Family Dynamics | EP 14

Laura's new plea deal expires on the day this episode
comes out, Friday, June twenty sixth, but we likely won't
have an answer until Monday, June twenty ninth. As we wait,
I want to catch you up on what's been happening
over the past six weeks outside of Laura's criminal proceedings. First,
I spoke with the journalist who's been in touch with
the Owens family.
We believe our daughter, then we believe her. Now we
stood by her, then we stand by her now.
Then we have an update on the Owen's family home
foreclosure and their bankruptcy filings.
Their adult daughter, who has autism, also resides at the property.
Displacement from this property would cause severe disruption to a
household organized entirely around the medical needs of an elderly,
seriously ill resident.
Plus, it seems like Laura's been staying active online.
We have received a privacy complaint regarding your content. Upon
an analysis of your claim, we have removed the content
in question.
I'm Stephanie Young and this is love trapped.
There's no way you'd better believe.
I'll be raising Holy helm Us if you ever, ever, ever, ever.
Trashic since the podcast dropped. There is one topic everyone
seems particularly interested in Laura's parents, Ron Owens and Jan Black.
How much do they actually know do they support Laura.
To find out, I turned to longtime Bay Area reporter
Martha Ross. She first reached out to Ron and Jan
back in January of twenty twenty five.
I saw a Facebook post from a friend of theirs,
a former KGO colleague, who was talking about this go
fundme for Ron Owens, and I thought this is really
startling news, given Ron's stature in the Bay Area and
an assumption that given his forty years at KGO, that
he was probably pretty well off and why would he
need to go fund me? But I also know he
was very beloved in the community, so I emailed them.
On December thirty first, twenty twenty four, a gofund me
campaign was launched for Ron Owens. Keep in mind the
timeline here. This was nearly six months after the Arizona
Family Court had already ruled on Laura and Clayton's paternity case.
But when Martha first reached out to Ron and Jan
she didn't know that yet. As a veteran San Francisco reporter,
she was simply trying to find out more about the
fundraiser for a legendary local broadcaster.
They talked to about the insurance they had didn't quite
cover all their medical expenses, and I was sympathetic to that.
I think we've all heard of that being the reality
for many people, so it made sense to me.
Ron's GoFundMe is still active online. It lays out a
long list of severe health challenges. We've had a section
of the GoFundMe page read by a voice actor.
Ron is facing profound challenges. After living with Parkinson's disease
for twenty three years, his health battles have intensified. He
has courageously faced not only Parkinson's, but also four bouts
of cancer, most recently colon cancer, and serious heart issues.
These medical struggles have taken a toll, both physically and financially,
on the man who has been a pillar of strength
for so many.
At the time I'm recording this, the GoFundMe for Ron
has raised over one hundred and thirty six thousand dollars.
But to put those numbers in perspective, Ron and Jan
filed for bankruptcy life last year, where they reported an
income of about twenty one thousand dollars per month. That
contrast has fueled intense online speculation that the crowdsource funds
are potentially being used to cover Laura's legal fees. I
obtained a copy of an email sent to past donors
of the GoFundMe. The subject line reads a message from Ron.
We've had an excerpt read by a voice actor.
Life has continued to test me Parkinson's four bouts of cancer,
serious heart and mobility issues, and the ongoing financial strain.
On top of all this, our family is now facing
another heartbreaking chapter with the recent politically motivated indictment of
my daughter Laura. This stems from a legitimate paternity claim
she filed a couple of years ago against a former
reality TV star. Laura was pregnant at the time and
tragically suffered a miscarriage. What's been especially painful is that
the man she filed the claim against publicly denied she
was ever pregnant, and shockingly convinced a judge to question
the verified medical records, photographs, and video documentation that Laura
had submitted. Watching her personal tragedy dismissed and twisted has
been gut wrenching and to see it further monetized and
distorted by online content creators has made it worse. That said,
I want to be completely clear, the gofund me was
created solely to support.
Me and my needs.
None of these funds have been or will be used
for Laura's legal expenses.
Back in January twenty twenty five, Bay Aerial reporter Martha
Ross began working on a story about Ron Owens and
his fundraiser. At the time, Martha didn't know anything about
the paternity scandal. During her first interview with Ron and Jan,
she was surprised when they began steering the conversation to
a different topic. Their daughter, Laura.
Jan did a lot of the talking, but Ron would
interject every once in a while. During that conversation, they
also told me a lot of other things about how
a lot of their financial struggles were because they felt
like there was this internet smear campaign against them and
it was affecting some of their businesses. Then they opened
up about how Laura had gotten into this situation with
Clayton eckered The Bachelor, and I didn't know anything about
The Bachelor. I haven't followed that show, and I also
didn't know about this online community of YouTubers who were
following this, so it was all news to me.
Soon Martha began to investigate. There was one claim in
particular that caught her attention.
They brought up those allegations that are part of the
public record that Laura was lured into an encounter.
They were referring to the highly serious and unproven allegation
that Greg Gillespie and his attorney Greg Woodnick somehow conspired
to have Laura sexually assaulted. You heard about that in
episode five.
They both said that there was a FBI profiler that
Ron had interviewed was aware of the situation, and Ron said,
I believe it. I totally believe it.
Towards the end of that initial call, Laura joined the conversation.
They started telling me about Laura's situation with Clayton and
that she had these issues with these other men. There
was legal case and protective orders and things like that.
I said, you know, maybe this is something I could
follow up in the future.
And Martha did exactly that. Less than a week later,
she was on a call with Laura. I asked Marthough
whether Laura was still sticking to the narrative that she
was pregnant with Clayton's twins.
Yes, she was. She was sticking to the story that
she had the medical evidence and Ron and Jan were
supporting her.
Martha still had unanswered questions, so she circled back to
Ron and Jan for a second interview.
I was just trying to get some more information from
their perspective this whole case, as I was still learning more.
Jan again did most of the talking, but Ron, when
he spoke, he made it very clear that they support
her and they believe that she was pregnant, and that
they also support her pursuing court cases against these men,
that she was right to do it.
That's when the conversation took a turn and they brought
up the online community.
They both referred to the Clayton cult and they thought
that Clayton had been trying to organize people against them.
Jan said that this smear campaign against them. She said,
it's been horrific. Well, Ron said, it's made it difficult
for us to live our lives. And Jan said, the
thing is, our daughter got pregnant by the guy who
was a bachelor who first didn't believe she was pregnant,
and Jan said he had a really bad reputation was
using the situation to quote resurrect his image. They spoke
out against podcasters and content creators. Jan said they have
quote seized on this story to make one hour shows.
Martha also pressed Jan on the pattern of behavior at
the core of this entire saga, the fact that Laura
had claimed pregnancies by three different men and had restraining
orders involving each of them.
Jan said she didn't think it was quote that unusual
unquote for a woman in her early thirties to quote
have been pregnant, you know, with three different men, and
to have protective orders against them. She also said she
and her husband believe quote all the information unquote that
their daughter and her attorneys have presented in the courts.
Since those initial conversations, Martha's been reporting on the story
for The Mercury News. In May twenty twenty six, she
sent a new list of questions to the Owens family.
I reached out to them via email letting them know
that I was working on a story about the role
that they've played in supporting Laura throughout her pregnancy claims
in court actions. I sent a list of questions asking
lor if she maintained you Pregnant by Mike, greg and Clayton.
I asked about the plea bargain, whether Laura was considering it,
whether they were concerned about a prison sentence, and so on, and.
A few days later Martha got a twenty three page response.
They sent back a response. It came from Jan's email
and it was signed by Ron and Jan.
This makes Martha one of the only people in the
media who's heard from Ron and Jan since the podcast began.
I want to walk you through what they said.
The response began, We want to express concern about the
framing of many of the questions being posed. A significant
number of them contain embedded messages, assumptions, and language that
appear to adopt narratives promoted online and in the podcast
Love Trapped, rather than approaching these matters from a neutral
or investigative standpoint.
One of Martha's questions directly addressed our show. She asked,
quote with the podcast Love Trapped, Ron and Jan have
come under scrutiny about the role they played in publicly
supporting Laura's pregnancy claims and court actions against Maruccini, Gillespie,
and Eckert. Do Ron and Jan want to comment on
the podcast.
They said Love Trapped never contacted us directly. We've lived
the story with Laura in real time, know the truth,
and have no interest in hearing a fictionalized account of
what happened. I Jan reached out to the production twice
in emails to producer Stephanie Young in August twenty twenty five,
offering to provide my account. I never received any response
to me. No response equals no interest in telling our
side of the story.
I need to interject here first, as you heard in
episode twelve, I have no record of communications from Jan
Black in my company or personal inbox. In fact, when
our team asked Laura if we could speak with her mother, Jan,
we got a reply back stating that because Jan is
listed as a witness in the criminal proceedings, she can't
speak on the record. We continued extending the offer via
email to Laura for her or her family to participate
in an interview, but they were unresponsive. Second, the phrasing
in Jan's response gave me deja vus. We know that
Laura often uses the word equals in the same way
as this typed response from Jan, like in an email
Laura sent to Clayton on September fifth, twenty twenty three,
Laura said, quote, just confirming that you are refusing a
paternity test. No answer equals refusing it. This was the
rest of Jan's response to Martha about Love Trapped.
Based on what we've seen in episode transcripts, damaging specific
allegations about us and our family were made to an
international podcast audience without any attempt to get our input.
That is not journalism.
This actually sounds a lot like what Laura wrote and
her final email to me when I requested her comment
for the podcast. Laura wrote back saying, quote, what this
production has done to us knowingly, with the record in hand,
and with every opportunity to correct it is not journalism.
Martha's next set of questions addressed Laura's relationship with Mike Marriuccini.
I asked, did Laura and Ron offer Mike the chance
of a radio career by having him record a podcast
a millennial dating? Did Ron tell Mike he could earn
up two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year, and
their response was no, No offer was made, no contract existed,
no payment was ever discussed. That would have been an
incredibly high salary for someone new to the industry. An
industry veteran like Ron would never have made such an offer.
From there, Martha questioned Laura's ongoing pursuit of the domestic
violence restraining order against Mike, even though they lived seven
hundred miles apart and haven't had contact for years.
I asked, do you support her continuing to pursue this
and their response was, quote, most abusers deny being abusive
in the court system. The dismissal of the DVRO extension
had nothing to do with the merits of the case
in Mike's public conduct before and since that dismissal independently
warrants protection.
And as far as Laura's criminal case in Arizona goes,
it doesn't sound like they are willing to share any
information on.
Matters involving Laura's criminal case, any potential plea deal, the
possibility of a prison term. They referred those questions to
Laura's criminal defense attorney.
One of the biggest questions Martha threw with them was
about accountability.
I also asked, quote, what do Laura, Ron or Jan
say to people who have accused Laura of abusing the
court system taking up time and resources that could go
to victims and making it difficult for women to be
believed when they come forward with abuse allegations. They said,
it has been painful for her to pursue these cases,
and she has been very brave in doing so. It
would have been easy for her to remain quiet. The
suggestion that she has abused the court system ignores both
the facts and the actual outcomes of multiple legal proceedings
across nearly a decade.
And finally, Martha asked Ron and Jane question that I
think we've all been wanting an answer to. She asked, quote,
given everything lost financially over the past several years and
the emotional toll from the investigation, bankruptcy filings, and media scrutiny,
would Ron or jan have wanted to do anything differently?
They said, No, we believe our daughter. Then, we believe
her now We stood by her. Then, we stand by
her now we love her and it's been profoundly painful
to see her be the target of an effort to
destroy every aspect of her life. We continue to be
an aunt of her courage.
In the past few weeks, there have been some important
updates on the Owens family finances and bankruptcy filings. It
might seem technical, but the documents filed in the public
record give us an insight into their unique family dynamic.
And luckily, the recordings of these hearings are available on YouTube.
Let's start with Laura. As you know, in December twenty
twenty five, Laura Owens filed for bankruptcy. Five months later,
all parties agreed to dismiss the case. That was bad
news for her. It means the case is dismissed, not
her debts. Laura still owes her creditors, including roughly two
hundred thousand dollars to Clayton Eckered. While the dismissal was
largely expected given the mutual agreement, nothing was official until
May fourteenth. That happened to be Laura's thirty sixth birthday,
and she spent part of it dialing into her bankruptcy
court hearing.
Okay, I'm going to ask for appearances in the Laura
Owns case. I'm going to start in the courtroom.
Please, good afternoon, your honor. Jennifer g i'ma on behalf
of the United States trustee.
Thank you.
Jennifer Giamo is the Department of Justice Attorney assigned to
Laura's case. If her name sounds familiar, it's because you
might remember her from one of Laura's previous bankruptcy hearings
in February.
How old you?
I'm thirty five, so thirty five years you have never
had made any income on your own to your own bills.
The hearing continued, and the list of people in attendance
only grew from there.
Is there anybody else who wants to make an appearance.
Your honor?
This is Christian Leaders. I am Mitzleen's attorney in her
criminal matter in the Americopa County case. I'm not making
an official appearance in this case. I don't think I'm
standing to do so. I'm not a bankruptcy attorney, and
I'm not representing her in that matter. I'm here only
for informational pose.
Who's old?
Christian Looters is the new criminal defense attorney that you've
already heard about him? Calling into this bankruptcy hearing seems
like a sign of a proactive attorney. He's likely trying
to monitor all Laura's ongoing legal matters, even those falling
outside the scope of her criminal case.
I do understand that I also have several people that
are listening in and not making an appearance today, and
I understand that's because this debtor has been in.
The news and also on social media.
From there, all parties, including Laura, officially agreed to dismiss
her bankruptcy filing. The whole hearing lasted about six minutes
and it ended with the judge signing the dismissal order.
I find good cause to approve the emotion and the
agreements that are set forth inner they're in that would
bar the refiling of a bankruptcy case for one year,
and I will sign the order thank you for for.
The next year. She can't file for bankruptcy again, and
the people who Laura owes money to, including Clayton, can
try to collect from her, but as we heard in
episode twelve, it's hard to collect from someone who appears
to have no personal assets. As for Ron and Jan's bankruptcy,
it's not quite as simple. There's a lot of technical jargon,
but it's worth explaining because it shows a pattern last
minute appeals, hail Mary, attempts, escalating medical crises, and seemingly
small clerical errors that are used to buy time. Laura's parents,
Ron Owens and Jan Black filed for bankruptcy in August
twenty twenty five. Because they failed to comply with the court.
That filing was dismissed this past January. Their debts, however,
remained fully intact. Martha Ross, the San Francisco journalist you
heard from earlier, asked Ron and Jan about their finances.
Their answer came in that twenty three page response she
received in early May.
I actually didn't specifically ask about the bankruptcy because that
seemed like it was in the past. But I did
ask about the foreclosure on their home in the upcoming auction.
As you might remember, Ron and Jan's home in Scottsdale
was set to be sold in a foreclosure auction. On
May twenty sixth, twenty twenty six, Martha asked them about
the upcoming foreclosure sale.
Their response was we're taking steps to avoid it, and
that's all they said.
On Friday night, May twenty second, four days before the auction,
I was out to dinner celebrating my best friend's birthday
when you guessed it, my phone started blowing up. The
first text came in at seven to ten pm from
Schnitze Ninja. It said Ron and Jan filed for bankruptcy
again getting details now, I'm admittedly not a bankruptcy expert,
so once again I turned to Tiffany Robertson, better known
in the community as Big tiff Dog. Tiffany recently retired
from a career in the financial services industry and has
been part of the online community tracking the Laura Owen's case.
Ron and Jant filed a last minute Chapter eleven petition
in the Arizona Bankruptcy Court on May twenty second, at
like three point thirty pm.
Their first filing was a Chapter thirteen, which is essentially
a payment plan for people trying to catch up on
bills or save their house from foreclosure. But this new
filing is a Chapter eleven that's a more complex process
built for businesses and high debt individuals.
It's extremely complex, like it definitely shouldn't be done without
an attorney.
But in this filing, Ron and Jann are representing themselves
and a familiar name has been added to the docket.
We saw that Jennifer Jammo almost immediately we filed an
appearance in this case.
Jennifer Giamo, the Department of Justice attorney previously involved in
Laura's bankruptcy is also assigned to this filing. This could
be a coincidence, but one thing is for sure. Miss
Giamo is already quite familiar with the nuances of the
Owens family finances, and based on what I've heard about
Jennifer Giamo, She's not going to let inconsistency slide. I
also couldn't help but wonder if Ron and Jan filed
for bankruptcy again to try and delay the auction of
their home. Luckily, the answer came just days later. On
June fourth, twenty twenty six, Ron and Jan requested an
extension to file their bankruptcy paperwork. Here's an excerpt from
that filing read by a voice actor.
On May twenty second, twenty twenty six, debtors filed a
voluntary Chapter eleven petition on an emergency basis without counsel,
to preserve the automatic stay and prevent the non judicial
foreclosure sale of their primary residence, which was scheduled to
proceed on May twenty six, twenty twenty six. The petition
was filed in good faith and for no purpose other
than the protection of debtor's home.
Ron and Jan were clearly worried that this new bankruptcy
filing wouldn't protect their home, leaving it vulnerable to being
put back on the auction block. This time, they have
a few medical explanations for why the house shouldn't be sold.
The property has been specifically adapted to accommodate the medical
needs of Ronald Owens, who is eighty years old, has
lived with Parkinson's disease for twenty five years, has survived
four separate bouts of cancer, carries a cancer diagnosis, and
has serious heart disease. Elizabeth Ann Naylor, aged sixty nine,
is his primary caregiver and provides daily medical care, medication management,
and physical assistance.
Elizabeth Naylor is Jan Black's legal name. That's a story
for another day.
Their adult daughter, who has autism, also resides at the property.
Displacement from this property would cause severe disruption to a
household organized entirely around the medical needs of an elderly,
seriously ill resident.
Because of their refiling, the Owens family home was protected
from foreclosure action at least until June twenty first, twenty
twenty six, ron and Jan requested an emergency bankruptcy hearing
to address their main concern being able to protect their
assets specifically their home. That hearing happened on June eighteenth,
just a week before this episode's release, and I don't
think it went the way Ron and Jan were hoping
it would.
Mss Naylor and mister Owens, this is your emergency motion
to extend the automatic stay in this case. It's your
burden to prove that this case was filed in good faith,
and you have to have clear and convincing EVI.
The primary thing the court is looking for is what
circumstances changed between when Ron and Jan's first bankruptcy case
was dismissed and the filing of their new case. It
seemed to the judge that their income had remained the same.
The judge had questions for Ron and Jan about what
brought them back into bankruptcy court. Jan starts to answer,
and the judge interrupts.
Her, Well, the prior thirteen was dismissed not because we
abandoned it, but because our attorney didn't act when I
asked him to in writing, Well.
Let me just stop and interrupt you there, because I've
reviewed the papers filed in the prior case, and the
reason your case was dismissed is because you did not
turn over to the trustee tax returns and because your
plan payments were delinquent. So whatever may have happened with
your attorney, you know that I don't know what happened there,
but filing your taxes and turning over for your returns
and paying your plan payments are all within your control.
Correct.
Jan tried to explain to the judge why their tax
returns weren't filed and why their payments were delinquent.
As far as the plan payment is concerned, we had
some major unexpected expenses that could not be put off.
We had major storm damage and clean up that had
been required, and we had septic tank issues, and we
had car repair issues, and I the money had to
go into those things. From you know, from an emergency
crisis standpoint, going forward, we would anticipate that the amount
of income that we have that is guaranteed, the twenty
one thousand dollars a month income that is guaranteed under
our Social Security and pension benefits, would be enough to
get us to give us the restar that we need here.
Then the judge asked to hear from Jennifer Giamo, the
attorney representing the US Trustee. Miss Giomo was audibly frustrated
with Ron and Jan's excuses.
I would argue that you have sufficient grounds before you
right now to deny this motion, because, as you're under
pointed out, there is no clear and convincing evidence. There's
no evidence at all in this case that there's been
a change of circumstances. And I think that by allowing
this case to continue, and giving these debtors an opportunity,
even a short one, to try to file new schedules
that might have again more misrepresentations, all we're doing is
postponing the inevitable and allowing these debtors to continue abusing
the system.
And that's what this is. Thank you, eron.
But before the hearing ended, Ron and Jen were asked
about the GoFundMe. This was Jan's response to.
The judge, If your honor, I imagine this has to
do with the snaredham which has been going on against
our family for the last three years. A GoFundMe was
set up for on behalf of my husband by friends,
and that was set up in December of twenty twenty four,
and it was set up at that time in an
effort to try to help us prevent the bankruptcy situation.
Jennifer Giamo jumped in.
Jarnor, may I if I can just intervene here real quick.
I think what the issue is is that there was
a go fundme set up in the name of mister
and missus Owens, and I think there was over one
hundred thousand dollars generated and that was never disclosed in
the chapter thirteen or in this case.
That's what the issue is.
I hate having to say this, but once again, the
hearing was continued and no decision was made, but the
judge wants to see Ron and jan again very soon.
July first, at two pm we'll resume this hearing. The
court will impose a temporary stay. This hearing is concluded.
Thank you.
I haven't heard from Laura Owens in the past few weeks.
It's been quiet, but that's not true for everyone. I
recently checked in with some of the content creators who've
been following this story from the beginning, and it turns
out many of them are experiencing something frustrating. Knowing that
listeners were eager for more context and different perspectives reality,
Steve decided to release a video of himself reading the
emails Laura had sent him.
My emails with her were only from September of twenty
twenty three through January of twenty twenty four, and I
read my responses to all of them, and I was like,
let me just do a YouTube video and put it
out and how people watch it.
It took him over two hours to read through the
emails and share his commentary, which he then uploaded to YouTube.
And about three days after I did it, I got
an email from YouTube Legal Support that said I've had
a privacy complaint filed against me. Then it talked about
videos are not allowed to have any visuals of anybody
or dosing any of that, and I was just like,
outside of Laura's email address, that was the only thing
I didn't blur out.
Two days later, he received an email from YouTube stating
that his video had been deactivated. With the help of
the online community, he meticulously reviewed the footage to identify
what might have triggered the privacy complaint.
It reposted the video like three weeks later, with everything
blurred out that needed to be blurred out. I got
the same exact formal email that I got after the
first video went up five seventeen PM on May twenty
is when I got the second complaint filed against me.
It was generic and the time stamps were exactly the
same as almost like they cut and pasted their first email.
Nothing was different.
Reality, Steve wasn't the only creator hit with the privacy
complaint on May twentieth. Schnitzel Ninja received one as well.
So after the hearing that was on May twentieth, a
complex case management conference, sometime later that day, I received
an email that said a privacy complaint had been made
against my entire YouTube channel and they give you forty
eight hours to edit or remove the information that was
complained about.
Schnitzel Ninja was no stranger to YouTube's flagging system. In
late twenty twenty three, six of her videos featuring court
recordings were hit with privacy complaints. However, after she made
the necessary adjustments, YouTube took no further action.
In my research and from prior report worts that have
been made, you have to be the subject of the
content in order to file the complaint a privacy complaint. Specifically,
in order to be a privacy complaint and to report
the whole channel, that person would have to be in
all of the content on the channel, and so the
only person who is likely in all of the content
on my channel is Laura herself.
Schnitzel Ninja's content has also faced copyright challenges. A compilation
video she uploaded of Laura falling during horse competitions received
two copyright removal requests.
For those it gives contact information and it also gives
you the complaint that was made. So the first one
had Laura's email address and her complaint.
And the second one had her mom's name on it,
but Laura's email address was listed under contact info. As
I mentioned, when it comes to privacy complaints, YouTube rarely
specifies exactly what triggers a violation. They are frustratingly unclear.
Even after Reality Steve edited his video to address potential issues,
he was still hit with the second complaint.
What did I violate saying Laura Owen's name than every
single video that's been made on Laura Owens for the
last three years would be getting taken down like this
is what I don't understand.
It was even more frustrating for Schnitzel Ninja, who didn't
just get a video flag, but had her whole channel
reported because the complaint is so broad Schnitzel Ninja is
having a hard time trying to pinpoint what the actual
issue is.
I do want to comply with the rules is I
think everyone should, But when it's a blanket complaint like this,
it doesn't leave the content creator any room to try
to make a change other than which is what I'm
assuming she would prefer, is that the channel just all
of the content be gone and the channel not exists anymore.
I understand that she may not like what's on there,
but the majority of my channel is covering public information,
court videos, court documents, police body cam, police calls, all
things that have been properly obtained through all of the
legal channels. And therefore, as a content creator, how do
you even go about remedying this complaint.
Both Schnitzel Ninja and Reality Steve submitted responses to dispute
the privacy complaints from May twentieth.
This time I responded, and I just made it clear like,
this is a woman involved in a public case in Arizona.
Here's the case number. I'm allowed to talk about a
public case. And these were her emails to me, And
two days later got a response saying, your video has
been taken down again, and I'm like, Okay, well, I'm
just giving up at this point. And I can't prove
this is from Laura, but I assume it is because
we know she listens to and watches everything reality.
Steve was obviously annoyed about his video getting pulled, but
that wasn't even the biggest pain point for him.
It's just frustrating more than anything, because this was her
telling me her side of the story, and kind of
what I said in my video was like, the one
thing that Laura has complained about is everybody just believes
what's on the Love Trap podcast and it is biased
and nobody is hearing her side. Well, this was literally
her side of the story from September of twenty twenty three,
when this first started, till January of twenty twenty four.
Her emails were literally saying, no, you're wrong, Steve. And
this is why now, I didn't think any of her
reasons were legitimate, and I didn't believe them, and I
think most people that read those emails and listened to
me read those emails agreed it's still a bunch of crap,
but she was at least getting her side out there.
And now that we're letting her side out there by
reading her emails. I'm invading privacy. It makes no sense whatsoever.
The content creators have been through this before with Laura,
but it's different this time because now Laura is a
defendant in a high profile criminal case. Even still, she's
trying the same tactic, trying to silence the people who
talk about her alleged crimes.
I feel like she is back to in some ways,
this Laura that we saw in twenty twenty three, which
is this Laura who is still proclaiming her innocence, who
is still trying to get anything negative removed about her
from the Internet. We know that she did a lot
of complaints against content that was online. I think she
really is still trying to control the narrative so that
there's less negative stuff about her out there.
Mike Marraccini has also been trying to wipe negative content
about himself from the internet. You probably remember Laura's ted
X talk about their Iceland trip.
The first thing he did once we landed an Eye London,
got to the hotel, was asked me to pick a number,
not knowing why I picked forty. He said that was
how many times he was going to slot me. He did,
and then he choked me.
A lot of people have reached out to TEDx trying
to get this video taken down, and even caught the
attention of twelve News, a local Phoenix TV station, who
ran a segment on it. In June twenty twenty six.
Valley resident and former star of the Bachelor is upset
over a ted talk that remains online. The video shows
Laura Owens give life advice to others, despite Owens being
under multiple criminal indictments for allegedly lying in a paternity scandal.
Twelve News investigative reporter Sean Rice reached out to TEDEX
for comment.
I wanted to ask them why this video is still
up given the accusations and the findings in court against Owens.
We have not heard back at all, given them multiple
weeks to respond. We do know they're listening to this
criticism because the comment section on Laura Owens's x posting
on YouTube, those comments have been turned off.
When we started researching this case, our team also reached
out to ted X to get a statement. We never
received a response. After seeing this local news story, I
figured I would try again. I wrote back to TEDx
giving them a little background on the developments in this case.
I said quote, I realized that an indictment is not
a conviction, but I know that numerous people, including Mike
Marriccini himself, have asked for this video to be removed
from the techx YouTube page. I am requesting a response
to the following question, if Laura Owens is convicted of
felonies in the state of Arizona, does TEDx plan to
remove her video from their YouTube channel. To my surprise,
this time I got a response. It was three simple words, yes,
we do so. According to TEDx, if Laura is convicted
of felonies in the state of Arizona, we should expect
to see that video removed from YouTube. Those are all
the updates I have for now. On Monday, June twenty ninth,
we'll all be watching to see if Laura takes the
plea deal. If there's news, I'll be back with a
short update, and as the criminal proceedings continue, we'll bring
you more episodes of Love Trapped. T Thank you so
much for listening. Please be sure to follow Love Trapped
on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you
get your podcasts and please leave us a review. A
five star rating helps others find this show. We're grateful
for your support. If you would like to reach out
to the Love Trapped team or have a similar story
to share, email us at Love Trapped Pod at gmail
dot com. That's Love Trapped Pod at gmail dot com.
Love Trapped is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division
of Glass Entertainment Group, in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. This
show was executive produced by Nancy Glass, Andrea Gunning and
Ben Fetterman, written, produced and hosted by me Stephanie Young.
Our story editor is Monique la Board. Additional production support
from Todd Gans. Our production manager is Kristin Melchiri. For
iHeart Podcasts, Ali Perry was our executive producer. Audio editing
and mastering by Anna McLain. Additional editing support by Tanner
Robbins and Matt Delvecchio. Thank you to our voice actors
Monique la Board and Tanner Robbins. This podcast was developed
in collaboration with Danny Passman and leb Abramoff at Crybaby Media.
The Love Trapped theme is composed by Oliver Bains. Music
library provided by Mybe Music, a special thanks to Carrie Lieberman,
Will Pearson, Jessica Crincheck, Ali Canter, and the entire iHeart
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