S1/E10: Considering Trade-Based Money Laundering, with Jamie Ferrill

(upbeat music) - Hey, welcome to the TMZ podcast. I am Branson Quirk. - I'm Kara Rainwater. - This is Kara. - Hello. - Welcome. - Hey. - You are on our social media team? - Yes. - Social media content creator? - Yes. - It's been a little time. It's been like, what, three, four months? - Three, four months. How are you liking TMZ? - Oh, I'm working here so far. - I love it. I'm not gonna lie. The environment is chill. I just talk, I can gap all day. So what? It's perfect. - I agree. I love it. I love being here. I'm not just saying that. I think of any other job I could be at. And I hate to say it, but I talked to my friends each day and like what their days were like. And what's my complaint? Like, oh man, like I wasn't able to go pick up my sandwich from this sludge plate. Whatever. - Not a big deal. - You know, I got to gossip about this and that and get the tea. - Right, that's my favorite part of the tea. - Right, exactly. - I'm a favorite for the team. - So Kara, she makes, if you go on TMZ's Instagram, you'll see her all over the place. She makes a lot of the viral videos. You're telling stories. - Yes. - Right. So like, what was your background? Like before TMZ, were you involved like at in social media before this? - Yeah, so I was like an influencer. Why did you graduate in college? - Oh, sweet, okay. - Yeah, so I was doing Southern University in Louisiana. - Oh, cool. - Oh, Jaguars, yeah. So I was in school. I was doing my little influencing stuff. Had some brand partnerships, just kind of like filming my life authentically. And then I love celebrities. I love the mess. So. - You love the mess? - I do like the mess. - Some people are just born to like the mess. - I like the mess, you know? Not to say that I'm messy, but the mess is interesting. You know, I'm from LA. - I think you're messy. - You think I'm messy? Do I get messy vibes? - I know, not just you. Everybody in this building is somewhat messy because we like messy. - You have to have a little bit of messy. Like, a little bit of messy is healthy. - Yeah, it is. It's very healthy. It's very transparent. Speaking of transparency, we are going to talk today about what you clicked on here. This couple, they are under fire. We did it this morning and you guys were amped up about it. So we actually spoke with this couple, Jesse and Ashley Ridgeway, better known as Mick Jagger Nuggets on YouTube, very popular YouTubers. Now they have been documenting their pregnancy journey from the time they announced the pregnancy. And then it was yesterday when they announced that they found out that their baby had been diagnosed with Down syndrome and then they decided to terminate the pregnancy. They posted video of them reading the announcement. So before we get into the new update, 'cause we actually spoke with these people today and we have footage of this interview. Let's play that for you now. - Here we go. - It's all we're gonna see the result. I have to download the official report. I have normal insight result. Consistent with Trisomy 21. No. - What is it? Wait, where are you saying that? - No. - Let me see. I can't see it. - I can't see it. - It says abnormal insight result. Follow that show. Three chromosomes in 21 signals. Consistent with Trisomy 21 Down syndrome. And it counseling is recommended. Pattern consistent with Trisomy 21. - Wow. - That's a lot. - It's harder, it's hard to respond to this video because obviously a lot of people have their stances on this, this goes deeper than just the baby being diagnosed with Down syndrome. It also goes to the abortion conversation. So a lot of people have their opinions, but later on in the day, today on TMZ Live, we had Jesse and Ashley on. They spoke with Harvey and Charles and they gave their frightening situation that they have going on. Ever since this came out, not just under fire, they're getting death threats and they went into detail about exactly that. - But I feel like the world is almost lacking in that vulnerability with the death threats and everything. It has been shocking. Close people to us. Very judgmental religious base saying, we're gonna burn in hell. We deserve to die. - I don't deserve to be a mother because the decision that we just need. - Yeah, we had a gate installed. I have a gun next to my nightstand because it's beginning so ridiculous. They're in the becoming to emails, DMs, you name it. It's been, we've seen the darkest side of humanity through this process. - That's a lot to unpack. - There we go. Sorry, I mean, that's, yeah. So that's the thing is when you are gonna be transparent with the world on a decision like this, very controversial, you open yourself up to situations like this, right? - Yeah, I think taking the risk of even kind of posting and sharing it, of course, like it could be inspiring for some people or maybe mothers who have dealt with this, but I think it does open the door for a lot of BS, honestly. - It really does. - The internet always has something to say. Especially about these particular topics. I wonder if they were they kind of prepared for this, they kind of know that this was probably gonna be making headlines and be a whole, this is kind of a big deal. I've been seeing it everywhere. - They probably didn't assume that it would be this bad and they would have to, like they said, sleep with a gun. And the hard part is too, they make their videos at their home. So it's not hard for people to figure out where they live. So you can imagine, I mean, a couple like this is not, you know, Jennifer Lopez. They don't have security watching the house. - That's what makes it even scarier. - Yeah, like they're just sleeping in their beds and there's a lot of people out there that have their stances on these two particular subjects and they will go to the extreme to get their message across. So I'd be locking my door, you know, but the thing for me is, is, in Devon spoke about it this morning and he said, Devon is our co-host on the TMZ Morning podcast. He spoke in depth about how, and I didn't know this, but this is a test that most parents get before or during pregnancy, have you heard of this? - I have, yeah. - So where you find out, like if there are birth effects, which is very normal, and then it is normal or common for parents to have a conversation just about the results. And so, but these two, now I'm gonna get opinionated. - Let me hear you. - These two decided that they would set up their tripod. Like, if you don't know how hard to just set up camera equipment. - It takes a lot, it's a, it's never. - You know? - Yeah, they sat there, put that camera up. - They sprouted it together, they put the tripod down, they put the light on, they made sure the audio was good, they tested the audio, made sure the shot looked good. And then they sat there and said, all right, we're gonna read our announcement before we even read it ourselves. - Right. - We're gonna do one of the cameras. And that goes back to like today's day and age. I think we're all just living for social media sometimes. Like, I feel like that could be a private moment, right? I mean, if that's what they do, I guess they're influencers, so they might wanna share their life, but I don't know, not everything has to be shared. - I have a theory. - What's your theory? - My theory is that they did read the scene you know beforehand. - And they like reenacted it basically? - Yes. And then set it up, reenacted it. Maybe just reenacted exactly the way that they felt. You know, when she reacted like she was crying, I just have a very hard time believing that they read that on camera, transparently like that. - And then kept the camera just rolling, just I would have like, you know, I don't know. It does seem a little fishy. - Because I'll be real with you. I've never heard of these people before. - Yeah, haven't I? - Have you? - I had to do my research. I didn't know who these people were. - And now I do. So how many times in the past have we seen people do things like this to get attention to create headlines? And generally, you know, like for them, you're gonna lose some of your fan base, but at the same time, they might gain some new fan base a little bit because there are people that agree with exactly what they did. And so at the end of the day, this is gonna blow over all of this controversy and they're gonna walk away with more subscribers, more views, more money, more clicks, they're monetizing the heck out of this. You know, what they could have done is they could have, if this was real and they genuinely wanted to make that decision to abort their baby, they could have said that there was complications with the pregnancy. - Exactly. - I get why they had to say something because they were already documenting the pregnancy. - But they didn't have to go into detail. - It's really nobody's business. - You have to tell us that you decided to abort your baby because of a down syndrome. - Yeah, that was optional. They didn't have to do that. - 100% optional. And. - You know, I do think what happened? - The haircut. - Oh yeah, he's a little scruffy, a little rough around there. Just. - Did you watch Smosh growing up? - No, I didn't. - Like if you know Anthony Padilla, Sam, no, I never mind. This is like the only thing that I can do. old YouTuber look. This is like a G YouTube, like 2010. - It's giving like Shane Dawson. - Yes, Shane Dawson, great example. But at the same time, the people that are sending death threats to them upset about them aborting their baby. - That's not okay. - It's no different than them aborting their baby. It's still, you know, like I'm a Christian and it's the same thing as like the same sin. You're trying to, you're threatening death to these people after they did what you conceive as death. So it's like, it's all the same and all goes around. - It's very backwards. - Very backwards. - Especially when you put it that way. - There's a lot of extreme folks out there. - Yeah. - It's a tough situation, but I don't think it's right to be spread and hate and stalking people and sending death threats. It's not okay. These people have a life they can ultimately kind of do. - 100%. - And they did finish it this interview by saying, they stand by their decision to share the story and they may reconsider how much of their personal lives they put online in the future. Jesse emphasized quote, "We'll never stop advocating." Advocating for what? - Yeah, what necessarily is like the takeaway? Like what? - There is no takeaway. - Yeah, that's. - The takeaways they got what they wanted. They got more views. They're on TMZ. They're on every news channel. - We're talking about it. - Exactly. They're getting more subscribers. - Yeah. - That's the end of it. Monatization is a complex business and we've seen a lot of people do way worse things for monetization in the past. And these two, maybe they saw a low on the views and they go, time to do something. I don't know. I don't know. I am in no way, you know, shading these people, they made their decision. It's their decision to make, but it does upset a lot of people and it gets people thinking. You know what I mean? So next time, maybe you don't tell the whole world about it. - Yeah, it causes too much conversation. - Exactly, exactly. All right, we're moving on to a much lighter story. Do you want to take this one? - Yes. - Taylor Swift. - We have Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey, a wedding set for Midtown Manhattan. So they will be getting married on July 3rd. And yeah, this is big news. The people really care about Tate. - It's big news. - Yeah, so rumors have circulated. It could be a Madison Square Garden, Central Park, the New York Public Library. And TMZ says that Taylor and Travis have gone to great lengths to keep these details private. So I guess they've been like texting, wedding information, no invitations. Which-- - Starting with calls. - Yeah, starting with calls and they've been texting, which I'm honestly here for it. Keep it on the low. What's not everybody's business? - For a while, people thought there's going to be in Rhode Island. - Yeah. - Because she has that beautiful home out there. And maybe it'll be at the Ocean Club, I think it is, the Ocean House. - Yes, I heard that. - And beautiful than you. - To then throw away Rhode Island. - To New York. - Just my opinion. For New York? - Yeah, and it's too busy. And then in July, how's the weather even in New York right now? I guess they-- - I don't know. What is it July? It's muggy. - Yeah, right. - It's humid. - Ugh. - It's very concrete. - Yeah. - Urban. - Right. - But at the same time, New York is big. It's a great celebrity hotspot. So maybe they wanted a place where like, celebrities tend to go already and gather. - Which makes sense. I kind of understand that. - Yeah. So that's the big news though, is that we didn't know where it was going to be, but we found out exclusively it's going to be in Manhattan, somewhere in Manhattan. Do you know how big Manhattan is? - I actually don't. I honestly don't. I've been to New York like two, three times. I don't know how big Manhattan is, but somewhere in that neighborhood. - Yeah, somewhere over there. - Somewhere. - Who's gonna be at this wedding? 'Cause so far we have two confirms, Carly Clause and Benson Boone, but like, that's not who we want to hear. Like who's gonna be there? - Honestly, it's gonna be big. Like I'm thinking like, I know Selena and Taylor, are they still? - Selena for sure will be there. - Yeah, of course Selena will be cool. Demi probably. - She's gonna have bridesmaids. - Right, like, is Selena gonna be a bridesmaid? - 100%. - Oh my God. - I'm gonna ask. - We need pictures. I know we'll probably never get them, but I want to see. - I know. - I want to see these pictures. - So the theory is that potential, potentially with the Madison Square Garden, I saw people saying that that could be strategic because she might sell tickets and let fans sit in the audience. - She's not gonna do that. She's too much of a lover girl. She's gonna be focused on her man. I don't think she's gonna be trying to make some money off this. - Oh, come on. - Well then again. - I don't think it really, I don't think it's- - But the fans? - But the fans? - Any more, I think it's just about spectacle in fans and going and being the first person to do this and that. But that's such like, who wants to do that on their wedding day? I honestly hope that's not the case. Like this is about love and you and your man, you know? - I know. - Leave us out of it. - Gosh. I hope they stay together. - Me too. I would actually be pretty sad if they broke up. - They need to stay together. If they don't stay together, then I think she'll be more famous than she has ever been when that divorce happened. - Yeah, that would be- - When that's what happens, it'll be the biggest and the biggest new story of the century. - Yeah, I want love for Tate Tate. - But would you buy Tate Kitt to the Madison Square? - No. - Or if it was in LA? - If it was in LA. - Would you try at least? - I want to say yes, but like no, 'cause it's like, why do we care so much? Like, of course I want to see them happy. I want to see them marry, but I'm like, "Do I want to go?" I probably not, but I feel like that's not the case for a lot of people. So I understand, but me personally, I'm good. - I get you. And honestly, going in person would be a nightmare for everyone. - But it would be a nightmare for everybody involved. - Insane. - The tailors of community would surround the building. - Them Swifties don't play. - It would be, her concerts or her concerts, all the Swifties are there, they want to be there. That's a concert. But her wedding, which is once in a lifetime, it would be a national security incident. - You don't want it that chaotic? Like, that sounds terrible. - I doubt it. Okay, well let's go to the comments. Let's see, what do we got here? We typically go through the comments. Usually, Tony's over there putting the comments in for us, I'm just gonna read these. Danny said, "Hey, Branson, welcome, Cara." - Hello. - Let's see, "Signor's Hangouts" that I work with special needs. Teenagers, the parents go through a lot, and that's true. We're not discrediting that whatsoever. That is a real, real world thing. I actually, I used to do a lot of theater, and I'd work with a special needs team, and we would teach them theater and everything. And, you know, some of the most loving people I've ever worked with in my entire life, and I continue to talk to some of those people today. Let's see, anything else here? Sean gives a shout at the Talia. I think that Talia did a great job at hosting today's TMZ Live. We'll tell her. - Oh yes, I'll tell Queen Talia. - You can sit right next to me. - Brandon says, "Hey Cara, rainwater." He knows your last name. - Hey. - "We miss you hosting TMZ Live." - Oh yeah, I haven't been on there in a minute. I'll be back, guys. - Yeah, no, she'll be back. She's always back. St. Norse, hang out, said, "Dangerous way to get clicks. There's some scary people out there with guns, 100%. Brandon said, "Have a great weekend, Brandon, and Cara and Lauren, the intern. Lauren is coming back, actually." Don't tell her, don't tell her I told you that. She wanted to fake you guys out, but she left for the spring internship, but she's coming back for summer. Anything else here? Brandon said, "Maybe Sabrina Carpenter will be there." She opened up for Taylor during the era's tour. 1,000 million percent Sabrina Carpenter. - Sabrina will be there. Love that. - Who's that? - But do her exes go? I don't think so. - She has so many though, that she's probably cool with. Like, it's probably not bad blood with all of them. So I feel like-- - I feel like-- - Right, it'll be like two or three exes in the building. - Here's the thing. If she can have an ex in the building, then Travis can have an ex in the building. - Nope. - Kayla Nicole. - Nope. - By the way, I don't know if many people know this, but Kayla Nicole-- - She used to work here. - She used to work here. - Yeah. - Just out outside that door right there. - Yes, I actually found that out. I was like, "Oh my God." - I know Travis Kelsey's ex-girlfriend. Okay, any last minutes here. Yeah, let's get out of here. - Let's get out. - Oh, someone said they're a big fan of us. - Oh, great. - Yeah, thank you, David. - Thanks for watching. - Thank you. All right, everybody. Thank you, Kara. We'll have you back absolutely. Thanks so much. - Thanks, of course. - And we'll be back here Monday morning, everyone. - All right. - You later. - You guys soon.