Pretend Podcast to expose true crime mogel Ladonna Humphrey
New Season of Pretend Podcast to cover self-proclaimed celebrity & true crime mogel Ladonna Humphrey.
Pretend Podcast is a true crime podcast hosted by investigative journalist Javier Leiva. The show delves into the world of con artists and real people pretending to be someone they’re not. Leiva interviews swindlers, snake oil salesmen, cult leaders and reveals their schemes and secrets. The podcast consistently ranks as one of the top true crime podcasts in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.
Javier Leiva’s most recent production, a season titled “Who's Afraid of Ladonna Humphrey,” centers around Humphrey, a self-proclaimed celebrity and true crime mogul. In his captivating podcast, Leiva discusses the controversies surrounding Humphrey and gives their stance on the situation.
Ladonna Humphrey is an award-winning writer, documentarian, investigative journalist, and advocate for victims of crime. She wears multiple hats, including being the co-founder of All the Lost Girls and True Crime Fest NWA, as well as the co-host of two podcasts: the Deep Dark Secrets Podcast and the Extinguished Podcast.
Notably, Ladonna has released three books on the unsolved murder of Melissa Witt through Genius Book Publishing, and she directed an indie documentary titled “Uneven Ground: The Melissa Witt Story” in May 2023.
Over the course of this season, Leiva has interviewed close to a dozen people, unrelated to one another – tied together by a chilling commonality. Each of the interviewee’s lives intersected with Humphrey’s, and shortly after parting ways with the true crime celebrity, each individual experienced pervasive and persistent harassment in the form of spoof emails and phone numbers. Could these telephonic and cyber crimes be connected, or is this just the universe playing tricks on those associated with Humphrey?
The episodes include interviews with Humphrey's former colleague, Patti Rush, who worked alongside Humphrey during the early years of her investigation into the Melissa Witt case; Humphrey's former co-host of Deep Dark Secrets Podcast and co-writer of “Strangled” (now pulled from publication), Alecia Lockhart; and Humphrey's former boss, Anthony Christopher. Each of these witnesses carry thought provoking information into the career and behavior patterns of Ladonna Humphrey.
Catch the first few episodes of Pretend: Who's Afraid of LaDonna Humphrey on Tuesday, June 4th anywhere you stream your podcasts.