1
00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:04,040
Speaker 1: Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio Zarren.

2
00:00:04,600 --> 00:00:07,240
Speaker 2: You can't give in here, you get in here?

3
00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:08,360
Speaker 3: Was that? My girl? How you doing?

4
00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:10,160
Speaker 2: I'm great? How are you pretty well?

5
00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:11,600
Speaker 3: Feel okay? Greed for you?

6
00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:13,960
Speaker 2: I'm so happy for you. Do you know it's ridiculous

7
00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,160
Speaker 2: I do, Okay?

8
00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:20,040
Speaker 3: So you know how I love giving people life tips

9
00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:20,760
Speaker 3: and money advice.

10
00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:22,760
Speaker 2: Un solicitous.

11
00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:25,400
Speaker 3: I'm just going around well, no and all. Honestly, I

12
00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,400
Speaker 3: never really do that, but I find it amusing how

13
00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:30,800
Speaker 3: many how much media I consume where people are men

14
00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,280
Speaker 3: telling other people how to live and especially with money

15
00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,320
Speaker 3: and stuff. And then I found this guy and I

16
00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,879
Speaker 3: was like, this is exactly life advice. I would have

17
00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,839
Speaker 3: given a punk band on tour, but it wouldn't have

18
00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:42,480
Speaker 3: worked for them because they would have been a punk band.

19
00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,120
Speaker 3: But the idea would have been great otherwise, Okay, and

20
00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:46,920
Speaker 3: if they would have done your thing and acted like

21
00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:48,960
Speaker 3: they belonged to, act like they've been there before, act

22
00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:51,920
Speaker 3: like they know, it would have worked. Here's the life advice.

23
00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:54,480
Speaker 3: Keep all that in mind, you ready. Dude's name is

24
00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:56,400
Speaker 3: Jack Rains. I don't know why I'm giving him credit.

25
00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,080
Speaker 3: Be good, it's his words. So he does something called writing.

26
00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:02,200
Speaker 3: He writes Young Money the best finance blog you've never

27
00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:06,280
Speaker 3: heard of. Whatever. So this is from LinkedIn. Somebody who

28
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,679
Speaker 3: I don't really know posted this and I found it amusing.

29
00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:10,319
Speaker 2: Anyway, here we go.

30
00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:12,880
Speaker 3: There was a screenshot from LinkedIn. I'm not on LinkedIn.

31
00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:14,960
Speaker 3: I don't even believe it with social media, I'm like,

32
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:20,560
Speaker 3: come on, apparently people use it like Facebook. Anyway, here

33
00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:23,119
Speaker 3: we go. Quote. For the last two months, I haven't

34
00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:25,560
Speaker 3: paid for a single meal in New York City. How

35
00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,960
Speaker 3: is that possible? You ask? It's simple, free hotel meals.

36
00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,440
Speaker 3: New York has thirty six hundred hotels, and many of

37
00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,520
Speaker 3: those offer complimentary breakfast. By walking in and acting like

38
00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,920
Speaker 3: you're supposed to be there, you can simply grab bacon,

39
00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,280
Speaker 3: eggs and toast it any Hilton or Marriott in the city.

40
00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,280
Speaker 3: The real trick is securing free lunch or dinner. To

41
00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,400
Speaker 3: do this, you dress up a bit nicer and head

42
00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,960
Speaker 3: to the restaurant. Order whatever you'd like, enjoy the occasion.

43
00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,720
Speaker 3: When the waiter comes, he's going to ask card credit

44
00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,080
Speaker 3: or charge to a room. Say charge to the room,

45
00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,120
Speaker 3: then write down a random room number and name, and

46
00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:08,959
Speaker 3: make sure you leave before the payment processes with thirty

47
00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,480
Speaker 3: six hundred hotels. You can do this for ten years

48
00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:15,799
Speaker 3: without double dipping. Follow me for more personal financial tips.

49
00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:17,880
Speaker 3: I don't think it hashtag wealth hack.

50
00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:19,400
Speaker 2: I don't think it works that way.

51
00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:21,760
Speaker 3: It doesn't work that way. Room number, well, no, you

52
00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:23,400
Speaker 3: can do that. I do just traveling, and they did

53
00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:25,160
Speaker 3: exactly that. I just put it in on room number. They

54
00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,440
Speaker 3: didn't ask me for any Nope, it's just all on paper.

55
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:29,040
Speaker 3: I just did this in a Hilton.

56
00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:29,160
Speaker 1: Like.

57
00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,240
Speaker 3: He's totally right about that aspect. Yeah, but it's still

58
00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,600
Speaker 3: the ready. It's not going to work for most people. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

59
00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:39,400
Speaker 3: who would probably want to benefit from this exactly? No,

60
00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:40,320
Speaker 3: definitely not a punk band.

61
00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,480
Speaker 2: But who read whatever the four people who read?

62
00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:45,000
Speaker 3: But I did used to tell people who are on

63
00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,920
Speaker 3: the road, go into nice hotels and eat a complimentary breakfast,

64
00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:49,400
Speaker 3: grab some rolls for the road, and go.

65
00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:51,920
Speaker 2: That's smart, right. I used to in the city in

66
00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:55,320
Speaker 2: San Francisco if I back in the days pre you

67
00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,840
Speaker 2: know uber moved all that, when we're all taking taxis

68
00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,079
Speaker 2: and on evenings like Friday nights, you couldn't get a cab. Yeah,

69
00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,360
Speaker 2: I go into a hotel, come out and fact, like

70
00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,280
Speaker 2: I was staying there and ask the you know guys

71
00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:10,480
Speaker 2: in front of the bell hop or whatever to hail

72
00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:12,919
Speaker 2: me a cab, and I always get one. Other people

73
00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,280
Speaker 2: are all trying to flag him down the street totally.

74
00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:16,519
Speaker 3: I guess it's more of the doorman.

75
00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:18,680
Speaker 2: Than a yeah yeah, yeah, So that was the move.

76
00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:20,680
Speaker 3: That's a good one. I like, I'm gonna use that one.

77
00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:25,960
Speaker 2: Well, we don't take cabs anymore, I guess I do. Yeah,

78
00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:28,640
Speaker 2: isn't that ridiculous? Though? That is ridiculous. I like them

79
00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:30,440
Speaker 2: a lot. Do you know what else I like? And

80
00:03:30,480 --> 00:03:31,280
Speaker 2: that is ridiculous?

81
00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:32,440
Speaker 3: No, Elizabeth? What else?

82
00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:59,000
Speaker 2: Gerald Ford getting paid? This is ridiculous crime A podcast

83
00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:03,640
Speaker 2: about absurd and outrageous capers. I send cons. It's always

84
00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:07,240
Speaker 2: ninety nine percent murder free and one hundred percent ridiculous.

85
00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:08,880
Speaker 3: Oh you damn right, Zaryn.

86
00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:11,320
Speaker 2: Yes, Eliza, I'm about to take you on a wild

87
00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:13,040
Speaker 2: ride a fever dream.

88
00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:14,760
Speaker 3: Yes, I love your fever dreams.

89
00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,359
Speaker 2: Researcher Andrea the Magnificent She described a lot of this

90
00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,919
Speaker 2: as surreal, and it is. It's so rich in eighties

91
00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,640
Speaker 2: and nineties celebrities that you're gonna poop yourself.

92
00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:28,760
Speaker 3: Should I get on my big boy underwear.

93
00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:30,320
Speaker 2: I'm going to read you a list of names that

94
00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:35,680
Speaker 2: are conveniently in alphabetical order. Paula Abdul Roseanne Barr, Milton Burrell,

95
00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:41,360
Speaker 2: Red Buttons, the Clintons, Billy Crystal, Celine Dion, Michael Douglas,

96
00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,840
Speaker 2: Betty and Gerald Ford, Wow, Michael J. Fox, Ja Ja Gabor,

97
00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:50,240
Speaker 2: al Gore, Kelsey Grammer, George Hamilton, Goldie Hahn, Gladys Night, Nelson,

98
00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,880
Speaker 2: Mandela Gregory, Pec, Rob rynder Niece, Rich Ray Ramono, Diana Ross,

99
00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,799
Speaker 2: Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Swimmer, Britney Spears, Rod Stewart, John Travolta,

100
00:04:57,839 --> 00:04:59,240
Speaker 2: Tina Turner, and Mark Wilbert.

101
00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,520
Speaker 3: Why are you listing all my exes.

102
00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:03,560
Speaker 2: One thing in common?

103
00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:05,720
Speaker 3: I just told you what it was, herpies.

104
00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,920
Speaker 2: Oh no, that was a joke. They were all somehow

105
00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,120
Speaker 2: connected to the scandals generated by one Aaron Tonka.

106
00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:13,080
Speaker 3: Are you kidding me?

107
00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,880
Speaker 2: Yeah? I want to tell you about Aaron gulf of Tonka.

108
00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:17,599
Speaker 3: He's an industry Oh.

109
00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:19,039
Speaker 2: God, have you ever heard of Aaron Tonka.

110
00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:20,840
Speaker 3: I've heard the name, I've never looked into him.

111
00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:24,040
Speaker 2: He was born in nineteen sixty five in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

112
00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:26,880
Speaker 2: He grew up in Michigan, just about you know, two

113
00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:31,159
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty miles or so. He was obsessed with

114
00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,720
Speaker 2: celebrities at an early age. When he was only twelve

115
00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:38,839
Speaker 2: years old, he started cold calling Jacqueline Onassas and other

116
00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:40,880
Speaker 2: celebrities like would get the number and be like, Hi,

117
00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,160
Speaker 2: it's Aaron. Do you have a moment? I love that.

118
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:46,320
Speaker 2: He was desperate.

119
00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:48,640
Speaker 3: Do you think they ever had good conversations.

120
00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:51,520
Speaker 2: I don't think he had any conversation. I don't think

121
00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:53,719
Speaker 2: he made it. No, he didn't make it through the screening.

122
00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:57,840
Speaker 2: He wanted so badly to have Dean Martin performed at

123
00:05:57,839 --> 00:05:58,719
Speaker 2: his bar mitzvah.

124
00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:00,599
Speaker 3: Oh same, I don't even have of bar mitsman.

125
00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:02,440
Speaker 2: I want that, and he just that's what he wanted.

126
00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:05,159
Speaker 2: But he couldn't. He couldn't make it happen. Nineteen eighty seven,

127
00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:07,640
Speaker 2: his dad dies of cancer. His dad was a doctor,

128
00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:10,840
Speaker 2: and he had a really difficult relationship with his mom,

129
00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:13,560
Speaker 2: and so he decided to just like split and leave.

130
00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:15,560
Speaker 2: He went to live with his aunt and uncle in Detroit.

131
00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:16,560
Speaker 3: Teens.

132
00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is what his aunt said. Michelle Sill's quote.

133
00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,080
Speaker 2: He drove to our house straight through without a nickel

134
00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,159
Speaker 2: in his pocket. He had to bust through the toll

135
00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,280
Speaker 2: gase because he had no money bust through. I love

136
00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,040
Speaker 2: the theatrics of that quote, like no, come on, He's like.

137
00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,440
Speaker 3: He's splintering like a film montage.

138
00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:38,719
Speaker 2: Totally, So he's like crashing at all these various relatives houses.

139
00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,520
Speaker 2: He didn't really get like a job or anything. Of course, yes,

140
00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,719
Speaker 2: and he care of he'd lie and he say he'd

141
00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:47,440
Speaker 2: say he was going to work, but he was just

142
00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,240
Speaker 2: going to like restaurant openings and press conferences because he

143
00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:53,919
Speaker 2: thought that celebrities would be there in Detroit.

144
00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,240
Speaker 3: Well, they do have the auto industry, so there might

145
00:06:57,320 --> 00:06:57,920
Speaker 3: have been you.

146
00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:01,000
Speaker 2: Know, like I had coca. Oh yeah, And so he's

147
00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:03,080
Speaker 2: hoping he can like rub shoulders with him and then

148
00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:04,880
Speaker 2: he would come home and be like I sold two

149
00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,880
Speaker 2: thousand pairs of socks today and they're like, that's amazing.

150
00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,120
Speaker 2: You set a record. He's like, I totally did. So

151
00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,240
Speaker 2: he wants to he wants to rub shoulders and by

152
00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,200
Speaker 2: that I mean hobnob not massage. Yes, of course he

153
00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:20,600
Speaker 2: wanted more. Though, what's more, Elizabeth he Arizona. He went

154
00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,280
Speaker 2: to live with one of his grandma's in Arizona. And

155
00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:25,120
Speaker 2: it makes it sound like he has a stable of

156
00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,640
Speaker 2: old ladies retainer one of his grandma's.

157
00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:29,480
Speaker 3: He's going through a platoon of old ladies. Yeah.

158
00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,080
Speaker 2: So there he is in Scottsdale, Okay, and it was

159
00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,200
Speaker 2: there that he met John Murphy. John Murphy drove a

160
00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:40,040
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty six corvette and he owned a silk pants company.

161
00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,760
Speaker 3: Oh so he's like a snowbird just cruising around Arizona. Like,

162
00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:43,720
Speaker 3: pick it up on old bird.

163
00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:46,680
Speaker 2: He has my new fake job when introducing myself a

164
00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:48,760
Speaker 2: purveyor of fine silk pants.

165
00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,800
Speaker 3: So I thought it was serious. He's aveyor.

166
00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:57,080
Speaker 2: We're sent dead to write serious that he's in an

167
00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,880
Speaker 2: eighty six corvette and he owned a silk pants company.

168
00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,840
Speaker 2: I love Saren, I'm telling you the truth here. So

169
00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:05,760
Speaker 2: Murphy is like, I like the cut of your jip.

170
00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:07,320
Speaker 2: I'm going to offer you a job. You can be

171
00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,000
Speaker 2: a salesman. Tonkin's like, let's do this. This is what

172
00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,080
Speaker 2: Murphy said. Quote. He was the best phone guy I'd

173
00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,240
Speaker 2: ever seen, just incredibly persistent. I've sat in his office

174
00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,200
Speaker 2: in l a And he's the fastest dialer I've ever seen,

175
00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,160
Speaker 2: just incredible. He just won't take no for an answer.

176
00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:29,960
Speaker 2: Fingers fly finger like lightning speed at that. That's what

177
00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,240
Speaker 2: makes you the best phone guy. I can tell him,

178
00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:33,200
Speaker 2: we're so fast.

179
00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:34,440
Speaker 3: You guys, and then I get to the hang up

180
00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:35,880
Speaker 3: call onto the next so quick.

181
00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:40,360
Speaker 2: So in nineteen ninety, Murphy sells the pants company. But

182
00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:41,840
Speaker 2: don't worry. I don't want you to worry about it

183
00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:46,600
Speaker 2: when from him, uh tongan, don't worry about him. He's

184
00:08:46,600 --> 00:08:49,640
Speaker 2: cozying up to Gilbert or Tega, aka the King of

185
00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:56,480
Speaker 2: Indian Jewelry. So he owns Gilbert or Taga Galleries, which

186
00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:59,120
Speaker 2: is the largest retail of Native American arts and crafts

187
00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:05,040
Speaker 2: in the world. We're talking turquoise Bolo ties for days talking.

188
00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:07,640
Speaker 2: He gets a job, a sales job from Ortega. Remember

189
00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:10,600
Speaker 2: he's got like fingers of lightning totally. And then he

190
00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:12,280
Speaker 2: even moved into Ortega's house.

191
00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:13,960
Speaker 3: Why not sure?

192
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,600
Speaker 2: This is what Ortega's first wife, Linda Ortega said, quote, oh, well,

193
00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,160
Speaker 2: you know when Aaron moved into Gilbert's house. The way

194
00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,400
Speaker 2: Aaron got to Gilbert was he said his mother wanted

195
00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,080
Speaker 2: him to learn business before he could collect his trust money.

196
00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:29,319
Speaker 2: He said he thought Gilbert was the perfect person to

197
00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:32,520
Speaker 2: learn from. It appealed to Gilbert's ego. You know, you're

198
00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:34,360
Speaker 2: so great, I need to learn from you. It's the

199
00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,600
Speaker 2: same when he met me. You're such a great mother.

200
00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,240
Speaker 2: I wish I had a mother like you. You kind

201
00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:41,760
Speaker 2: of knew he was faking, but somehow he had this quality.

202
00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:42,800
Speaker 2: You felt sorry for him.

203
00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,199
Speaker 3: Oh he played that flip so.

204
00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,160
Speaker 2: Pretty soon the Ortega's they're over him. Okay, yeah, they've

205
00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,800
Speaker 2: had enough. This is what Gilbert said, quote he's very

206
00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,319
Speaker 2: very very very very aggressive. If that boy learned to

207
00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,920
Speaker 2: use his talents in the right way, he be a billionaire.

208
00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,880
Speaker 2: But man, he'll eat up and spitch you out. That's

209
00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:08,360
Speaker 2: a salesman talking, Gerry So talking. He eventually moved out,

210
00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,120
Speaker 2: but he owed them money, of course. And his next

211
00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:15,719
Speaker 2: gig he got as a marketing manager for Scottsdale Limousines.

212
00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:17,760
Speaker 2: And that's kind of like a good way to get

213
00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:20,160
Speaker 2: celebrity adjacent or prom adjacent.

214
00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:23,640
Speaker 3: Oh I guess like a Major League Baseball training you

215
00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:24,760
Speaker 3: can meet Mike Schmid that.

216
00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:29,080
Speaker 2: Way, very prom forward gig, and then like minor league

217
00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:30,520
Speaker 2: Baseball or major league.

218
00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:33,480
Speaker 3: Got a couple of ways.

219
00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,240
Speaker 2: This is what the owner, Eddie McCoy had to say, quote,

220
00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:38,920
Speaker 2: he was just a kid, a kid I hired after

221
00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:41,680
Speaker 2: he worked for Gilbert. He did very well on sales,

222
00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,120
Speaker 2: brought in several accounts. I was always leary of him, though.

223
00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:48,280
Speaker 2: He always wanted me to get into things. One time,

224
00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:49,960
Speaker 2: I remember he asked me if I wanted to have

225
00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:54,000
Speaker 2: breakfast with Grant Woods, the state attorney general. I said, why,

226
00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:56,280
Speaker 2: why would I want to do that? In his heart

227
00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:58,280
Speaker 2: of hearts, you can see Aaron was doing it because

228
00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:00,800
Speaker 2: he thought somehow it could help me. He was obsessed

229
00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:04,120
Speaker 2: with celebrities, anyone who was famous or important or powerful,

230
00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,960
Speaker 2: just collecting him as interesting. So one day, nineteen ninety two,

231
00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,840
Speaker 2: talking he shows up for work in a station wagon

232
00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,640
Speaker 2: that he said he bought for three hundred bucks, crammed

233
00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,640
Speaker 2: full of his stuff, and McCoy, the owner said, quote,

234
00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:20,120
Speaker 2: the day he left Arizona, he came by here and

235
00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,400
Speaker 2: he said, I'm going to La to seek my fortune.

236
00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:25,280
Speaker 2: It was the bravest thing I've ever seen a young

237
00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,920
Speaker 2: man do. I mean, someone who was so troubled. It

238
00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:29,840
Speaker 2: seemed to me that he had just run out of

239
00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:31,960
Speaker 2: things to do. He needed to find his way. So

240
00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,840
Speaker 2: he said, I'm going to California. I may be an actor.

241
00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:36,760
Speaker 2: I don't know, but I'm going to be a success.

242
00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,360
Speaker 2: Then he drove off in that old station wagon.

243
00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:42,880
Speaker 3: And that's the bravest thing that this man saw you do.

244
00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:45,920
Speaker 3: And he tried left Los Angeles.

245
00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:48,760
Speaker 2: So he gets a call. McCoy gets a call a

246
00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,800
Speaker 2: few days later from the guy that sold the station

247
00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:54,880
Speaker 2: wagon to Tonkin looking for payment. Yeah, because he's looking for

248
00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:56,599
Speaker 2: who's going to pay me for the station wagon? He

249
00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:59,720
Speaker 2: said to call you, and you bought it. So why

250
00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:01,920
Speaker 2: did decided that it was time to head to Hollywood.

251
00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,760
Speaker 2: I mean it's a natural thing for someone who's celebrity obsessed.

252
00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:05,960
Speaker 3: Oh, I don't know.

253
00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:10,240
Speaker 2: The impetus for him was that he had cozied up

254
00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:18,679
Speaker 2: to Angelica Houston's stepmother. Angelica Houston's stepmother, I guess she

255
00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:19,480
Speaker 2: lives in Arizona.

256
00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,559
Speaker 3: So John Houston's wife, the Bob I.

257
00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:27,280
Speaker 2: Expose, Yeah at some point. So he did a brief

258
00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,560
Speaker 2: stint as her assistant, but it didn't work out. But

259
00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:35,760
Speaker 2: when he was assistant to Angelica Houston's stepmother, he he

260
00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:40,600
Speaker 2: rubbed shoulders and he meant the holy grail of aging

261
00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:47,400
Speaker 2: Hollywood madness needed an assistant.

262
00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:49,000
Speaker 3: Would you believe me if I would have said, well,

263
00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:50,960
Speaker 3: you asked me, why did he go to al Ja?

264
00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:52,160
Speaker 3: I was pulling him west.

265
00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,000
Speaker 2: There was you could feel it.

266
00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:56,199
Speaker 3: I'm like, Lady the wonderhorse over here.

267
00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:02,439
Speaker 2: So 's an assistant. Tonkin needs a job. He also

268
00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,040
Speaker 2: needs a place to live, natural fit faster. And you

269
00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,120
Speaker 2: can see Kato Klin. He moved into the guest house

270
00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,640
Speaker 2: in Jajaabor's backyard.

271
00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:11,920
Speaker 3: He's like, have you seen these fingers?

272
00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,560
Speaker 2: Now he'd made it. So he's getting chummy with the

273
00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:22,360
Speaker 2: likes of Red Buttons and Milton Burrele. So assisting Jaja

274
00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:25,080
Speaker 2: was was already starting to hurt. I know, I know,

275
00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:29,920
Speaker 2: assisting Jajah is great, it's great work. But Tonkin's expenses

276
00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:30,800
Speaker 2: exceeded his.

277
00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:32,880
Speaker 3: Income naturally, and that's that's a risk.

278
00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:35,080
Speaker 2: So when Jaja would go out of town, which is

279
00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:39,160
Speaker 2: you know, pretty accident, Tonkin started going outside and waving

280
00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,440
Speaker 2: down those tour buses that drive by with like the

281
00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:47,520
Speaker 2: tours of those stars homes, star maps so and then

282
00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:49,480
Speaker 2: he'd be like, wait, wait, wait, look, this is Jaja

283
00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:52,160
Speaker 2: Boor's house. I'll give you a tour, and he would

284
00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:54,720
Speaker 2: charge the people on the bus to get out and

285
00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:56,440
Speaker 2: walk through Jaja Bar's house.

286
00:13:56,720 --> 00:13:59,000
Speaker 3: You know he's not watching them, So there's picket pocketing.

287
00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:02,880
Speaker 2: Stuffy Ja finds out because sees all of course Sar

288
00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,680
Speaker 2: he gets fired, but that also meant that he lost

289
00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:07,440
Speaker 2: his place to live.

290
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,720
Speaker 3: So a reporter, why would he do that?

291
00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:11,120
Speaker 2: You know what?

292
00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:13,079
Speaker 3: I need to make money?

293
00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,720
Speaker 2: A reporter for the tabloid paper The Star.

294
00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:21,320
Speaker 3: All of her neighbors focus on the bus stopped Josh

295
00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:22,520
Speaker 3: in front of your house.

296
00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:33,320
Speaker 2: Only employee's house, the gardeners lawn. So this reporter from

297
00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,760
Speaker 2: the tabloid paper The Star heard about what happened between

298
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:41,600
Speaker 2: zz Gibor and Tucking and like and as an agent

299
00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:45,520
Speaker 2: of chaos after my own heart, the reporter reaches out

300
00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:50,200
Speaker 2: to Peter Paul, former manager of Fabio, and says, you've

301
00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:53,440
Speaker 2: got to hire this guy, Aaron Tonkin. He needs a gig.

302
00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:57,920
Speaker 2: He's an assistant. Like how chaotic? Is that so good? So?

303
00:14:57,960 --> 00:14:59,840
Speaker 2: Who is Peter Paul? Hold the merry?

304
00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:02,120
Speaker 3: Why did that names come from?

305
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:04,680
Speaker 2: He's gonna start ringing a lot of bells. In the seventies,

306
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,800
Speaker 2: he was an attorney in Miami and he represented Central

307
00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,760
Speaker 2: and South American clients. In seventy nine, he got convicted

308
00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:14,600
Speaker 2: of participating in the scheme to defraud the Cuban government.

309
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:15,920
Speaker 3: That's a smart movie.

310
00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:17,960
Speaker 2: And then oh can I get a side order of

311
00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:18,880
Speaker 2: cocaine possession?

312
00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:19,720
Speaker 3: Oh, there you go.

313
00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:20,840
Speaker 2: So he did his.

314
00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:25,160
Speaker 3: Time, conscious figure, he does.

315
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,040
Speaker 2: His time, he moves to La. What did you do

316
00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:30,480
Speaker 2: in La? Well, he did prod. He did what any

317
00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:32,560
Speaker 2: of us who just got out of prison and needed

318
00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:37,240
Speaker 2: a new start would do. He started charity foundations, including

319
00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,080
Speaker 2: one for Jimmy Stewart, and so from there it was

320
00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:43,640
Speaker 2: like an easy and natural jump to celebrity management. Of course,

321
00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:48,640
Speaker 2: so his clients, the aforementioned Fabbia Mohammed Ali. He was

322
00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,600
Speaker 2: Mohammed Ali's the manager for a while. So Paul, he

323
00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:54,000
Speaker 2: listen from that.

324
00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:55,960
Speaker 3: You're like, come on, is not getting better.

325
00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,320
Speaker 2: It's not going well. Paul listened to that tabloid reporter

326
00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:03,360
Speaker 2: higher Aaron Tonkin, why not talk? Got a desk in

327
00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:07,640
Speaker 2: the hall offices at Wilshire Boulevard. Assignment One arranged for

328
00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,880
Speaker 2: celebrities to make an appearance at a wedding in New Mexico.

329
00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:13,440
Speaker 3: Tonkin's ultiple celebrities at the same wedding.

330
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, Tonkin's like hello, Pacific Southwest.

331
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,120
Speaker 3: Okay, Yeah, this is my region. I've got friends.

332
00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,400
Speaker 2: He locked in Charlton Heston to give a Bible reading.

333
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:27,520
Speaker 2: He got members of Kiss to provide the music, Like

334
00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:32,840
Speaker 2: what is this? What is this? Okay, so now he's

335
00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,800
Speaker 2: cooking with Gats like he has put this together. Paul

336
00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,600
Speaker 2: has connections Tonkin latches onto all of them. But it

337
00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:42,600
Speaker 2: wasn't just his employer who got him the ends. He

338
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:45,400
Speaker 2: said he found a Rolodex in the trash and that

339
00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:51,840
Speaker 2: the Rolodex had belonged to Danny DeVito found found Rolodex

340
00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:54,080
Speaker 2: and he said that he copied all the cards and

341
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,280
Speaker 2: then he contacted Big Danny to give it back, and

342
00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,400
Speaker 2: apparently DeVito was super grateful, Like if it happened that way,

343
00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:00,320
Speaker 2: this is a from.

344
00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,640
Speaker 3: Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I swear to god. I found

345
00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:04,959
Speaker 3: Danny Divita's Rotex in the trash. I called him up.

346
00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:05,960
Speaker 3: He wanted to beat.

347
00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, now we're friends. Sandra Taylor, Fabio's ex girlfriend, huh

348
00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,159
Speaker 2: said quote. He started throwing these smart little dinner parties

349
00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,240
Speaker 2: at the Beverly Hills restaurant Tattoo. The mix of people

350
00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:19,960
Speaker 2: was just amazing. Joe Maloof from the Sacramento Kings, Jermaine Jackson,

351
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,240
Speaker 2: Milton Burle. He definitely had his regulars.

352
00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:25,679
Speaker 3: The maloof the owner of the Kings, not even like

353
00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:27,160
Speaker 3: a player, the owner, the owner.

354
00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:29,320
Speaker 2: Can we talk a little about tattoo of Beverly Hills

355
00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,800
Speaker 2: in the nineties it was the spot big Mickey Rourke

356
00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,640
Speaker 2: hang out, probably Christopher roknkor as well. What a time

357
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:41,080
Speaker 2: to be alive. So anyway, not a lot of information

358
00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:45,639
Speaker 2: available about the supper club slash restaurant nightclub, but anyway,

359
00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,560
Speaker 2: look up Getty images for it. It's amazing. Yes. So

360
00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:51,280
Speaker 2: in the fall of ninety three, Tonkin and Paul they

361
00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:54,880
Speaker 2: organized a joint book party slash charity fundraiser for Ivanna

362
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,200
Speaker 2: Trump and Fabio of course, which is okay, wine, sure,

363
00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:01,320
Speaker 2: sign me up, Gavin maloof He sent a seventy five

364
00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:04,480
Speaker 2: hundred dollars check to Tonkin for the Muscular District Association,

365
00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,800
Speaker 2: and so the charity never saw a dime, no, of course,

366
00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:12,160
Speaker 2: and talking kept the check the official check to him.

367
00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,400
Speaker 2: The official with the association claim that when she requested

368
00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:18,240
Speaker 2: the check from Tonkin, he told her.

369
00:18:18,720 --> 00:18:27,719
Speaker 3: GoF did he loved to say that to a charity?

370
00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,719
Speaker 3: Oh my god? The check oh my god.

371
00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:36,200
Speaker 2: Okay, so debt started stacking up for Tonking, figuring that printers,

372
00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:41,080
Speaker 2: travel agencies, photographers, actors, charities like everything he had. Over

373
00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,080
Speaker 2: two dozen separate actions were filed against him in LA

374
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:47,119
Speaker 2: Superior Court. Yeah, and most of them were just like

375
00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:49,560
Speaker 2: you know, he took money for those services rendered.

376
00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:51,639
Speaker 3: He owes me eight thousand dollars for the car rental.

377
00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:56,920
Speaker 2: Yeah. May of nineteen ninety four, a Russian immigrant Alex Khakov,

378
00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,000
Speaker 2: he said he paid Tonkin twenty grand to help him

379
00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:03,840
Speaker 2: get into the movie business, which is so weird. Kodakov

380
00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:05,920
Speaker 2: though he never even made it onto a movie set,

381
00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:08,440
Speaker 2: and like, for years he tried to get his money back,

382
00:19:08,560 --> 00:19:12,680
Speaker 2: no dice. His lawyer said, quote, ten years later, I'm

383
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:16,120
Speaker 2: done chasing that guy, like they kept trying twenty grand.

384
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,440
Speaker 2: West Hollywood attorney Nathan Gawler he had opinions his girlfriend

385
00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,480
Speaker 2: Irina Maliva, paid Tonkin forty five hundred dollars to help

386
00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:25,639
Speaker 2: her break into the movies.

387
00:19:25,720 --> 00:19:27,800
Speaker 3: So he's just milking naive Russians totally.

388
00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:29,680
Speaker 2: And all she got out of it was an invitation

389
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,800
Speaker 2: or two to like a couple of Hollywood parties and

390
00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:37,640
Speaker 2: so yeah, so her attorney boyfriend goes after him. Gave

391
00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,120
Speaker 2: up trying to collect though, because it was happening. Nineteen

392
00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:45,040
Speaker 2: ninety five, Tonkin through his own thirtieth birthday party at Tattoo.

393
00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:46,119
Speaker 3: All that before thirty.

394
00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:49,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a who's who of young hot Hollywood Okay,

395
00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:55,520
Speaker 2: Leonard Nimoy, Milton Burrell, Casey Kayson, Alan Thicck, Bob Barker,

396
00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:58,400
Speaker 2: cast members from the soap opera The Young and the Restless,

397
00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:01,199
Speaker 2: and then friends and family from Arizona. Who was the

398
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:05,440
Speaker 2: host for the evening's entertainment, Red Buttons, Red Button's son

399
00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:07,800
Speaker 2: Adam Buttons, which like, I don't know that. I just

400
00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:09,640
Speaker 2: read that over and over again, just for a fight.

401
00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:10,440
Speaker 3: Ohone Buttons.

402
00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:15,120
Speaker 2: Adam Buttons. But yes, he worked for Tonkin as a messenger.

403
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,600
Speaker 2: He said, quote, Aaron was out of his mind. Every

404
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,720
Speaker 2: time I went to his office, Aaron was screaming at

405
00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:22,320
Speaker 2: the top of his lungs at someone. He had a

406
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:27,280
Speaker 2: nervous breakdown every five minutes. Tonkin's uncle Sills but goes

407
00:20:27,320 --> 00:20:29,679
Speaker 2: to the party at Tattoo says quote, we couldn't believe it.

408
00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,399
Speaker 2: I mean, here's a kid, he had nothing, could go nowhere,

409
00:20:32,480 --> 00:20:35,760
Speaker 2: had obvious mental problems and suddenly he's in Hollywood meeting

410
00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,640
Speaker 2: hundreds of these movie stars. What a country, What a country?

411
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:41,960
Speaker 3: Indeed we did.

412
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:43,960
Speaker 2: Let's take a break. Can we come back. We'll find

413
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,000
Speaker 2: out whether Oh courant stars were in Aaron Tonkin's orbit.

414
00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:13,400
Speaker 2: Welcome right, We're back to Hollywood cavalcade we're having here today.

415
00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:16,320
Speaker 3: Oh man, the stars are out tonight, Elizabeth, they really are.

416
00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,359
Speaker 2: They really are. So here we have Aaron Tonkin and

417
00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:24,879
Speaker 2: his messenger boy Adam Buttons. So we have Aaron Tonkin

418
00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:29,200
Speaker 2: throwing charity benefits with very cloudy accounting practices. A good

419
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,640
Speaker 2: friend of Aaron Tonkins was actor Jonathan Silverman, who grew

420
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,560
Speaker 2: up with David Schwimmer. So it was through that connection

421
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:41,119
Speaker 2: that Tonkin he gets tapped to organize the nineteen ninety

422
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:45,639
Speaker 2: seven Friends Helping Friends gala that's centered on the Friends cast.

423
00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:50,560
Speaker 2: Of course, it sounds absolutely nuts. Tony Alverti, a longtime

424
00:21:50,600 --> 00:21:53,680
Speaker 2: event security guy of Tonkins, he said, quote, people don't

425
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,480
Speaker 2: realize how he did those events, Like he'll meet a

426
00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:58,560
Speaker 2: guy named Roger who knows someone who knows one of

427
00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:01,320
Speaker 2: the guys in sync. Aaron tells everyone he has in

428
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:03,960
Speaker 2: sync and people come because of that. It worked every time,

429
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:06,720
Speaker 2: so of course he can't get in sync. So he says, oh,

430
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,440
Speaker 2: they had to back out. But I've got Wayne Newton,

431
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:12,680
Speaker 2: I got Natalie Cole, I love his like Switcheroose.

432
00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:19,320
Speaker 3: Shows. Who wants to hear Wayne Newton totally?

433
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,880
Speaker 2: Zaren close your eye. Oh my god, Okay, I want

434
00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,800
Speaker 2: you to picture it. It's nineteen ninety seven and you

435
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:32,280
Speaker 2: are Randolph Duke, the designer for Halston. You were hired

436
00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:34,720
Speaker 2: the year prior to revive the brand, and you are

437
00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:39,520
Speaker 2: exceeding expectations. You are creating minimalist, clean designs in the

438
00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:44,679
Speaker 2: iconic Halston style of relaxed urban discothech chic. You're fabulous,

439
00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:47,760
Speaker 2: from your five o'clock shadow to your buttery driving loafers.

440
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:50,919
Speaker 2: Some months ago, you were introduced to a man, a small,

441
00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:53,520
Speaker 2: sloppy man. You met him through a friend of a

442
00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:56,520
Speaker 2: friend and in a whirl of Hollywood, we should do lunches,

443
00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,000
Speaker 2: and I have the perfect project for you. Somehow you

444
00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:02,200
Speaker 2: agreed to dress the of friends for some charity thing

445
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:07,359
Speaker 2: coming up. Jennifer Aniston, Phoebe the dark haired one wearing Halston.

446
00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:10,959
Speaker 2: Be great for the brand and for you. Of course,

447
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 2: this Halston gig is great, but you have your eyes

448
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:16,119
Speaker 2: on your own collection. In the meantime, you're gathering contacts

449
00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,680
Speaker 2: everywhere you go, amassing celebrity clientele that will hopefully one

450
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,719
Speaker 2: day wear a Randolph Duke gown on the red carpet,

451
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:28,040
Speaker 2: and they will but first friends with hard r. So

452
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 2: there you are backstage. You've arrived early and the place

453
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,360
Speaker 2: is buzzing with excitement. You and your assistants are directed

454
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:37,560
Speaker 2: to a dressing room where you set up glamorous looks

455
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:42,200
Speaker 2: for the evening, strong red seguins, blush organza, spaghetti straps

456
00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:45,800
Speaker 2: for barrious. As your assistants get things rolling, you cruise

457
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,720
Speaker 2: around and schmooze. You're sipping champagne and complimenting Tony Bennett

458
00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,560
Speaker 2: on his velvet jacket. When one of your assistants tries

459
00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,280
Speaker 2: to get your attention, you brush her off and you

460
00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:57,280
Speaker 2: keep working the room. You look over and you see

461
00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:00,399
Speaker 2: Jennifer Aniston. She's emerging from a dress room and she

462
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:05,840
Speaker 2: looks stunning, but not Halston stunning, Calvin Klein stunning. That's

463
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:10,440
Speaker 2: a Calvin Klein gown she's wearing, not one of your creations. Soon,

464
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:14,199
Speaker 2: the dark haired one on Friends walks by. She's in

465
00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,280
Speaker 2: a lovely dress, but it's not one of yours, and

466
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,560
Speaker 2: she's fully made up and ready to go. You scan

467
00:24:19,720 --> 00:24:21,960
Speaker 2: the room for the man who promised you the friends ladies,

468
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:25,200
Speaker 2: and you spot him, Aaron Tonkin. You push by people

469
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,440
Speaker 2: and rush to his side. Why aren't they wearing my gowns?

470
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:32,199
Speaker 2: You hiss at him. What then, No, baby, I've got

471
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:35,280
Speaker 2: someone even better. He holds your chin and turns your

472
00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,439
Speaker 2: face toward a dressing room. The door opens, outwalks a

473
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,240
Speaker 2: beautiful woman in one of your tasteful gowns. She's wearing

474
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,000
Speaker 2: those pink tinted sunglasses and her honeyed highlighted hair is huge.

475
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,879
Speaker 2: Who the fuck is that, you asked, Tonkin. It's the

476
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,640
Speaker 2: host of MTV's House of Style. That's not Cindy Crawford. No,

477
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:58,280
Speaker 2: that's Daisy Fantaste, much better than Jennifer Aniston. In say,

478
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,639
Speaker 2: twenty seven years, no one will remember who Jennifer Aniston is.

479
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,760
Speaker 2: But Daisy Flentes, MTV's first Latina vej host of MTV

480
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,960
Speaker 2: spring Break. She'll be a household name forever. You stared

481
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:13,360
Speaker 2: daggers at Tonkin while the bustling backstage chugs along around you.

482
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,320
Speaker 2: You walk toward the dressing room. Mister Duke, such a

483
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,960
Speaker 2: pleasure to meet you, says Daisy Flentes. This gown, it's extraordinary.

484
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,240
Speaker 2: When Aaron told me you selected me to wear it,

485
00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,080
Speaker 2: I was truly honored. You smile and shake her hand,

486
00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,000
Speaker 2: and then stride into the dressing room. Wrap up the dresses.

487
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,800
Speaker 2: We're leaving. You turn to Miss Fwents. Have your people

488
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,359
Speaker 2: drop the dress off tomorrow at my studio. You turn

489
00:25:33,400 --> 00:25:36,080
Speaker 2: and head for the exit. An assistant trailing behind you

490
00:25:36,119 --> 00:25:38,720
Speaker 2: slips a business card to Daisy Flentes. The address of

491
00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:39,840
Speaker 2: the studio is on there.

492
00:25:40,119 --> 00:25:43,639
Speaker 3: She tells her, dah now and tell Dan Cortez not

493
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:45,240
Speaker 3: to call me anymore.

494
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:51,439
Speaker 2: Not Eric niece now. Vanity Fair sponsored the event. Vanity

495
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:54,560
Speaker 2: Fair's executive director of creative Services at the time was

496
00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,440
Speaker 2: a woman, Gene Carlson. She said, quote, I don't think

497
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,520
Speaker 2: we knew what we were getting. The event was kind

498
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,040
Speaker 2: of messy. Everyone's screaming at me. At the end, they

499
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,399
Speaker 2: ran out of gift bags, and it went on so long.

500
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,120
Speaker 2: By the time Tony Bennett got up to sing, most

501
00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 2: of the people had left. It was not the work

502
00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:16,080
Speaker 2: of a prot Let's check in with Adam Buttons. What

503
00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:16,879
Speaker 2: is Adam Buttons.

504
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,280
Speaker 3: Yes, Adam Buttons, he said.

505
00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:22,840
Speaker 2: Quote, I will go on record saying I did deliver

506
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,000
Speaker 2: cash to a number of celebrities on Friends Helping Friends.

507
00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:28,480
Speaker 2: I don't know how much was in those envelopes. I

508
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:30,800
Speaker 2: didn't ask. I will say I didn't like the way

509
00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:33,200
Speaker 2: he did business. That's why I stopped working for him.

510
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:37,800
Speaker 2: Say more Adam Buttons and like sorry, make red proud.

511
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:42,600
Speaker 2: Buttons wouldn't name names. However, an anonymous source said that

512
00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:45,639
Speaker 2: some of the receivers of his cash included Paul Anka

513
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:52,400
Speaker 2: Not It's just all the hot stars of the nineties,

514
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,360
Speaker 2: Lance basovn sing Oh Chare, and Natalie Cole.

515
00:26:56,560 --> 00:26:58,320
Speaker 3: It's an interesting mix of the hot stars of the

516
00:26:58,359 --> 00:26:59,679
Speaker 3: nineties and the fifties.

517
00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,959
Speaker 2: Well, it was mostly. By nineteen ninety eight, almost a

518
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:07,680
Speaker 2: dozen charities were suing him in an attempt to get

519
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,320
Speaker 2: the money back from all these events that just he

520
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:12,439
Speaker 2: would get paid for that never even took place, not

521
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:13,640
Speaker 2: even the big like messalage.

522
00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:15,800
Speaker 3: He's just faking. Yeah, what do you think in your

523
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:18,280
Speaker 3: quiet moments you're lying their bed. You've got twenty four

524
00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:21,199
Speaker 3: charities trying to see in your life isn't care. I've

525
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:21,920
Speaker 3: made some mistakes.

526
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,120
Speaker 2: No, no, just got to keep moving. Shark in the water.

527
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 2: He filed for Chapter seven personal bankruptcy. Oh yeah, you

528
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:31,639
Speaker 2: got a BK when you hit that. But later the

529
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:33,480
Speaker 2: whole thing got dismissed because he didn't show up to

530
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:34,520
Speaker 2: the meeting of creditors.

531
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:35,640
Speaker 3: How does that work?

532
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,480
Speaker 2: I don't know. And it was during this time that

533
00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:43,280
Speaker 2: Tonkin met Cynthia and Hal Gershman. They're an older couple

534
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:48,160
Speaker 2: who happened to be multimillionaires. Agency No, they had shopping centers.

535
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,040
Speaker 2: They had shopping centers, okay, And they also happened to

536
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,480
Speaker 2: live in Beverly Hills. And they also happened to throw

537
00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,400
Speaker 2: amazing parties at their house. Of course, posy's up. They

538
00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,560
Speaker 2: check all the boxes. So according to a family advisor,

539
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,280
Speaker 2: which like PS, you know you're wealthy when you have

540
00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:07,879
Speaker 2: a family advisor. When Hal was on his deathbed, he

541
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,399
Speaker 2: urged Cynthia to let Tonkin look after her.

542
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:11,040
Speaker 3: Okay.

543
00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,520
Speaker 2: And a friend said later that when Hal died something

544
00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 2: changed in Cynthia. Quote Cindy decided she had been held down.

545
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,480
Speaker 2: It was a chance to have some fun. I want

546
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:23,840
Speaker 2: to have a good time. And be socially prominent and

547
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:27,479
Speaker 2: be an actress. She started taking acting classes. She was

548
00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,199
Speaker 2: convinced she was going to be a movie star. Aaron's

549
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:32,679
Speaker 2: genius was that he listened to what people wanted and

550
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,199
Speaker 2: he gave it to them. Aaron was suddenly saying, I

551
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:36,400
Speaker 2: can do this, I can do that.

552
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,280
Speaker 3: Of course. Yeah, that's the classic con is like, hey,

553
00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:41,600
Speaker 3: what are you feeling?

554
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:41,760
Speaker 1: What?

555
00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:44,320
Speaker 3: You know? Not confident about what you would love to

556
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 3: feel confident about.

557
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 2: So Cynthia Gershman. She starts paying Tonkin in nineteen ninety eight.

558
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 2: One of the loans was almost two million dollars. Yeah,

559
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:56,719
Speaker 2: and in return, he tells her, We're going to make

560
00:28:56,760 --> 00:28:58,520
Speaker 2: you a movie star. You're going to be known as

561
00:28:58,640 --> 00:28:59,480
Speaker 2: Cynthia Palmer.

562
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:01,000
Speaker 3: Know you can make the movie.

563
00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 2: There's no spring Chicken whatever. You could make the movie.

564
00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:07,560
Speaker 2: Well she did. She got her Screen Actors Guild card,

565
00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 2: and she had roles in like like a couple of

566
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:15,920
Speaker 2: minor films, including the Burt Reynolds two thousand film, The

567
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 2: Last Producer. Oh wow, she's in that. So we're talking

568
00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,920
Speaker 2: like big stuff. Her steps on, Cynthia steps on Ronald.

569
00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,600
Speaker 2: He worried about how all this was going to affect

570
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:30,560
Speaker 2: the financial situation of the family foundation.

571
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:31,160
Speaker 3: So his inheritance.

572
00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:34,240
Speaker 2: Yeah, so he starts reorganized and he splits it off.

573
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:37,040
Speaker 2: He's like, okay, here's the family stuff and then here's yours.

574
00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:41,000
Speaker 2: Just go nuts exactly, and so with control over her

575
00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:43,360
Speaker 2: part of the dough, then she just ramps up these

576
00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,560
Speaker 2: charity donations, but many of them were selected by Tonkin,

577
00:29:46,720 --> 00:29:50,840
Speaker 2: not her. And then she also underwrote his benefits and

578
00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:54,120
Speaker 2: that was like he did Gallas honoring Gladys Knight and

579
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,840
Speaker 2: Milton Burle shows up all the time. Oh yeah, total,

580
00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,320
Speaker 2: plus the Pips and the Pips underwrite them of course.

581
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:04,720
Speaker 2: So pretty soon, like Tonkin, he could get some of

582
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,240
Speaker 2: the biggest names in show business and politics for charities

583
00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:12,840
Speaker 2: and political fundraising, get people come out. Natalie Cole introduced

584
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:19,520
Speaker 2: him to Denise Rich, ex wife of fugitive financier Mark Rich. Yes, right, yeah,

585
00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:23,440
Speaker 2: Mark Rich, international commodities trader and businessman. In eighty three,

586
00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:26,600
Speaker 2: he gets indicted on federal charges of tax evasion, wire fraud,

587
00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:30,480
Speaker 2: racketeering and you know the little matter of making oil

588
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 2: deals with Iran during the Iran hostage crisis.

589
00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:34,280
Speaker 3: I didn't read all the fine print.

590
00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:36,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, so he's looking down the barrel of like three

591
00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:39,840
Speaker 2: hundred years in prison, no exaggeration, and he fled to

592
00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,640
Speaker 2: Switzerland never came back to the States. He left behind

593
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:47,400
Speaker 2: his Democratic megadoner wife, Denise Rich. And you know, so

594
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,000
Speaker 2: it only makes sense then that around nineteen ninety nine,

595
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:53,240
Speaker 2: two thousand, so if Tonkin gets introduced to Denise Rich,

596
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,440
Speaker 2: Denise continues the celebrity chain by introducing Tonkin to then

597
00:30:57,520 --> 00:31:02,040
Speaker 2: President Bill Clinton. Keep in mind that on Bill Clinton's

598
00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:04,560
Speaker 2: last day in office January twentieth, two thousand and one,

599
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:08,480
Speaker 2: he pardoned Mark Yes famous exactly like down to the wire.

600
00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,240
Speaker 2: So anyway, Clinton's wife Hillary, I don't know if you've

601
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:13,840
Speaker 2: heard of her. Hillary, she was gearing up to run

602
00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:14,720
Speaker 2: for US Senate.

603
00:31:14,880 --> 00:31:17,480
Speaker 3: Huh yeah, and how did her future go?

604
00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,720
Speaker 2: Tonkin tells Bill, I got an idea. Okay, let's have

605
00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:25,920
Speaker 2: a bunch of Hollywood gallas to benefit Hillary's senatorial campaign

606
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:30,240
Speaker 2: and New York. Yeah, the New York campaign. But we'll

607
00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 2: do this in Hollywood. Gershman said that she would underwrite

608
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:37,280
Speaker 2: some of the expenses, but Tonkin wanted more money, so

609
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,080
Speaker 2: he reached out to his old friend and employer, Peter Paul.

610
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:44,840
Speaker 2: Remember Peter Paul Byammy Koch Lawyer in two thousand. This

611
00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,120
Speaker 2: is this is, this is where we're into total fever

612
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:47,600
Speaker 2: dream Terri.

613
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:49,640
Speaker 3: I just always keep picturing Jake Paul's father. I know

614
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:51,680
Speaker 3: he's not, but I'm like, that feels like it's Jake Paul,

615
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:53,440
Speaker 3: Peter Paul.

616
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:57,520
Speaker 2: On Peter Paul Mary. In two thousand, Paul started a

617
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:04,040
Speaker 2: multimedia company built around stan Lee God stan Lee Wow,

618
00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 2: creator of Marvel comics. Paul was working with Lee on

619
00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:11,800
Speaker 2: the internet based superhero creation, production and marketing studio stan

620
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:14,840
Speaker 2: Lee Media. Okay, And so the venture was only around

621
00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:16,520
Speaker 2: for like two years. It was the victim of the

622
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:19,920
Speaker 2: first dot com shutdown. So it starts in ninety eight,

623
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:23,520
Speaker 2: two thousand. The things are looking both great and ominous

624
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:26,720
Speaker 2: for tech, and so Tonkin and Paul they hope that

625
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:31,560
Speaker 2: working with the Clintons would increase stan Lee's profile and

626
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:35,280
Speaker 2: that they could get Clinton to join the board. Like,

627
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:40,400
Speaker 2: what is happening right now? What even is this? Tonkin?

628
00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:44,000
Speaker 2: So he's like all right, he The story he tells

629
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:47,080
Speaker 2: is that the Gala got set into motion after he

630
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:51,200
Speaker 2: allegedly shared a limo ride with Clinton one summer evening

631
00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:53,280
Speaker 2: in June. You know, who else was in the limo,

632
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 2: Red Buttons Choka con.

633
00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:00,760
Speaker 3: Yes, I could never guess. I just knew I would never.

634
00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:03,280
Speaker 2: There's something about me that not a lot of people

635
00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,920
Speaker 2: know is that every night I have in my dreams,

636
00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:11,280
Speaker 2: there's almost always a celebrity cameo, and it's usually like.

637
00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:13,480
Speaker 3: A d It's always.

638
00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:16,480
Speaker 2: And it feels like one long dream that I'm in.

639
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:19,440
Speaker 2: So Shaka Cohn's in the limo with Aaron Tonkin and

640
00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:26,800
Speaker 2: Bill Clinton evening, and Tonkin is like, because Tonkin's going

641
00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:30,040
Speaker 2: with like to escort Chaka Khan to an event. And

642
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 2: Tonkin has this conversation with Bill and it ends up

643
00:33:34,120 --> 00:33:36,560
Speaker 2: with Bill Clinton telling Aaron Tonkin to go forward with

644
00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 2: all the galla plans. Let's do it. Let's have a gala.

645
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:43,600
Speaker 2: So ahead, Peter Paul and Tonkin. That's like an also

646
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:47,520
Speaker 2: Ran full trio. They worked with Hillary Clinton's people to

647
00:33:47,560 --> 00:33:52,000
Speaker 2: prepare the August twelfth. It's called quote the Hollywood Gallus

648
00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:56,120
Speaker 2: Salute to President William Jefferson Clinton. It's a fundraiser at

649
00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:59,400
Speaker 2: the Brentwood estate of businessman Ken roberts So. It was

650
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:04,960
Speaker 2: hosted by Stanley Peter Paul and impending recall target California

651
00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:08,880
Speaker 2: Governor Gray Davis. Wow, there were tributes to the Clintons

652
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:12,040
Speaker 2: from Michael Douglas, Goldie Hawn, Jack Lemon, John Traval to

653
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 2: Gregory Peckan many more.

654
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:16,120
Speaker 3: This is fun.

655
00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:21,160
Speaker 2: And then Stevie Wonders Share, Melissa Ethridge, Natalie Cole, Diana Ross,

656
00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:25,480
Speaker 2: Paul Anka popping his head up again, Tony Braxton, Patty LaBelle,

657
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:29,799
Speaker 2: Brian McKnight, and Sugar Ray performed. Can you believe they

658
00:34:29,800 --> 00:34:30,520
Speaker 2: got Sugar Ray?

659
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:32,200
Speaker 3: I cannot believe he was able to get his people

660
00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:34,360
Speaker 3: on the y And.

661
00:34:34,719 --> 00:34:37,439
Speaker 2: Can you believe also that Tonkin booked someone born after

662
00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:41,719
Speaker 2: Hawaii became a state. It's amazing to me. So that

663
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:46,319
Speaker 2: wasn't the only Clinton honor that Tonkin had up asleep. Yeah,

664
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,200
Speaker 2: he also put together an event called a Family Celebration

665
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:53,000
Speaker 2: two thousand and one on April first, two thousand and

666
00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:55,280
Speaker 2: one at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Okay.

667
00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:58,680
Speaker 3: So, Brian Burrow, this is like, right when the Clintons

668
00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:01,000
Speaker 3: are out of office, he's just trying to basically take

669
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:04,360
Speaker 3: his victory lap. He's raising money for his library, and

670
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,359
Speaker 3: she's using that as a time to basically also get

671
00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:08,560
Speaker 3: donations for her senatorial campaign, So they need to be

672
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:10,680
Speaker 3: in the public. Yeah, so they'll take anything.

673
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:12,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, Okay, and they loved Hollywood.

674
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:13,880
Speaker 3: Yeah. I'm just trying trying to get why he's so

675
00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:14,560
Speaker 3: keen to have.

676
00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:16,960
Speaker 2: Her all these Yeah. So this is what it was.

677
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:19,799
Speaker 2: In Vanity Fair, Brian Burrow wrote a piece quote the

678
00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:23,400
Speaker 2: stars poured in. Sylvester Stallone was there in a tuxedo,

679
00:35:23,800 --> 00:35:27,640
Speaker 2: chatting with his fellow honorees Betty and Gerald Ford. The

680
00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:31,160
Speaker 2: evening's co chairman, Michelle Pfeiffer and her husband Ally mcbeil.

681
00:35:31,239 --> 00:35:35,280
Speaker 2: Producer David E. Kelly sat at Clinton's table with members

682
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:39,640
Speaker 2: of the McBeal cast. Nearby, MTV's Carson Dally M. Seed

683
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:44,240
Speaker 2: and Elizabeth Taylor and Whoopee Goldberg made presentations thanking Clinton

684
00:35:44,239 --> 00:35:47,000
Speaker 2: for his years in office, and then came the music

685
00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:51,399
Speaker 2: songs from Dwight Yoko Man Ray Charles. Toward the evening's end,

686
00:35:51,480 --> 00:35:54,200
Speaker 2: Clinton put on a pair of ray bands, grabbed a saxophone,

687
00:35:54,239 --> 00:35:57,680
Speaker 2: and jammed for an uproar is five minutes with BB King,

688
00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:01,160
Speaker 2: who then performed a bluesy let the Times roll. The

689
00:36:01,239 --> 00:36:04,360
Speaker 2: evening ended precisely at ten point fifty with an energetic

690
00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:05,080
Speaker 2: set by.

691
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:07,560
Speaker 3: Insane Sandy Laupper close.

692
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:12,160
Speaker 2: So the main beneficiaries were supposed to be charities selected

693
00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:16,040
Speaker 2: by Kelly and the cast of Ally McBeal, And for

694
00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:19,080
Speaker 2: the uninitiated, Ally McBeal was a Mark E. Kelly joint

695
00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:21,960
Speaker 2: about a lawyer played by Calista Flockhart. So he gave

696
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,520
Speaker 2: us Calista Flockhart, which means he probably said in motion

697
00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:27,800
Speaker 2: her later romance with and marriage to Harrison Ford totally,

698
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:30,680
Speaker 2: which I feel like gave us Harrison Ford still peering.

699
00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:33,440
Speaker 3: And it did definitely. And also the people who like

700
00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:36,080
Speaker 3: when he went and saved their lives, like but he's playing,

701
00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:38,400
Speaker 3: or like people with the golfers he scared in Santamonic

702
00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 3: when he crashed his.

703
00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:40,239
Speaker 2: Because of Davidy Kelly.

704
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:42,439
Speaker 3: All that's because of this, yeah, is right back.

705
00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,400
Speaker 2: Tonk can promised Kelly and his charities one hundred percent

706
00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:48,240
Speaker 2: of whatever money was raised, but then Tonkin also struck

707
00:36:48,280 --> 00:36:51,719
Speaker 2: a deal with in Syncs agents in exchange for their performance,

708
00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:54,759
Speaker 2: Tonkin agreed that charities selected by the band would get

709
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:56,960
Speaker 2: fifty percent of the money raised, So one hundred and

710
00:36:56,960 --> 00:36:59,560
Speaker 2: fifty percent of the gate is now spoken for. One

711
00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:02,080
Speaker 2: of kelly producers found out about this a day before

712
00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:04,320
Speaker 2: the event, and like Tonkin smooths it out, says, you

713
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:07,080
Speaker 2: know what, Cynthia Gershman's going to cover any funding gaps.

714
00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:10,200
Speaker 2: So to bank roll the dinner, Tonkin got forty grand

715
00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:14,120
Speaker 2: from Gershman, seventy five grand from la businessman Robert Lorsch,

716
00:37:14,239 --> 00:37:16,760
Speaker 2: and another one hundred and fifty thousand from a foundation

717
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:20,640
Speaker 2: controlled by Loreen Arbus, daughter of one time ABC Television

718
00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:25,280
Speaker 2: president Leonard Goldenson. The California Attorney General would later allege

719
00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:27,759
Speaker 2: that much of the money was diverted by Tonkin to

720
00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:31,600
Speaker 2: pay for expenses unrelated to the event. President Ford got

721
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:35,600
Speaker 2: his beak wet on it. What His agents at William

722
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:39,799
Speaker 2: Morris demanded four hundred thousand dollars for his appearance at

723
00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:42,920
Speaker 2: the gala, what two hundred thousand to be donated to

724
00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:46,280
Speaker 2: the Betty Ford centerlus another two hundred thousand for President

725
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:50,560
Speaker 2: Ford himself. This is a shakedown. Most people involved with

726
00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:53,280
Speaker 2: the gala did not know that Ford was being paid

727
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:54,239
Speaker 2: to be honored there.

728
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:56,120
Speaker 3: Yes, usually don't get paid.

729
00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:59,840
Speaker 2: No. And then, according to Sandra Fert and Gabriel the

730
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:03,160
Speaker 2: a Washington event planner that Tonkin hired to supervise the

731
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:07,080
Speaker 2: evening when told like Ford got paid. Quote, he was

732
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:10,719
Speaker 2: President Ford. That explains so much. I mean why he

733
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:13,200
Speaker 2: went to that party the night before and the breakfast.

734
00:38:13,239 --> 00:38:16,920
Speaker 2: Oh that stuns me. That's so ghosh, one of my

735
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:21,080
Speaker 2: favorite insulting descriptors. Ghosh. I love her. So, a spokesman

736
00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:23,799
Speaker 2: for the Fords confirms, yeah, he got paid, but said

737
00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:26,360
Speaker 2: that Tonkin only gave one hundred and fifty thousand to

738
00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,120
Speaker 2: the Betty Ford Clinic, not two hundred. Let's get his

739
00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:32,880
Speaker 2: direct number. So Paul, Peter Paul said he wrote hundreds

740
00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:35,839
Speaker 2: of checks to Tonkin, like two million dollars worth. Wait

741
00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:38,080
Speaker 2: what Yeah? That they were to cover things like table

742
00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:40,719
Speaker 2: linens and limos. And then the payments were later in

743
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,759
Speaker 2: the center of like Paul's allegations about the Clinton's fundraising missteps.

744
00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:47,279
Speaker 2: But we'll get to that. So, coming on the eve

745
00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,920
Speaker 2: of the Democratic National Convention, the event gets all this

746
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:54,239
Speaker 2: press coverage and Bill and Hillary they thanked Paul and

747
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:58,000
Speaker 2: Tonkin in person. Clinton described mister Tonkin in a videotape

748
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,480
Speaker 2: message as quote my good friend and in handwritten notes.

749
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:04,960
Speaker 2: Several days later, though the Washington Post they put out

750
00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:07,920
Speaker 2: a story spilling it about Peter Paul's earlier cocaine and

751
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:12,080
Speaker 2: fraud convictions. The Clintons immediately distanced themselves. They returned the

752
00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:14,640
Speaker 2: two thousand dollars in cash that Peter Paul had given

753
00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:19,360
Speaker 2: Hillary's campaign. Paul's attorneys said that Paul asked Tonkin to

754
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:22,680
Speaker 2: approach the president about securing a pardon for his past crimes,

755
00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:26,080
Speaker 2: but Tonkin, whether he did or not, isn't known.

756
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:26,319
Speaker 3: Yeah.

757
00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:30,960
Speaker 2: Federal prosecutors later said that Paul participated in a scheme

758
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:35,879
Speaker 2: to manipulate stan Lee Media's stock price. He fled. Peter

759
00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:38,480
Speaker 2: Paul fled to Brazil in December of two thousand, four

760
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:42,719
Speaker 2: months after the benefit federal investigators closing in. And it

761
00:39:42,760 --> 00:39:45,040
Speaker 2: was during this time that Tonkin met one of Paul's

762
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:49,840
Speaker 2: oldest friends, a man named Stanley Myyatt. Let's take a break.

763
00:39:50,160 --> 00:40:14,719
Speaker 2: When we come back, we'll learn about this. Stanley Mayott, Hello, Hi,

764
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,759
Speaker 2: how are you listen? Before I went to DJ that

765
00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,840
Speaker 2: set of amazing ads, like all the hits, they played the.

766
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:23,480
Speaker 3: Hits he mixed nice on the ones and two.

767
00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:26,680
Speaker 2: I was telling you about how Peter Paul hold the

768
00:40:26,719 --> 00:40:30,400
Speaker 2: Mary had taken off for Brazil to avoid federal charges

769
00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:34,560
Speaker 2: over manipulating this stock price of Stanley Media fever dream

770
00:40:34,600 --> 00:40:38,360
Speaker 2: I told you and Aaron Tonkin our focus today. He'd

771
00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:40,560
Speaker 2: cozied up to a friend of Peter Paul's, a guy

772
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:41,760
Speaker 2: named Stanley.

773
00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:43,000
Speaker 3: Myatt, Yes, don't know that name.

774
00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:47,400
Speaker 2: Myatt was known as mister Covert Operations because he was

775
00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:51,480
Speaker 2: an alleged CIA assassin. He was in with the Italian

776
00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,479
Speaker 2: and Russian mobs. Wow, he was a Wall Street scam artist.

777
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:55,279
Speaker 3: Everywhere he is.

778
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,600
Speaker 2: He was a loan shark, FBI and dea informant.

779
00:40:58,760 --> 00:40:59,799
Speaker 3: Was he also a race car driver?

780
00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,160
Speaker 2: This is Aaron fever Dreams what I'm trying to say.

781
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:07,840
Speaker 2: So the Philadelphia Mob boss, Ralph Natali, he said, quote

782
00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:11,239
Speaker 2: Mayat was an insurance scam man. He was a Wall

783
00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:14,680
Speaker 2: Street scam man. He bootlegged cigarettes years ago, made a

784
00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:17,399
Speaker 2: huge fortune. He got into the marijuana business and went

785
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:19,360
Speaker 2: away for a couple of years. He came back and

786
00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:21,879
Speaker 2: he went down to live in Florida and he made

787
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:24,239
Speaker 2: a big connection with Russian mob that came up through

788
00:41:24,239 --> 00:41:27,120
Speaker 2: Florida and him himself. He came to see me at

789
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:29,480
Speaker 2: the Garden State Racetrack a couple times. Wanted to make

790
00:41:29,480 --> 00:41:32,520
Speaker 2: a connection with us. The Philadelphia Mob with the Russian mob.

791
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:37,279
Speaker 3: And they have to do that at a race check. Yeah,

792
00:41:37,360 --> 00:41:39,040
Speaker 3: legit not to know that those meetings that you never

793
00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:40,000
Speaker 3: know where they're going to take place.

794
00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:43,840
Speaker 2: True, And according to Peter Paul, Mayatt invested in dozens

795
00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:46,279
Speaker 2: of companies. A lot of them were public at the

796
00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:49,680
Speaker 2: request of FBI handlers because the Feds wanted to peek

797
00:41:49,719 --> 00:41:52,000
Speaker 2: under the hood, and then Mayatt got him in there,

798
00:41:52,239 --> 00:41:54,480
Speaker 2: and according to Paul, the FBI looked the other way

799
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:58,239
Speaker 2: while Mayatt quote looted the company. And how does Paul

800
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:00,279
Speaker 2: know this, he said, because he also worked for the

801
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:02,759
Speaker 2: FBI in the early eighties. And I also it was

802
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:05,000
Speaker 2: the early eighties. We were all working for the f

803
00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:07,759
Speaker 2: It was a different time. He said that Mayatt was

804
00:42:07,800 --> 00:42:10,759
Speaker 2: his supervisor and that they worked together off and on

805
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:13,680
Speaker 2: ever since. And in fact, he said that two of

806
00:42:13,719 --> 00:42:17,960
Speaker 2: them investigated mafia influenced in Hollywood during the nineties, and

807
00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:21,160
Speaker 2: by investigated, I think he means participated in This is

808
00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:24,800
Speaker 2: my guess. So, when being interviewed about working with Tonkin,

809
00:42:24,840 --> 00:42:27,920
Speaker 2: Miyatt said, quote, I don't believe I did anything, sinister.

810
00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:30,400
Speaker 2: I guess you'll get some things right and something's wrong.

811
00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:32,320
Speaker 2: It just doesn't make any sense for me to answer

812
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:33,040
Speaker 2: any questions.

813
00:42:33,160 --> 00:42:33,719
Speaker 3: It really does.

814
00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:38,600
Speaker 2: It really doesn't make any sense. Mayatt had a Philadelphia

815
00:42:38,680 --> 00:42:40,480
Speaker 2: based hip hop music company.

816
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:41,800
Speaker 3: I'm gonna need you to say that again.

817
00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:46,280
Speaker 2: A Philadelphia based hip hop music company called Antra Records,

818
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:49,400
Speaker 2: best known for marketing the rapper Corrupt.

819
00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:51,120
Speaker 3: Oh wow, oh yes, I know.

820
00:42:51,360 --> 00:42:54,160
Speaker 2: Yeah. Two thousand and one, he closed up shop and

821
00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:57,160
Speaker 2: he Mayatt met with Tonkin because he wanted to break

822
00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:59,640
Speaker 2: into the LA music scene. He had a new LA

823
00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:04,479
Speaker 2: company he called OFC Incorporated Organized Crime Family. Oh yeah,

824
00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:07,319
Speaker 2: so auditors they later go in search of, like the

825
00:43:07,360 --> 00:43:10,520
Speaker 2: missing money from a family celebration two thousand and one,

826
00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:14,280
Speaker 2: the bogus ally mcbeil scala. They found out that hundreds

827
00:43:14,280 --> 00:43:17,200
Speaker 2: of thousands of dollars passed through accounts controlled by Myatt,

828
00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:21,239
Speaker 2: who identified himself as Tonkin's money manager. Oh yeah, it's

829
00:43:21,280 --> 00:43:22,120
Speaker 2: always inconvenient.

830
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:24,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's like being a family advisor cover so many.

831
00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:27,120
Speaker 2: Things, so many things. According to Peter Paul, Myyatt quote

832
00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:29,759
Speaker 2: controlled Tonkin and used him to infiltrate the music and

833
00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:31,560
Speaker 2: entertainment communities for the FBI.

834
00:43:32,719 --> 00:43:35,000
Speaker 3: Huh, so curious or and curious.

835
00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:38,000
Speaker 2: Mayat was also He was a source of funds for

836
00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:41,719
Speaker 2: a family celebration two thousand and one, providing more than

837
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:45,040
Speaker 2: one hundred thousand dollars in cash, much of which went

838
00:43:45,120 --> 00:43:50,680
Speaker 2: to Sylvester Stallone and Ray Charles demanded before they would appear, they.

839
00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:52,600
Speaker 3: Did that, James Brown, pay me or I'm not showing up.

840
00:43:52,719 --> 00:43:56,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, Sandra Ferton in cash, Yeah, Sandra Ferton. Gabriel, that

841
00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:59,080
Speaker 2: event producer. She said she saw Tonkin pull cash out

842
00:43:59,120 --> 00:44:01,520
Speaker 2: of the pocket of his g and he gave twenty

843
00:44:01,560 --> 00:44:04,200
Speaker 2: grand to Ray Charles. She said, quote, I was floored,

844
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:06,000
Speaker 2: but that was just how Aaron did things.

845
00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:07,719
Speaker 3: Also, if you, I mean Ray Charles, if you grew

846
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:09,520
Speaker 3: up on the Chitlin circuit, you're going to be paid

847
00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:10,640
Speaker 3: for your favors. Hit those.

848
00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:15,239
Speaker 2: Stallone's attorney said. Stallone like the thirty grand that he got.

849
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:17,960
Speaker 2: He had kind of earmarked it to pay for medical

850
00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:22,640
Speaker 2: expenses of the relative of one of his housekeepers. Oh okay, sure, okay.

851
00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:25,520
Speaker 2: And then the remaining sixty g's was supposed to be

852
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:30,040
Speaker 2: covering the trips that Tonkin promised two members of David E.

853
00:44:30,160 --> 00:44:35,360
Speaker 2: Kelly's production staff. So, according to an anonymous source, I

854
00:44:35,400 --> 00:44:38,719
Speaker 2: love those These are just one example of how celebrities

855
00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:42,520
Speaker 2: took incredible advantage of Aaron. I mean, these were charitable

856
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:46,759
Speaker 2: events and everyone from Gerald Ford to Sylvester Stallone had

857
00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:49,320
Speaker 2: their hands out taking money from charity.

858
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:51,200
Speaker 3: Well, it does give you a sense of what their

859
00:44:51,239 --> 00:44:52,719
Speaker 3: life is the rest of the time when they're not

860
00:44:52,760 --> 00:44:53,319
Speaker 3: around him.

861
00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:55,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, He's not the only one.

862
00:44:55,239 --> 00:44:56,720
Speaker 3: They're doing this too, and when.

863
00:44:56,600 --> 00:44:59,879
Speaker 2: It's not even supposed to be for charity, really knives out.

864
00:45:00,239 --> 00:45:03,840
Speaker 2: So Tonkin he gets he's facing federal charges of fraud,

865
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:06,239
Speaker 2: one for mail fraud and the other for wire fraud.

866
00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:10,240
Speaker 2: According to the indictment, in September of two thousand, Tonkin

867
00:45:10,320 --> 00:45:12,879
Speaker 2: got five hundred and fifty thousand dollars for an event

868
00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:16,520
Speaker 2: to honor Diana Ross and he promised three charities that

869
00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:18,960
Speaker 2: they would receive all the proceeds. But the event never

870
00:45:18,960 --> 00:45:22,120
Speaker 2: even took place, and so Tonkin took a plea deal,

871
00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:24,840
Speaker 2: and on December ninth, two thousand and three, he's thirty

872
00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:27,880
Speaker 2: eight years old, he pleads guilty to the two federal charges.

873
00:45:28,239 --> 00:45:31,960
Speaker 2: During a thirty five minute appearance before Judge Dale Fisher

874
00:45:32,320 --> 00:45:35,799
Speaker 2: in federal court. He admitted that he misrepresented himself in

875
00:45:35,840 --> 00:45:38,520
Speaker 2: his purposes when he was like getting all these donors.

876
00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:40,480
Speaker 2: When the judge asked like, well, what was your intent,

877
00:45:41,040 --> 00:45:44,800
Speaker 2: he just flatly replied, to defraud. I'm just going to

878
00:45:44,840 --> 00:45:45,120
Speaker 2: say it.

879
00:45:45,160 --> 00:45:46,239
Speaker 3: I'm just going to lay it out there.

880
00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:49,120
Speaker 2: And then Tonkin also caught state charges. He was accused

881
00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:53,040
Speaker 2: of defrauding a bunch of like potential beneficiaries, including the

882
00:45:53,080 --> 00:45:56,360
Speaker 2: Betty Ford Center, of at least one point five million.

883
00:45:56,760 --> 00:45:59,120
Speaker 2: And for those charges, he was up against like maybe

884
00:45:59,200 --> 00:46:01,640
Speaker 2: ten years in prison as well as half a million

885
00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:05,279
Speaker 2: dollars fine, and then on top of that restitution for

886
00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:08,160
Speaker 2: the victims. Isn't that right he's got back? Oh yeah,

887
00:46:08,200 --> 00:46:13,680
Speaker 2: So all these charities, and of course Tonkin wrote a book, is.

888
00:46:13,600 --> 00:46:15,600
Speaker 3: Now a qualified author? He's got charges against you.

889
00:46:17,239 --> 00:46:20,040
Speaker 2: Two thousand and four, his book King of Cons came out,

890
00:46:20,480 --> 00:46:24,320
Speaker 2: and he wrote that he would use cash, luxury vacations, jewelry,

891
00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:27,879
Speaker 2: political donations to lure celebrities to his fundraisers and then

892
00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:31,480
Speaker 2: that would then raise his profile. Quote, my bill at

893
00:46:31,520 --> 00:46:34,600
Speaker 2: Cardier was a million dollars. I was handing out Hawaii

894
00:46:34,640 --> 00:46:37,000
Speaker 2: trips like someone would hand out their business cards to

895
00:46:37,080 --> 00:46:40,040
Speaker 2: these celebrities and their hangars on. I call it taking

896
00:46:40,080 --> 00:46:41,600
Speaker 2: from the needy to feed the greedy.

897
00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:45,120
Speaker 3: Wow, what he just said it?

898
00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:49,040
Speaker 2: Uh huh. So in order to get Arnold Schwarzenegger at

899
00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:51,719
Speaker 2: a charity event in September of two thousand and two,

900
00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:54,920
Speaker 2: and this is before he was governor, cause he said

901
00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:57,719
Speaker 2: that Tonkin said he first had to make a contribution

902
00:46:57,800 --> 00:47:00,640
Speaker 2: to a campaign that Arnold had for a state ballot

903
00:47:00,640 --> 00:47:04,480
Speaker 2: proposition to promote after school sports programs, which I vaguely remember,

904
00:47:05,560 --> 00:47:07,160
Speaker 2: and that's when we all kind of knew this guy

905
00:47:07,239 --> 00:47:10,520
Speaker 2: is going to do it. State election records confirmed that

906
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:15,760
Speaker 2: Tonkin gave a contribution of sixty five hundred dollars. What, Yeah,

907
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:21,640
Speaker 2: that's huge. An assistant US attorney who specializes in major

908
00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:25,800
Speaker 2: fraud cases, Joseph Zwicker, he said in court that Tonkin

909
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:30,040
Speaker 2: gave quote false promises to potential underwriters and that they

910
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:32,880
Speaker 2: are the charities that they represented would benefit you know

911
00:47:33,000 --> 00:47:35,120
Speaker 2: that he's all this fake things, sometimes as much as

912
00:47:35,120 --> 00:47:38,440
Speaker 2: four hundred thousand dollars. And then Zwicker said that Tonkin

913
00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:41,800
Speaker 2: and his associates who weren't identified, would then divert some

914
00:47:42,000 --> 00:47:44,359
Speaker 2: er all the money to himselves, like basically laying out

915
00:47:44,400 --> 00:47:49,200
Speaker 2: what we've just seen. Zicker would not identify Tonkin's associates,

916
00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:51,840
Speaker 2: but he did say that they were being investigated. And

917
00:47:51,880 --> 00:47:55,600
Speaker 2: so Tonkin, he starts getting these email threats and two

918
00:47:55,640 --> 00:47:59,600
Speaker 2: of them were supposedly sent by these associates under investigation.

919
00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:03,359
Speaker 2: The government looks into it, they're like, you faked these,

920
00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:06,160
Speaker 2: You sent these to yourself. And so as a result,

921
00:48:06,280 --> 00:48:09,759
Speaker 2: Tonkin was no longer seen as important to the government's investigation,

922
00:48:10,239 --> 00:48:14,240
Speaker 2: and that means he's on his own. So he's insisting

923
00:48:14,280 --> 00:48:16,600
Speaker 2: that the threats were real, but the Feds are over him.

924
00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:20,240
Speaker 2: His deal evaporates. The prosecutors would not reduce his sentence,

925
00:48:20,480 --> 00:48:22,600
Speaker 2: and they were also really pissed off about the book deal.

926
00:48:22,719 --> 00:48:24,840
Speaker 2: Oh course, this is what Zwicker said, quote, if he

927
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:27,120
Speaker 2: sells his story for money, that would have an impact

928
00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:30,040
Speaker 2: on his credibility with a jury. So like, we're not

929
00:48:30,080 --> 00:48:35,280
Speaker 2: gonna you can't be like state's evidence. Alan Rubin, Tonkin's attorney,

930
00:48:35,600 --> 00:48:38,960
Speaker 2: said Tonkin kept just quote a very small amount of

931
00:48:39,000 --> 00:48:42,080
Speaker 2: the money raised from all the fundraising events, and he

932
00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:45,360
Speaker 2: said that tonkins take amounted to quote less than five percent,

933
00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:47,759
Speaker 2: though he didn't do the math and say with the

934
00:48:47,760 --> 00:48:49,680
Speaker 2: original number of like, what's five percent.

935
00:48:49,760 --> 00:48:51,840
Speaker 3: One million dollars is a very small amount compared to

936
00:48:51,880 --> 00:48:52,600
Speaker 3: one billion dollars.

937
00:48:53,560 --> 00:48:56,960
Speaker 2: It's all relative. George Byrd, another lawyer of Tonkins. He

938
00:48:57,040 --> 00:48:59,360
Speaker 2: issued a statement saying that it was the politicians and

939
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:03,160
Speaker 2: the celebrity who quote benefited from Aaron's work. Unfortunately, the

940
00:49:03,239 --> 00:49:05,520
Speaker 2: charities did not receive the funds that rightfully should have

941
00:49:05,560 --> 00:49:07,920
Speaker 2: gone to them due to the greed of celebrities themselves,

942
00:49:08,320 --> 00:49:11,680
Speaker 2: which you know, he's not wrong. So Ruben said, Tonkin

943
00:49:11,719 --> 00:49:15,000
Speaker 2: didn't waste the money do flashy things. At the time

944
00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:17,120
Speaker 2: this all went down, Tonkin lived in a nine hundred

945
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:20,760
Speaker 2: dollars a month apartment. Really, yeah, and I did not expect.

946
00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:21,120
Speaker 3: Yeah.

947
00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:24,000
Speaker 2: But then he also hired three thousand dollars a night escorts.

948
00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:28,640
Speaker 3: Wait what yeah, three thousand dollars a night, yeah, escorts. Yeah,

949
00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:30,359
Speaker 3: but three thousand dollars a night.

950
00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:33,359
Speaker 2: Yeah, what they're doing.

951
00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:36,799
Speaker 3: That's like a circ of sleat stuff. I mean, that's incredible.

952
00:49:37,120 --> 00:49:40,920
Speaker 2: So Ruben described Tonkin, who would not speak to reporters,

953
00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:44,560
Speaker 2: is quote extremely remorseful about his conduct in the case.

954
00:49:44,680 --> 00:49:46,960
Speaker 2: And then he said he played guilty because quote it

955
00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:50,360
Speaker 2: was important for him to admit and accept responsibility. Aaron

956
00:49:50,400 --> 00:49:52,640
Speaker 2: did something wrong, but he came in and faced the

957
00:49:52,760 --> 00:49:55,480
Speaker 2: music and accepted his punishment. There were a lot more

958
00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:58,120
Speaker 2: people involved in this than Aaron Tonkin. We just hope

959
00:49:58,120 --> 00:50:00,600
Speaker 2: the government does not leave him as the old We're

960
00:50:00,600 --> 00:50:02,960
Speaker 2: hopeful that things can work out in the future and

961
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:06,280
Speaker 2: then other people who've been involved criminally will get their punishment.

962
00:50:07,719 --> 00:50:10,520
Speaker 2: August twenty fourth, two thousand and four, Yes, talking, he

963
00:50:10,560 --> 00:50:13,480
Speaker 2: gets sentenced to sixty three months in federal prison. Okay

964
00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:17,160
Speaker 2: for you know, all the scams with the charities. He

965
00:50:17,239 --> 00:50:19,520
Speaker 2: had to pay three point eight million in restitution.

966
00:50:19,760 --> 00:50:21,879
Speaker 3: Ooh does he even have any close to them? Think?

967
00:50:21,960 --> 00:50:24,839
Speaker 2: So he apologized in court and he said that he

968
00:50:24,920 --> 00:50:27,640
Speaker 2: was excited for his life to quote move forward into

969
00:50:27,640 --> 00:50:30,560
Speaker 2: a new chapter. September twenty second, two thousand and four,

970
00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:33,680
Speaker 2: he starts serving his sentence federal facility in Kentucky. You

971
00:50:33,680 --> 00:50:34,759
Speaker 2: know low scarities got.

972
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:37,239
Speaker 3: Five and a quarter years ago. I mean that's it's

973
00:50:37,239 --> 00:50:38,240
Speaker 3: going to be out in a couple.

974
00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:39,520
Speaker 2: Oh no, he was two thousand and four is when

975
00:50:39,520 --> 00:50:42,719
Speaker 2: he went in, and he had for five years, so

976
00:50:43,040 --> 00:50:45,759
Speaker 2: he was out twenty ten. He's out, and the LA

977
00:50:45,880 --> 00:50:49,000
Speaker 2: Times runs this huge interview with him and they proclaim

978
00:50:49,080 --> 00:50:52,000
Speaker 2: him reformed. And in search of redemption, and he was

979
00:50:52,040 --> 00:50:54,680
Speaker 2: apparently trying to help his victims get their money back.

980
00:50:54,760 --> 00:50:57,040
Speaker 2: He's like, let's work together to get the restitution because

981
00:50:57,040 --> 00:51:00,000
Speaker 2: I don't have it, but I know who does. Vegas

982
00:51:00,200 --> 00:51:04,400
Speaker 2: legend Wayne Newton is quoted in the article quote, I

983
00:51:04,440 --> 00:51:06,759
Speaker 2: am on that short list of people who want to

984
00:51:06,760 --> 00:51:08,880
Speaker 2: see him put his life back in order. I would

985
00:51:08,880 --> 00:51:10,680
Speaker 2: work with him anytime, anywhere.

986
00:51:10,920 --> 00:51:12,160
Speaker 3: Why Wayne, Why.

987
00:51:12,040 --> 00:51:13,600
Speaker 2: I don't know. But then on the other hand, we

988
00:51:13,640 --> 00:51:16,920
Speaker 2: have Martin Gubb, a businessman who gave Tonkin cash for

989
00:51:16,960 --> 00:51:19,480
Speaker 2: a Celine Dion fundraiser that never happened.

990
00:51:19,680 --> 00:51:20,520
Speaker 3: From the Gub report.

991
00:51:20,680 --> 00:51:23,799
Speaker 2: Yeah, quote, I hope he doesn't get his life back.

992
00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:25,360
Speaker 2: What he did is beyond words.

993
00:51:25,640 --> 00:51:25,879
Speaker 3: Yeah.

994
00:51:25,880 --> 00:51:28,800
Speaker 2: So yes, we're gonna have both. It's unclear what became

995
00:51:28,840 --> 00:51:32,000
Speaker 2: of Tonkin, Like, you know, he he doesn't have like

996
00:51:32,040 --> 00:51:33,960
Speaker 2: a social media presence that I could finance, like an

997
00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:37,120
Speaker 2: old Twitter account. He hasn't touched in ages. Part of

998
00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:40,000
Speaker 2: his probation was that he was barred from fundraising or

999
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:43,080
Speaker 2: handling money for nonprofits. Oh but he could act as

1000
00:51:43,080 --> 00:51:43,879
Speaker 2: a consultant.

1001
00:51:44,160 --> 00:51:46,759
Speaker 3: Oh well come on, come on, yeah, Oh he said

1002
00:51:47,160 --> 00:51:49,000
Speaker 3: he doesn't get to touch the money. Yeah, that's essentially

1003
00:51:49,000 --> 00:51:49,399
Speaker 3: what you did.

1004
00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:51,600
Speaker 2: In twenty ten, he was also pitching a line of

1005
00:51:51,600 --> 00:51:56,160
Speaker 2: dietary supplements, of course, and then a year later, twenty eleven,

1006
00:51:56,239 --> 00:51:58,200
Speaker 2: he was involved in some sort of thing suing the

1007
00:51:58,239 --> 00:52:09,040
Speaker 2: insurance company for the old socialite Ladies Life insurancea Cynthia, No,

1008
00:52:09,160 --> 00:52:13,319
Speaker 2: the one he was Cynthia. Okay, yeah, so that I'm

1009
00:52:13,360 --> 00:52:16,480
Speaker 2: throwing in new celebrities exactly. I know, well she I'm surprised.

1010
00:52:16,080 --> 00:52:18,200
Speaker 3: She left her money to like a cat or or something,

1011
00:52:18,320 --> 00:52:18,640
Speaker 3: a dog.

1012
00:52:18,680 --> 00:52:22,880
Speaker 2: I think it's amazing horrible. So anyway, Yeah, so he

1013
00:52:22,960 --> 00:52:24,840
Speaker 2: was trying to get that out. He's just kind of

1014
00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:27,480
Speaker 2: dropped off. You can't find them interesting. But yeah, wherever

1015
00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:29,480
Speaker 2: he is, I hope he's doing well and not scamming folks.

1016
00:52:29,520 --> 00:52:31,920
Speaker 3: I hope he's reformed somewhat. It feels better about himself.

1017
00:52:31,920 --> 00:52:34,760
Speaker 2: What's your takeaway, Zaron in the ridiculous type of takeaway?

1018
00:52:35,200 --> 00:52:38,560
Speaker 3: Well, you know, thanks for asking Elizabeth the When I

1019
00:52:38,600 --> 00:52:41,319
Speaker 3: was down in Hollywood, I learned really quickly that I

1020
00:52:41,360 --> 00:52:43,520
Speaker 3: had an advantage of her a lot of people, which

1021
00:52:43,560 --> 00:52:47,240
Speaker 3: is that I don't give a flying a fig about

1022
00:52:47,280 --> 00:52:49,360
Speaker 3: a celebrity. All I see is a person with a

1023
00:52:49,360 --> 00:52:52,120
Speaker 3: big head, and I oh, literally a physically big head.

1024
00:52:52,360 --> 00:52:55,200
Speaker 3: They often the TV actors in particular, have oversized that

1025
00:52:55,280 --> 00:52:57,520
Speaker 3: it's one of their secrets. But I could be in

1026
00:52:57,520 --> 00:52:59,239
Speaker 3: a room with no matter who and I was like,

1027
00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:01,520
Speaker 3: I don't care. I mean, they're just a person. But

1028
00:53:01,760 --> 00:53:04,840
Speaker 3: most people are like this cat in one way or another.

1029
00:53:05,280 --> 00:53:07,440
Speaker 3: They either want to leverage the celebrity. They want to

1030
00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:10,279
Speaker 3: be made to feel important, to feel good. They want

1031
00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:12,439
Speaker 3: to reject the celebrity like I don't care about them,

1032
00:53:12,760 --> 00:53:14,840
Speaker 3: and personally I would either way. They're just a person

1033
00:53:14,880 --> 00:53:17,160
Speaker 3: to me. I didn't feel negative or positive about that,

1034
00:53:17,200 --> 00:53:18,839
Speaker 3: And so the people who wanted to pose me like, oh,

1035
00:53:18,840 --> 00:53:20,200
Speaker 3: I don't want to be around them were just as

1036
00:53:20,239 --> 00:53:22,359
Speaker 3: pretentious as that people who wanted to be around them. Right,

1037
00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:26,520
Speaker 3: everybody had to position themselves relative to the celebrity. Because

1038
00:53:26,520 --> 00:53:28,160
Speaker 3: of that, all these celebrities always talk to me in

1039
00:53:28,200 --> 00:53:30,120
Speaker 3: social functions because I was the only one not trying

1040
00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:32,040
Speaker 3: to talk to them or trying to ignore them. I

1041
00:53:32,120 --> 00:53:34,040
Speaker 3: was just like, Gid, you hand me that napkin, and

1042
00:53:34,040 --> 00:53:35,719
Speaker 3: they'd be like, well, so then we start talking. So

1043
00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:38,000
Speaker 3: this guy is interesting to me in the sense that

1044
00:53:38,320 --> 00:53:41,680
Speaker 3: he reminds me of the benefit of not giving a

1045
00:53:41,719 --> 00:53:45,719
Speaker 3: care about a celebrity. You're free, look teenie and free.

1046
00:53:46,120 --> 00:53:46,960
Speaker 3: What's yours? Elizabeth?

1047
00:53:47,000 --> 00:53:49,640
Speaker 2: What's your ridiculous ex ass?

1048
00:53:49,640 --> 00:53:50,000
Speaker 3: Try it out.

1049
00:53:50,040 --> 00:53:53,440
Speaker 2: Sometimes I think it's just backs up my suspicion of

1050
00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:56,480
Speaker 2: a lot of charities. Anytime you see like some big

1051
00:53:57,000 --> 00:54:00,840
Speaker 2: fundraiser gala, I worry about the amount of money that

1052
00:54:00,880 --> 00:54:02,840
Speaker 2: went in to put that kind of thing on. And

1053
00:54:02,840 --> 00:54:05,160
Speaker 2: I always look at look for like more immediate, ground

1054
00:54:05,200 --> 00:54:08,160
Speaker 2: level charities where you can see that the money goes

1055
00:54:08,239 --> 00:54:11,520
Speaker 2: right to action and not to And I'm just disgusted

1056
00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:14,040
Speaker 2: at these people asking for such amount of money, like

1057
00:54:14,120 --> 00:54:17,200
Speaker 2: to perform at a charity event like Ford.

1058
00:54:17,400 --> 00:54:23,560
Speaker 3: I did not see the shakedown. These are charities are

1059
00:54:23,560 --> 00:54:25,640
Speaker 3: like zoos. I don't think we really need them anymore.

1060
00:54:25,680 --> 00:54:29,759
Speaker 2: I really don't think so, Hey, David, can I have

1061
00:54:29,800 --> 00:54:34,560
Speaker 2: a talk back? I've been good?

1062
00:54:35,680 --> 00:54:41,320
Speaker 3: Oh my god, I let get.

1063
00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:47,160
Speaker 4: Hey Elizabeth, Hey, zeron, do you want to know what's

1064
00:54:47,239 --> 00:54:52,080
Speaker 4: ridiculous coming off of anesthesia and demanding to speak with

1065
00:54:52,120 --> 00:54:56,840
Speaker 4: you guys? I just head back surgery, and when I

1066
00:54:56,880 --> 00:55:00,399
Speaker 4: came off the anastesia, I just kept saying all these

1067
00:55:00,440 --> 00:55:05,200
Speaker 4: different things about different episodes from Ridiculous Crime and how

1068
00:55:05,280 --> 00:55:09,360
Speaker 4: much I needed to see Elizabeth Dutton and Zarin Burnett

1069
00:55:09,760 --> 00:55:12,320
Speaker 4: because I needed to see them. Love you guys.

1070
00:55:14,680 --> 00:55:22,040
Speaker 2: I hope she's okay. I hope you're okay. Yeah, And

1071
00:55:22,040 --> 00:55:25,760
Speaker 2: I'm also I really apologize that we're so deep subconscious

1072
00:55:25,960 --> 00:55:30,600
Speaker 2: like that. That must be uncomfortable for you, but I am.

1073
00:55:30,400 --> 00:55:31,640
Speaker 3: I'm that's nice.

1074
00:55:32,120 --> 00:55:32,359
Speaker 4: Nice.

1075
00:55:32,960 --> 00:55:34,960
Speaker 2: That's all I have for today. You can find us

1076
00:55:35,000 --> 00:55:38,279
Speaker 2: online at ridiculous Crime dot com and you can find

1077
00:55:38,320 --> 00:55:42,760
Speaker 2: us all over the internet. Just keep looking. That's all. No, Okay, fine,

1078
00:55:42,800 --> 00:55:45,520
Speaker 2: We're at Ridiculous Crime on Twitter and Instagram, Ridiculous Crime

1079
00:55:45,520 --> 00:55:48,959
Speaker 2: at gmail dot com. Uh, talk back as you heard

1080
00:55:49,160 --> 00:55:50,799
Speaker 2: you know, you come out of surgery, you leave us

1081
00:55:50,840 --> 00:55:59,480
Speaker 2: a talkback first thing, reach out. Ridiculous Crime is hosted

1082
00:55:59,480 --> 00:56:02,560
Speaker 2: by Elizabeth Dutton and Zaron Burnett, produced and edited by

1083
00:56:02,600 --> 00:56:06,160
Speaker 2: Red Buttons right hand man Dave Cousten. Research is by

1084
00:56:06,200 --> 00:56:09,240
Speaker 2: Marissa Brown, who demands four hundred thousand dollars per appearance

1085
00:56:09,239 --> 00:56:12,680
Speaker 2: and it's worth every dime and impossible to dupe socialite

1086
00:56:12,680 --> 00:56:15,880
Speaker 2: Andrea song Sharpenedear. The theme song is by house band

1087
00:56:15,960 --> 00:56:19,040
Speaker 2: for All Mary Ann Williamson. Fundraising Gallas, Thomas Lee, and

1088
00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:22,760
Speaker 2: Travis Dutton. Post wardrobe is provided by Botany five hundred.

1089
00:56:23,200 --> 00:56:26,480
Speaker 2: Executive producers are Ali mcfel's show runner Ben Bolan and

1090
00:56:26,640 --> 00:56:34,959
Speaker 2: personal assistant to mister Wayne Newton Noel Brown. We Die

1091
00:56:36,320 --> 00:56:38,479
Speaker 2: QUI Say It One More Time.

1092
00:56:39,800 --> 00:56:44,080
Speaker 1: Cui Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. Four more

1093
00:56:44,080 --> 00:56:47,719
Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

1094
00:56:47,800 --> 00:56:49,640
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.