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You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Late Night Open Thread: Pour One Out for ‘Vox Day’ and His ‘Rabid Puppies’

Late Night Open Thread: Pour One Out for ‘Vox Day’ and His ‘Rabid Puppies’

by | 86 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

If (to paraphrase Sir Terry Pratchett) you choose to filter that pour through your kidneys first, for best purity, well…

An attempt to make a right-wing superhero movie has ended in disaster, with $1 million missing in China and a participant facing a federal indictment.

“I wouldn’t count on us getting the money back,” Theodore Beale, a far-right blogger known as “Vox Day,” admitted to his fans and investors in a video last week.

This isn’t how Beale’s followers thought their investments would go in 2019 when they started contributing to fund a film based on a Confederacy-themed superhero comic book character created by Beale. A trailer promoting the proposed movie, Rebel’s Run, featured the character Rebel fighting a global police force hunting down freethinking conservatives…

The trailer has been scrubbed from Vimeo, but apparently ‘Rebel’ is a Wonder Woman rip-off in Daisy Duke cut-offs, because I guess there was already a surfeit of not-at-all-homoerotic steroid-enhanced male cartoon characters.

… There was reason to think Beale and his fans could realize their dream of going from comic books to cinema, if only through sheer fanaticism. His devoted followers call him the “Supreme Dark Lord of the Evil Legion of Evil,” and describe themselves as his “minions.” Beale’s supporters, who frequently complain about supposed progressive “social justice warrior” influence creeping into fields like video games and science fiction, had already funded a handful of comic book issues and stirred up a controversy at science fiction’s premiere awards.

Beale’s history of racism could have made it difficult for Rebel’s Run, which stars a character sometimes depicted in a Confederate flag bustier, to find traditional financing. He has claimed that certain races are more likely to commit violence and called one of his foes in the science-fiction dispute, a Black author, a “half-savage.” Beale has affiliated himself with the Gamergate movement, opposes women’s suffrage, and once described homosexuality as a “birth defect.”

Given that track record, he instead turned to Utah-based Ohana Capital Financial, a business aimed at customers that would struggle to get money elsewhere.

As Ohana’s promotional materials put it, according to prosecutors, the firm offered “banking [to] the unbankable.” On Nov. 5, 2020, Beale transferred the $1 million to Ohana to be held in escrow in advance of future film funding.

Ohana was the creation of James Wolfgramm, a self-described cryptocurrency billionaire who posted pictures of sports cars that supposedly belonged to him on social media. But in fact, according to a federal indictment filed last month, Wolfgramm’s wealth was a sham. The sports car pictures, for example, were pulled from other websites. Wolfgramm’s business also sold what were billed as high-tech cryptocurrency mining rigs—but those too were a hoax, according to prosecutors, with their screens just running on a loop to create the illusion of mines.

Unbeknownst to Beale and his supporters, the indictment alleges, Wolfgramm was deeply in debt to one of his business’s other clients. That client had paid Ohana more than $4 million in September 2020, several months into the COVID-19 pandemic, as part of what was meant to be a payment to a Chinese manufacturer of personal protective equipment. Instead of carrying out the transaction, prosecutors allege, Wolfgramm spent the millions on his own unrelated business issues.

Now seven figures in the hole and with no PPE to show for it, Wolfgramm allegedly used the Rebel’s Run money to buy the Chinese medical equipment. Soon after that, according to a video Beale released to his fans, the blogger and his collaborators became suspicious and contacted the FBI, sparking the investigation into Wolfgramm…

Beale claims, without evidence, that the alleged con was carried out to disrupt his right-wing fanbase.

“I strongly suspect that this whole thing was a targeted operation intended to break our community,” Beale said in the video he published last week…

*I* strongly suspect Wolfgramm worried more about shorting the sort of people looking to profit off semi-licit PPE at the height of the pandemic than he did about cheating a bunch of nerds whose most dangerous weapon is trollbombing review sites and social media threads.

Per Gizmodo:

… Who Else Was Involved in the Rebel’s Run Trainwreck?

Beale is a longtime right-wing blogger who promotes his own role in the misogynistic GamerGate harassment campaign. He was also at the head of the Rabid Puppies campaign attempt to usurp the SciFi Hugo Award with a host of right-wing fiction and innocuous, sexually charged e-books (which eventually blew up in his face spectacularly). Beale has been called “the most despised man in science fiction.” He reportedly called the lauded and award-winning SciFi-Fantasy author N.K. Jemisin, who is Black, an “ignorant half-savage.” These comments helped him get expelled from the Science Fiction Writers Association.

Scooter Downey was listed as the film’s director. Downey had been previously signed on to write the script for Tucker Carlson’s right-wing conspiracy extravaganza documentary series on the Jan. 6 insurrection called Patriot Purge, and was also set to direct Rebel’s Run. His IMDB page lists Tucker Carlson Originals as part of his editorial filmography, which could include the utterly insane series End of Men, and he’s promoted that series on his Twitter account. Carlson recently caught some flak for platforming and endorsing men who tan their testicles, thinking that it aids testosterone production. Here’s a hint, it doesn’t…

The other big name attached to the film was Chuck Dixon, a well-known comics writer who has written for Marvel’s Punisher series as well as DC’s Batman through the 1990s and early 2000s. Since 2010 he has dived headlong into the alt-right conspiracist sphere and started writing for Beale’s Arkhaven brand including the Alt-Hero series. That comic even includes a “Q” storyline, with the tagline “Where we go one,” which is a common phrase for the QAnon conspiracy that believes satanic Democrats are involved in a ring of cannabalistic pedophiles.

To which one commentor replied, “What a hero. I meant the crypto scammer.”

Reader Interactions

86Comments

  2. 2.

    tokyokie

    An international effort by a secretive “woke” cabal to destroy a network of incels jacking off to large-breasted babes in rebel flag bustiers is certainly a lot more believable than they’re a bunch of dimwitted chumps who are easily suckered.

  5. 5.

    Patricia Kayden

    Dang it!! I as a Black descendant of enslaved Africans was so looking forward to watching a pro-Confederacy super heroine!! Huge sigh.

  9. 9.

    Cameron

    Vox Day?  I haven’t heard anything about that guy in years.  It does sound like everybody’s getting what they deserve in this case.

  10. 10.

    CaseyL

    I saw the Twitter thread and associated story earlier today, and it did indeed make me smile.  Seldom has someone more richly deserved to be robbed.

  11. 11.

    Amir Khalid

    About Chuck Dixon and his background writing Punisher and Batman comics. I can see where writing for these vigilante hero characters, immersing oneself in their way of thinking, can encourage a person’s  right-wing tendencies. (This might explain Frank Miller, for instance.)

  12. 12.

    dmsilev

    Scooter Downey was listed as the film’s director. Downey had been previously signed on to write the script for Tucker Carlson’s right-wing conspiracy extravaganza documentary series on the Jan. 6 insurrection called Patriot Purge, and was also set to direct Rebel’s Run. His IMDB page lists Tucker Carlson Originals as part of his editorial filmography, which could include the utterly insane series End of Men, and he’s promoted that series on his Twitter account. Carlson recently caught some flak for platforming and endorsing men who tan their testicles, thinking that it aids testosterone production. Here’s a hint, it doesn’t…

    if you can’t trust Testicle Tanning Guy, who can you trust?

  13. 13.

    Anotherlurker

    Today, I found out that my sweet, beautiful Golden, Addie, has Metastatic Cancer.  It is coming on quickly. We are awaiting results from blood work, Radiology and aspirated tumor fluid. After they are evaluated, we will have a better idea of how long she has.

    She is still a hearty eater and she loves her walks.

    The last 10 years has been absolutely devastating of my life. Superstorm Sandy. Home foreclosure. Moving to Fla.   Finances ruined by sever depression.

    I moved things in the direction of improvement by moving to California to be near my oldest friend and his family. I have revived my TV Tech career to the point of being able to work 5 days/month or so.  My craft is physical so 5 days is about all my 70 year old body can take.

    I am disgusted that my beautiful, loving girl, Addie, who has brought smiles to many faces and has been my loving rock since I picked her up at LAX, 2 years ago is on her way out while traitorous scum like trump and every other fucking right wing traitor is still living.

    Fuck this country and fuck all republicans.  I will celebrate their deaths and (hopefully) coming suffering.

    I treasure my 2 years with Addie

    You can see a picture of Addie on the April page of 2022’s BJ Pet Calendar. Th picture was taken the moment after I released her from he shipping crate after a 24 hour flight from China.

  14. 14.

    Cameron

    @dmsilev: Perfect – the HOA here just notified everybody that the pool’s open again.  Supposed to be back up in the 80s on Saturday; time for some ball-browning!

  15. 15.

    glc

    @Cameron:

    Well, on that note, here’s a link to a very thorough treatment of that ancient history

    Not that I expect anyone would want to review that now, but it’s nicely done.

    And on a completely different note, something my son forwarded for my edification,  that I think reflects our current moment: Can we talk about Abba.

  16. 16.

    BruceFromOhio

    That comic even includes a “Q” storyline, with the tagline “Where we go one,” which is a common phrase for the QAnon conspiracy that believes satanic Democrats are involved in a ring of cannabalistic pedophiles.

    I sense a members-only business opportunity for some very niche comic art.

  17. 17.

    bbleh

    Thing is, they’re probably right about the market for something like that, but they just can’t keep their greedy mitts off the cash.

    It’s almost like a classical Greek drama: the great struggle between grifting and Confederatism.  What shall become of the MAGA Republicans?  Will they choose one, or will the irreconcilable conflict tear them apart?  Click here to help fund my indie film!

  18. 18.

    dmsilev

    @Cameron: Speaking as an HOA Board member, thank you for contributing an additional entry into the things-not-allowed section of the bylaws.

  19. 19.

    Lyrebird

    @Patricia Kayden: The snark is strong in you as well, Jedi Kayden!

    Seriously, I want you to know that when I foolishly googled Rebels Run for images just to get a notion, most of the pictures I got were of Ole Miss students and football players of many ethnicities, plus a commemoration of 60 yrs of integration, so take that Confederacy worshiping creeps!

  20. 20.

    Dangerman

    All Super Heroes have an accident created Super Power, right? What was Rebel’s Super Power caused by accident? Did it involve tanning his gonads?

  21. 21.

    Soprano2

    I’m sitting by the pool while hubby takes a nap. Sadly, the sun is already behind the mountains, but it’s still nice. We got all the rest of stepson’s stuff loaded into our SUV, and we’re taking it to Goodwill tomorrow. We’re getting what little of his stuff the police have tomorrow, too. I’m going to try to figure out something fun for us to do tomorrow afternoon, then we’re meeting one of stepson’s friends for dinner tomorrow night. I can’t believe how much stuff he had crammed in a room that was about 8 ft by 8 ft – with no air conditioning! It was so hot, my hair was soaked, thus the pool. We saw his boss at Mana this afternoon – she still hasn’t been able to replace him. They’re all convinced something bad happened to him that the police are unwilling to investigate. I’m resigned to the idea that we may never know what really happened to him.

    I’m glad we came here and did this. It was good to see his friends again, and to go through his stuff. He wrote poetry and song lyrics on any paper available; we found a whole plastic bag full of that stuff. We also found out that he once got in trouble for calling in a restaurant reservation for TFG (in 2005) and 12 other people! He’s definitely my husband’s son, that’s the kind of practical joke hubby would pull. 🤣🤣🤣 Hubby once sent an asshole to Cleveland one way, and made sure the guy paid for it. The guy cheated him out of money in his business, that’s why he did it.  It would make a great “Moth” story.

  24. 24.

    Ken

    @bbleh: I was thinking it was like one of those mythical small-town closed economies where everyone supports themselves selling stuff to their neighbors. Except substitute “grifting” for “selling stuff”.

  25. 25.

    Anotherlurker

    I want to apologize to all here for airing my grief regarding my beloved Golden Retriever, Addie.

    I was wallowing in self pity when I should be concentrating on making her as comfortable as she can be, in the time she has left.

  26. 26.

    Ken

    @GibberJack: Hey! The pole dance scene in Barb Wire was an important part of the plot and contributed to the nuanced development of Pamela Anderson’s character.

  28. 28.

    Joy in FL

    @Anotherlurker: I am so sorry for all these awful things and most especially about Addie.

    You can share your sadness here; your experience is worth acknowledging.  And you can also tend to Addie and enjoy her. You can do both.

  29. 29.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Anotherlurker: You have nothing to apologize for.  I don’t have a pet, but one thing I like about this community, is that people here are unashamed of showing their love for their pets, and for others’ pets.  You’re being human, and every person who read your post (including me) felt sad for your poor Addie, and for you also.  I hope she’ll have a peaceful time, and her passing will be painless.  And maybe sometime after, you’ll find another pet to bring into your heart.

  31. 31.

    StringOnAStick

    @Anotherlurker:  You gave her the best part of her life and saved her from a horrible one in China; I remember you telling her story here.  Give her every bit of attention and love you can while she is still with you, and you will have done everything you can and been her best friend forever.  Treasure every moment.

  33. 33.

    Lyrebird

    @Anotherlurker: Please keep posting!

    Go ahead and get yourself some support.  You have gotten awful news.  Who knows, you might be all the more set to tend to her with some sympathy from the Jackaltariat.

  35. 35.

    Joey Maloney

    Affinity fraud seems to be the easiest fraud.

    @Anotherlurker: I’m so sorry to hear of Addie’s diagnosis. I know you’ll make the right decision and make her remaining time meaningful for you both.

  36. 36.

    Anotherlurker

    Thank you all for being so understanding regarding my grief regarding my sweet Addie.  I guess the reality of what is to come really hit me and I wish I could thank you all in person for your compassion and understanding.

    Maybe I can thank some of you in person if there is another SF Bay Area BJ meet-up.

  44. 44.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Welp, I was going to reference Chuck Dixon when I saw this, AL:

    because I guess there was already a surfeit of not-at-all-homoerotic steroid-enhanced male cartoon characters.

    And lo and behold, the guy turns up involved in this mess. Dixon is infamous for attempting to make the Batfamily characters he wrote for in the 90s disinterested in sex to the point that folks read into this thinking they were gay/lesbian.

    Here’s a funny post from the r/hobbydrama subreddit on Dixon for anyone who’s interested

  49. 49.

    rekoob

    @Soprano2: No doubt a difficult trek, and I can only imagine how it’s been for you and your husband. I hope you’re able to draw a collective long breath, spend meaningful time with friends new and old, and build from strength to strength.

  50. 50.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    8 in 10 say economy and inflation will factor heavily on their votes: poll

    Eight in 10 Americans in a new poll said that the economy and inflation will play a major role in deciding who they vote for in November’s midterm elections.

    As the elections loom just weeks away, 81 percent of respondents said the economy will factor heavily in their vote, while 80 percent said the same of inflation, according to a Politico-Morning Consult poll released on Wednesday.

    The next closest factor for voters was crime, with 64 percent saying that issue would play a major role in deciding their vote, the poll found.

    All three of these issues favor Republicans, who have frequently sought to focus the midterms on these factors. The poll shows that Republicans lead Democrats in voter confidence in their ability to handle these issues.

    Forty-six percent said they trusted Republicans more on the economy, compared to 39 percent who said the same of Democrats. Republicans’ lead expands on the issue of inflation, with 46 percent saying they trust Republicans more to handle the issue, compared to 37 percent who said they trust Democrats more.

    On crime, 45 percent said they trusted Republicans more, while 38 percent said they trusted Democrats more, according to the poll.

    This poll directly asked voters what they considered would be the most important issue that would decide their vote, so forget general candidate vs candidate polling.

    Am I missing anything here? I’d love to be wrong

    Digging into the results of the poll, it breaks down like this:

    Now, thinking about your vote, what would you say is the top set of issues on your
    mind when you cast your vote for federal offices such as U.S. Senate or Congress?

    1. Economic Issues – like taxes, wages, jobs,
      unemployment, and spending
      847 42%
    2. Seniors Issues – like Medicare and Social Security 224 11%
      Women’s Issues – like birth control, abortion, and equal
      pay
      286 14%

    The total sample size was 2005 registered voters w/ a margin for error of +-2%. I know it’s just one poll, but still. Most people aren’t seeing abortion, birth control, etc or Social Security/Medicare as important issues for their votes as the economy/inflation.

    However digging further:

    Thinking about the upcoming November 2022 midterm elections for U.S. Congress, do
    you expect that candidates’ views on each of the following will play a major or minor
    role in deciding who you vote for, or do you expect they will not play a role at all?
    Abortion access

    Major role 1185 59%
    Minor role 508 25%
    No role at all 312 16%

    Who do you trust more to handle each of the following issues? The economy
    Democrats in Congress 791 39%
    Republicans in Congress 926 46%
    Don’t know / No opinion 288 14

    Important of a priority should each of the following be for Congress? Passing a
    bill to provide relief to Americans with student loan debt

    A top priority 390 19%
    An important, but lower priority 485 24%
    Not too important a priority 383 19%
    Should not be done 630 31%
    Don’t know / No opinion 117 6%

    Would you say that the United States’ economy is currently
    In a recession 1369 68%
    Not in a recession 389 19%
    Don’t know / No opinion 247 12%

  51. 51.

    Martin

    An attempt to make a right-wing superhero movie

    Every superhero movie is a right wing superhero movie.

  57. 57.

    kalakal

    @Anotherlurker: Oh I’m so sorry to hear that. You’ve done wonders for Addie and given her a great life. Treasure every moment you have together.

    You have nothing to apologise for. This IS a place where you can share you grief.

    Take care of yourself and take care of Addie.

  61. 61.

    Splitting Image

    I always get Chuck Dixon confused with Chuck Austen, who has long been regarded as one of the worst comic book writers of all time. For a long time I felt bad about this, since it meant that I was being unfair to Dixon, but upon learning more about how Dixon burned his bridges with Marvel and DC, I wonder if I’m not being unfair to Austen.

  62. 62.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Splitting Image:

    Funny tidbit I saw when looking up Austen:

    In the early 2000s, Austen started regularly working for Marvel Comics, writing and illustrating the weekly maxi-series U.S. War Machine for then-recently launched Marvel MAX imprint. The series drew controversy not only for its violent content, but also because it debuted the day after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 2003, Austen followed up with U.S. War Machine 2.0, which was published the day after U.S. President George W. Bush’s March 17, 2003 ultimatum to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq, prompting Austen to jokingly comment, “I feel like I should stop doing this book so the world will stay at peace.”

  63. 63.

    Brachiator

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Just adding to reiterate: it is just one poll. Are Morning Consult/Politico polls legitimate/reliable? Can anyone find holes in the methodology of this poll?

    Shrugs. The poll might be okay. But polls are not prophecy.

    Just vote.

  64. 64.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Compare and contrast this fiasco to the well done fan movies the Trekies and Star Wars fans do.

    Over all the Rebel Run fan bois got off lucky that Wolfgramm only embezzled their money. More often that not these Wingnut Passion projects end up hiring a bunch of liberal film types to make it and it ends up camp. I mean Rebel Run sounds half were there to insane nonsense already as it is. What does she fight some Black female super villain named Welfare Queen, who is teaching the kids CRT so she can take all the good people’s tax money for Socialist Abortion on Demand?

  65. 65.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Damn, I can see some being leery of doing the sexy time in something their family might read but this Dixon dude sounds like he got some serious problems with male sexuality.

  68. 68.

    bjacques

    At least here’s one problem of a toxic nerd with too much money correcting itself. But screw those guys. Warm thoughts to @anotherlurker and best gurl Addie.

  69. 69.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @2liberal:  Nah, Scalzi’s just living his best life, enjoying his family and getting paid a lot of money to do what he loves. He and his friends no longer give a damn about Beale, and that’s probably a deeper cut than straight-up antagonism.

    And seriously, trying to get traction for a superhero using the slavers’ swastika as their theme, I can’t think of a better endgame than having the entire project collapsed by a grifter.

  73. 73.

    oatler

    ‘Daisy Dukes’ is a honey trap. I saw “Gator Bait” in the 1970s because the ads had Claudia Jennings in those Dukes. We all bit.

  77. 77.

    Matt McIrvin

    @bbleh: The “Christian” (meaning right-wing evangelical) media market already exists and has a lot of overlap with this (the world of “Left Behind” has a lot in common with QAnon). It’s limited but it’s dependable, because people deep in that subculture aren’t supposed to consume normal entertainment. I’m not sure, though, that there’s room for two of these bubbles right next to each other.

  81. 81.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Having lived in Stockholm for nearly 3 years, I am completely unsurprised and wholly disgusted by the swing towards fascism in Sweden. As an Asian-American woman, I have never experienced as much racism in my life until I moved here. This country is xenophobic as hell.

  82. 82.

    LiminalOwl

    @Anotherlurker: Please don’t feel a need to apologize. And you are allowed to grieve, privately or in the community of your choice.

    I’m so sorry to hear about Addie.

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