WEBVTT - The Athlete Whisperer: Ep.1, Call Me Raquel 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:08.399 America has just witnessed a truly strange encounter. Who became 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:11.239 the first American to meet with the new leader of 0:00:11.320 --> 0:00:15.760 North Korea, the wild child of basketball, Dennis Rodman. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:20.439 Rights It's twenty thirteen and North Korean dictator Kim Jong 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.880 un is making headlines all over the world for paying 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:28.480 big bucks hiring NBA superstar Dennis Rodman to come visit 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:28.920 him well. 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:31.080 One of the few things known about the secretive Kim's 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:33.360 private life from his days as a student at a 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:36.479 Swiss boarding school is that he was an NBA nut, 0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:39.280 especially big on Rodman's old team. 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:39.600 The Bulls. 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:45.240 Shockingly, Dennis Rodman seems to publicly take a liking to 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:49.080 Kim Jong un, a ruthless dictator with a reputation for 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:53.080 brutalizing his own people. The two men actually become friends. 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:55.920 We laugh, We sink karaoke, We do a lot of 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:56.800 cool things together. 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:03.120 Dennis Rodman is reportedly making upwards of two hundred thousand 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:07.240 dollars for visiting North Korea, but he has no idea 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:09.840 that the money Kim Jong un is paying him to 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:13.560 be there is being stolen from him right before his 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.960 very eyes by a true queen of the Khan in 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:22.720 every sense of the word. You see, Dennis Rodman has 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:27.720 invited a crafty fox into his financial henhouse, an inveterate 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:32.319 con artist, a tall, blonde, vivacious woman who's got a 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:37.279 grift that's so sophisticated and so believable. It takes Dennis 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:40.960 Rodman years to figure out what's going on, and even 0:01:41.000 --> 0:01:44.440 when he does, he just can't bring himself to let 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:57.560 her go. I'm Jonathan Walton, and this is Queen of 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:05.640 the Khan Season five, The Athlete Whisperer, Episode one, call 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:14.680 me Roquelle. He is a marketable condition and Ron by 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:17.600 this season has become the most prolific player off the 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:19.200 bars in two decades. 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:24.720 Every time Dennis Rodman, he was like a rock star. 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:30.600 He was just the epitome of hard work and hustle 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:31.560 on the basketball court. 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:37.800 Full confession here, I know more about nuclear fusion than 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:41.079 I do about basketball or really any kind of sports. 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:45.240 Sports is a religion, man, and these people are the 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:46.680 figureheads of this religion. 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:51.000 My buddy, Evan Goldstein, on the other hand, is an oracle. 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:54.800 He's also a huge Dennis Rodman fan, one of. 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:57.640 The greatest rebounders in NBA, history. 0:02:57.680 --> 0:02:58.639 What's a rebounder? 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:02.840 Rebounder, It's just basically means when someone shoots the ball 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:05.360 and they miss and it bounces off the rim and 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:07.480 the person that catches it, that's a rebound. 0:03:07.560 --> 0:03:09.600 So was he the person who would catch it? Yes, 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:12.600 So Dennis Rodman would catch it and what score? 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:16.360 Pass it or score? He really had it down to 0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:18.840 a science, and he would study how the ball would 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:22.120 bounce off the rim to know where to position himself 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:25.560 under the basket to get it. And he was the 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:30.440 guy that would dive for balls and hustle. He had 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.040 this kind of signature way of doing it where he 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:34.920 would jump up catch the ball. He would flare his 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:37.680 legs out and kind of like a like a half split, 0:03:38.360 --> 0:03:40.720 and people would literally cheer. 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:47.000 He turns it into a performance. It sounds like I 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:48.560 thought he could he could score a lot. 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:50.760 Yeah, like he could score, but he might have ten 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:52.800 points in a whole game where it's like Michael Jordan 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:54.800 have forty, so Michael. 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:57.119 Jordan can score. He was the score Okay, that's his thing. 0:03:57.240 --> 0:04:00.520 Yeah, Dennis Rodman did the dirty work. He helped the 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:06.480 team win by getting the ball before the other team. 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:08.920 You blew my mind. Today. I had no idea what 0:04:08.960 --> 0:04:09.800 a rebounder was. 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:11.840 I love that. That's the thing. 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:13.320 I mean, I don't know, like, I don't know. I'm 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:14.680 a gig guy. I don't know anything sports. 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:18.440 Yeah. No, if anyone asked you, what was Bernadette Peters 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:21.600 doing in the you know, early two thousands, you you're 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:22.080 their man. 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:24.440 I think she was the Witch and into the Woods. 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:28.880 She was the first lage like that might have been 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:32.000 the late nineties, though she was also dot in Sun 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:33.920 in the Park with Georgia, a Sondheim musical about George 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:40.040 Sarat with George. But enough about sondheime. I just assumed 0:04:40.080 --> 0:04:42.120 you were never into sports, because oh, yeah, growing up 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:44.560 I liked sports. You and I are like best friends. Yeah, 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:46.080 and we've never talked sports. 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:48.680 No, But like, growing up, I played basketball. 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:50.960 What position were you on the basketball? 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:53.480 I was a forward, so the same position as Dennis Rodman. 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:55.720 Oh, but he was a rebounder. 0:04:56.400 --> 0:05:01.320 Oh, Jonathan, let's talk more Sondheim. 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.719 But really, Dennis Rodman was to the NBA what bernand 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:08.200 At Peters was to any Stephen Sondheim production. She was 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:13.599 in a key player, though by twenty thirteen, Rodman is 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:16.760 comfortably retired from the NBA for more than a decade 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:21.240 after reportedly earning upwards of twenty seven million dollars for 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:25.680 playing basketball and many millions more in endorsement deals with 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:29.120 brands like Nike and Coca Cola. He goes on to 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:31.320 do movies and TV shows. 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:33.360 Well He's welcome, Dennis Rodman. 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:38.200 And in twenty thirteen, he even does a season of 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:44.719 Celebrity Apprentice for NBC with you know who, Dennis, You're fired. 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.160 Part of the mystique that fed into Dennis Rodman. He 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:52.200 was just kind of a badass. He's like a bad boy. 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:56.839 He was just kind of fun to watch, partying, fall down, drunk, 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:02.760 taking pictures at clubs with you know, amazing women. And 0:06:03.160 --> 0:06:06.120 as a young boy or a young man, you know 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:07.960 that's pretty Uh. 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:08.360 You looked up to him. 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:09.120 That's pretty cool. 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:12.280 You wanted to be like Dennis Rodman. Yeah. Why do 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:13.520 they call him the worm? 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.320 I would just assume based on because he was never 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.960 necessarily the biggest guy on the court. There are people 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:22.080 that would tower above him, but he would outrebound them. 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:24.840 And you know, he had kind of a nitty gritty 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:27.200 way of flex so kind of squirm. He could kind 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:30.640 of get past people. He could flex and bend and 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.160 kind of get around people and like you just kind 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:33.880 of worm in there. 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:41.120 So I have googled, and according to Google, his mom 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:43.560 and his sisters gave him the name the Worm as 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:46.880 a kid because when he would play pinball, he would 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.320 squirm like a worm and they called him but kind 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:53.719 of similar to what you're saying, but post NBA, the 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:57.920 Worm's bread and butter comes from doing lucrative public appearances 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.039 and he makes a lot of money. According to his 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:02.839 former manager, he's. 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:05.159 One of the most recognizable people in the world. Even 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:07.880 to this day, he makes upwards of a million dollars 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.800 a year. He hasn't played basketball in almost twenty years. 0:07:12.240 --> 0:07:16.080 But that North Korean public appearance in twenty thirteen is 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:18.200 fraud with peril for Dennis Rodman. 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:21.680 When I first heard about the deal, I was against it. 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:24.600 I just thought that Dennis getting mixed up with a 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:29.840 dictator in North Korea was just a terrible, terrible, terrible idea. 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.240 I fought at every step of the way. And how 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.880 the deal actually came around was that the North Koreans 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:39.920 originally were trying to put on some sort of basketball 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:43.119 exhibition and they reached out to Michael Jordan, and Michael 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.040 Jordan turned them down. So when Michael Jordan turned them down, 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:49.840 they were like, Okay, well what about Dennis Rodman. And 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.040 that's when they first reached out to us. And if 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:55.400 you go back, you can find online there's a picture 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:59.240 of Kim Jong um when he's like a teenager and 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:05.040 he's playing basket ketball. He's wearing a Dennis Rodman jersey. 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:10.400 I actually found that picture and I'm posting it at 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:13.280 Queen of the Khan on Instagram, so you can see 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:16.840 what a teenage Kim jong un looks like in a 0:08:16.920 --> 0:08:21.640 Rodman jersey. For Dennis, though, cozying up to a dictator 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:24.360 is not exactly good for his career. 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:27.840 The death threats and the messages on social media, it 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:34.440 was overwhelming ninety nine one against him. They were absolutely vicious, 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:38.199 calling him a trader to his country, calling him a communist. 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:41.360 He should leave America, don't ever come back like it 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:42.080 was bad. 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:46.160 But four years earlier, in two thousand and nine, Dennis 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:50.199 Rodman and his entourage are in Miami on Trendy South 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:54.120 Beach attending the opening of Miami Dolphins running back Ricky 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:58.559 Williams new restaurant when all of a sudden, a stunningly 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:03.600 dressed woman shows up and starts mingling, expertly, working her 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:07.439 way through the crowd like a professional talk show host. 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:11.000 She's got the gift of gab, and everyone seems to 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:15.320 know her and love her. It's a moment Dennis Rodman's 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:19.560 bodyguard will never forget, because he wasn't sure she belonged 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:21.080 there at first. 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:23.560 She was in a scene in Miami that you couldn't 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:27.439 afford to be in, like invite only, Like, how the 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:29.200 hell was she next to us? 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:35.000 Her name is Peggy Fulford aka Peggy King, Peggy Barrard, 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:40.240 Peggy Simpson, Peggy Rivers, Devon Cole. Oh, there are a 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:42.360 bunch of other aliases she uses too. 0:09:43.000 --> 0:09:46.040 She mentioned to us to call her rockl. 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.120 That's Sean tel Cohen, Peggy's former assistant. 0:09:50.400 --> 0:09:53.000 I had a best friend in town from San Diego, 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:55.800 And when Peggy walked in, she's like, would you guys 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:57.439 like to go out with me later? And we're kind 0:09:57.480 --> 0:09:59.960 of just like what And she's like, yeah, come here, 0:10:00.000 --> 0:10:02.880 hang out. You know your friends in town, blah blah blah. 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:06.880 And we started talking small talk, and then she mentioned 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:07.400 to us. 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:09.960 When we go out, just call me Raquel. 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:15.760 And that is the first red flag. Something's up, something big. 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:27.840 Something we'll explain after this break. Welcome back to Queen 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:31.640 of the Khan. Peggy's former assistant, Sean tel Cohen is 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.640 noticing something strange about Peggy that won't make any sense 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:37.240 until years later. 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:41.240 She mentioned to us that when we go out, to 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.439 call her Roquel, and me and my best friend at 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:45.760 the time just started. 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:47.360 Laughing and we're like, call her Roquel. 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:50.240 Yeah, what do you mean, call you Raquel? And she's like, yeah, 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:52.560 that's my name, you know, when I go out because 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.160 I don't want people in my business. Blah blah blah. 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:57.079 We kind of thought it was weird, but we just 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.440 laughed it off, like, you know, people do change their 0:10:59.520 --> 0:11:01.840 names when they go to the clubs, and you know 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.160 stuff like that. You're just giving fake names and things 0:11:04.200 --> 0:11:06.880 like that. But we didn't really think about it until 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.959 later on in life and was like, oh, wow, first 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:10.480 red sign. 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.840 That was a huge red flag, huge red sign. Yeah, yes, 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:16.960 oh my god, call me Roquel, all me Raquel? How 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:22.520 effing bizarre whatever you call her, though, she is a 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.160 sight to behole. That night on South beach back in 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:28.080 two thousand and nine. At fifty one years old, she 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:31.480 could easily pass for being in her late thirties. She's 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:36.720 got long blonde hair, sparkling eyes, and electrifying charm and 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:42.160 charisma oozing from every pore. Dennis Rodman's bodyguard remembers her, Well. 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:45.080 She looked like a million bucks. She was driving the 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.600 right car. Well, she was driven in the right car. 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:51.600 She was wearing the right jewelry, had the right clothes on. 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:53.800 The other players that I knew in Miami at the 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:54.960 time were talking to her. 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.960 Like to kind of make friends. I think with like famous. 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:03.800 People, my buddy Evan Goldstein. 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:08.440 Again, I think you kind of have to operate on 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:09.439 their level. 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:10.560 You know, if you have to like put on a 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:11.360 show for them. 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:13.680 Yeah, like you have to impress them and to be 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.520 able to kind of weave your way into their good graces. 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:19.600 I feel like you have to have a little something extra. 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:22.439 I agree one thousand percent, and she did have a 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:26.400 little something extra. But let's not downplay the effect a 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:30.040 beautiful woman has. Raisa, Yeah, you're insane. 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:30.880 Yeah, you're right. 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:33.560 I'll tell you a funny story. So I was nineteen 0:12:33.640 --> 0:12:39.040 years old. I'm not as Evan will attest, conventionally attractive 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:42.680 by Western societal snaw. I'm pretty on the inside, but 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:46.120 my family I have a lot of hot cousins and niece. 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.400 So I'm nineteen years old walking out of this yogurt 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:52.560 shop in Miami with my cousin who's also nineteen or twenty. 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:57.319 She's breathtakingly beautiful, and all of a sudden you hear 0:12:57.400 --> 0:12:59.920 like a screech of a car, this white Porsche stop. 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.120 This guy in a suit jumps out, runs up to 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:06.000 my cousins, like, I just have to tell you, you're 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:08.679 the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life. 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:10.680 I'm an attorney. Is this your boyfriend? Points to me, 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:12.920 and she's like, no, it's my cousin. I'm an attorney, 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:14.960 and if you ever need anything, here's my card. I 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:17.720 would love to take you to dinner. And then she 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:19.800 was stunned, didn't know how to react. He just hops 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:23.680 back into his drives away. But what straight guys will 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.760 do in the presence of a beautiful woman, like anything 0:13:27.600 --> 0:13:28.880 and everything and. 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:32.599 Everything it's a pretty woman has power, oh by a 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:33.280 million percent. 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.000 And that was Peggy. Peggy was a pretty woman that 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.199 was Peggy's power that night on South Beach, she knowingly 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:43.360 weaponized her beauty. She showed up to someplace and she 0:13:43.480 --> 0:13:47.920 just wormed her way in and she got Dennis Rodman's attention. 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:51.880 I mean, she's obviously easy on the eyes. 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:56.960 That's Ramon Antonio Vargas, a journalist for The Guardian and 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:01.000 author of the book Family, Gangsters and Champions. He's written 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.280 extensively about Peggy over the years. 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:06.160 I think she's described herself as creole, right, and she 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:08.960 certainly has that look right. There's like a certain lego 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:11.200 of the creole in New Orleans, and when you listen 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:15.920 to her speak, she certainly fits that bill. She's very 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:19.720 self assured. She had the story that she was like 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:26.040 independently successful on Wall Street. She made a fortune in 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:30.200 hospital deals and land deals, and it's kind of very impressive, 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:34.200 very beautiful, very appealing. I think a lot of people 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:36.720 were taken and impressed by her narrative. 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:42.920 Okay, so picture it a Bomby South Florida night in 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:47.080 two thousand and nine, a crowded South Beach restaurant. Peggy's 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:51.520 working the room like a seasoned politician, flashing her pearly whites, 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:56.560 pressing the flesh and impressing everyone. Dennis Rodman's there with 0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:01.920 his bodyguard, a bodyguard who reports prides himself on never 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:06.960 standing beside Dennis, never letting onlookers know he's with Dennis, 0:15:07.120 --> 0:15:10.080 or watching out for Dennis, or guarding Dennis in any way. 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:16.280 He always keeps his distance. But that night on South Beach, 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:21.320 he slips up and Peggy figures out immediately who Dennis's 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:22.000 bodyguard is. 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:25.000 The first interaction I have with her is while I'm 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:28.520 actually standing with Dennis. That's so, so, so extremely rare. 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:31.160 And it's a red flag and I missed it. 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:36.640 Bro yep. Schmoozing a celebrity's bodyguard is a huge red 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:40.440 flag in the world of protecting famous people. But Peggy 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:45.320 effortlessly charms both men all evening Dennis Rodman and his bodyguard, 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:50.160 and after they learn she's a big time financial advisor 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:54.280 for pro athletes, they let their guard down. She's actually 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:57.600 managing the money for Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams. 0:15:57.600 --> 0:16:01.080 At that point, the guy whose restaurant opening Rodman and 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:02.800 his bodyguard are attending that night. 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:06.680 She came in, very soft, very welcoming. If you need anything, 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:07.320 you call me. 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:12.280 First, but now looking back, it appears Peggy had big 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:16.560 plans for Dennis Rodman and that chance encounter might have 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:18.200 actually been planned. 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:21.920 It takes more than luck to be a con artist. 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:26.360 Yeah. I spoke to Michelle Rodman, Dennis Rodman's ex wife. 0:16:26.840 --> 0:16:29.200 People have called her Michelle Moyer, but she told me 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.400 I'm Michelle Rodman, like she doesn't like people changing her 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:34.680 name to her maiden name. And it reminds me of 0:16:34.680 --> 0:16:38.280 what my mom did, because my mom kept Walton because 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:40.320 it was my dad's name, who my dad wasn't in 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:45.160 my life, suck up, but my mom felt, I want 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:47.400 to match my kids, so we're a family still, So 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:48.120 my mom. 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:50.120 Kept Walton, So that makes sense. 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:52.440 So Michelle Rodman did the same thing, she told me, 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:54.680 because she wanted to match with her kids. And she 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:56.600 says she's always getting criticized, like why are you still 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:58.760 trying to hang onto Rodman's name, And she's like, no, 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:00.440 it's I want to have the same thing was my kids, 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:01.200 because we're a family. 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:01.520 Yeah. 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:05.520 So I talked to Michelle Rodman. I scheduled an interview 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:08.240 with her. She was in Then the next day she 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:09.720 texts me the day before the end She's like, can 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:11.600 I do it another day at another place. I'm like, sure, sure, 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:13.159 that's fine, we can do that. And then on the 0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:14.920 interview day, she texted me, you know what, I talked 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:16.679 to her with my kids. I don't want to be 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:19.280 in your podcast. I'm sorry. So I couldn't get an 0:17:19.280 --> 0:17:21.359 interview with her. But I talked to her for like 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.760 a half an hour, and I took copious notes, and 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.800 she explained to me that as fate would have it. 0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:31.440 That night, when Peggy makes a bee line over to 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:35.040 Dennis Rodman at Ricky Williams Restaurant in South Beach, Dennis 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:38.879 Rodman's money manager is in rehab. He has like a 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:43.000 major drug problem and he can't be Dennis Rodman's money 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:46.359 manager anymore. So Dennis Rodman Lo and Behold is actually 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:50.120 on the market for a money manager. Oh, enter Peggy. 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:52.000 I wonder if that was like researched. 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:55.800 I do believe she knew his money manager was in 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:59.400 rehab and that was an opportunity for her to get 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:02.560 into his life and impress him. I think that was calculated. 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:07.040 And it wasn't long after that restaurant opening on South 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:10.240 Beach back in two thousand and nine that Peggy signs 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:15.679 on as Dennis Rodman's new financial manager. At this point 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:18.960 in his career, he's still got millions of dollars coming 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:23.720 in from public appearances, from endorsement deals, from doing TV 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:26.879 shows and movies, and like a lot of celebrities and 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:31.560 rich people, Dennis doesn't personally handle any of that money himself. 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.240 As his former manager explains. 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.040 You have to understand something. He doesn't pay his own bills. 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:42.159 He's just very isolated. He's very well managed. He doesn't 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:44.359 deal with a lot of the day to day Monday 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:48.199 stuff that you and I and most people will deal with. 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:52.240 He probably hasn't opened a piece of mail in fifteen 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.640 twenty years. He just doesn't do it. He has people 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:59.560 to handle that far, and there's accountants and there's people 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.919 that you know, take care of it. He puts that 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:05.879 trust in his people, and they're supposed to handle it 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:08.000 for him. 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:12.080 So Dennis Rodman hires Peggy to run his finances. She's 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.160 supposed to put him on a strict budget, pay his bills, 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:19.239 pay his taxes, pay his child support, and invest the 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.560 rest of the money he's got coming in to make 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:25.840 him even more money. And the weird thing is, Dennis 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:30.040 hires Peggy unilaterally. He doesn't ask his lawyers, he doesn't 0:19:30.080 --> 0:19:32.919 ask his agents, he doesn't ask anyone. He just pulls 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:36.440 the trigger and brings her on and actually signs over 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:41.639 power of attorney to her, giving Peggy overnight full control 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:44.320 of every bank account he's got, every piece of real 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:47.879 estate he owns or is renting, and every dollar he 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.800 has coming in. His former manager is actually cut off 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:52.600 guard by it all. 0:19:53.520 --> 0:19:55.760 Dennis called me and said, Hey, I have a new 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:58.199 business manager and I'm going over to talk to her 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:01.359 about some things. I want you to come over and 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:08.880 meet her. So I went over to Peggy's house. Peggy 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:13.359 had a house in the Coral Ridge subdivision of Fort Lauderdale, 0:20:14.040 --> 0:20:17.720 and she's got all of these cars Maserati's and Bentley's 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:23.919 and BMW's and range Rovers all in the driveway. And 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.280 I walk in and I see Peggy. She makes this 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:33.240 grand entrance coming down her little winding staircase and she's like, Hey, 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:36.320 how you guys doing. And it was like a scene 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:40.000 out of a movie. 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:43.080 But in direct contrast to that sophisticated movie star descending 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:46.919 a staircase, Peggy's got a bad habit that kind of 0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:50.920 gives her away, but kind of doesn't. We'll explain right 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:59.520 after the break Welcome Back to Queen of the Khan. 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:05.000 Dennis Rodman's manager is noticing something about Dennis's new financial guru, Peggy, 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:07.120 that kind of surprises him. 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:09.520 She cuts like a sailor first of all, which to 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:11.920 me wasn't a big deal. I mean, I use file 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:16.040 language as well, but it's very unusual for someone who 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.960 is talking about business or dealing with things cursing people out. 0:21:20.080 --> 0:21:24.280 Like she'll be talking about a deal or someone, Oh, 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:28.240 this motherfucker needs to do this, and like that's a 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:33.399 little unusual. But she's very charismatic. She was funny, I 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:37.680 have to say, very charming, very affable. You almost took 0:21:37.760 --> 0:21:40.399 it as a badge of honor when she cursed you 0:21:40.480 --> 0:21:43.000 out for something that was just her way. And she 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:45.040 loved to call everybody baby. 0:21:45.600 --> 0:21:48.800 She's like, you know, baby, I don't have to do 0:21:48.840 --> 0:21:50.080 this if you don't want me to. 0:21:51.960 --> 0:21:56.359 Dennis Rodman is under the impression that his new financial guru, Peggy, 0:21:56.760 --> 0:21:59.760 with the waterfront for Lauderdale mansion and the fleet of 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:03.639 Lee's in BMW's parked in the driveway, has an impressive 0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:06.879 track record of making millions of dollars on Wall Street, 0:22:07.000 --> 0:22:10.360 and for the past decade, her self proclaimed passion has 0:22:10.440 --> 0:22:14.920 been helping professional athletes and former professional athletes like Dennis 0:22:15.280 --> 0:22:20.560 grow their finances exponentially, making shrewd investments in companies all 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:24.640 over the world. And get this, she doesn't even charge 0:22:24.680 --> 0:22:28.639 a fee for her services. She claims she's just that 0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:32.000 wealthy and she doesn't need the money. Besides, she says, 0:22:32.359 --> 0:22:35.320 Dennis Rodman is like family to her now and she 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:39.080 just wants to help him create what she calls generational 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:43.080 wealth for his kids. And Dennis really loves that idea. 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:45.639