping personal harm.

  • Patrick: “He literally stayed there to hold down the fort… like the final girl in a horror movie.” [38:38]

Aftermath: Clean-Up and Consequences

• Community response is swift, cleaning the streets overnight—drawing host comparison to New Year’s in Times Square.

  • Merta: “The next day I went for a walk… everything was already clean up. I was very, very proud of the people in my town…” [43:29]

• Legal consequences: Over 100 arrests, most participants suffer little long-term penalty.

  • “Over 100 people were eventually arrested after police analyzed the video evidence.” [45:51]
  • “70 people were charged with crimes related to the riots.” [45:52]

• Day Mayor resigns in disgrace; the event is immortalized by its adoption of the “Project X” title.

  • Julie: “After mounting public pressure, the day Mayor resigned in disgrace and declined to participate in this documentary…” [46:08]

• Emotional effects linger for Merta, but, according to Yorick, she forgives him when they cross paths years later.

  • Yorick: “She looked at me, I looked at her, and she was like, you’re that guy, right? I was like, yeah, yeah, that’s me. She’s like, okay, it’s fine. It’s in the past. Don’t worry about it…” [46:22]
  • Julie: “She forgives him on the spot. According to him, we don’t get Martha’s side of the story.” [46:35]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the Tragedy of Viral Childhood Mistakes:

• Patrick: “She just doesn’t get it… I’m like, Merta, you don’t understand the emergency that’s happening here.” [10:59]

On The Role of Adult Authority:

• Julie: “And so Mariska wants to tell the day mayor, but unfortunately he’s away, like, on vacation and no one can reach him…” [20:44]
• Patrick: “Chris, the nightmare… he understands that like, no, no, no, no, this is going to happen. And… nobody believes it but him.” [19:45]

On Social Media’s Power and Danger:

• Julie (on Yorick’s cancellation post): “Is it canceled or is it not? It doesn’t feel like a cancellation to me.” [24:02]
• Patrick: “You can’t unring the bell.” [24:04]

On the Event’s Surreal Proportions:

• Julie: “350,000 people are invited on Facebook.” [31:00]
• Patrick: “350,000 people couldn’t possibly get there.” [31:52]

On the Cultural Impact:

• Patrick: “How do you stop something like this… I can’t believe this doesn’t happen all the time.” [41:06]
• Julie: “I guess no one actually got hurt. So maybe I’m the biggest wet—the wettest.” [46:50]

---

Important Timestamps

• 08:20: Party goes viral, tracking Facebook invite explosion
• 10:41: The moment Merta realizes the scale of the disaster
• 15:00: Copycat event “Project Xhar” is created
• 21:04: Seven days out, city officials begin panicking
• 26:02: Merta on self-imposed house arrest as events escalate
• 33:42: Riot begins; destruction and violence erupt
• 38:05: Police intervention triggers full-scale riot
• 43:29: Community clean up; aftermath
• 45:51: Legal/official consequences
• 46:22: Yorick and Merta’s post-riot encounter

---

Tone and Takeaways

True Crime Obsessed delivers their signature mix of exasperation, humor, and genuine empathy throughout the discussion. The hosts repeatedly circle back to the failures of adult authority, the alarming speed of social media virality, and the vulnerability of young people thrown into the spotlight for the wrong reasons. The episode ultimately offers both a warning and a memorial to the strange, dangerous possibilities of digital culture intersecting with youthful naivety.

Final Word:
Patrick: “It’s bigger than you now, girl. This is also not your fault.” [36:56]
Julie: “Stay safe. Don’t do this.” [48:07]

---

Next Episode Teaser
"The Curious Case of the Woman Dying for Attention" – A story of illness fakery, deception, and next-level fraud.

---

Transcript

[Julie Benzavale]

Were you following Artemis, too?

[Patrick Hines]

Kind of. Space isn't so much my thing.

[Julie Benzavale]

I'm such a, like, emotional space nerd.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh, they named, like, the planet or whatever after that guy's wife?

[Julie Benzavale]

No, the crater Carol. And it's on the side of the moon that his, like, two daughters can see. So they can, like, always look up at the moon and see their mom sobbing.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh, my God.

[Julie Benzavale]

Do you know about Copy moonjoy?

[Patrick Hines]

No.

[Julie Benzavale]

Okay, so they were, like, talking to Houston and they were like, I don't mean to be hyperbolic, but this is the most, like, breathtaking thing ever. And so Houston would have to, like, copy what they heard. So she went, Copy moonjoy. And you can hear her smile. And the. His dad has, like. Is a. Like, his daughters are swifties, so they made him bracelets.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh, my God.

[Julie Benzavale]

And he was, like, doing, like, heart hands and pointing to the bracelets. Copy heart, copy bracelet.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh, my God, that's so cute.

[Julie Benzavale]

I have been crying about the moon all goddamn week.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh, my God. Hi. Julie Benzavale.

[Julie Benzavale]

Hello. Patrick Hines, fam.

[Patrick Hines]

There are so many places if you want to hang out with us that you can do that. Follow us on the YouTube. We've got almost 300,000 subscribers.

[Julie Benzavale]

We've got over, I think. Is that right, 305 or 300.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh, my God, it's growing so fast. I. I will, like, just go to check and make sure they're there. Then I get stuck watching it for, like, 45 minutes. Because it's really fun to watch. Follow us and join us on Patreon if you want, like, over 500 full ad free bonus episodes. We've also made our Patreon episodes available as video now, too. So if you are. If you want to just listen to the audio as you always have. It's all good. Nothing changes. But you can also watch our Patreon videos, which is super fun.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah, just an option. Like, you don't have to get tied into that. I know people are, like, doing a lot of things when they're listening and stuff. So that's just an option for you. The video, if you'd like it.

[Patrick Hines]

We've got a bunch of different tiers. At the Hero Bell tier, we just covered America's Next Top Model, the three episodes.

[Julie Benzavale]

What a train wreck. No pun intended.

[Patrick Hines]

Total train wreck. At the after party tier coming up this month, we've got the Savannah Guthrie interview talking about her missing mother. So there's lots of different tiers. There's lots of different things to check out. There's lots of ways to hang out with us.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah, girl.

[Patrick Hines]

What are we talking about?

[Julie Benzavale]

Today we are back to the Train Wreck series. This is Trainwreck, the real Project X and it is on Netflix.

[YouTuber 1]

It was Friday night. We are pumped up to go to the party. We're going to the biggest birthday party in the history in the Netherlands.

[Lawrence / Yorick]

The strangest thing. It was in, like, this small town.

[Patrick Hines]

It was the first time I heard from this place. Hagen.

[Merta]

A Facebook invitation to a girl's 16th birthday party went viral. The girl had posted a message inviting her friends, but forgot to come out.

[Julie Benzavale]

The event is private.

[Merta]

All I wanted was just to have a good 16th birthday, but it really got a bit out of control.

[YouTuber 2]

Some of my friends said that might be turning into a Project X party.

[Patrick Hines]

I could have watched this episode 50 times.

[Julie Benzavale]

Really?

[Patrick Hines]

I love the Trainwreck series. I just like it literally lives up to its name every single time. It is always a disaster. Everybody always makes the wrong decision. Everybody's always in the wrong fam. This is just about a girl who. Who, like, throws a party and then decides not to. But then 500,000 people show up. It's just crazy.

[Julie Benzavale]

It's crazy. Well, I mean, well, we open learning about how, like, calm and green and peaceful this place in the Netherlands is. They don't have any tourists and that's what they like. And I'm like, oh, I know. I don't know how well that's going

[Patrick Hines]

to go for long. And like, apparently people think of the Netherlands as a party country. I didn't know that. Apparently drugs are legal there. Sex work is legal there. They're like, come to the Netherlands to party.

[Julie Benzavale]

So let's go to the Netherlands in 2012 and we meet Marta.

[Merta]

When I turned 16, I told my parents I would love to throw a birthday party here at home. I mean, 16 is an important birthday for us in the Netherlands, especially because the drinking age then was 16.

[Julie Benzavale]

And 16 is a big birthday in the Netherlands because in 2012, that was the legal drinking age.

[Patrick Hines]

That is insane.

[Julie Benzavale]

It changed to 18 in 2014, which it currently is.

[Patrick Hines]

That is also insane.

[Julie Benzavale]

It's. It's a. Yeah, I get it.

[Patrick Hines]

In this, I was thinking about why would this be the case? And I understand that, like, if done right and you want to start giving your kid, like, sips of wine, then you ease them into drinking. You take the mystique out of it, and then they don't become raging alcoholics, or they can become just like kids who drink all the time at 16 or 18. And that's crazy.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. Like, alcohol in this country, it's very different than the way other people approach and treat alcohol in other places around the world. Because then it's not like, oh, you have to wait all this time. If you're having, like, a sip of beer, then it's not a big deal and you don't go crazy.

[Patrick Hines]

And that's the idea, I think. But I don't know that how well that works in practice. Drinking had no mystique. Like, I wasn't interested in drinking until I moved to New York.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

And realized just how gay I was. Then I was like, oh, this is great. This is really fun.

[Julie Benzavale]

Back then, we're told that Facebook was all the rage. Like, that's what every. Everyone was on it for, like, inviting people to things. And it was a very, very big deal in the Netherlands in 2012. And so Merta creates this invitation on Facebook.

[Merta]

So I created the event something like Merthe's 16th birthday. I invited 78 people, to be exact. It asked whether I wanted to make it public or private. I clicked public.

[Julie Benzavale]

She invited 78 people, to be exact.

[Patrick Hines]

Which also seems like too many to start. Like, that right there for a 16th birthday party is too many people to invite them.

[Julie Benzavale]

But I know that they're all coming.

[Patrick Hines]

I guess that's true. But she had the option of making it a public or a private event, and she just decides to make it public.

[Merta]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

A couple of things I want to say here. Merta has a pretty good sense of humor about all of this.

[Julie Benzavale]

She does. Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

Because it's a long time from when it happened, and she's sort of looking back on it now. Also, every single person in this documentary speaks flawless English.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah.

[Patrick Hines]

It's unbelievable.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. That's not uncommon, right?

[Patrick Hines]

It's not, but it's kind of amazing. You know what I mean? Like, oh, yeah.

[Julie Benzavale]

It's coming from someone who speaks, like, one and a quarter languages.

[Patrick Hines]

Me, I barely speak English. You know what I mean? Like, I'm just thinking that, like, it's just so amazing that in other countries, like, you're just expected to learn English or, like, learn another language and, like, just. I don't know anybody who can speak, like, another language conversationally, but everybody in this documentary can.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. I get the same thing.

[Patrick Hines]

Even the dumbest ones.

[Julie Benzavale]

And there are some fucking herb.

[YouTuber 1]

Loser.

[Patrick Hines]

I know.

[Julie Benzavale]

Weirdo losers.

[Patrick Hines]

Yes.

[Julie Benzavale]

You know, we meet some of her friends, and they loved Mean Girls and Easy A and the Hangover and all those movies.

[Merta]

Life in these movies was quite different than from what we experienced. In the Netherlands. And kids my age wanted to experience something similar.

[Julie Benzavale]

They wanted to experience something like that. I'm like, no one actually wants to experience the hangover.

[Patrick Hines]

No. And, like, this is all gonna tee us up to, like, learn about this movie, Project X or whatever.

[Julie Benzavale]

I'd never heard of it.

[Patrick Hines]

Never heard of it. It's like a house party movie that eventually everybody decides they want to emulate. But it's like her friends are sort of talking about how they're all kind of obsessed with American party culture and they want to replicate it in this tiny, sleepy little town. Girl. Helix is back. I just love to talk about it. I love to imagine the point of my day where I get to climb. Amazing, fantastic, comfy bed.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. I know. Everyone's like, oh, spring cleaning. Like, oh, maybe I should upgrade my mattress. It's always a good time to upgrade your mattress.

[Patrick Hines]

And the thing is, we talk about this all the time, but one of the reasons we love Helix so much is because they really are finding the perfect mattress for you. You take that two minute sleep quiz. If you sleep in a bed with somebody else, they can take it too. They will, like, do the hybrid and find the perfect mattress for you. They set it right to your door. It couldn't be easier. And honestly, it's the best sleep of my life.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. So we have the midnight locks, but they have over 20 mattress models, so you can definitely find what you need in one of those.

[Patrick Hines]

You're just one of those people who loves the sanctuary at the end of the day, That's Helix for you. You get to try it 120 days risk free. You know what I mean? It's like they want to make sure you love it.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. It's so easy. They send it right to your door. I used to be a hot sleeper, or I guess I am a hot sleeper. But with Helix, it doesn't matter because I just sleep better because I'm not overheated and I'm not tossing and turning. It's just so nice to, like, go to sleep and wake up like a normal person kind of.

[Patrick Hines]

So, fam. You got to get in on the Helix. Go to helix sleep.com TCO for 27% off site wide.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah, that's helix sleep.com/TCO for 27% off site wide.

[Patrick Hines]

Fam. That's exclusive to listeners of our show. Just so you know, you're special.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. Helixleep.com/tco. Get into it.

[Patrick Hines]

Get into it.

[Julie Benzavale]

So we're 14 days out. 14 days to the party. It's 8:30am and they, in the documentary, you know, I love details like this. They hand Merta the kind of iPhone she had in 2012. Like, how did I even type on this?

[Patrick Hines]

This is tiny.

[Julie Benzavale]

I know, but it's 12pm and the amount of people going to the party is like ticking up slow. She says. She says, like, it's nothing to be worried about. She's just happy people are saying yes.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. And I mean, who. I'm totally like that too. I sent out invites to a party and I'm checking all day to see like all month to see who's coming. You got to know, you invite 78 people. You got to know if you're catering for 78. You know what I mean?

[Julie Benzavale]

And two weeks out, she needs to prep, whatever.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Julie Benzavale]

This guy Lawrence gets invited to the party. They went to school together, but they weren't friends. And the thing about Merta is that she lives in this like big fancy house. It was like the home Alone house. Yeah, Perfect house for a party.

[Patrick Hines]

We're told we're gonna learn that like this town that they live in is kind of like the fancy ritzy and the town next door is like the kind of opposite of that. But Marita's like kind of a rich kid who lives like in a rich, fancy house. And everyone's like, let's go party at that house. That seems like it'll be fun.

[Julie Benzavale]

And so this guy Lawrence notices that the event is public. And because he's a, quote, rebel, his word.

[Patrick Hines]

I was a little bit of a rebel.

[YouTuber 2]

So I thought, wouldn't it be funny if I invite more people? But I couldn't invite all of my people at once. So I needed to click on every person who was in my contact list to invite them personally. It took me a long time to do it. I sent like 500 invites.

[Julie Benzavale]

He individually invites over 500 people. And he's like, it took a long time. And I'm like, poor you, that is

[Patrick Hines]

so insane to like, were you doing it as a joke or did you know that people were going to come to invite 500? Because even if 10 of your friends show up and they're not invited by Merta, that is fucked up.

[Julie Benzavale]

It's really. I think it's such a dick move. And like, I'm sure I'm going to get shit for overreacting to it, but, like, I just feel like inviting people that someone doesn't know. You never know what kind of element these are. Also like a bunch of 16 year old girls, it doesn't feel very nice.

[Patrick Hines]

There's no excuse for going into your contacts and inviting 500 people.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like, you want there to be a problem. Yeah. You're looking for trouble. That's not the fun kind.

[Patrick Hines]

No. And I feel like Merita, like, didn't know. I don't know. I don't think that she fully understood the, like, the private versus public setting on the Facebook invite no situation.

[Julie Benzavale]

Because you're just like, well, what asshole is going to start inviting all of these people? And so, like, it's one o' clock and someone rats out Lawrence to Merta. And they're like, he's crashing the event. He's inviting a lot of people. And when she finally checks her phone, Marta sees that 3,000 people have been invited to the party happening at her house where her parents also live.

[Patrick Hines]

Now, Merita is telling us this kind of chuckling, Like, I'm like, marta, you don't understand the emergency that's happening here. You know what I mean?

[Julie Benzavale]

Like, she really doesn't. Even now, like, after we've lived through the emergency. Yeah. Is not very.

[Patrick Hines]

She just doesn't get it. And so this is where Lawrence is

[YouTuber 2]

saying that people were very enthusiastic and they're posting things on the timeline of the event. And then some of my friends said it might be turning into a Project X party. Best party movie ever.

[Patrick Hines]

They keep showing us clips of this movie. I'm like, apparently this was, like, a thing. It feels like a movie that did not do well in America, but, like, did really well overseas or something.

[Julie Benzavale]

Well, it also came out that year. It came out in 2012. So I guess it was, like, very, very new to them at the time.

[Patrick Hines]

They say Lauren says it's the best party movie ever. I mean, somebody never saw Animal House, I guess, like.

[Julie Benzavale]

No, I know.

[Patrick Hines]

I'm just saying, what are good party movies? I can't even.

[Julie Benzavale]

Can't Hardly Wait.

[Patrick Hines]

I never saw it.

[Julie Benzavale]

Get the fuck out.

[Patrick Hines]

Can you believe it? I know. I never saw. I Can't Hardly Wait. I also never saw, like, Lost Voice. I was just saying I saw the musical, but I never saw the movie. I know. We're different generations, though. Like, I was like, that was around the time that I was, like, going to, like, I know what you did last summer. Like, those were my movies. Like the one. The high school movies from my era were like, like, she's all that.

[Julie Benzavale]

Sure. That's a terrible party.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, that's a terrible party.

[Julie Benzavale]

Matthew Lillard is in that as well.

[Patrick Hines]

I'm trying to remember the other like high school movies from my time.

[Julie Benzavale]

But, like 10 things I hate About You.

[Patrick Hines]

Never saw it.

[Julie Benzavale]

That must be Nigel with the Brain. Oh, my God.

[Patrick Hines]

Never saw it. This is where our age difference comes.

[Julie Benzavale]

You've never seen 10 things I hate About You?

[Patrick Hines]

No, never saw it.

[Julie Benzavale]

It's so good. It holds up.

[Patrick Hines]

I was once at a party with a friend and Julia Stiles was there and we were talking to her and my friend asked her what she did for a living. So that was funny.

[Julie Benzavale]

Oh, my God. What'd she say?

[Patrick Hines]

She was very like, thrill be asked. She's like, sure, I'm an actor. Like, she loved that. He didn't know who she was, but I was horrified.

[Julie Benzavale]

You have to watch 10 Things I Hate about you. It's so good.

[Patrick Hines]

Modern Family. I know. We'll make a list for each other.

[Julie Benzavale]

Well, my thing's 90 minutes long.

[Patrick Hines]

Mine's 90 hours long, so.

[Julie Benzavale]

Project X is a movie that came out in 2012. It's about a teenager throwing a super chaotic and destructive party. We're told it's every parent's worst nightmare.

[Patrick Hines]

As a parent, I can confirm.

[Julie Benzavale]

And so now, like the Facebook event page is being flooded and everyone is talking about making a 16 year old's birthday, who they don't know by the way, into a chaotic, destructive Project X event.

[Merta]

I don't think we had any class at all. It was just people hanging over tables and absorbing this crazy thing that was happening. And also the teacher was sort of into it.

[Patrick Hines]

Everyone, including the teachers, are like, invested in it. What they're all like. I was trying to decide if I would have gone to this thing and I'm like, certainly not to destroy her house, but I probably would have been like, are 3,000 people really going to show up in my sleepy little town?

[Julie Benzavale]

I would think I would think they wouldn't.

[Patrick Hines]

I know I would think they wouldn't do. I think that's what everybody thought.

[Julie Benzavale]

Well, now There are over 10,000 people invited the entire. And on it. And she's. Meredith's tweeting about it. Yeah, she's like in on it, but she's. Because she's also assuming this is not that serious. And like, there's no way.

[Patrick Hines]

She also is trying to delete the event, but she can't do it from her phone. She's got to do it from a desk.

[Julie Benzavale]

Shit is so unnecessary.

[Patrick Hines]

Unbelievable. So Merit has got to go home. And she does. And as soon as she, she, quote, hops on her bike and she gets home and she tells her parents Right away. Which I was very proud of her. She's like, mom, dad, this is kind of silly, but it's a little out

[Julie Benzavale]

of control because at 5:30pm she gets home, there are 17,000 invites and she tells her parents because she wants to get ahead of it. She's like, I can't hide it. I got to let them know the parents are not.

[Patrick Hines]

That's always the right answer, children, that is tell your parents.

[Julie Benzavale]

But they don't get it. They're like, what's Facebook social media? They have no idea. But they call the police. And they don't understand Facebook or social media. So they're not really getting it. But that night, finally, like later on in that evening, Merita deletes the event. I don't understand why it wasn't deleted the minute she walked in the house.

[Patrick Hines]

I know we're gonna learn too. Like it also doesn't matter, you know what I mean? Because everyone we meet this guy, Jorek, Yorick, whatever. Yorick. And he says he has no connection to Myrta.

[Lawrence / Yorick]

I was an 18 year old kid and I just wanted to experience the one epic party like the Project X. I remember getting something to drink, refreshed my Facebook and I saw it was gone. 404 page not found I was a little bit disappointed. So that's when I created the copycat event at Myrta's house. I called it Project Xhar. A surprise birthday party for her.

[Patrick Hines]

And he creates a copycat event like. Like that. What is wrong with these people? That is crazy.

[Julie Benzavale]

This is insane behavior. Because she's a 16 year old girl who accidentally kind of doxxed herself. And now the stranger has made it his mission to invite thousands of other strangers, mostly men and boys, to the 16 year old's house to destroy her house. Like, you guys are a lose.

[Patrick Hines]

I'm sorry to say it, but this is a thing that like only teenage boys would do.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like this kid is 18 and she's 16. It just feels so, like grow up.

[Patrick Hines]

Well, because people just like, they don't realize what they're doing but at the same time they all hope it happens. Like they're like, there's no way I'm gonna invite 500 of my friends and they're all gonna show up, but at the same time they hope they do.

[Julie Benzavale]

But what's really weird and creepy is that it's not even like her friends. It's some random weirdo who doesn't know her at all.

[Patrick Hines]

Who's not a guy named Jorek with a hard J But she's at the movies that night, seven o', clock, and she says she's there with her friends and she hears the strangers in line talking about her party. Now here's the problem. Myrta. Myrta is a little bit enjoying it. Like, Mirta is a little bit like scared and like, this is crazy. But she's also like Facebook famous and kind of liking it.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. No one is understanding how big it could possibly get because it seems insane.

[Patrick Hines]

Yes.

[Julie Benzavale]

So it's like fun that she's like overhearing gossip about herself on in the line at the movies. Like, I get it.

[Patrick Hines]

Because like, whoever thinks you're going to be a part of that thing that Netflix makes a documentary about.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah,

[Patrick Hines]

girl. Goodalls is back. I cannot even tell you. Goodalls is such a mainstay of our house. I've got a pantry full of it right now. It's the Mac and cheese fam that's got protein, fiber, with prebiotics and vitamins and minerals from real plant sources.

[Julie Benzavale]

Let me tell you something. I love pesto so much. And when the wild, wild pesto Goodalls showed up at my door, the squeaking and squealing from yours truly was out of control. It is rich, it is creamy. It is everything you want in a pesto. And I know from pesto.

[Patrick Hines]

And listen, I've got a 12 year old in my house. You know that that means that there's a lot of Mac and cheese happening here. Good old is the stuff. We love it. It's low glycemic index. Like I said, it's got the protein. I actually feel good about plying my child with the good old Mac and cheese.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. It has so much stuff in it. Like you were saying, like the 14 grams of protein, the 7 grams of fiber, the prebiotics. And it does not taste like cardboard because us things like that do taste like hardboard. This tastes like creamy, delicious, tangy pesto.

[Patrick Hines]

So, fam, trust us. You need to upgrade your Mac and cheese to good olds.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah, I know you'll love it. Find the new wild wild pesto flavor [e-mail] and you can pick up so

[Patrick Hines]

many of their products in stores nationwide, at Target and Walmart, plus many other major grocery stores and retailers. Do it for the good of your health.

[Julie Benzavale]

I know I was telling you last time. Every time Mike sees them in the wild, it's like a celebrity. Oh my God. It's good. And now Yorick, who loves memes. The memes really got em. They're they're now making memes of Merta, this 16 year old girl. They don't know about how they're gonna destroy her house and what a nightmare it's gonna be from her and her parents.

[Patrick Hines]

This was like so boomery to me because they were talking to this day is talking about how much he loves memes. And I'm like, are memes still a thing? You know what I mean? Like, people like Yorick loves memes, like really loves them.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like the memes. That was when I knew it was gonna be a great party. I'm like, you fucking loser. Now we're 10 days out and we meet the nightmare. And I'm like, nightmare or Nightmare Chris.

[Patrick Hines]

Good one.

[Julie Benzavale]

I'm like, nightmare.

[Patrick Hines]

He's like the nightmare. So this, I was getting such a kick out of this because I was the first Alexis nightmare of Groningen and

[YouTuber 1]

I was responsible for all the nightlife in the city, organizing festivals, dealing with bars, with problems.

[Patrick Hines]

We have city council, but if they, after 5 o' clock, they go home and I come in. He's basically like the nighttime promoter of this town. I was like, this is wild that this is a job.

[Julie Benzavale]

And there's like a day mayor, which is his real title.

[Patrick Hines]

And the nightmare Chris, what a job. Worst nightmare for me. No, they day mayor any day of the week.

[Julie Benzavale]

And he like comes across the event on Facebook organically and he doesn't take it seriously because only rich kids live in that area. But then parents start calling him and no one's happy and they're like, you're the fucking nightmare. Figure it out.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah, and the thing about about it though is that Chris is like, I'm trying. Could I get a little help? Like Chris, I think, because he is the nightmare. And he deals with the kids and he deals with the bars and the like, he understands that like, no, no, no, no, this is going to happen. And nobody, it's almost. He's like the Cassandra. Like nobody believes it but him.

[Julie Benzavale]

But then Mariska's here and I'm like, finally an adult in the room kind of. Because she is like the city councilor and she sees the event and then someone sends her the trailer for that stupid movie and she's like, oh my God, we have to stop this.

[Patrick Hines]

Because it's Arnold and Mariska. They live in the rich town. Like they're neighbors of Murta's. They are. I just have them as sticks, mud. Because I also kind of want this party to happen.

[Julie Benzavale]

No, you don't. I don't know stuff like this.

[Patrick Hines]

I Just, it's the. It's like a cultural event. And Arnold is the most like a get off my lawn neighbor you can imagine. Yeah. And like, he and Mariska, they definitely, like, do tea and scones in the morning. Like, they're very proper. They're very much like, they don't. They love living in a quiet little town where nothing happens and nobody makes any noise. So they are very worried that they're going to have a disaster on their hands.

[Julie Benzavale]

And so Mariska wants to tell the day mayor, but unfortunately he's away, like, on vacation and no one can reach him. And so the nightmare himself calls the day mayor, and the day mayor is ignoring his calls. And I'm like, what the hell is going on?

[Patrick Hines]

It really is like the nightmare. Chris is the only one who really sees the future here.

[Julie Benzavale]

So we're seven days until the party. The numbers are going up and up and up and no one is helping Merita and her family. Her parents are getting really worried that their house is going to be destroyed in a week and they're not going to have any place to live.

[Patrick Hines]

Your thing. To take down the Facebook event. He's like, she's Facebook famous and she loves it.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like, dude, shut the ever loving fuck up. Like, you're such a loser that you can't even throw a party on your own. You have to ride a 16 year old like coattail.

[Patrick Hines]

I know.

[Julie Benzavale]

Absolute herb.

[Patrick Hines]

I know. So we're like, we're sort of like in Myrtle's house with her family. The dad is like, it's seven days out and people are already like, peering in the window, climbing over the fences, trying to say, it's already becoming, like. And it's got seven more days to continue to sort of blow up. People are like, taking pictures, sharing it on Twitter. It's getting crazy.

[Julie Benzavale]

And now, like, in the meantime, Merta's been begging this Yorick guy to take it down. And he's refusing. And so then her father has to call him and be like, hey, idiot.

[Lawrence / Yorick]

He explained to me, like, people were climbing over their fence and taking pictures of them inside their living room. And that was the point that it finally hit me, if I'm actually ruining their lives, that's not something I want. So that's when I put out the message saying that the party is open over. And people didn't like that.

[Patrick Hines]

This makes it worse because he takes the thing. My thing was like, how much of this is the Streisand effect? You know, this whole Streisand effect thing, of course yes. So, like, if you don't know the Streisand effect, basically, like, she had this very fancy house on a cliff in Malibu and, like, tried to make laws happen so nobody could take pictures of it, which nobody cared or nobody was going to.

[Julie Benzavale]

There was, like, a ge. Like, they were doing a geological study of her house because it was, like, on a cliff. And so she learned that her house, it wasn't like Barbra Streisand house. It was like, oh, this is where, like, the water could rise. Like, it was, like, an actual scientific environmental study.

[Patrick Hines]

And she was trying to shut it down. And, like, nobody cared until she tried to shut it down. And now it's, like, the most photographed house in America.

[Julie Benzavale]

And, like, before she talked about it, there were, like, two hits on the website. The minute she opened her mouth, there were, like, a zillion hits on the website. And then everyone started to care.

[Patrick Hines]

That is what I think is happening here. I don't. It would be hard to know either way, but once York takes it down, there are, like, tens of thousands of people who were just kind of following the story for fun, who are now pissed and now are super invested in this party.

[Julie Benzavale]

Well, Yorick also handles this very poorly. I mean, to the shock of nobody. But this is the post. It's barely a cancellation, and it's not telling everyone to cut the shit because he says, like, unfortunately, everything has to come to an end. And, like, Mertz's father, a very kind and calm man, told, like, thanks. Called me and told me that he's not able to leave his home without being approached about it all, and it's bothering him. So in light of this, I'm going to close down this page because it was meant to be a joke. Thank you for all of the epic reactions. This could not have been possible without you. I hope that today you all join in making one big party. So I'm like, is it canceled or is it not? It doesn't feel like a cancellation to me.

[Patrick Hines]

And it just makes it bigger.

[Julie Benzavale]

You can't unring the bell.

[Patrick Hines]

But, like, that's the thing. You really can't. Like, once this started to blow up, there was nowhere to go. I like, unless everybody in the town, like the, like, the city officials, mobilized. This was always going to happen.

[Julie Benzavale]

But now a third event has been made.

[Lawrence / Yorick]

There were already 30,000 people invited.

[Merta]

It was a weird name to have. Der Fuhrer obviously has a very negative connotation in the German language. So I thought I'd try to reason with the admins and the only response that I got were two words, Eat shit.

[Julie Benzavale]

And now Merta herself again, she's a 16 year old girl, is begging and pleading with these people to please, like not send Nazis to her house. And there were response is two words each.

[Patrick Hines]

Shit.

[Julie Benzavale]

Great.

[Patrick Hines]

So it's four days to the party. Rumors are spreading that now there's going to be like a stage and artists are going to be performing.

[Julie Benzavale]

And apparently Heineken is allegedly sponsoring the event. Like, no. And now these idiot. Oh my God, these idiot radio guys are calling Merta and like putting her live on the air without her knowledge.

[Patrick Hines]

No, no, no, no, no. She totally knew. She literally says, I didn't know what to do. So I just kept talking. Merta, you know what you do? You stop talking.

[Julie Benzavale]

It's all so dumb.

[Patrick Hines]

The problem is nobody believes that this is real. I think all the kids know it's real. But like nobody, like none of the grownups think that like anybody is actually gonna show up. It's just. It's just also crazy. And I'm like, marta, just hang up. Just stop answering the phone, girl.

[Julie Benzavale]

But then why is it national news if they don't think it's real?

[Patrick Hines]

It's also international news.

[Julie Benzavale]

Why is everyone reporting on it if it's just like a joke that no one's taking seriously?

[Patrick Hines]

I know, I know.

[Julie Benzavale]

It doesn't make any sense.

[Patrick Hines]

They're draping banners down buildings in neighboring cities advertising like this. This is why I love it so much. Not like I don't want anything bad to happen. I don't want anyone to get hurt. But this is why I'm like watching this. And my heart was racing. I was like, what is gonna happen?

[Julie Benzavale]

And she's like, so Merta now is on self imposed house arrest.

[Merta]

At this point, we kept the curtains closed 24 7. People were always taking pictures of the house. I couldn't go to volleyball. I couldn't go to school. People started making masks of my face. Face. It's almost like the Purge where you're trapped in your house and people are ringing the doorbell and trying to get in.

[Julie Benzavale]

People are making masks of her face. She said it felt like that movie the Purge, which is fucking terrifying.

[Patrick Hines]

Terrifying. 300,000 people have RSVP'd.

[Julie Benzavale]

And now it's the day. It's one day until the party. And I just don't understand how the city hasn't done a single thing to help these people.

[Patrick Hines]

Because Chris, the nightmare of the neighboring town city council is not taking it seriously. He has the best idea let's cancel this party. Let's make an act, right? We'll make an actual party in the actual party town that will give the kids that are coming anyway a place to go. The city council says, like, great, you need to plan the whole thing. In 24 hours, he takes it to the mayor Day, Mayor Bob Day. Mayor Bob says, absolutely not back from

[Julie Benzavale]

vacation just in time to do nothing.

[Patrick Hines]

And I'm like, what about this? So, like, let him throw the party. And if nobody comes, nobody comes. You know what I mean?

[Julie Benzavale]

And Mariska is like, well, I was hoping that the day mayor would just like, shut down roads and not let people into our small town. But yeah, no, that didn't happen.

[Patrick Hines]

Really think the kids were just like, you know what I mean? Like, oh, I guess this road is blockaded. I guess there's absolutely no other way to get there.

[Julie Benzavale]

Because the nightmare is like, look, if we. They. Everyone's an idiot. They're believing all of these rumors. They're coming to party. If we don't give them a party, they will find a way to make a party and it's not going to be pretty.

[Patrick Hines]

And whoever said that is exactly right. Like, that is exactly what is going to happen.

[Julie Benzavale]

So now we meet these two jackass rip offs their words.

[Patrick Hines]

Their YouTube show is called Stuck S t UK.

[YouTuber 1]

Stuck means broken. We want to broke television channels because they have rules. We hate rules.

[Patrick Hines]

Party's gonna be epic.

[Lawrence / Yorick]

Everybody's gonna talk about it. So you need to be there.

[YouTuber 1]

We had a dream. We want to have the biggest YouTube channel in the world. So this was our move. Let's fucking film this shit and let's have fun.

[Julie Benzavale]

Okay? They want to go and film the destruction and put it online and be millionaires from it. Like, cool it.

[Patrick Hines]

Really. I'm glad we have the footage, but it is crazy because they also want to go and stok like they want to go and like, they want to make it worse to get like the most outrageous video ever.

[Julie Benzavale]

For the clicks.

[Patrick Hines]

For the clicks, girl. Rocket Money is back. Look, if you need to get your life and like, your subscriptions in order, Rocket Money is the thing that's going to help you do it.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. So Rocket Money can track subscriptions and has the ability to cancel your unwanted subscriptions within the app. It only takes a few taps and users are saving over. Are you ready for this? 880 million bucks in canceled subscriptions.

[Patrick Hines]

And look, you know, I'm kind of a dummy. I need every single thing in one place. So Rocket Money consolidates checking savings loans and investments into a single dashboard to give users a clear view of their financial picture. Like, it really makes it so easy to see when everything is in one

[Julie Benzavale]

place and it's all about the patterns you could see. Like, wow, I'm doing this a lot. Not I don't even like this. I don't even want this.

[Patrick Hines]

Yes.

[Julie Benzavale]

And I didn't even know I had this subscription. Or I thought I canceled that and I didn't. And I get to see it all one spot.

[Patrick Hines]

I've had the Rocket Money forever. I live by it. And fam. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps you find and cancel unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending and helps you lower your bills so you can grow your savings.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. Let Rocket Money help you reach your financial goals faster. Join at rocket money.com/obessed.

[Patrick Hines]

That's rocket money.com obsessed.

[Julie Benzavale]

Rocket money.com obsessed. Get your finances in order. Let's do it.

[Patrick Hines]

Yep. Exactly.

[Julie Benzavale]

Girl.

[Patrick Hines]

Ritual is back. Look. One of my favorite things about ritual because they've been with us forever, you get great peace of mind knowing you can still hit your key nutrient goals with a daily multivitamin from Ritual. They do it all for you.

[Julie Benzavale]

So they have all of that good stuff in there, but they don't have any of the bad stuff. So all of Rituals products are vegan, They're GMO free and they're tested for heavy metals and common allergens because we don't need that every day, literally. And Ritual Essential for women 18 multi contains nine key nutrients in two delayed release capsules. Delta designed for optimal absorption per day. It is minty fresh. They are easy to take. They're coated. You pop them in, bada bing, bada boom. You get your nutrients and fam.

[Patrick Hines]

You know, we love the science. So Ritual conducted a university led clinical trial for their essential for women 18 plus multivitamin to test its efficacy.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah. And it increased vitamin D levels by 43% and Omega 3 DHA levels by 41% in just 12 weeks. That is good news. Just in case you're like, wait, what?

[Patrick Hines]

I know. And it's just all about getting the stuff you need in one easy place. So, fam, instead of striving for perfect health, aim for supporting foundational health.

[Julie Benzavale]

Save 25% on your first month at

[Patrick Hines]

ritual.com TCO that's ritual.com TCO for 25% off your first month and you get the minty fresh for free.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like daily dose of minty fresh. I'm in.

[Patrick Hines]

Literally.

[Julie Benzavale]

Say no more. So it's September 21, 2012. The day of the party, 350,000 people are invited on Facebook.

[Patrick Hines]

We meet Gilbert, who's like the city council social media guy biking to work. Like, I was like, like, not. Not one teenager was consulted here.

[Julie Benzavale]

He's trying to stop the party online.

[Patrick Hines]

On Twitter.

[Julie Benzavale]

He goes, we were just this tiny town with four likes on Facebook. And he's like, hey, everyone, the party's canceled. Like, no girl.

[Patrick Hines]

And he thinks he's doing a good job. He's like, I put the word out. I was engaging. I was doing everything they asked me to do. Good job, Gilbert.

[Julie Benzavale]

I mean, I guess if someone's trying, then I'll take it. But, like, the four. Your four Twitter followers.

[Patrick Hines]

No make a meme so Yorick will be interested.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like, he loves memes.

[Patrick Hines]

Loves it.

[Julie Benzavale]

Love memes. So, like, obviously not. I don't think that 350,000 people are showing up to the party because people are invited all around the world. People just want to be.

[Patrick Hines]

350,000 people couldn't possibly get there.

[Julie Benzavale]

No. And it gets to the point where, like, then it used to be on Facebook. I don't know if it's still the same thing, but, like, the event becomes like the all around page for the party.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Julie Benzavale]

So now, like, you could say yes so that you get updates on the party. So a lot of people who I'm sure were saying that they're coming were just like, following the story, stay up to date and get the photos and then have access to everything that was happening.

[Patrick Hines]

But it's also like, day of. My youngest daughter worked in the supermarket. She told me that there were a lot of strange people buying a lot of alcohol.

[Merta]

Everyone was just trying to get their hands on alcohol.

[Patrick Hines]

We were 16 and in the Netherlands, that means that you can drink and we didn't need a fake ID like McLovin. All of the liquor in, like, the neighboring towns is gone. Nobody can get booze because they all bought it to bring it to Marta's house.

[Julie Benzavale]

And like, now people are coming in from out of town. They're being interviewed about it on the train platform. I was like, who is interviewing them?

[Patrick Hines]

The thing is, the trains are pulling in and hundreds of people are getting off every single car, like, it's happening.

[Julie Benzavale]

So it's one o' clock, and there's a crowd that's gathered outside of Merita's house. And you know who else is there? The press.

[Patrick Hines]

Yes.

[Julie Benzavale]

And the press is now doing what the press does and, like, harassing Merita and her family. Knocking on the door, like, not trying to help, just, like, trying to get. Get their. Their statement.

[Patrick Hines]

My favorite thing that the city council did to deter people from finding Merchant's house was they took down the street signs.

[Julie Benzavale]

Great, thank you.

[Patrick Hines]

They took down the street signs.

[Julie Benzavale]

Amazing.

[Patrick Hines]

I've told you this. I was that insufferable son of a bitch who, when I was very young, drove out to Amityville to go see the Amityville Horror House, which, like, it's unmissable. Like, I mean, like, you know exactly what it looks like. They thought that they had dissuaded people from coming by changing the house numbers. And I'm like, it doesn't. Nobody knows the number of that house. We all know, like, those creepy devil eyes. You know what I mean? So, like, taking down the street signs is not going to deter people from finding merch.

[Julie Benzavale]

But the destruction, it's like, okay, a little less street sign moving and a little more preventing destruction, because the destruction is starting immediately. They're taking down the street lights and Merta and her mom are out of here. They leave right away because it's getting terrifying.

[Patrick Hines]

As does the social media guy, Gilbert, who literally says, at five o', clock, I did a great job. It was time to go home.

[Julie Benzavale]

Bye.

[Patrick Hines]

Gilbert thought that he nailed it.

[Julie Benzavale]

So Marta and her mom leave. I think they go to Merta's aunt's house.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Julie Benzavale]

And they're watching this unfold on the news like it's a natural disaster that nobody has any control over. Like, it's a fudgeing tsunami coming and there's nothing to do.

[Patrick Hines]

Let Chris the Nightmare throw the party and to, like, move people to another. Imagine if. Because basically what happens is it's seven o'. Clock, the crowd is gathering outside. They're drinking, they're partying, they're ripping down the street signs. They're ripping down the street. Like, imagine you were like, come to the public park and drink. Everyone come to the park and drink. Because they're not going to get into Marriage's house.

[Julie Benzavale]

Because once they're there, like, they're there anyway.

[Patrick Hines]

They just want to party and have fun. Like, they did it, they came. Now take them to the park. It all could have been fine.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yorick showed up to the party even though 10 minutes ago he felt so guilty.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh, make a meme about it, Yurik.

[Julie Benzavale]

I'm like, yorick, is this the only party you've ever been invited to? But you had to invite yourself, and it had to be a prank.

[Patrick Hines]

Mariska from city council is out Walking her dog.

[Merta]

Behind me, there was a group of

[Julie Benzavale]

people

[Merta]

chanting, making noise. And then suddenly I felt a hit on the head. And immediately I heard glass breaking. They threw a bottle at my head.

[Patrick Hines]

She gets hit in the head with a bottle and that's when she realizes that the atmosphere is starting to shift.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like it's really. Everyone is screaming, they're wasted, they're chanting. Like it's just again, it is all boys.

[Patrick Hines]

Like you, like you do see some girls in the crowd, but like the boys are drinking, the boys are getting louder. The boys are like the, the total instinct, the driving force behind the whole thing.

[Julie Benzavale]

And there are Nazis, by the way. Thank you so much.

[Patrick Hines]

Are there. I didn't see them.

[Julie Benzavale]

Well, the furor thing.

[Patrick Hines]

Well, yeah, I mean, and it's just like at 8 o' clock they said there are thousands of people and still more arriving. I can't believe the streets didn't collapse.

[Julie Benzavale]

I can't. I just don't understand. And the fact that it's like the guy, whether they're just like messing around or whatever, which is a stupid thing to do anyway to call yourself the furor and then throw this. It adds like a level of darkness and like more chaos and destruction in a really evil level that like the authorities should have been like, whoa.

[Patrick Hines]

Day. Mayor Bob never took this seriously. It's almost as though like, because he was a grown up, like he just wasn't getting served the Facebook shit that, you know, was just going around all day.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yes. And then like it's getting dark out now. It's getting worse and worse and we're told it's very obvious that there was no plan. And the cops are just sitting there watching everyone. I'm like, who do they think they are, the NYPD just playing Candy Crush on their phone.

[Patrick Hines]

I know. And they are doing this so drastically outnumbered. Like there are like, there's like one cop find for every 200 kids.

[Julie Benzavale]

What's crazy is that like they had enough wherewithal to get barricades.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Julie Benzavale]

But then they could sort of stop there.

[Patrick Hines]

And what are barricades going to do to like 18 year old boys drinking like guzzling beer?

[Julie Benzavale]

Also, she doesn't want this.

[Patrick Hines]

Right.

[Julie Benzavale]

It's not like it's a party. She accidentally doxed herself and now we're here.

[Patrick Hines]

It's bigger than you now, girl. This is also not your fault.

[Julie Benzavale]

That's what I mean.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. This is not Myrtle's fault at all.

[Julie Benzavale]

The cops shouldn't be like trying to calm the crowd. They should get off their Fudgeing phones and handle it.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. And like, now they're throwing Molotov cocktail cocktails. The riot police arrive, and I was like, oh, my God. Like, this is going to go from bad to worse. Because what is happening is it's like this sort of like, scary Tinderbox moment of like, we saw this in. In train wreck, Woodstock 99. Like, you know, that moment of like, it's okay, but if anything really goes wrong here, this crowd is going to turn. And this is the moment because the riot police show up. I remember the footage from the. It was the police hitting people.

[YouTuber 1]

The police were getting also aggressive. If somebody was getting close to the police, the police would smash the guy.

[Patrick Hines]

I was like, okay, you want to

[YouTuber 2]

treat me like a writer?

[Patrick Hines]

Then I will become a writer. And, like, they're knocking kids to the ground. And now these kids that are drunk and were sort of like, way out of line and breaking the law and should never have been there, but we're having fun now. These kids are pissed because they, like.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like what. What starts to happen is that they. The major destruction with, like, they're lighting things on fire, they're knocking down streetlights, they're throwing more bottles, they're screaming and screaming. And then the police show up and do the worst thing they could have done, which is, quote, fire warning shots. And now there's a full blown riot.

[Patrick Hines]

Like, a full blown riot.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like, it's super violent. Nothing is. It's just like, it. The cars are on fire, they're looting, they're breaking into other people's homes.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. We also learned that Murch's dad is home. He stayed at the house. Now nobody's gotten to the house yet, which is like, oh, my God, he could have been killed.

[Julie Benzavale]

Of course.

[Patrick Hines]

Like, the house could have been set on fire. He literally stayed there to hold down the fort. To like. I'm like, what are you gonna. What are you. I was imagining, like, the dressers against the front door. Like, the dressers and the desks and the lamps sort of like teetering off like a cartoon. Like Myrta's dad. Get out of there.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like the final girl in a horror movie.

[Patrick Hines]

Yes.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like, trying to, like, survive, but also, like, to what end? Yorick and company.

[Patrick Hines]

I know.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like, what is the point of this, really?

[Patrick Hines]

I know.

[Julie Benzavale]

Was it to, like, loot and set things on fire and, like, throw bottles at people's heads with their dogs? Like, what is the point of. You know?

[Patrick Hines]

And like, we. We also see them. They're, like, looting the local supermarket. And this is where those YouTubers come back because they're, like, breaking down the windows of the local supermarket. This kid is, like, stealing, like, boxes of cigarettes. But they're. These youtubers are filming it because they want to use it for their content.

[YouTuber 1]

But that was a wrong decision. In just one second, shit hits the van.

[Patrick Hines]

Hey. Hey. They filming us. They filming us. Grab them. Grab them. Somebody sees them, and they jump on the guy with the camera. And the other guy is like. All I cared about was, like, getting the. Getting the tape out of the camera. I was so happy to get the tape out of the camera.

[Julie Benzavale]

The other one was like, zapruder film. Like, what are you talking about?

[Patrick Hines]

The other guy's like, you wanted to save my life, too, right? No, because these guys are talking about, like, they would have been dead if they hadn't been there to, like, rescue each other.

[Julie Benzavale]

Well, speaking of, the police tell Marta's father that two. Two women have died. Yeah. That wasn't true. Thank God.

[Patrick Hines]

Yes.

[Julie Benzavale]

But Merta tried today. Tries to explain what she was feeling when she heard that.

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah.

[Julie Benzavale]

And she can't. Like, this is supposed to be her 16th birthday.

[Patrick Hines]

She's crying, and I. They. It takes them a minute or two to tell you that that didn't actually happen. Yes. But, like, it seemed like these two young girls got, like, trampled by the crowd or something. They didn't.

[Julie Benzavale]

I'm surprised that. I'm thrilled to hear that that didn't happen. But, like, when you see the footage, I kind of can't.

[Patrick Hines]

I mean, anything could have happened. I can't believe the house wasn't set on fire. Anything. I can't believe the entire neighborhood wasn't set on fire.

[Julie Benzavale]

And so the day mayor and the police take zero accountability. And the nightmare is like, hey, these kids were coming to have a good time, and the city didn't give them a good time. And I'm like, nightmare.

[Patrick Hines]

I know.

[Julie Benzavale]

Close, girl.

[Patrick Hines]

I'm like, I'm on the nightmare side, though, because it's like they were coming anyway. Like, we could have diverted them. We could have given them. Like, this is crazy, right? And, like, how do you stop something like this from happening in the future? Like, I just plan a party at your house for next month and invite 2,000 people. I can't believe this doesn't happen all the time.

[Julie Benzavale]

I know.

[Patrick Hines]

I don't know.

[Julie Benzavale]

I mean, I think it was a very specific time. I guess that movie had come out. I mean, that might be right, what you were saying about how it was a much bigger movie.

[Patrick Hines]

Like older cues or something.

[Julie Benzavale]

So maybe it was that big. It was such a big deal to them because it feels like why would you want to. Am I just like the oldest lady? Like why would you want to be mean to some 16 year old girl in her house?

[Patrick Hines]

Also just feels like sometimes things just can't catch on. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I think Merta's party became a thing for some reason. And it started with Lawrence inviting 500 of his friends. And then if you get served something and you're like 14, 000 people are going to this party and I'm invited, of course I'm going.

[Julie Benzavale]

And they don't tell us how many people actually showed up. It was probably like a couple hundred. Yeah. Not 350,000.

[Patrick Hines]

Definitely not 350,000. Girl, Quince is back. And look, if you're like us, fam, we've been more intentional about what we wear every day. We are leaning into the pieces that feel effortless. Com comfortable and still pull together.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah, you know I love my little lounge sets. I love the quince pajamas. I love the nylon cross body bag. I am so beyond into their candles, I can't even tell you. You walk into my apartment, I have it right in the little entryway. It smells divine. I honestly couldn't believe it. I'm like maybe a candle snob, I guess you could call me one. I love the quince candles. They smell amazing. They last forever. Delicious.

[Patrick Hines]

We ordered a bunch for drag Bingo. I'm like obsessed with it.

[Julie Benzavale]

Delicious.

[Patrick Hines]

And fam, quince makes it easy to refresh your every day this spring with pieces that as good as they look because they use premium materials like 100% European linen, organic cotton and ultra soft denim. I do love their denim very much.

[Julie Benzavale]

Oh, the denim jeans, the stretch flares. Oh my God, I love them. How could I forget?

[Patrick Hines]

Also girl, it's like so affordable. Everything at quints is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands and they

[Julie Benzavale]

tell you so they'll have like the price that you could spend somewhere else and it's X doubt and that is the quits price. So it's like free money.

[Patrick Hines]

So then refresh your every day with luxury. You'll actually, actually use.

[Julie Benzavale]

Head to quints.com tco for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns

[Patrick Hines]

now available in Canada too, fam, that's

[Julie Benzavale]

Q-U-I-N c e.com tco for free shipping and 365 day returns.

[Patrick Hines]

Quints.com tco you're going to look great,

[Julie Benzavale]

you're going to smell great. It's going to be amazing.

[Patrick Hines]

Exactly.

[Julie Benzavale]

But the community now has to clean up the mess.

[Merta]

The next day I went for a walk with my husband and everything was already clean up. I was very, very proud of the people in my town, but they do

[Patrick Hines]

it by the next day.

[Julie Benzavale]

It is a mess.

[Patrick Hines]

It's like in Times Square. Like, if you ever see, like, midnight in Times Square and like, the ticker tape is just everywhere. People have been there for New Year's Eve. Yeah. And then, because I live near Times Square, like, you see the trucks and you see the cleaners. By noon the next day, it's all gone. It's pristine.

[Julie Benzavale]

It's a.

[Patrick Hines]

Well, cleanest time Square's ever been.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yeah, just like, don't do that, though. Everyone. Don't go to Times Square for New Year's Eve.

[Patrick Hines]

I did it, like, a bunch when I was, like, in high school. I did. And it's. It's crazy. I never cared about seeing the ball. I was never gonna go get, like, barricaded in and not be able to leave.

[Julie Benzavale]

I was gonna say, there are people who, like, wear diapers for four days, which is disgusting.

[Patrick Hines]

And you always watch, like, you can see them, like, when they open the barricades and, like, to what? To watch the ball drop?

[Julie Benzavale]

I don't get it.

[Patrick Hines]

I really don't get it.

[Julie Benzavale]

So where did you go when you

[Patrick Hines]

went, Like, I remember one year, my friend Lucas and I, we took the bus from Cape Cod and we came down. We got off the Port Authority. We kind of just hung out by Port Authority, which is right near Times Square. We walked over to the Nederlander Theater. Cause it was rent, and we had, like, seen rent, and we had loved it. We found. Found. This is the weirdest. We found a tire. Like, a tire that became like our little mascot. We named it Larson.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like a tire that you put on a car? Yep.

[Patrick Hines]

And we just, like, sort of hung out with our. We were like, rolling the tire around the street all night.

[Julie Benzavale]

How big was the tire?

[Patrick Hines]

Like a regular car tire? Yeah, we called it Larson. Like, Jonathan Larson. It was like our little pet for the night.

[Julie Benzavale]

How'd you say goodbye to it?

[Patrick Hines]

I don't remember.

[Julie Benzavale]

Like, how does that story end?

[Patrick Hines]

That's a great question. I would ask him, but he's got the worst memory.

[Julie Benzavale]

But we were probably like, okay, we're done with this now.

[Patrick Hines]

Probably. He was probably like, you're being annoying.

[Merta]

What are you doing?

[Patrick Hines]

Yeah. And then we went to coffee at like 2 in the morning. Morning. We got on the bus, went home.

[Julie Benzavale]

But where were you? Like, for midnight, where were you?

[Patrick Hines]

Probably by the New York. On 41st Street.

[Julie Benzavale]

By the.

[Patrick Hines]

We didn't care. We just wanted to, like, get on the bus and go to New York and be in Times Square.

[Julie Benzavale]

You know what? I got to tell you, post 9 11, it's a much different security situation.

[Patrick Hines]

Is it? Oh, yeah. Because when I was a concierge, I remember, like, people. Yeah. It's very tough to get in and out of.

[Julie Benzavale]

I don't think you could just, like, stumble upon the Nederlander at Times Square anymore, necessarily. Like, I think you're very. I think it must be very judgmental,

[Patrick Hines]

which is probably good.

[Julie Benzavale]

You know, mean, I.

[Merta]

What?

[Patrick Hines]

I mean.

[Julie Benzavale]

Yes.

[Patrick Hines]

Am I one of those people who's afraid of big crowds now? Maybe, you know?

[Julie Benzavale]

You know, I'm afraid of people wearing diapers for four days. Like, human adults. Like, why? So at the end, we get the onscreen text. Over 100 people were eventually arrested after police analyzed the video evidence.

[Patrick Hines]

It doesn't seem like enough people.

[Julie Benzavale]

70 people were charged with crimes related to the riots.

[Patrick Hines]

Also not enough people.

[Julie Benzavale]

No. After the riots, there was a. Like, an inquiry into Mayor Batts. What is he, the day Mayor?

[Patrick Hines]

He's the day mayor, and the chief

[Julie Benzavale]

of police is handling of Project X. And I'm like, can we not give it a title? Don't give it the title that they want.

[Patrick Hines]

I know.

[Julie Benzavale]

And after mounting public pressure, the day Mayor resigned in disgrace and declined to participate in this documentary. And so a few years later, Yorick and Merta, like, crossed paths in the wild. They're both at the same party, and Yorick felt too ashamed to say anything to her.

[Lawrence / Yorick]

She looked at me, I looked at her, and she was like, you're that guy, right? I was like, yeah, yeah, that's me. She's like, okay, it's fine. It's in the past. Don't worry about it. And we were young and stupid, and

[Julie Benzavale]

she forgives him on the spot. According to him, we don't get Martha's side of the story.

[Patrick Hines]

That's true.

[Julie Benzavale]

So I would have loved to have

[Patrick Hines]

hear what she had to say. Well, it ends with Merita. She says, you know, I definitely would have gone to the party if it wasn't my party. I hear you, Merita. I probably would have gone, too, girl.

[Julie Benzavale]

I guess no one actually got hurt. So maybe I'm the biggest wet. The wettest.

[Patrick Hines]

The house is okay, but, like, the town probably got destroyed. Poor Arnold. And Arnold. And what's her name? Mariska.

[Julie Benzavale]

Her poor dog was terrified. Maybe don't walk your dog into a riot, Mar. Hahaha.

[Patrick Hines]

Oh my God, girl. We did train wreck. The real Project X. I want more train wreck. I am obsessed.

[Julie Benzavale]

What a crazy, insane thing.

[Patrick Hines]

Wild fam. Follow us on YouTube. Go watch our videos. Join us on Patreon. We've got over 500 full ad free bonus episodes. Our bonus episodes are now on video as well as well as audio. What are we doing next, girl?

[Julie Benzavale]

The Curious Case of the Woman Dying for Attention. We got another faker on our hands, everybody. Another, like, illness faker.

[Patrick Hines]

Here we go again.

[Julie Benzavale]

I don't know. And this is like, this one's crazy.

[Patrick Hines]

It is.

[Julie Benzavale]

It's pretty crazy. I mean, there's like Scamanda crying. Like that's one thing. And what she did was obviously awful, but this woman, like, this is kind of some next level fakery.

[Patrick Hines]

Okay. I don't think Beth Caris's face makeup routine.

[Julie Benzavale]

No. But we do get her face with makeup on. Okay, we get that.

[Patrick Hines]

All right, fam. Stay tuned for the trailer for that.

[Julie Benzavale]

We'll see soon. Bye.

[Patrick Hines]

Bye.

[YouTuber 2]

Bye.

[Julie Benzavale]

Stay safe. Don't do this.

[Patrick Hines]

Don't do this.

[Julie Benzavale]

Thanks.

[Merta]

If Sarah had any shame, she wouldn't have done any of the things she's done over the last 20 years.

[Julie Benzavale]

I think she really wanted the things that she lied about. There's something.

[Merta]

There's something not right in there. This was a woman with no authenticity.

[Patrick Hines]

I just remember I couldn't sleep that whole week.

[Julie Benzavale]

I've never seen her walk. I don't even really know how tall she is. I think she just idealized my life at the time and was like, this is what I want, and I'm gonna insert myself in your life. As things progressed, I found out exactly how intricate the web was. And it became almost a game.

[Merta]

She wasn't in it for the money. And so I became intensely curious about what she was in it for.

[Julie Benzavale]

That person does not exist. That feeling of grief, of like somebody had just died, that's where it gets really, really crazy.

[Merta]

My head was just spinning.

[Julie Benzavale]

I just don't want anybody to be hurt. She better hope she never meets.