Comic finds creative and financial freedom with ‘Juicy Scoop’
When “Chelsea Lately” aired its final episode on E! in 2014, Heather McDonald, a staff writer and regular panelist on the show, needed a new gig. As a stand-up comedian, her performance schedule wasn’t as consistent as a full-time job — then she heard about a fellow comic who launched a podcast to get his name out there and sell more tickets.
“I was like, ‘If a podcast can help do that, I’m going to do that,’” McDonald says.
She launched “Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald” in 2015. Now, nearly 800 episodes later with more than 200 million downloads, it regularly ranks among the top comedy podcasts on Apple’s charts.
Twice a week, McDonald releases a free episode sharing the latest celebrity gossip and pop culture headlines. She bounces topics off guests and interviews people with juicy stories.
McDonald strives to avoid anything truly divisive — like politics. But despite her best efforts, she found herself in the middle of a debate about the coronavirus vaccine after she collapsed during a 2022 stand-up set in Arizona. Footageg was used in a video compilation that peddled misinformation about vaccine side effects.
Before she collapsed, McDonald
had joked that she’d never contracted the virus.
“I fainted right after that. And I have never fainted before or after,” she says calling the timing “unbelievable.” For the record, she says, she still hasn’t had the coronavirus and is indeed vaccinated.
She’s still not sure why she fainted, but despite being debunked, the video of her collapse still goes viral every few months, she says.
“It has done nothing but hurt my career because the pro-vaccination people think that I am like a puppet for the anti-vaxxers. And the anti-vaxxers call me names