Scamanda producer reveals how Amanda Riley pulled the cancer hoax off

After undeveloped planning delay this last fall, ScamandaABC’s four -part documents that take on the most popular and mentioned podcast of 2023 finally premieres on Thursday 30 January.

The show brings on screen the shocking true story of Amanda RileyA charismatic wife and mother from a wealthy Bay area, California, society that detailed forgery a brutal, long-term cancer struggle for money, natural gifts and sympathy from thousands of supporters, including members of her megachurch.

Riley documented her supposed illness with photos and emotional passages on her personal blog, where she requested donations in the form of cash and goods for medical treatment, gifts, trips, concerts, celebrity and greetings (including one with one with one with one LEANN RIMES) and other perks. The blog would be her regret: After investigative producer Nancy Moscatiello Received an anonymous tip, she and the authorities began to pour on shiny gaps in Riley’s history, and she was ultimately convicted of wire fraud in 2021. She is now sending a five -year prison sentence.

But as listeners of the podcast and soon viewers of the show may notice, Initrospect, Riley’s scam seems a bit obvious if not slurked. In the hospital’s photos, which we now know, were staged, she seems to be glowing and healthy – not at all like anyone undergoing chemotherapy or healing from surgery and other violent cancer treatments. At one point on her blog, she claimed that an oncological doctor allowed her to self-administer clinical trials of chemo drugs at home to enjoy the holidays. When contacted, nationally recognized cancer centers were where Riley said she was a patient had no registrations of her, the show reveals. Similarly, charities that delivered her money and/or services did not require documentation of her illness until she paid her.

Why were so many people and institutions so easily fooled? “I don’t think she was necessarily your stereotype of a scam artist,” Charlie Webster, the Creator of Scamanda podcast and a producer of the show, tell US weekly in an exclusive interview. “I don’t think these people were gullible or naive.”

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“We do not question people who have cancer, nor should we,” webster says of Riley, who spoke of her alleged struggle and spiritual faith in the congregation in her church, where they threw literal cash at her at least by her. feet. “She showed a miracle. She got cancer but she survived. She collapsed in the church, wet in the church, got an ambulance to take her in church, ”Webster says. “She was on stage and offered people hope that we sometimes need sometimes.”

“This was a woman in their community who suffered from Hadtwo children. People gathered around to support her and she was completely convincing, ”webster adds. “Everything is in afterwards. How would you have questioned it? You know you would be the mean, the horrible critical person on the back of the room. “

Webster, whose conversation with Riley himself is teased for a later episode of the show, also has complex feelings about her real protagonist’s motivation for scam. “I’m 100 percent convinced it wasn’t for the money,” webster claims. “I think it was an addiction. I looked at everything from an emotional, psychological, evidentiary (perspective). She realized this attention was coming – if you look at social media now, so many people suffer ‘likes.’ They give us an endorphine boost. I think that’s it on steroids, 10 times more. Although she hurt people emotionally and financially, she helped people at that moment and created hope for people. It was a lot about this validation about people who adore her. She had this amazing group of people who saw her like this anointed. They really did. “

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As for Riley’s psychology and health struggles, including the possibility of her showing a narcissist or someone with Munchausen -Syndrome? “Many people have questioned me why I did not mention Munchausen or Mental Health in the podcast; It’s briefly mentioned in the documentary, ”she says. “The reason I did not mention it and why I have been quite persistent with not going down that route is because one I want to minimize the victims’ experiences and two, she has not been diagnosed with anything. “

Scamanda will premiere at ABC on Thursday, January 30 at 1 p.m. 21 et. Episodes are streaming the next day at Hulu.