The Cult of Bellum Entertainment
Sounds Like A Cult
09/01/26
•59m
About
Comments
Featured In
This week, Chelsea and Iman investigate The Cult of Bellum Entertainment, the true crime production company whose founder, Mary Carol McDonald, allegedly spent years building a very different kind of crime empire behind the scenes. True crime podcaster Jami Rice (@jamionair) joins us with an especially wild perspective: she was working at the bank that approved McDonald for a $15 million loan after she allegedly posed as an heiress to an $80 million fortune. We get into bouncing paychecks, unpaid freelancers, fake family lore, suspiciously persuasive baked goods, a lawyer with his own bonkers backstory, and the sunk-cost psychology that kept employees hanging on even as the red flags started multiplying. Come for the Hollywood labor exploitation, stay for the revelation that apparently even the pies were part of the grift. Granny Delvy, your table is ready.
Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!
Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia.
Pre-order Iman's new book, Once in a Timeline, here! Your pre-order helps make more books possible!
Sounds Like A Cult is coming to you LIVE from The Elysian in LA on October 15th! Get tickets at soundslikeacult.com!
Thank you to our sponsors!
Thanks to Article for sponsoring this podcast! Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit https://www.article.com/discount/cult and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Previous Episode
The Cult of Celebrity Wellness Brands
August 25
•67m
This week, Reese dives into The Cult of Celebrity Wellness Brands, where skincare, mental health, spirituality, supplements, and good old-fashioned celebrity worship have melted together into one extremely Instagrammable belief system. From Goop and Rhode to Rare Beauty, Kardashian supplements, children's skincare, and the spectacularly messy rise and fall of Selena Gomez's mental health startup Wondermind, Marketing critic and Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults author Dr. Mara Einstein (@drmaraeinstein) joins us to unpack parasocial trust, brand cults, wellness grifts, scarcity marketing, and why the most effective sales pitch is just convincing you that something is wrong with you first. Enlightenment is only a 12 step skincare routine, GLP-1-adjacent supplement, and celebrity approved app away.
The Cut: What Happened at Wondermind by Angelina Chapman
Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!
Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia.
Pre-order Iman's new book, Once in a Timeline, here! Your pre-order helps make more books possible!
Sounds Like A Cult is coming to you LIVE from The Elysian in LA on October 15th! Get tickets at soundslikeacult.com!
Thank you to our sponsors!
- Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns at https://Quince.com/slac
- Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at https://MINTMOBILE.com/cult
- Download the Vinted app for free and start listing. With no seller fees, you keep every dollar you earn, https://www.vinted.com/
- Save 20% Off Honeylove by going to https://honeylove.com/SLAC #honeylovepod
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Next Episode
The Cult of Incels
Tuesday
•76m
We’re taking a little holiday break this week, but unfortunately, incels are not. With the “male loneliness epidemic” becoming a bigger part of the cultural conversation, we’re revisiting one of the internet’s darkest and most tragically cringey cults: self proclaimed “involuntary celibates,” who believe they’ve been cursed by the universe (read: women) to live a life without love, sex, or accountability. Amanda and Reese are joined by cult comedy kings Henry Zebrowski (@drfantasty) and Ed Larson (@eddietunes) of Last Podcast on the Left (@lpontheleft) to trace how a chronically online subculture became a full-blown belief system with its own doomer mythology, and a whole lot of weaponized loneliness. Enjoy this trip back into the manosphere, culties. We’ll be back next week with a brand-new cult lurking somewhere much greener, muddier, and suspiciously swamp shaped.
Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube!
Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles, @imanharirikia.
Pre-order Iman's new book, Once in a Timeline, here! Your pre-order helps make more books possible!
Sounds Like A Cult is coming to you LIVE from The Elysian in LA on October 15th! Get tickets at soundslikeacult.com!
Thank you to our sponsors!
- If your glasses are overdue for a refresh, now is the time. Use code PODCAST15 for fifteen percent off your first order
- Find the card that fits your lifestyle and apply today at https://joinbilt.com/cult
- Download Whatnot today and get $20 off your first purchase
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If you like this episode you’ll love
Promoted