To add to Netflix’s growing true-crime content, the latest docuseries Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. has taken over the world by storm, following the success of titles like The Tinder Swindler, Worst Roommate Ever, Inventing Anna, Catching Killers etc.
Since its release last week, Bad Vegan has had a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, aka a 100 per cent rating on the scale.
Created by Chris Smith, the director of Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened and the executive producer of Tiger King, this four-episode show is a bizarre incident that people cannot stop talking about.
The show tells the real-life story of an acclaimed celebrity restauranteur and vegan restaurant owner named Sarma Melngailis from New York, whose life fell apart after she got involved with a bizarre conman.
From the heights of fame, Melngailis’ descent into a literal nightmare began when she met Anthony Strangis, who used the alias of Shane Fox on Twitter and believed his lies. He involved her in a high-functioning scam, promising immortality for her beloved Pitbull, Leon.
They were on the run after swindling money from her business account that he spent on various casinos. Employees walked out of the restaurant and protested against the vehement violation of labour laws and fraud as they were not paid wages for a long time. This mass outrage prompted the cops to try hard to find the couple who had seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth.
However, a slight error on Fox’s part while ordering a Domino’s pizza led to their capture in 2016 when he mistakenly revealed his real name.
The pizza order led to their arrest for larceny and fraud. The show footage and interviews with those involved, including Melngailis herself. The other interviews include journalist and food critic Allen Salkin and restauranteur Jeffrey Chodorow who invested in the vegan restaurant.
Melngailis was really a lousy vegan as she allegedly consumed cheese! Twisted and wild, the show has captured the attention of Netflix viewers.
Bad Vegan was released on Netflix on March 16th, 2022.
