Bad Vegan: Fame, Fraud, Fugitives
AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX
Fact is definitely stranger than fiction in this compelling true-life crime documentary series from Netflix.
American celebrity restaurateur Sarma Melngailis – who was ahead of the curve in embracing veganism – had a successful business in New York, a lovely home, moved in A-list circles counting
movie stars among her friends and diners and featured favourably in the media and all the glossy magazines. She was bright, popular and an astute businesswoman with very loyal employees. Then, at a low point in her personal life, she met a man calling himself Shane Fox online.
Quickly falling for him, she eventually met him in person and so began what turned out to be a bizarre and toxic relationship which eventually led to the loss of Melngailis’s business, livelihood, friendships and credibility. Through interviews with Melngailis herself and
her former employees and friends, this four-part documentary charts how Fox (real name Anthony Strangis) defrauded Melngailis out of $2m, leaving her in deep debt to investors and staff, by claiming he could make her beloved dog Leon immortal. Eventually the pair went on the run (by that time they were married) and they were tracked down when Strangis ordered a takeaway pizza. Bizarre and unnerving, this is a chilling portrait of a coercive controlling relationship and how it can alter someone’s perception of reality to such a shocking extent.