In 2002, a viral DVD featuring drunk homeless men beating each other up enraged activists and led to several arrests but to its creators, everyone was missing the point. The plaintiffs claimed their civil rights had been violated in the making of Bumfights. After the debut of Survivor the number-one rated show in 2001, itself teeming with unsettling imagery, like the infamous trapped-rat-eating episode viewers were so starved for reality-based programming that by the end of 2003, American Idol, The Bachelor and Joe Millionaire would join Survivor near the top of the TV ratings charts. After Bumfights was released, Brennan remained on the streets, off and on, for years, and continued to drink. (McPherson denies this claim. My life was falling apart. But their first project was notorious. There was one count of felonious battery with serious injury connected to the Taco Bell incident, as well as a misdemeanor charge of illegal fight promoting for Indeclines alleged offering of compensation to Brennan and Hannah for their pugilistic contest that day. 1: A Cause for Concern features primarily high school fights caught on tape and homeless men (most notably Rufus Hannah and Donnie Brennan) in the San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas metropolitan areas attempting amateur stunts in a style inspired by the popular MTV series Jackass. Bumfights is a video series produced by Indecline Films. Brennan and Hannah had each spent time in the U.S. Army, with Brennan serving in the Vietnam War. She remembers him as an inspirational figure and a soft-spoken, very sweet person., Similar tidings for Hannah are still held out West, where his legend first exploded. The debut release titled Bumfights Vol. Leticia and Beeson publicly claimed they were the original masterminds behind the project. He lives in a room at a sober-living home that supports people in recovery in San Diego. Can you imagine how scary that would be, especially for someone sleeping outdoors who knows that it is very dangerous to be sleeping outside? He calls his cousin a saint, saying Soper was helping people who were used and abused and paid to do horrible things.. It could be someone whos threatening your life., In June 2002, just a couple of months after the first DVDs pressing, Wired reported that 250,000 copies of Bumfights had been sold for $22 each, and that Internet users, some from as far away as Istanbul and as near as Andrews Air Force Base, are logging ontoBumfights.comto get one of their own [videos] and picking up a T-shirt or hooded sweatshirt while theyre at it.. Everyday id watch the same shit on tv and youtube. That's the kind of friend you keep around, huh. I flew out to Las Vegas and met my cousin and told him we have to rescue Rufus and Donnie, Soper says. 1 Review . In the late 1990s, when Ryen McPherson was a teenager living in the idyllic San Diego suburb of La Mesa, California, he met two middle-aged homeless men named Donnie Brennan and Rufus Hannah. 2,442 Views . . The Stunt Bum barely walked away with his life. McPherson also says he moved to Las Vegas for a second reason: to get away from Officer Dan Willis of the La Mesa Police Department. This is a person, Hustings says of the target in the clip. According to James, the plaintiffs attorneys targeted his homeowners insurance for the payout because Ryen was under the age of 18 at the time of some of the offenses, rendering James liable and $300,000 happened to be the policys maximum payout. Such incidents, according to Brennan, were what prompted Hannah to call Barry Soper, a San Diego businessman who had once hired the duo to perform maintenance work for a few weeks at a residential development he owned. The Los Angeles Times reported that a confused and shaky Hannah testified, They didnt make me do anything. That May, the Bumfights producers pleaded guilty to the illegal fight promoting misdemeanor in a deal that saw them avoid a criminal trial, which they say would not have yielded an impartial judge or jury because of the negative press theyd been getting. Video series showing various fights between people, "SignOnSanDiego.com: Homeless men in 'Bumfights' get settlements over video", "Subversion Gone Wrong: Inside 'Bumfights', "LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL: NEWS: Film cashes in on street scenes", "Ryen McPherson Q&A Part 2 [Bumfights / Indecline / King of the Jews ] - Polly Staffle - Movie & DVD Reviews", "Moral ambiguity - Westlake | Bay Village Observer", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bumfights&oldid=1147717630, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 April 2023, at 18:50. Merely walking down Colfax Ave. to go downtown, you run a gauntlet of sparechangers, see guys sleeping on air vents or in doorways, or the occasionally one so wasted they stumble down the sidewalk without realizing they no longer have shoes and their jeans are soaked in piss. That was a really big day, Tanner tells Rolling Stone. In fact, Soper "rescued" Hannah and Brennan from the filmmakers after the two men called Hannah's boss from a Las Vegas apartment building where they'd been "stashed." Bum fights. But few players in the Bumfights tale believe the film would have such reverberations through the zeitgeist of today. Theres still a lot of people doing similar things [and] theyre not making any money.. After initial deliberations, it was settled without a trial. Unknown (McPherson denies that ever happened.) Viewers now saw homeless characters risking bodily harm by performing stunts, as well as brawling, abusing drugs and engaging in all sorts of extreme tomfoolery. BUMFIGHTS VOL. Interestingly enough, Soper met and hired Hannah before Hannah ended up on the video series that gave him any fame. Unknown on August 1, 2021. Without him I dont think anybody wouldve cared, he says. McPherson felt he should chronicle such activity. Most . Tsu Surf Pleads Guilty to RICO, Firearms Charges They harass and assault homeless people, show bums taking shits and using drugs, instigate fights, its just offensive for the sake of being offensive. I can't remember their name. TPM adds that they claimed sales of about 300,000 copies at $20 each, which adds up to six million, a figure that jibes with a 2005 Street Spirit piece saying the first video, Bum Fights, grossed over six million dollars in one month.. McPherson and Bubeck each wound up serving three months. With Tenor, maker of GIF Keyboard, add popular Bum Fights animated GIFs to your conversations. One Thanksgiving night, McPherson brought Brennan and Hannah plates of leftovers from his familys dinner, sitting with them outside a grocery store while they ate. The world was listening to what we provided, he says. After fleeing the scene in a getaway car driven by Plotkin, Soper pays for a Greyhound bus that ships Brennan and Hannah back to La Mesa. But here is where their respective stories begin to diverge. After rolling up Brennans jeans, Tanner says he saw a pretty fucked bone break. To go from living that much of a desperate life to being someone whos a national spokesperson, traveling around the country, talking to legislators and colleges about homelessness and alcoholism to me, that shows great courage., Brennan tells Rolling Stone that, before Hannahs death, the two were tighter than the Lone Ranger and Tonto., He was beyond a nice guy, Brennan also said of Hannah. You must be at least 18 years old and you must agree that you are not offended by mature content to view this group. In talking to Rolling Stone about the Bumfights saga, McPherson, as well as Tanner and Slyman, express frustration over the way all the events have been portrayed in the media through the years. I was living life and it was hell. McPherson says he used a portion of the revenue he earned from Bumfights to pay for their housing, cigarettes and food, a move he thought more prudent than writing them a royalty check that he worried theyd blow on booze. They don't make bums like Cali 92 bums. on December 29, 2020. SUCH A SAD WORLD WE LIVE IN NOW. Though controversial for its fight footage and acts of elaborate graffiti art, legal troubles did not hinder the sales of this video, although the website went offline in June 2008. US 'Bumfights' filmmakers wanted for shipping baby body parts from Thailand. The episode never aired but according to legend, it was meant to air on December 12th, 2006. The cop then instructed him to be more careful in the future. Soper says Hannah moved back there to be closer to family. H.264 IA download. Is New York City Really Cracking Down on Weed Sellers? McPherson, who makes a living as a freelance creative director, will never get the chance to mend fences with his one-time homeless buddy Hannah, though. Privacy Policy. (Hannah, in his deposition during that later civil suit, said McPherson never gave him alcohol, though he contradicted that statement in a memoir he published in 2010.). Today, Slyman runs a bail-bonds business and performs stand-up comedy in Las Vegas. According to Ross, the videos were a last-minute submission into evidence, allowed by the judge without the prosecution having the chance to examine them. Saddened by the loss of Hannah, Soper, followed by a local news camera, placed a bouquet of flowers at the dumpster where he says the two first met in the late 1990s. 3:43. bumfights 4. In the late 1990s, when Ryen McPherson was a teenager living in the idyllic San Diego suburb of La Mesa, California, he met two middle-aged homeless men named Donnie Brennan and Rufus Hannah.. The notorious videos had gained such popularity, that by 2002, there were large volumes of sales and merchandise. Brennan and Hannah followed McPherson, who put them up in an apartment. For more information, please see our Brennan and Hannah sometimes coaxed each other into performing stunts of their own, mostly because people liked us and we were kidding around, Brennan, 70, tells Rolling Stone. 2. With so much access to so many violent videos across the Internet on YouTube and World Star, for example Bumfights might be an outrageous but forgettable one-day fad in 2018, netting scant cash for its creators, whod see viral-status hit numbers and little else to show for their efforts. )Go tell Bum #1 that Bum #2 was the guy responsible for putting him on the street and that he stole the last little bit of Thunderbird, and his last cigarette filter, you know, the one that has 3 to 4 grains of tobacco on it. Its like jackass but instead of friends pranking each other, you go do it to homeless people without asking if they're down for it. Regardless, it was the first of many acts performed by homeless people that McPherson taped most prolifically with Hannah, memorialized in his films as Rufus the Stunt Bum.. He called Hannah a beautiful soul., Hustings, of the National Coalition for the Homeless, says she interacted with Hannah on a few occasions while he was engaged in outreach as a speaker on behalf of the organization. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Cultishly-followed videos brimming with shock value were nothing new see: the Faces of Death series, four mondo horror films from the 1970s and 1980s that depicted gruesome fatalities, and the early-1990s underground VHS tapes of hooded graffiti taggers bombing in New York City. McPherson, Slyman and Tanner say part of the message behind their film was to raise awareness of the homeless problem in America, indicated by the complete title of the first installment the only production of the series four that Indecline controlled Bumfights: A Cause for Concern. with image of children struggling for sticky buns. [2] Community complaints led to the police investigating if any laws were broken by producers. Uploaded by By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. The rage against McPherson and Indecline was tapped into again for an episode of 60 Minutes that aired in October 2006. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Share the best GIFs now >>> In early October 2017, Hannah was riding in his sisters car close to Swainsboro, Georgia, where he was born. They certainly did not expect Bumfights to have either the sales success it had or its quaked cultural impact. bum fights Easy to start: 1.) (Meanwhile, Slyman bowed out of Indecline after selling the rights to Bumfights to pursue other interests. The debut release titled Bumfights Vol. They point out that they were still young when most of it occurred, and that theyd had personal relationships with the films stars prior to and throughout their filming. According to DHL, the parcels were declared as Puzzle-unlimited collectors ED, Steamer Cap and Antique Train Collector E. [TalkingPointsMemo], Creative. However, with Rufus, I was always proud of him, McPherson says. In September 2002, the Bumfights Krew were arrested on seven felony charges for paying homeless people to fight. Not that that's anything like Bumfights, now that I thought about your question. on December 30, 2020, There are no reviews yet. He hung out with Brennan and Hannah one day behind a supermarket, where the two would cash in recyclable cans theyd found. He says he later noticed subtle continuity inconsistencies within the footage, and concluded the tapes had been edited by Indecline to better their case. tea fight or bun fight tea party. Much of that is thanks to Soper, who helped Hannah write a bookhence the renewed interestcalled A Bum Deal, about Hannah's life and his work as an advocate for the homeless (he's currently trying to get legislation passed that would regard crimes against the homeless as hate crimes). More like CKY except mean spirited, I guess. KVFutureGamer 3.31K subscribers Subscribe 2.6K 316K views 4 years ago Here is an update video about the producers and stars of Bumfights.. They are taking advantage of a vulnerable, minority population to make a profit. New York Weed Dispensaries Are Already Opening. I cant believe youre living like that, she wrote to Hannah. 1: A Cause for Concern features primarily high school fights caught on tape and homeless men (most notably Rufus Hannah and Donnie Brennan) in the San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas metropolitan areas attempting amateur stunts in a style inspired by the popular MTV series Jackass. McPherson was eventually incarcerated for three months in connection to the DVD, and the civil suit filed against him by the three homeless men leveed a settlement upward of $300,000. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. Backstory. Who Needs a License? I gave Rufus my business card and said, If you ever get in trouble you call me, says Soper, now 73 and still living in San Diego. McPherson defended himself on the show saying, I cant imagine what would make somebody do the things Rufus was doing to himself, and added, I think its interesting. He also said the infamous Bum Hunter segments were prearranged sketches with the homeless subjects having agreed to participate ahead of time, something he recently reiterated to Rolling Stone. Beeson and Leticia released the three follow videos, volumes 2 - 4, including footage that was provided as part of their purchase of the business. Dr. Phil has made his career putting people in tough and often embarrassing situations, so when Ty Beeson, the creator, and director of the infamous Bum Fights, dressed up as the doc when appearing on his show, Dr. Phil didn't take it too well. You might guess that the creators of a popular video series that was based on the premise of paying homeless men to beat each other up might not be built of the highest moral fiber, and youd be right. McPherson, who still resides in Las Vegas, says Willis had caught wind of the content in Bumfights about the time it was released, and, he says, began harassing him. the second instalment in the Bumfights series, and it's just a bad as the first one - if not worse; viewing caution is strong advised! (Brennan and Hannah had signed releases for Bumfights, stripping their rights to compensation for use of their likenesses. I think [their conduct] should have been held accountable at the felony level, Ross says, but the judge at the preliminary hearing felt differently.. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. An icon used to represent a menu that can be toggled by interacting with this icon. Exploding with insane Fights, Hilarious Pranks, Crazy Crackheads, Gorgeous Girls, and some of the Most Shocking Stunts ever by The Worlds Best Homegrown Stunt Teams, Vol 4 is simply the rawest, most hardcore ruckus video ever produced. In April 2006, the four original filmmakers agreed not to produce any more Bumfights videos or distribute videos already made, and to pay three homeless men depicted in the videos, under a settlement announced shortly before a lawsuit was due to go to trial. To this day, McPherson and Brennan say they were never the closest of friends, more like amiable acquaintances. Soper denies helping Brennan and Hannah for monetary gain. The first video, "Bum Fights," grossed over six million dollars in one month, and those recently produced continue to bring in profit at the "expense of the homeless people . Rufus was just on a fucking rampage, McPherson says. web pages McPherson adds that through the years hes been disappointed in Brennan because for so long he refused to turn his life around the way Hannah did. This week, Bumfights creators Ryan McPherson (31) and Daniel Tanner (33) were arrested in Thailand for trying to mail an infants head and other body parts from Thailand. DOWNLOAD OPTIONS download 1 file . As for Bumfights, the pair made millions according to TMZ. It was very obvious that the films glorified violence against people who were experiencing homelessness, says National Coalition for the Homeless director Megan Hustings. There was the time he spent with me, and the time he spent with his attorneys, and he wouldnt look me in the eye, McPherson says. Be the first one to. The video series immediately garnered criticism. To optimize visceral consumer reaction to the product, they called it Bumfights. TomoNews US. Find a minimum of at least 2 Bums. In September 2002, the Bumfights Krew were arrested on seven felony charges for paying homeless people to fight. For more information, please see our While briefly onstage, Beeson critiqued what he perceived as Dr. Phil's hypocrisy; being outraged over their exploitation of the poor while he himself exploited people in duress for entertainment on his show. Search the history of over 806 billion McPherson says he heard about the duo, particularly Hannah, and their hijinks from friends. You can clearly hear my voice, several times, telling Rufus not to hit Donnie, Tanner says of a clip. After Brennan was hurt during a shoot, authorities showed up and intervened. Bubeck also became less involved with the group over time; Tanner did not wish to reveal details of his life since the initial Bumfights uproar, though hed later find himself in the center of another controversy with McPherson. See Movies in Theaters. Eight years sober, Hannah explains how a lifelong addiction to alcohol brought him to becoming an unwitting gladiator for twisted teens. Bumfights 17 Years Later, Where Are They Now? and our Bum Fights. [3][4], The videos were originally produced in the early 2000s. Addeddate 2021-08-01 08:01:24 Identifier bumfights-1_20210801 Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.4. plus-circle Add Review. 9. The dean of the medical hospital said the two had visited the medical museum, but that surveillance footage didnt show them taking anything away. TOBYLMAO McPherson communicates that the sentiments around the Bumfights history looms over the artwork Indecline has done since, which has remained edgy, but has also become more socially conscious and politically progressive. But McPhersons unlikely connection with Brennan and Hannah for better and worse would propel them all into the media limelight, and reshape their lives completely. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Well, the video's biggest "star" isn't a bum anymorethough he still has his infamous tattoo. There were all kinds of people and kids in the park who witnessed the fall, Brennan says. He even claimed to be providing a service and filling a need for people who crave violence and want to see violence against homeless people. Its devastating. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. McPhersons explanation for the incongruity is that he and Bubeck were trying to make the most of their community service by organizing an off-site clothing drive instead of doing maintenance work at a San Diego homeless shelter. Instead, McPherson characterizes those funds as helpful dollars given to friends in need. Bumfights 2 Bumlife : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive Volume 90% 00:00 1:00:34 Bumfights 2 Bumlife Topics Bumfights the second instalment in the Bumfights series, and it's just a bad as the first one - if not worse; viewing caution is strong advised! Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). Bumfights 3 The Felony Footage. Police tracked down McPherson after being alerted by the shipper, DHL. Bum fights producer exploits homeless people. I slipped on a walk up there and lost my balance, Brennan says he told the officer. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. web pages They do the same thing to different demographics. But before long, Hannah unkempt with sun-blasted brown hair, dressed in a black hoodie and jeans approached the taller, camo-jacketed Brennan, mumbling, Look, I gotta hit you, all right? He then grabbed Brennan and punched him flush in the face, twice. During the mass shooting there in October 2017, Slyman says, members were live-streaming the chaos from their phones and posted scanner feeds. more reply Loading. 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I thought it was very cruel conduct, says Curtis Ross, then a deputy district attorney in San Diegos Eastern County. Be the first one to. Released in the spring of 2002, the first film in the Bumfights series would prove quite a profitable commodity, punching its way into the cultural zeitgeist while branding the filmmakers as manipulative violence mongers. Privacy Policy. We will keep fighting for all libraries - stand with us! Bumfights was in the center of it all, turning the anarchism knobs to 11. Cookie Notice underground VHS tapes of hooded graffiti taggers bombing in New York City, also heavily consumed back in the early 2000s, reshaped the vinyl into standalone shelters, mural memorializing the victims and protesting gun laws, CIA Director, Noam Chomsky Named in Epstein's Private Calendar: Report, Drake, Will Arnett Celebrate Toronto Maple Leafs' (Long-Awaited) Postseason Triumph, Meet the YouTube Creator Busting Crypto Scams, Twitter to Allow Media Publishers to Charge Per Article, Want to Make Cash As a Creator? He believes that because Indecline mashed the terms bum and fights together in the videos title, it piqued peoples curiosity and helped in its marketing even though the film includes very little footage of homeless people actually duking it out. "Guaranteed to be the most hilariously shocking video you've ever seen, Bumfights will piss on any other ruckus video ever made. He still insists McPherson supplied alcohol as payment for filming Brennan and Hannahs potentially injurious stunts. In a few Bumfights scenes, the Bum Hunter an actor impersonating the late Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter pounces on seemingly unsuspecting homeless men for examinations in their natural habitat. After approaching a man sleeping out in the open and binding his hands together with duct tape, the Bum Hunter offers observations on the mans dandruff and his clean-looking blue jeans, which he presumes were recently stolen. For more information, please see our 1: CAUSE FOR CONCERN (DVD) You will believe a bum can fight. The traditional meaning of bun fight appears in a glossary entry in Hippocrene Language and Travel Guide to Britain (1996):. He says that at the time of his relocation to Las Vegas he wasnt certain hed even film any additional scenes with Brennan and Hannah. P2P smart contract on the way Finally, thanks to some good lawyers, here is the footage that was seized from the arrests. After the civil suit, Hannah worked for Soper as a handyman, published his memoir in 2010, and gave inspirational speeches to other homeless people at events organized by the National Coalition for the Homeless. And then one day I get a call from Rufus saying, Barry, you have to get your ass out here, I think theyre going to kill us. . That was Ty Beeson, an investor to whom McPherson and Co sold their rights, and about whom McPherson reportedly said, in an interview no longer online, they were extorting us and doing a bunch of shady sh*t.. Ross and Judge Charles Ervin concluded the pair had not completed the required hours of community service after McPherson and Bubeck filed paperwork claiming they had. McPherson, Tanner and Bubeck were each hit with three years probation and had to serve 280 hours of community service, while Slyman faced similar punishment in a separate sentencing. There just trash. McPherson and Indecline partner Tanner drove to an abandoned Taco Bell in La Mesa to catch up with Brennan and Hannah and film them, as theyd been doing periodically for about two years. In the book, the cousins refer to each other by the nicknames Sopy and BP. They break Brennan and Hannah out of the quarters where theyre being held when an Indecline guard named James abandons his post to get some food. Addeddate. I now pay the local homeless around my town to do the same things in bumfights. People were coming up to me, telling me theres a homeless guy running his head into trees, McPherson says, referring to Hannah. Well, the guy exploits homeless people for profit. Though the show Cops predates it as well, Bumfights was first released near the forefront of a reality-TV boom in 2002, which may have given the video an assist.
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