Pain Hustlers · Kanye West · Bob Lee
Plus: How Maine's mass shooting manhunt became a disinfo vortex
the true crime that's worth your time
Fall of the House of Usher or Pain Hustlers? That’s the Sophie’s Choice that confronts folks who might be up for one more fictional take on those responsible for the opioid crisis, but who draw the line at two. The answer depends on your tolerance for gore and/or interest in Chris Evans, I suppose?
As I assume many of you listen to Sarah-co-hosted podcast Extra Hot Great, you’re likely familiar with Netflix’s recently released Mike Flanagan series, which the show covered in its Oct. 13 episode. To be clear, there’s little in this Poe-infused series that ties in with the actual Perdue/Sackler case, nor is it even remotely true crime. That said, if you’ve spent the last several years feeling frustrated and angry that this rich family got away with (figurative! Don’t sue me!) murder, FotHoU provides a brief balm. And even Sarah liked it, and she’s hard to convince when it comes to fiction.
Pain Hustlers, which drops on Netflix today, is more prestige-y than Usher in every way, from its big screen cast (Emily Blunt! Chris Evans! Catherine O’Hara! Andy Garcia!) to its one and done feature-length presentation. And this one has, arguably, a true true-crime origin story: it’s based on a 2018 NY Times magazine story of the same name, about Insys Therapeutic and its founder John Kapoor.
Pain Hustlers is based so loosely on the article, you wonder why they bothered to buy the rights at all; the drug company is now called Zanna (was this done, as discussed in last week’s The Docket, to stave off suits? Could be!) and in press materials for the film, director David Yates said that the folks you see onscreen are “all kind of loosely based on existing characters from that pharma world” with the exception of Blunt’s character.
Who, I should note, is the focus of the film, and who’s loglined thusly:
Dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter, Liza (Emily Blunt) lands a job from Pete (Chris Evans) at a failing pharma start-up, where Liza’s charm, drive, and guts catapult her into the high life and the company into the center of a criminal conspiracy with dire consequences.
I already watched Usher and thought it was a blast, but am feeling a lack of motivation to watch Pain Hustlers. perhaps that will change as the day goes on.
Also quietly shuffled to streaming this week is The Girl Who Killed Her Parents - The Confession, the follow-up to 2021 true-crime based thriller The Girl Who Killed Her Parents. This is the Suzane von Richthofen case: a German Brazilian woman, her boyfriend, and her brother staged the slaying of her millionaire parents, and in Brazil, the case spawned both The Girl Who and The Boy Who adaptations, making this installment the third item in the arguable trilogy.
Per its exceedingly brief press materials, this one “unveils crucial moments of the police investigation, witness testimonies, and the confession of the crime,” but it’s hard not to see this as an effort to squeeze every last drop from this headline-grabbing case. It’s now available on Amazon Prime.
Finally, Canadians have an especially intriguing option tonight: The Fifth Estate, CBC’s investigative news series, will air an episode on musician Buffy Sainte-Marie, who has long claimed Indigenous ancestry. According to their reporting, family members dispute those claims. “It’s theft of opportunities, resources. It’s theft of our stories,” one scholar says of the alleged pretendian fraud, on which Sainte-Marie’s career has been based.
Sainte-Marie says the investigation is “deeply hurtful,” and now claims, “I don't know where I'm from or who my birth parents were, and I will never know. Which is why to be questioned in this way today is painful.” It’ll be released on CBC’s YouTube channel at 1 PM ET today, so you don’t have to be in Canada to watch; it also drops on CBC TV and CBC Gem at 9 p.m. ET tonight. — EB
Hearsay
Maine Mass Shooting Disinformation Floods Social Media as Suspect Remains at Large [Wired]
As I type this Friday morning, the manhunt for Robert Card continues, but the Wired story is more evergreen. The cracks in debunkery/truth that began nearly a decade ago and were worsened by Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter really showed themselves when Hamas launched its attack on Israel. And now, we’re seeing those problems play out in a smaller-scale crime way, with the ratio of falsehood and bullshit higher than ever — and facilitated by the promise of profit for viral content. — EB
Bob Lee’s Murder Shook San Francisco. What Really Happened? [Rolling Stone]
Speaking of Musk, his was one of the voices that presented the slaying of a high-profile tech exec as an example of what a lawless shithole San Francisco had become. But, as it turned out, Lee was allegedly killed by another start-up bro, in a dispute over the alleged killer’s sister and drugs. This RS piece is the deepest dive yet into how wrong the punditry was in the days after Lee’s death; it also illustrates how deeply fucked up tech culture is. Read, then send to anyone you know who buys into VC ding dongery that claims tech bros are about to save the world. — EB
A year ago, after producing hundreds of shoe styles and billions of dollars together, Adidas broke with Kanye West as he made antisemitic and other offensive public comments. But Adidas had been tolerating his misconduct behind the scenes for nearly a decade. [gift link NY Times]
I’m often loath to even acknowledge Kanye West’s latest activities, as he’s clearly in crisis and it feels like punching down. But this report is crucial, as it illustrates how companies like Adidas can enable exploitative, abusive, and illegal behavior from people and partners they believe will help their bottom line.
This is an explosive report that left me furious not just at Adidas, but at all the surrounding folks in the fashion world who knew how long and severe this alleged behavior was, and did nothing. It’s also a great, sweeping read. — EB
What is this thing? This should help. Follow Best Evidence @bestevidencefyi on Instagram, email us at editorial at bestevidence dot fyi, or call or text us any time at 919-75-CRIME.