Speaker 1: Two teas in a pod which Teddy Mellencamp and Camra Judge.
Speaker 2: Hi, guys, welcome to another episode of the twat Seat.
Speaker 2: I'm doing this one solo with one of my dear friends.
Speaker 2: Alex Baskin, CEO and the newly launched thirty two Flavors
Speaker 2: Entertainment is the executive producer of long running hit shows
Speaker 2: including the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Orange County, Vanderplump, Rules,
Speaker 2: and Botch as well as forthcoming series for, among others, Netflix,
Speaker 2: Hulu and Paramount Plus, as well as a feature film.
Speaker 2: As the president of Evolution Media, he oversaw more than
Speaker 2: four dozen series during his tenure, and he, along with
Speaker 2: his business partner, sold the company to MGM in twenty seventeen.
Speaker 2: But to our surprise this year on Orange County and
Speaker 2: Beverly Hills, thirty two Flavors, Alex Bastin's company has taken over.
Speaker 2: So let's get them on, mister Baskin.
Speaker 3: Cambra Judge, how are you.
Speaker 2: I'm good, I'm good. You know I have to film
Speaker 2: right after this, right, Oh, I know, I know, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's get you your other job.
Speaker 2: Right, so we'll make this quick, right, so okay. So
Speaker 2: I was up at three in the morning and I
Speaker 2: watch I listened to Once Upon a Con I listened
Speaker 2: to the first episode and half of the second, and
Speaker 2: I was hooked.
Speaker 3: Go allead.
Speaker 2: So basically. Television personality and founder of La based organic
Speaker 2: Italian food and accessory company Pizza Girl, Caroline Diamore is
Speaker 2: taking back control with her powerful new crime series with
Speaker 2: iHeart Podcasts, premiere in February twelfth, twenty twenty five, on
Speaker 2: the iHeartRadio app and everywhere the podcasts anywhere you can
Speaker 2: hear them. The series chronicles de moors transformation for victim
Speaker 2: to relentless crusader as she exposes David Bloom, the notorious asshole. Yeah,
Speaker 2: does that set him up?
Speaker 3: That is that's a very fair summary. And you know
Speaker 3: this came to be because I had read an article
Speaker 3: in the Early Times about this really prolific con man
Speaker 3: that since the eighties had stolen tens of millions of dollars.
Speaker 3: He was known as the whiz Kid of Wall Street
Speaker 3: in the eighties because he stole money from people, including
Speaker 3: the Rockefellers and even his own grandparents.
Speaker 2: So what a real charmer.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, this guy is a special breed of asshole.
Speaker 3: So fascinating story. And then I saw on Instagram that
Speaker 3: Caroline had been conned by him, and I thought, here's
Speaker 3: an opportunity to put a face on this story. And
Speaker 3: and so basically we chronicle, you know, it's his bilking
Speaker 3: a bunch of people out of money in this apartment
Speaker 3: complex in which Caroline lived, and sort of how they
Speaker 3: all put together what he was doing. And then Caroline decided,
Speaker 3: you know, like he sort of read in the summary
Speaker 3: that she was not going to be a victim and
Speaker 3: that she was going to take the fight to him
Speaker 3: and that she was going to bring justice to him.
Speaker 3: And so it's a story that is gripping because it's
Speaker 3: true crime, and we're all interested in true crime. But
Speaker 3: it also is empowering, and that's why it's one that
Speaker 3: I'm happy to bring to life and that I think
Speaker 3: people are going to be super interested in hearing.
Speaker 2: Now you're producing this podcast, correct, right? So once Potacom
Speaker 2: features exclusive interviews with Willoom's victims, including survivors from his
Speaker 2: earlier multi million dollar bust in Manhattan in the eighties
Speaker 2: and the nineties, like you said, uncovering his long trail
Speaker 2: of fraud across Hollywood and Manhattan and delivering shocking revelations
Speaker 2: about his tactics. Now, in episode one I listened to,
Speaker 2: like I said earlier this morning, touches on Caroline's upbringing,
Speaker 2: the death of her mother, her TV career, drug addiction,
Speaker 2: famous friends like the Kardashians, Paris Hilt. I mean, this
Speaker 2: is packed full of interesting information and the scary encounter
Speaker 2: she had with Jeffrey Jeffrey Epstein at only seventeen years old,
Speaker 2: and also covers how she met David Bloom during COVID
Speaker 2: at her apartment building.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I and I think, what's so this is
Speaker 3: a very Hollywood story obviously, and you know when she
Speaker 3: just touched on. But what I like about this too
Speaker 3: is Caroline is of Hollywood, but always have been looking
Speaker 3: for her big break. So I worked with her on
Speaker 3: the Hills and she was known for a number of
Speaker 3: different things. Was like friend of Paris Hilton, the whole thing.
Speaker 3: And when she was really vulnerable and this was during
Speaker 3: the pandemic and this was coming off of being on
Speaker 3: the Hills and a divorce, this assle took advantage of
Speaker 3: her and so she right when she was you know,
Speaker 3: sort of most susceptible to someone offering up an edge
Speaker 3: and to connect her to powerful people so that her
Speaker 3: business would break through. Then he took money from her,
Speaker 3: and she did not have any money at.
Speaker 2: That time, and a single mom as well, right.
Speaker 3: Single mom exactly, so you know, taking care of a
Speaker 3: little girl. And that's why I thought it was a
Speaker 3: story that needs to be told. And I think if
Speaker 3: we can bring any awareness to this, I think that's great.
Speaker 3: And you know, these are not infrequent stories. There are
Speaker 3: cons out there. A lot of victims don't come forward
Speaker 3: because there's a shame associated with it, because we like
Speaker 3: to think of ourselves as smart people for this and
Speaker 3: so this happens. And so that's sort of where I thought,
Speaker 3: you know, it's also an important story to tell because
Speaker 3: I think it takes the stigma out of having been conned.
Speaker 3: And I think it's important that we talk about these things.
Speaker 3: And then I just think it's an interesting story because
Speaker 3: cons are so twisted, you know, and and so I
Speaker 3: always think, like, when people do things like this, why
Speaker 3: not just apply you know, all of that that zealous
Speaker 3: all of that zealousness, you know, and sort of that
Speaker 3: passion toward doing something that is legitimate, but the truth
Speaker 3: is CON's con like that is what they do, so
Speaker 3: they don't do that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, have they made a series about him yet?
Speaker 3: He's been featured in I think a bunch of one
Speaker 3: offs in anthologies, so I don't know that there's a
Speaker 3: full series about him. Again, I find him really interesting
Speaker 3: is he's been doing it his entire life and he
Speaker 3: grew up relatively well off, so he grew up in Manhattan.
Speaker 3: He went to Duke like, this is not a guy
Speaker 3: who had to turn to the life of crime. He
Speaker 3: chose to turn to a life of crime.
Speaker 2: What is wrong with people? I feel like more you
Speaker 2: more nowadays that people are just turning to crime.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I think that's right, and I think people
Speaker 3: can justify all sorts of things in themselves. But he
Speaker 3: was very blatant about it, and he had he has
Speaker 3: certain go to stories, and you know, again he did
Speaker 3: this to an entire apartment building full of people. You
Speaker 3: also hear in this exclusive confrontations between Caroline and him,
Speaker 3: and so she recorded a lot of their exchanges where
Speaker 3: she calls him out and then she presents tapes to
Speaker 3: the DA. He has been charged, So that's.
Speaker 2: The good thing and is Ann jail right now.
Speaker 3: He is, and we're waiting for resolution of the case.
Speaker 3: And the DA takes this really seriously, which is which
Speaker 3: is great, and you know, so hopefully that's a deterrent
Speaker 3: to other people who do this. But yeah, no, I
Speaker 3: think that I think people are gonna be super interested
Speaker 3: in hearing the story. And and again, it isn't just sad.
Speaker 3: There is a part of it that is empowering because
Speaker 3: Caroline becomes a crusader in a way that you know
Speaker 3: that I think is pretty inspiring.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and she has a co host on the podcast.
Speaker 2: I'm not quite sure who that is.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's her friend. So it's her longtime friend, and
Speaker 3: so she sort of bounces all of this off of him,
Speaker 3: and he was supportive of her as she was going
Speaker 3: through this, you know, so that she wasn't she wasn't
Speaker 3: alone during all of this. And look, she's doing really
Speaker 3: well on the other side of this. And so, you know,
Speaker 3: this con took advantage of her interest in getting her hurt,
Speaker 3: her line of products in Whole Foods at all, and
Speaker 3: he sort of faked that he had a Whole Foods connection.
Speaker 3: He actually impersonated an executive from Whole Foods and now
Speaker 3: we've come full circle and she actually is in Whole Foods,
Speaker 3: has a real business and doing is doing well. So
Speaker 3: the point is like there can be life on the
Speaker 3: other side.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm glad. I was going to ask you how
Speaker 2: is she doing now after this, because this wasn't that
Speaker 2: long ago.
Speaker 3: No, it was only a couple of years ago, and
Speaker 3: said it was she was really down in the dumps,
Speaker 3: and she was going to go in one of two directions.
Speaker 3: This was either going to be the thing to have
Speaker 3: broke her or the thing that she used as fuel
Speaker 3: to achieve everything that she wanted to and she went
Speaker 3: the ladder direction. And so I think that's the takeaway.
Speaker 3: I think that's possible. Not that it's easy. Some people
Speaker 3: are completely devastated by this and frankly just don't have
Speaker 3: any money left. So there's that, you know. But I
Speaker 3: think the point is like we have to take the
Speaker 3: fight to the wrongdoers and not let them all win.
Speaker 2: Well, she doesn't seem like a girl that is just
Speaker 2: gonna sit down and let this happen to her. She's
Speaker 2: very outspoken. I like her line in her second episode
Speaker 2: in the podcast, if you live in Hope, you die
Speaker 2: and shit.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I mean, he definitely took this to
Speaker 3: the wrong person. You know, she's not the person that
Speaker 3: that you want to con because she's smart, capable, resourceful,
Speaker 3: resilient and and so ultimately she drew from those qualities
Speaker 3: and got her revenge in the best possible way.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So we're excited, and I know Teddy's gonna be
Speaker 2: super excited because true crime is like her passion.
Speaker 3: I hope people listen to it and love it and
Speaker 3: you know, like I said, learn something from it potentially,
Speaker 3: and let's not let the assholes win.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, let's get into a few other things.
Speaker 3: Let's do it.
Speaker 2: Let's do it. Mister housewife. I feel like you probably
Speaker 2: can make a true crime podcast about some housewives as well.
Speaker 3: I have no idea.
Speaker 2: Is there anyone in particular?
Speaker 3: Well, I think I think that obviously, like our world
Speaker 3: in general, is littered with these like so crazy you
Speaker 3: can't believe them stories, and I think that's the the
Speaker 3: you know, the power of nonfiction, right is the crazy
Speaker 3: stuff that happens. And so it's happening all over the place.
Speaker 2: I watched the first episode last night of Scamanda. Have
Speaker 2: you heard about that? The girl that faked you for
Speaker 2: ten years. That's pretty good. That'd be a good thing
Speaker 2: to cover on podcast.
Speaker 3: Such a crazy story. So and I and I think too,
Speaker 3: you can see how influencers would have that power over people,
Speaker 3: and you can see how intoxicating that is, and so
Speaker 3: you know, in the wrong hands, with someone who is
Speaker 3: capable of doing that, it's it's pretty frightening.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So Housewives, let's get back. Do you ever does
Speaker 2: it ever get exhausting being a producer of Housewives?
Speaker 3: Yes, and it's and I think that the challenging thing
Speaker 3: is like when it's not exhausting, sometimes that means that
Speaker 3: there's nothing happening and it's boring. But yeah, it does.
Speaker 3: You know, I've always said I recognized how difficult it
Speaker 3: is to be on the show, and you know, you've
Speaker 3: been on the show longer than anyone.
Speaker 2: And it's done as running Housewives bush tags.
Speaker 3: And we were we got together a couple of weeks
Speaker 3: ago when we were talking about this and this was,
Speaker 3: you know, on the eve of season nineteen, and one
Speaker 3: of the things we were talking about is it isn't
Speaker 3: easier with every successive season. It's actually harder. And it's
Speaker 3: the same thing in making the show. It's a really
Speaker 3: it's a taxing show to do.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I had a very lovely season, Thank
Speaker 2: you very much. Who would you say, how many housewife
Speaker 2: calls do you get a day?
Speaker 3: I would say that it varies, and I'm better over
Speaker 3: the years of like, I'm not the first person that
Speaker 3: everyone calls where it used to be, So I still
Speaker 3: get a number of them, but a lot of them
Speaker 3: are calls from the producers that have been talking to
Speaker 3: the housewives or the vander Pump cast or the Valley
Speaker 3: cast or whatever else. So I'm sort of usually I'm
Speaker 3: the second call, not the first call.
Speaker 2: Of these days, by and large, all thank god, right.
Speaker 3: Oh god. Anything I can do to you know, to
Speaker 3: like screen them out, it's great for my life. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Me and Teddy are actually have we have a like
Speaker 2: a flashback podcast for old housewife shows, and we just
Speaker 2: finished season three. I think it was of OC, which
Speaker 2: was my first season. I'm like, oh my god, this
Speaker 2: is so painful to watch. I keep thinking like why
Speaker 2: did they bring me back? Like, I am like, what
Speaker 2: what did you see in me?
Speaker 3: You changed the game, my friend? So I really I
Speaker 3: think that the first two seasons I don't even know that.
Speaker 3: It was a very different show. And so it started
Speaker 3: as this like slice of suburban life, and the women
Speaker 3: didn't cross paths all that much. You know. It was
Speaker 3: like a big deal when like Gina and Joe would
Speaker 3: get together. It's like, oh, wow, they exist in the
Speaker 3: same dimension, you know. And then the show became about
Speaker 3: the relationships between the women and it got louder, you know.
Speaker 3: And I think really starting with season three, which just
Speaker 3: coincidentally happens to be your first season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's what one season wonder deserves a second chance.
Speaker 2: Kimberly Quinn, Peggy Tano's Lizzie, Peggy Shalahan, the hundredth Housewife,
Speaker 2: Elizabeth Vargas, Noela or doctor Jen.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna have to go with Elizabeth Vargas. I think
Speaker 3: that doing the having her first season in COVID was
Speaker 3: a challenge and so and I think we were in
Speaker 3: a transitional time and as you know, we didn't have
Speaker 3: you on the show at that point. Yeah, so that
Speaker 3: was just that was but I felt like you won
Speaker 3: the show because.
Speaker 2: She tried to replace me, Alex, she tried to replace me.
Speaker 3: You're one of a kind of turns out, but I
Speaker 3: think that was I think a tough season to join
Speaker 3: because we started was transitional. You weren't a part of it.
Speaker 3: We were, We started to film and then we had
Speaker 3: to stop down for COVID, and so I just think
Speaker 3: it was just joined. And so I'm not sure that
Speaker 3: was an entirely but you know, fair.
Speaker 2: Run for her, oh for sure. And now looking back,
Speaker 2: do you wish she would have just put it on
Speaker 2: pause for one year?
Speaker 3: Maybe? Yeah. I hadn't even like thought about that, but
Speaker 3: but I think that's possible. I think we did the
Speaker 3: best that we could, and I think the production worked,
Speaker 3: you know, really hard under the circumstances, but it was
Speaker 3: not really conducive to making the show.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I talked to Elizabeth on social media and she's
Speaker 2: always so sweet, so supportive, so pro I really like her.
Speaker 2: Now next season we'll be season twenty. Yeah, twenty years
Speaker 2: of housewives, Like who would have ever thought? Do you
Speaker 2: think that the network will have any like special plans,
Speaker 2: bring back like all the oldies and just go for it.
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know that the show itself would change
Speaker 3: too much because I don't think you want to be
Speaker 3: too self conscious and I don't think you want to
Speaker 3: you know, be Yeah, I think you have to, you know,
Speaker 3: sort of stick to documenting the reality. But I imagine
Speaker 3: that there'll be a celebration of twenty years, because very
Speaker 3: few shows ever get twenty seasons, and I can't think
Speaker 3: of any in the genre. I know, the Real World
Speaker 3: ran for a long time, but that was different because
Speaker 3: it was a different cast every season. I think this
Speaker 3: is you know, I would say unprecedented without over using
Speaker 3: that that term, and so I think that that that'll
Speaker 3: be you know, memorialized and celebrated.
Speaker 2: I feel like Housewise is a very well oiled machine
Speaker 2: at this point, and I feel like it could just
Speaker 2: keep going. Obviously, Yeah, I'm not going to be you know,
Speaker 2: throwing blows and insults at sixty.
Speaker 3: I don't know about that. I could see you for
Speaker 3: I could see you making it to season forty, you know,
Speaker 3: or even sixty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you have to rename it the Golden Girls.
Speaker 3: Maybe in the nursing Home. I don't know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well that's a that's a thought. Are you going
Speaker 2: to miss Alexis this season?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I thought, you know, look, obviously it was a
Speaker 3: very tough season for Alexis, and she took a lot
Speaker 3: of blows and she wasn't well received, and that was
Speaker 3: really hard for her. But but I think that, you know,
Speaker 3: she added a lot to the show regardless of what
Speaker 3: people think of her. She certainly had a memorable turn
Speaker 3: this past season. Yeah, And so I appreciate anyone who
Speaker 3: does the show and just sort of, you know, lets
Speaker 3: it all kind of hang out, and she did that,
Speaker 3: So I do appreciate it. I think that even for
Speaker 3: her greatest detractors, I think they have to say the
Speaker 3: season was more interesting in it because she was a
Speaker 3: part of it.
Speaker 2: It would be a totally different season if Alexis was
Speaker 2: not on it.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, and I'm sure other things would have happened
Speaker 3: and would have popped up. And obviously it was hard
Speaker 3: to see how purple it was to Shannon. But at
Speaker 3: the same time, there's a reason that the audience, you know,
Speaker 3: enjoyed watching the season and it was really well received.
Speaker 3: And part of that means not everyone is gonna be
Speaker 3: well liked.
Speaker 2: I know, alex keep reminding me, I got fired. Not
Speaker 2: everybody's well liked. What's next, You're gonna give me, You're
Speaker 2: gonna fire me?
Speaker 3: Now? Well, I don't know, let's see.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. The day is young. You haven't filmed yet. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Now let's move on to your other new show. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Denise Richards and her Wild Things. Now what can we
Speaker 2: expect from this show? Are we going to see Charlie.
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, so, which is great. So you see him
Speaker 3: get together for a meal with Denise and Lola, one
Speaker 3: of their daughters, and it's really fun. I like the
Speaker 3: fact that it's a blend of comedy and drama, and
Speaker 3: so it's not one of those over the top reality sitcoms,
Speaker 3: so you know it is. It's completely real, but it's
Speaker 3: through the wacky lens of Denise Richards.
Speaker 2: And whacky is a good word to use when it
Speaker 2: comes to Dennis, because I was dying laughing when she
Speaker 2: one of the daughters said something like, you're such a bitch, dude,
Speaker 2: and She's like, don't call your sister dude. I'm like,
Speaker 2: oh my god.
Speaker 3: It's the wit and wisdom of Denise. And and so
Speaker 3: she really is. She's been very strong and resilient, not
Speaker 3: just to survive in Hollywood all of this time and
Speaker 3: to continually remake herself, but also to have gone through
Speaker 3: that very public marriage and divorce and uh, and now
Speaker 3: this is you know, sort of her on the other
Speaker 3: side of it, and it's her daughters as young adults
Speaker 3: and and you know, sort of the way we frame
Speaker 3: it is you know, she's now faces the greatest challenge
Speaker 3: she ever has in her entire life, you know, which
Speaker 3: is which is them? And so I think she's a
Speaker 3: kind of fun. We couldn't be more excited that it's
Speaker 3: on Bravo, which I think is fun. I think it
Speaker 3: has shades of early days Kardashians again with sort of
Speaker 3: you know, the the Denise Richard's gloss on it. There's
Speaker 3: a ton of cameos, so there's appearances from everyone from
Speaker 3: half the Hilton to Garcel and Sutton to Camille Grammar
Speaker 3: to America.
Speaker 2: And Charlie's Charlie's ex wife as well, and kids.
Speaker 3: Broke Bueller and and their kids, you know who Denise
Speaker 3: has been very involved with. She's a she's a nursurer
Speaker 3: and a uh and a caretaker.
Speaker 2: Is she's like really big into animals and she's a
Speaker 2: very levy person. Can't when does it air?
Speaker 3: March fourth?
Speaker 2: March fourth? Okay? Any update on banner pump rules.
Speaker 3: We are we're getting set, We're we're really excited about it.
Speaker 3: We are not endeavoring to make the same show we
Speaker 3: made before. So it's a new group, all of whom
Speaker 3: are very interconnected and live together, work together, kind of
Speaker 3: figuring things out together, which is you know, really the
Speaker 3: premise of the original vander Pump Rules, but this is
Speaker 3: a different expression of it, and it's a lot of
Speaker 3: fun and and so we're trying to, you know, sort
Speaker 3: of embrace what was great about the original. But I
Speaker 3: don't really consider it a reboot. I think, you know,
Speaker 3: that's that's sort of the word that's thrown around. My
Speaker 3: view is it's just a it's a brand new group
Speaker 3: that work at the restaurant, and so, you know, it's
Speaker 3: a new series that carries on the legacy of the original.
Speaker 2: Can you give us any update? Is there any former
Speaker 2: Vanda pop Roules cast members that will potentially get us
Speaker 2: spin off?
Speaker 3: Well, I think all things are possible. I I you know,
Speaker 3: there's nothing to announce. Obviously, we did that successfully on
Speaker 3: the Valley and that second season is uh insane, by
Speaker 3: the way, So very excited about that. But that's what
Speaker 3: I would say. I mean, you know, obviously, you know
Speaker 3: book the Bravo universe is strong, you know, and and
Speaker 3: sort of as Denise Groves out as well, there's always
Speaker 3: an appetite to revisit the lives of the people who
Speaker 3: inhabit it, and so you know, all things are possible.
Speaker 2: And how about the Valley any teaser?
Speaker 3: The only I can say is you will be absolutely
Speaker 3: gripped from the first minute and it never lets off.
Speaker 4: And it is the craziest season two of any show
Speaker 4: I've ever made, and positive sense, it is uh fast paced,
Speaker 4: it is fascinating, it's relentless.
Speaker 3: It's the story behind some of the headlines that you've read.
Speaker 3: And then I'm glad things haven't leaked, you know, But
Speaker 3: like I'm not over promising it is. It's that good.
Speaker 2: What's the air date on that?
Speaker 3: It's soon?
Speaker 2: Okay, so it's not announced yet, so well great, So
Speaker 2: Teddy and I are going to recap that as well.
Speaker 3: Oh you're gonna I can't wait ear your recaps.
Speaker 2: You guys don't have a lot of compent so super
Speaker 2: excited about that. But yeah, that's all I have for you, Alex.
Speaker 2: Is there anything else do you want to plug or
Speaker 2: tell us about?
Speaker 3: No, I thank you for highlighting Once upon a Con.
Speaker 3: I really appreciate it. It's a project that means a
Speaker 3: lot to me. And then mostly I just want you
Speaker 3: to get to work.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, I got thirty minutes, and actually I got
Speaker 2: twenty five minutes until the camera crews to get here.
Speaker 3: So yes, you better get going.
Speaker 2: I better get going, all right. Well, it's nice to
Speaker 2: see your face. Thank you, Bye bye,