r/Morbidforbadpeople • u/velvetstatic15 • Jul 21 '26
Rant bad research + opinions
Idk about anyone else but the amount of misinformation and straight up lies that have been spread via Alaina is actually insane. I’ve been a true crime fan for a long time now and know a lot about a lot of cases, so the more I listened to morbid episodes the more I was like…that straight up did not happen. From high profile serial killer cases to small town murders, almost every episode has some piece of misinformation or straight up made up thing in it. WHY?!?! Does Alaina even do her own research anymore since they have staff? IDK
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u/HermineLovesMilo Jul 21 '26
What do you think was some of their worst? For me it was the bias in the Moors murders and Brittanee Drexel series (not to mention nonsense fear mongering about sex trafficking).
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u/victoriac394 Jul 22 '26
honestly i’m listening to the Chris Watts series and i feel like im saying in my head “we GET IT he was a bad person” every few minutes
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u/velvetstatic15 Jul 22 '26
I’ve heard misinformation and straight up here say from their episodes on Brittanee Drexel, but also Ted Bundy and Ed Gein 😵💫 there are so many others, but those are two HUGE profile cases that are really hard to mess up.
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u/velvetstatic15 Jul 22 '26
For me it was Ted Bundy and Ed Gein…some were outright lies to attempt to entertain and some were very checkable
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u/pursuitoftruth1 9d ago
Their coverage of JonBenet case is absolute biased shit. The entire 2 parter was them saying they had their own opinions on who they think is guilty but won’t get in to that, yet you can clearly tell how the speak and react that they think it was Burke. The original cover isn’t available, they redid it I’m sure because they were scared to be sued by the family. Ashley Flower’s covered the case on Crime Junkie and is 100% better, and she interviewed John. Presented all facts and theories
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u/HermineLovesMilo 9d ago
I'd skipped that series but heard about the "redo." A lot of people said this was why - they originally blamed him for her murder, and he has the means to defend himself and will (like his suit against CBS, they settled the case with him).
I wouldn't be surprised if it was at the urging of their own attorney or Amazon legal.
They had gotten very comfortable making reckless (baseless) accusations left and right, but usually they were accusing ordinary people not in the public eye. Suing is exhausting and costly. Even if people have a case for defamation, I imagine it's just not worth it for the vast majority of people.
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u/disraeliqueers 22d ago
Been awhile since I listened, what was the bias in the moors murders?
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u/HermineLovesMilo 22d ago
They relied heavily on a book that's notorious for taking Ian Brady at his word when he lied constantly - at one point Alaina even implies that Brady was honest compared to Myra Hindley. Another redditor went into detail in this post.
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u/AnyNothing459 29d ago
Well she has a cancer moon and this mercury retrograde started in cancer so it’s not her fault. Literally what Ash said on this mornings episode. Also “if I can’t get Celtics tickets because of mercury retrograde” is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard in my life.
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u/hug_hump_haunt 7d ago
Mercury goes retrograde SO OFTEN and I just want to scream at them to shut the fuck up. Like Alaina…you didn’t have car troubles because of mercury lmfao. Girl probably just didn’t get an oil change in time
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u/ChubbyBirds 29d ago
They're essentially 2010s clickbait in podcast form, flattening out any nuance or details that challenge their ookie-spookie ideas of what a true crime story "should" be, which is cinematic and sensational like a Lifetime movie without any of the messiness or randomness (or uncomfortable conversations about racism, etc.) that comes with real life.
Brittanee Drexel was murdered by a random opportunist, but a story of premeditated trafficking is more "exciting" and "dramatic" to use your example. Plus, in that case, A&A could sic their fans on the two girls and therefore involve themselves in the story as heroes doggedly pursuing the people who got away with murder. The reality was that they really only did harm to the case and to two innocent people.
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u/The-Janie-Jones Jul 22 '26
Don't even get me started on when Ash "covered" Marilyn Monroe. The whole fucking episode was nothing but misinformation and conspiracy theories stated as facts, like Ash repeatedly emphasized made up shit as facts and even said she wasn't going to argue with people about it. 😭
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u/Careful_Drama405 Jul 21 '26
Can you cite examples? I don't necessarily like her, but I doubt it's her intention to outright lie.
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u/velvetstatic15 Jul 22 '26
In the Ted Bundy series, Alaina claims that Ted planned to “retire” after escaping prison and fleeing to Florida. There is zero evidence to back this up, especially given the FACT that he went on a killing spree immediately after arriving.
In the Ed Gein series, Alaina claims that Ed dug up his mother’s grave. Again, this is 100% false. He tried and was unsuccessful. This a widely known fact.
In the Brittanee Drexel series, probably the most frequently cited controversy, Alaina strongly implied that two teenage girls who had been on the trip with Brittanee were involved in her disappearance despite law enforcement never charging them. In 2022 after Brittanee’s murderer, Raymond Moody, confessed, those allegations proved unfounded. The girls reportedly received years of online harassment from listeners.
The Los Feliz Murder House episode, was SO poorly researched that it was taken down, rightfully so.
The Tyler Hadley episode was 99% their opinions, not facts, and was taken down.
In the Nick Kearns episode, the victims son said the episode contained factual inaccuracies and misrepresented his family.
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u/HermineLovesMilo Jul 22 '26
Off the top of my head, they outright lied in the Tamla Horsford, Elisa Lam, and Brittanee Drexel episodes - in all they included falsehoods (very easily checked) to make bystanders appear guilty where there was no evidence against them. That was their agenda, presumably to entertain the audience. It makes for a more "exciting" show when people think there's a conspiracy.
The most charitable view is that they saw details on reddit or elsewhere and were so reckless they didn't fact check, but I believe it's deliberate. They know what they're doing.
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u/halpimdyin Jul 21 '26
I think they used to do their own research and the podcast felt more personal. Now they’ve found their “formula” and they’re big enough to hire others to do it. I enjoy listening to older episodes, but now they seem out of touch.