The audience’s preoccupation with con artist plays has grown abundantly obvious over the past few years. The scandalous life of Sarma Melngailis, proprietor of the popular vegan and raw food restaurant Pure Food and Wine, is chronicled in the now infamous Netflix series Bad Vegan. However, once she met (and wed) accomplished con artist turned ex-con Anthony Strangis, aka Shane Fox, Sarma took over the NYC culinary world.
As they work together to ruin her restaurant (and image), steal millions from investors, and essentially flee the country, Melngailis and Strangis are full of odd and — at times — unbelievable promises and acts throughout the series. Sarma’s justification? Anthony promised her unrestricted wealth and Leon, her pet bulldog, would live forever. There is more to Netflix’s recent smash than director/executive producer Chris Smith (Fyre, Tiger King) mentioned, even if there is already a lot to learn from the series. Given Smith’s success in creating a market for additional con artist tales, it might come as a surprise that he decided to omit a number of mouthwatering details.
She Paid Her Employees With Netflix Money
Not paying either the participants or the subjects is one of the numerous ethical practises that surround the creation of documentaries. Sarma from Bad Vegan, however, was the exception to this unspoken rule.
A large number of irate, betrayed workers who were left high and dry without payment were left behind when Sarma and Anthony fled. But after the docuseries was completed, Netflix executives made the decision to cover Sarma’s remaining large debt. “The producers approved an exemption so that I could pay the complete sum my former employees were owed — payments that accrued after my departure in 2015,” she writes on her website, Sarma Raw. It appears that at least one of her former employees has a reason to enjoy the series.
She Is “Not In Touch With Anthony Strangis”
The conclusion of Bad Vegan, in which Sarma calls Strangis after all the prison drama has obviously played out, is arguably one of the film’s most frightening scenes. The impression that she had actually learned nothing and was in risk of reconciling with her ex-husband was left with the audience. Sarma, however, asserted that this was not how events actually unfolded.
According to Sarma’s account on her website, the controversial phone or calls took place as the documentary was being made. The conversation at the conclusion was a staged call, recorded for the documentary, of which a short portion was misrepresented to suggest something that isn’t true, the author continues. Despite the fact that this helps to explain why the dialogue was included, she continues, “The justifications were tactical and had to do with the security of myself and Leon. Later, it was carried out especially to compile information for Bad Vegan. Making those calls was challenging.” Regardless of her stated justification, she calls Netflix’s presentation of the conclusion “disturbingly false.”
Sarma Didn’t Want To Get Married
Audiences, like Sarma’s coworkers and colleagues, were perplexed by her hasty and “romantic” marriage to Mr. Fox. Even though she had no love feelings for him, she still made the decision to get married on the spot without inviting anyone.
In her blog post with the title “Sarma writes in “ABOUT BAD VEGAN – PART ONE” that it “makes no sense that I would do all of that just to go away with a man I loathed and frightened. That part of the story was improperly shortened, I didn’t want to marry him.” She adds that he “badgered” her about it for months before they finally got married, but that particular level of reasoning seems to raise more concerns than it does answers.
Anthony Forbade His “TBH” From Taking Public Transportation.
Being unable to use the subway is an additional strange nugget that is left out of the series among all the various methods of control and general mind-trickery used by serial con artist Anthony (or Shane, depending on the day).
Sarma claims that Anthony forbade her from using the NYC subway because he believed it would endanger her life in some way. She lamented her lack of underground freedom in a letter to “Mr. Fox” in 2016, referring to him as her “dear and wonderful tiny blonde human” (TBH). Additionally, she tries her hand at comedy by providing another justification for Anthony’s control over her metro habits: “I was prohibited from using the train. Like that was beneath me (pun intended).” Naturally, she doesn’t have many alternatives at this point.
She Has Written A Book About The Whole Ordeal
Nowadays, it seems like everyone writes a book about a well-known incident, making money off of both fame and notoriety. Sarma, it would seem, is the same. Although it shouldn’t be shocking given that she often journals.
Sarma claims on her website that she is almost finished writing her account of her experience, despite the fact that she has not yet found a publisher (it is unclear if she has tried). Her justification for the tell-all, according to her, is altruism: “Right now, all I want to do is simply share my own thoughts in the hopes that they would make other people feel less alone in their nightmares or even give them the willpower to leave one. And I hope that by sharing my thoughts, I might assist some people realise the reality of what took place, how things really were, and how I feel about that particular man.” Fans of the series will undoubtedly be interested in hearing more from her.
Several Unmentioned Celebrities Frequented The Restaurant
A-list celebs frequented the Manhattan restaurant, but Alec Baldwin wasn’t the only one who frequently went there. Baldwin, a swing-and-miss love interest for Melngalis, would later meet his future wife, Hilaria Baldwin, in the identical place, as was highlighted in the series.
On their innovative, phonetically named website, Tudum, Netflix developed a list of A-level celebrity subscribers, and some of the names may surprise you. Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady, Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri, and other couples attended the restaurant. The list also includes Bill Nye, Alicia Silverstone, Owen Wilson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Katie Holmes, Woody Harrelson, Jimmy Fallon, and Howard Stern. Stars like Bill Clinton, Stevie Wonder, and Darryl Hannah are also included on the list. Unfortunately for these celebrities, finding another hip, must-try eatery to indulge in their veganism would be necessary.
She Had A Romantic Relationship With Her (Married) Attorney
Sarma recruited defence lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman in 2017 after firing her previous lawyer, and the two of them apparently had a love relationship before her trial despite the father of two being long-married. It should be noted that Sarma was still married to Strangis at the time, thus everything was complicated.
Fortunately for Sarma, Smith decided not to include the scandalous relationship in the movie. However, the New York Post was able to obtain “hundreds of text messages” between the two and published some of the NSFW content on their website. Naturally, Sarma has never discussed the scandal in public.
She Is Really Unhappy With How The Docuseries Turned Out
Sarma claims on Instagram that Netflix sensationalised her life experiences in order to deceive the public in addition to paying off her debts. It is a recurring theme on all of her social media, and it speaks to her desire to defend herself and defend her behaviour.
Her main complaint is that she wasn’t presented as the victim she sees herself to be, but as someone who was both careless and responsible. She clearly understands the suffering and disgrace she has caused, but her perspective on the matter differs from Smith’s in that she only sees herself as the victim of “psychological assault.”
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