Zola

In October 2015, Aziah “Zola” King posted a 148 tweet Twitter thread that took the world by storm. #TheStory trended worldwide and became the inspiration for Janicza Bravo’s second feature film Zola (2020), staring Taylour Paige, Riley Keough, Colman Domingo, and Nicholas Braun. Listen as we break down everything from the stalled production, exactly what went down that fateful March 2015 weekend in Tampa, and what happened to Zola and “Z” in the years to follow.

Primary Sources:
Rolling Stone (2015)
Washington Post (2015)
Complex (2015)
Kolo News (2017)
Don’t Die Wondering (2021)
Vulture (2021)

If you or someone you know is a victim of sex trafficking, help is available.
Polaris Project
National Human Trafficking Hotline
Department of Justice

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Music: He_s Changing The Game by Darren-Curtis _ https___soundcloud.com_desperate-measurez_Music promoted by https___www.free-stock-music.com_Creative Commons _ Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)_https___creativecommons.org_licenses_by_3.0_deed.e

Chapters

• 0:13 Zola
• 10:51 Behind the Scenes of "Zola" Production
• 26:27 Twisted Scheme Unveiled
• 39:25 Zola
• 54:13 Exotic Dancer's Weekend Getaway Drama
• 1:07:27 Sex Trafficking Saga Unveiled
• 1:19:25 Analyzing Film Adaptations for Accuracy
• 1:27:30 Gucci Family Loyalty and Power

Transcript

Ashley: 0:14

Welcome to Criminal Adaptations, the show where we take a look at some of your favorite movies and the true crime stories that inspired them. I'm Ashley. I'm a clinical psychologist and forensic evaluator in the state of Oregon.

Remi: 0:27

And I'm Remy. I spent over a decade working in the film and television industry in Los Angeles, California.

Ashley: 0:34

And welcome back everyone. I must say, as a little side note here, I think it's very fitting that we are covering this movie and story this week, as you will see later. But, Remy, how are you doing today?

Remi: 0:48

I am excited to talk about the film we are talking about today. Ashley, do you want to tell them a little bit about what we will be discussing?

Ashley: 0:57

Today, we are talking about A24's magnificent film Zola, which is the true story of a young woman who posted a whopping 148 tweets on Twitter back in October 2015. That went viral.

Remi: 1:13

Those tweets were, of course, detailing the harrowing saga that she went through over the course of one weekend down in Tampa, Florida, which definitely does not go according to plan. But how did we find out about this film, Ashley?

Ashley: 1:28

Well, we are a big fan of A24. So we tend to watch every single movie they come out with every year, at least in the past five or six years. And this was one of them that we had not seen or heard of, so we just threw it on one day. We're watching it and I think at the beginning maybe it says this is a true story or something like that. So it caused us to kind of look a little into the story and we found the Twitter thread and immediately added it to our list of movies to cover.

Remi: 1:58

We are both big A24 fans. Their films are usually very artfully done and creative, and this film is no exception. I had not heard of this story previously. I am not on Twitter and have never really been on Twitter, just not my.

Ashley: 2:18

Thing.

Remi: 2:18

I never really got into it. So the first I heard about this was this film. But apparently this whole thing really did go very viral at the time and a lot of celebrities were talking about it on their social medias and it became a whole thing. And before we dive in a fun little side note here, that we found out pretty recently about one of the stars of the film, riley Keough, is that she is the granddaughter of Elvis Presley, which means her mother was Lisa Marie Presley, which also means that Nicolas Cage and Michael Jackson were both her stepfathers at one point in time, and she is a great actress. Loved her in American Honey, but she was also in the worst film I saw last year, sasquatch Sunset with Jesse Eisenberg, in which she plays a Sasquatch and none of the characters speak any words besides grunting. But she is great in this film.

Ashley: 3:13

We've been following her a lot since American Honey. I love that movie so much I don't know. I've seen it five, six times and it's so good, she's amazing in it. She is hilarious in this movie. So every once in a while I just go to her IMDb and see what she has upcoming and I don't know how we missed that she was Elvis Presley's granddaughter before, literally like three days ago, but we did.

Remi: 3:37

Seriously, we are both very big fans of her and if she is in a movie it's usually a selling point for us to check it out. She's super talented and we just somehow missed the fact that her father was one of the most famous musicians in history. You live and you learn. I guess this film also stars Coleman Domingo, who may or may not be nominated for an Academy Award by now for his performance in Sing Sing.

Ashley: 4:01

He was nominated last year for his performance in Rest In.

Remi: 4:05

I think we primarily remembered him from Euphoria, where he plays Zendaya's AA sponsor, and he is wonderful in that, and he usually plays really inspirational characters, like the film we just saw him in Sing Sing. He's trying to get the prisoners to find creative outlets so they can get out their inner turmoil, and I think it was a similar case with Rustin, where he was an inspirational character for the civil rights movement. This film, however, is completely different. He is probably one of the most evil pimp characters in a movie, I would say.

Ashley: 4:41

And going off of that, I do want to do a special listener advisor warning here. This movie does deal with sex trafficking and prostitution. So on the episode notes for this page, I have included three links for resources If you or someone you know is currently being trafficked. I believe there's the Polaris Project, a link to the United Justice Department's website that has additional resources, and then also the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

Remi: 5:12

Well, with that should we get into the pre-production of Zola.

Ashley: 5:17

Yes, I did stumble upon a little about it in my research, but I tried to stay as blind as possible. But it sounds like there's a lot to unpack here.

A'Ziah King (Zola): 5:36

You want to hear a story about how me and this bitch here fell out? It's kind of long, but it's Felicity Spence.

Remi: 5:43

Zola is a 2020 A24 film directed by Janiksa Bravo and co-written by Bravo and Jeremy O Harris. The film is based on a viral Twitter thread from 2015 posted by Asia Zola King, which later resulted in a Rolling Stone article titled Zola Tells All the Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever, tweeted by David Kushner, which I believe you read for this episode, ashley. The film stars Taylor Page, riley Keough, nicholas Braun and Coleman Domingo.

Remi: 6:18

In October of 2015, a Detroit waitress named Asia Zola King took the internet by storm by posting a 148-tweet Twitter thread chronicling her wild trip to Florida. The thread quickly went viral, resonating with thousands online and even grabbing the attention of high-profile individuals such as Missy Elliott, erykah Badu and Solange Knowles. One month later, a Rolling Stone journalist named David Kushner published an article delving deeper into the story and interviewing several key figures who had been involved. Though the article did highlight a few inconsistencies in her story, and Zola herself has admitted to embellishing a few details here and there for dramatic effect, most of the key events of Zola's saga were ultimately confirmed by many of the other parties. Zola's Twitter thread also caught Hollywood's attention almost immediately, with James Franco quickly securing the movie rights, with plans to direct the adaptation personally. In 2016, it was officially announced that Franco would be producing and directing the project, with a screenplay written by Andrew Neal and Mike Roberts.

Ashley: 7:28

I also want to note something here that I thought was really funny. Zola told an interviewer later that when she walked on set to meet James Franco, he was like sitting in a chair just reading an encyclopedia.

Remi: 7:42

James Franco was a weird dude. He is, of course, canceled now. Years ago he was doing weird stuff all over LA and he had an art gallery opening in Beverly Hills and I happened to go one day and his exhibit was literally just an empty room with a beat-up old couch and a fold-out table with some empty cups on it playing Drugstore Cowboy on a screen. That was his art exhibit. He was a weird, weird dude on a screen.

Ashley: 8:12

That was his art exhibit. He's a weird, weird dude. It's like that performance art exhibit that Shia LaBeouf did, where it was just him in a movie theater, like rewatching all of his movies and just like being obnoxious about it.

Remi: 8:21

He did another one where he wore a bag on his head and people could actually wait in line to spend a few minutes in the room with him and I did that. So I was in a room with Shia LaBeouf while he had a bag on his head. I took the bag off. It was him. But yeah, weird Hollywood shit man. Unfortunately, in 2018, the project faced significant setbacks following numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against Franco, resulting in the production being shelved after Franco voluntarily stepped down and removed his producer credit. Luckily, a few months later, in June of that same year, the film would find a new director in up-and-comer Janiksa Bravo, with A24, now handling distribution. In an interview with AFI, bravo went into detail about her approach to directing the film.

House of Gucci trailer: 9:11

Bravo went into detail about her approach to directing the film and I said that it was blue velvet meets bodak yellow.

House of Gucci trailer: 9:18

But yes, I but I really felt that actually I really felt that and in that you know, I've never met David Lynch, but he's a hero and I think he, to me, really speaks in this kind of like nightmare space, which is not, I would not say, is my space, but I really enjoy like the tenor of his work. I enjoy the distress of his work and I felt that Asia's Thread had a lot of distress in it. We're literally talking about the potential of being sold into sex slavery, which is a riot, I know. But I think that she did this amazing job of recasting the narrative so that it read fun. But if you are reading between the lines, there's a good deal of terror and anxiety and she's a 19-year-old girl who's found herself in a situation that she doesn't mean to be in, and I think a part of how she's writing it is that like I got this, but I think it's with the distance of having made it.

Ashley: 10:18

I read somewhere that she and her co-writer had to do a substantial amount of rewrites because originally it was written by Franco. Well, it was going to be directed by Franco and the original writer was also a white man, so it read very masculine. But she is a black female director and writer and her co author is a black gay man, so they were able to soften it.

Remi: 10:42

And she is definitely one to look out for. She has a great eye for film and I look forward to her future projects. By October, newcomer Taylor Page had been selected to play the lead role of Zola, with Riley Keough, nicholas Braun, coleman Domingo and Jason Mitchell all joining the cast shortly after. To prepare for her role as Zola, taylor Page worked as an exotic dancer for a month at a club in Los Angeles called Crazy Girls and had this to say about the experience I actually really needed the money. I was like fuck it, why don't I just go undercover and see what this is like? Page would later describe her training at the club as a way to gain confidence and insight into her character by fully immersing herself in the environment to ensure that her performance felt authentic, stating I just wanted to have a sense of agency before I left to go do the movie, and what better place than working in a strip club where it's eat or be eaten?

Remi: 11:40

I didn't want to look like an actor trying to dance. I didn't want to look like a dancer trying to strip. I wanted to look like this person in the given circumstances, who works at a restaurant and also dances Elvis's granddaughter, riley Keough, who plays Stephanie in the film, was the director's first choice for the role and worked closely with Bravo to highlight the cultural appropriation and uncomfortable dynamics her character embodied. During a 2021 interview with Sam Sanders on National Public Radio, keough claimed that she had to get special training on how to play a white woman, trying very offensively to sound like a certain type of black stereotype. One specific method Keough utilized to help master Stephanie's offensive black scent was by rehearsing her lines with a wine cork inside of her mouth. Keo's performance, complete with black scent, was intentionally crafted by her and Bravo to make viewers feel uncomfortable and spark conversations regarding the controversial issue.

Ashley: 12:39

And there is a lot of that in the movie. Even preparing for this, when we were talking about clips to show, we had discussions about whether they should or should not be included.

Remi: 12:49

Stephanie is an extremely offensive character, but I do think that she is portrayed correctly in this film for what it's worth. Sing Sing actor Coleman Domingo, who plays X in the film, recalled first reading the script and thinking that it was one of the funniest, darkest, weirdest stories he had ever read. Though the character was inspired by a real individual, domingo was less concerned with faithfully portraying that person and instead focused mainly on building a layered performance without personally judging the character's actions. Domingo later explained in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter I made the choice to constantly throw people off, so just when you think he's going to be gentle. Since X is described as Nigerian-adjacent in the screenplay, coleman chose to add a certain level of ambiguity to X's accent, making him sound simultaneously foreign yet still American from scene to scene. Domingo himself is the son of a working-class Belizean immigrant in real life, so drew upon his own understanding of the immigration experience in order to help ground the character's motivations. While elaborating on this concept, Coleman stated he's just trying to get his money, get his things and have the American dream, like everyone else.

Remi: 14:08

And I just want to say I find it interesting that this has come up time and time again, where an actor is portraying a real life person that is a horrible human being. They're a bad person in real life, but the actor needs to find humanity within them in order to play them. Otherwise they're not interested. They need to see these people and characters as actual human beings instead of just these evil monsters that they so easily could be portrayed as. Not sympathizing with the real X at all, just want to make that clear. I just think that's interesting. Actors do that.

Ashley: 14:45

Well, people are multi-layered. No one's 100% good or 100% bad. There's always some humanity you can find, even in the worst of us.

Remi: 14:54

Succession star Nicholas Braun, who plays Stephanie's boyfriend, derek, in the film, described his character to PopSugarcom as really vulnerable but at the same time really desperate to be in a romantic relationship. While crafting the character's look, braun felt that Derek should have some kind of facial hair, but wasn't exactly sure what the style should be. As a result, braun let his facial hair grow out and would send selfies to the director until they both agreed on the chin strap used in the film. To fully immerse himself in the character's headspace, braun sustained himself on a diet of candy, coffee and Red Bull throughout the entirety of filming, which sounds just awful.

Ashley: 15:35

How was he not just jittery and shaky 24-7?

Remi: 15:39

He literally said in an interview that he was basically not eating anything except for all of these sugary sweets, and he said he was pretty miserable the entire time and his favorite day on set was the day that they all went out to dinner together and he got a real meal with everyone for the very first time. The production itself lasted only 27 days, but despite this short timeline, co-stars Taylor Page and Riley Keough became close friends during the production. Keough later joked that Zola may be the first film in her entire career where she didn't have to appear nude but was still there to support her friend Paige while she was filming her first on-screen nude scene for the film. Lastly, the film incorporates a unique feature tying back to its original Twitter origins by playing the sound of a tweet each time a line of dialogue is lifted directly from Zola's original posting. And with that should we get into Janiksa Bravo's Zola?

Ashley: 16:36

Yes, I am so ready.

Remi: 16:57

On October 27th 2015,. Atzolermoon tweeted the following 148 tweets. Most of what follows is true. Our story begins with Zola, an attractive and confident black woman played by Taylor Page, working her shift at a country-western themed restaurant as she attempts to juggle the demands of gossipy co-workers and irritating customers. At one of her tables sits an imposing black man alongside Stephanie, a loud and abrasive white woman being played by Riley Keough, who blurts out an awkwardly enthusiastic compliment about Zola's breast size as soon as she approaches the table. After taking their order, Zola takes a quick break, only to encounter Stephanie again, who strikes up a conversation and asks if they've ever met before. The two soon bond over their shared profession as exotic dancers, resulting in Stephanie enthusiastically inviting Zola to join her dancing at a local club later that evening, which is something I didn't know was a thing. I did not know that exotic dancers could book single night gigs around town at different clubs. I didn't know that.

Ashley: 18:03

Not only that, they can travel to different states to dance.

Remi: 18:07

Which is exactly the pretext of this film. And yeah, I had absolutely no idea.

Ashley: 18:13

How it was described in a lot of the source material I read is it's something that they can do to kind of shift things up a bit and get exposure to new customers who might pay them more because they're novel dancers.

Remi: 18:28

There are the regulars who are working there, but these are like freelancers or contractors or something like that, who are just brought in for a night or two. But very interesting, I had no idea. I'm not a strip club guy. I've maybe been to two in my entire life, it's just again not my thing. So a lot of this is totally new info for me. Fast forward a few hours where the two are now in their element, working the poles and dancing on stage at an exotic nightclub Under the flashing lights and eager gaze of horny customers. Zola and Stephanie both sensually perform their routines as money rains down on the pair like confetti on New Year's Eve. Throughout the course of the evening, the two begin to connect and seemingly form a fast friendship, despite the music and salacious atmosphere all around them.

Zola clip: 19:28

It, oh God, oh God Like why you? On my. Twitter, why you on my Facebook? Why?

A'Ziah King (Zola): 19:32

you on my Tumblr, why you DMing me, sis? Why you tagging me in photos? You don't even fuck with me. Let me know. Let me know, yes, sis.

Remi: 19:41

And I just need to say that there were subtitles in that clip translating what the two girls were actually saying to each other, and it translates to I see you, I feel seen, I feel heard. We also learn that Stephanie has a young child back home, leading to the two women inevitably parting ways. After exchanging their social media information the following day, zola spends much of her time glued to her cell phone texting with Stephanie non-stop, much to the annoyance of her boyfriend, who looks on with growing irritation. Later that night, while continuing to text one another, stephanie tells Zola about a trip she took to Tampa, florida, where a girl she knew made $5,000 from one night dancing at a cute spot. Stephanie continues by revealing that her roommate is planning another trip to Florida the very next day and casually invites Zola to join them so that she can make some additional income. Although surprised by the sudden offer from someone she'd met less than 24 hours ago, zola is still intrigued by the lucrative opportunity, so agrees to Stephanie's proposition, to Stephanie's proposition. When Zola inquires if anyone else will be accompanying them on their journey, stephanie offhandedly mentions that her boyfriend and roommate will also be tagging along. The two finalize their arrangements by agreeing to meet up at 2pm the following afternoon to embark on their ho-trip adventure together. Their words, not mine.

Remi: 21:07

The next day, Stephanie picks up Zola, just as planned, and she is introduced to the rest of the group in the loosest sense possible, meaning she does not really get most of these people's names. First there's Derek, stephanie's boyfriend, played by Nicholas Braun, who has a similar white trash demeanor as his girlfriend, only far less confident and assertive. Then there's Stephanie's roommate, played by Coleman Domingo, who is simply referred to as X due to lack of introductions. X sits confidently in the driver's seat, sporting a flashy silk shirt and exuding a commanding, pimp-like presence that is not to be trifled with. As the group hits the road, they quickly settle into an oddly energetic dynamic, recording playful videos and jamming out to bass-bumpin' gangster rap music as they speed down the freeway.

Remi: 21:56

Side note this scene where the group is partying in the car was actually shot by all of the actors using GoPros At 2.25am on Friday. The group makes a quick pit stop to gas up while the girls take a pee break and we see that Stephanie is severely dehydrated, which isn't really pivotal to the story in any way, but is still gross enough to mention nonetheless. I mean seriously. We commented on it when we first saw this film. It's pretty gross. Hours later now, just 10 miles outside of Tampa and a grueling 20 hours away from home, zola's patience is understandably wearing thin thanks to the uncomfortably cramped car and the insufferably endless hours of annoying chatter coming from her travel companions.

Zola clip: 22:42

Dude, this bitch was up in my face. I was like, look, look up there, just get your ghetto ass up on my face. It's not my fault, you nasty. It's not my fault, I'm not more moody than you.

House of Gucci trailer: 22:59

Clean your butt.

Remi: 23:03

Taylor Page is really great in this film.

Remi: 23:06

After what feels like an eternity on the road, the group finally arrives at their dingy motel in Tampa.

Remi: 23:13

The vibe is instantly uncomfortable, as Zola's unease is clearly written all over her face and even Derek, who has been mostly oblivious up until this point, voices his dissatisfaction with the rundown accommodations they have all been presented with.

Remi: 23:28

Sensing the group's tension, x steps in to reassure everyone that they will be upgrading to a swankier hotel tomorrow after they've earned a little extra cash from working at the club that night. Ever the third wheel, derek wants to tag along with his girlfriend on the group's outing, but X shuts that shit down immediately and instead orders Derek to stay behind and take a nap at the motel while the rest of the crew hits the town. The three take their leave at exactly 7.45pm that Friday, abandoning Derek wallowing in his insecurities back in their motel room while obsessively calling Stephanie over and over again for the remainder of the evening. And a little side note here in the interview that I read with Braun, he mentioned that when he was filming the scene where he is calling Stephanie over and over and over again, he was imagining all the times that had happened to him in his life, where a girlfriend basically ghosted him and he actually broke down and began crying during his first take.

Ashley: 24:26

Oh, that's kind of sweet. A little sad, but kind of sweet.

Remi: 24:32

Derek is kind of a sad character. After arriving at the club, the girls head back to the dressing room and begin prepping for the night ahead alongside the other dancers. Much to her dismay, zola soon learns that this particular establishment is a pasties and panties joint which does not allow full nudity, and for someone like Zola, who prefers to perform completely unclothed in order to maximize her tips, this is truly a disappointing revelation. Side note, during their dressing room scene together, zola and Stephanie's pasties are yellow, plaid and white, which is a direct homage to Cher and Dion from Clueless, which is one of the director's favorite films.

Ashley: 25:12

That is really, really fun. I love that.

Remi: 25:15

She mentions Clueless in a lot of the interviews I watch. She is a huge, huge fan of Clueless and she used it as a weird basis for some of her approach to this film. Despite her misgivings, Zola resigns herself to the task at hand and reluctantly complies with the club's dress code. Moments before her performance, Stephanie convinces Zola to pose for a few quick selfies together and though she's clearly not in the mood, Zola obliges then heads out on stage. Out on the floor, Zola works the pole and twerks with sensuous precision, while doing her best to entertain the crowd. However, it doesn't take long for Zola to reassess the situation and soon realize that the clientele and atmosphere of this establishment are both a far cry from the money-making environment she had been accustomed to. After her set, Zola retreats backstage, where Stephanie informs her that someone has requested a private dance, but, clearly unimpressed by the night's lackluster turnout, Zola doesn't hesitate to decline the offer and is unwilling to engage with any more of the clientele any further.

Remi: 26:19

Undeterred, Stephanie starts snapping several more pictures of Zola and her together before immediately sending them over to her roommate X. Already on edge, Zola starts putting the pieces together and it quickly becomes clear that Stephanie's so-called roommate isn't just a friend or housemate, but is actually her pimp, and Zola wants absolutely no part of whatever twisted arrangements Stephanie and X are currently involved in. About 30 minutes later, X arrives to pick up the girls and wastes no time at all, demanding to know exactly how much money they had each made that night In unison. Both Zola and Stephanie respond that they had earned nothing, prompting X to reveal that he has already gone ahead and set up a backup plan for them while they were working at the club. Unbeknownst to Zola, X had taken the selfies that Stephanie had texted him earlier and posted them onto a website called Backpage, which is notorious for facilitating sexual encounters in exchange for financial compensation the go-to spot for people in the sex industry, both sellers and purchasers.

Ashley: 27:21

It was actually seized and shut down by the federal government in 2018. And the founder, Michael Lacey, was convicted of money laundering in August 2024 and sentenced to five years in prison, Even though he wasn't charged with sex trafficking. The accusations involved him knowingly benefiting from sex trafficking and promoting prostitution.

Remi: 27:55

I had never heard of Backpage before this film, but I was guessing that it was a similar thing to Craigslist, only for sexual services, which is kind of what Craigslist has become.

Ashley: 28:07

I think it kind of blew up after Craigslist. They used to have like an adults only page, but they shut it down, and then I think Backpage kind of saw that gap I guess you could call it and really leaned full force into it.

Remi: 28:21

I definitely remember back in college, me and my friends just looking through the I think it was called the intimate encounter section of Craigslist and there was some wild stuff on there. Horrified, zola immediately tries to leave the situation by exiting the vehicle and adamantly refusing to be any part of this underhanded operation, leading to a terrifying confrontation between her and X as the result of Zola's attempted disobedience of Zola's attempted disobedience. I get it.

Announcer: 28:55

Trust, I am not the one Get your coin, sis. It's been real. Hey, shut the fucking door, bitch, get your ass back in this car. Before I put your ass back in this car, I picked you up at your house. I know where you live, I know where you walk. Next time you fix up your mouth to talk to me, remember that.

Ashley: 29:33

Close my fucking door. Coleman Domingo does such a good job in this movie, playing someone who is terrifying.

Remi: 29:48

He is a fantastic actor and in that clip you got a little taste of the accent that we were discussing earlier, which does a great job of adding a layer of mystery to this character. Zola reluctantly gets back into the car, fearing for her life, as X drives the girls to the location of an appointment he has arranged for them through Backpage at precisely 1254 AM on Saturday, shortly after they pull up to a much nicer hotel where X leads the girls upstairs to a well-kept suite, then leaves them alone to ready themselves for the customer's arrival. Once alone, zola unleashes her frustrations out onto Stephanie, confronting her about the web of lies she had used to manipulate Zola into accompanying her on this trip down to Tampa. Furious and desperate to escape, zola opens the door to leave, only to discover that X has stationed himself directly outside of their room to keep a watchful eye on them. Back in the suite, stephanie pleads with Zola to stay, insisting that she knew absolutely nothing about X's true intentions, and is terrified of what X may do to her and her child if Zola doesn't go along with his plans. Feeling trapped but unwilling to compromise her dignity, zola begrudgingly agrees to stay, but refuses to participate in any of the degrading acts. Stephanie agrees, suggesting that Zola simply be nice and hang back until they can return to their motel to grab the rest of their belongings.

Remi: 31:10

Moments later, stephanie's first creepy customer of the evening arrives and Zola reluctantly lets him inside, where Stephanie quickly ushers him into the bedroom, leaving Zola alone in the living room anxiously awaiting for this entire nightmare of an evening to finally come to an end. After the act has been completed, the customer pays Stephanie a measly $150, then heads out the door, leaving her alone with a flabbergasted Zola who cannot contain her disbelief that Stephanie had sold her body at such a low cost. After insisting that Stephanie should be making thousands of dollars a night for renting out her anatomy. Zola offers to help Stephanie, but only under the condition that any money Stephanie earns goes towards supporting her child and not to X. Though skeptical, stephanie agrees. So Zola grabs Stephanie's cell phone and begins taking a series of new photos, which are far more flattering than the hastily snapped selfies taken earlier at the club.

Ashley: 32:09

Also, she was smart In this one. She only included body shots, nothing with Stephanie's face.

Remi: 32:16

Interesting. I don't know if I noticed that in the film or not.

Ashley: 32:20

I don't know if that's how it's depicted in the film, but as she describes it in the tweets and then in the Rolling Stone article, that's what she said. It was important to her to not have your face associated with shots like this.

Remi: 32:32

Yeah, of course, Safety concerns. It makes a lot of sense to me. Next, Zola updates Stephanie's back page ad, replacing her old photos with the polished new ones and increasing Stephanie's going rate to $500 for only 15 minutes. Stephanie, of course, thinks that nobody in their right mind would ever pay such an astronomical fee simply for Punani. Then, seconds later, she receives her first pop-up notification from a new customer who has agreed to pay the new rate and is already on his way. Giddy with excitement at the prospect of actually making some real cash for a change, Stephanie preps for her client's arrival. As Zola, takes a moment to text her boyfriend back home and let him know that she is still relatively safe for the time being.

Remi: 33:19

Meanwhile, back at the motel, Derek remains completely oblivious to his girlfriend's whereabouts and has become exceedingly bored waiting around for everyone to return. To kill some time, Derek heads over to a nearby liquor store to grab some snacks, but while browsing the aisles he encounters a local man named Dion, played by Jason Mitchell, who is oddly friendly and strikes up a conversation with Derek Before long. Dion offers to show Derek around the city and, desperate for companionship, Derek naively accepts Dion's proposal. Back at the hotel, business is booming and Stephanie has been raking in the customers all evening. We are even given a lovely montage of these sexual encounters, complete with several close-up shots of various penises of unusual sizes, shapes and colors, with one of them in particular being maybe the grossest thing I've ever seen attached to a human body.

Ashley: 34:14

This was, for sure, the most memorable part of the movie, and it went on for quite some time.

Remi: 34:22

And these are all real penises, so that's fun too, I guess. Anyway, by the time X returns to wake the girls up the following morning, stephanie has slept with at least a dozen men and earned an impressive $8,000 throughout the course of the evening. At first X is overjoyed with Stephanie's unexpectedly hefty profits from only a single night's work, but his mood quickly sours when he discovers that Zola had altered Stephanie's backpage ad without his consent. Viewing this as an act of disrespect, x becomes enraged and refuses to let Stephanie keep any of the cash she is entitled to. The group then finally returns to the dingy motel where their chaotic evening had began, just as Derek is wrapping up his night hanging out with Dion Inside the room. X loses his temper over Derek's clueless behavior, particularly his choice of spending half the night chatting it up with some random stranger he had never even met before. So X proceeds to slap the ever-loving shit out of Derek at maximum full force.

Remi: 35:24

Shortly after, x drives the group to a new hotel across town which is far more upscale than their previous accommodations and comes complete with a gloriously scenic view of the group to a new hotel across town which is far more upscale than their previous accommodations and comes complete with a gloriously scenic view of the beach to boot. Unfortunately, tensions are now running high between Stephanie and Derek, especially since he finally deduced exactly what his supposed girlfriend had been up to the night before. Seeking solace from the couple's drama, zola heads poolside to try and relax for a bit, but her moment of serenity ends abruptly when X sidles up next to her and grabs himself a seat. After handing her a wad of cash, x informs Zola that he expects her to replicate last night's success again later that evening, but Zola stands her ground and firmly refuses reminding X that she is only a dancer and wants nothing more than to go home. At this point, unsurprisingly, X does not take kindly to Zola's defiance and threatens her with violence until she is forced to comply with his demands.

Remi: 36:23

Back in the hotel room, derek and Stephanie are still in the midst of their latest fight, where it is revealed that Stephanie has a long history of luring other women into similarly dangerous situations involving forced prostitution. Their argument continues to escalate until Derek spitefully takes screenshots of Stephanie's backpage ad and posts them onto Facebook for her friends and family to see. Moments later, x returns accompanied by a tall and intimidating burly white woman who pulls a gun on Derek after learning about the Facebook post. And this character is so random she doesn't even really say anything. She's just a big, burly white woman who I guess is one of X's girls.

Ashley: 37:02

He had a fiancé, so I wonder if this is who she is supposed to be.

Remi: 37:07

Oh, okay, okay. Asserting his dominance, x then demands that Derek, along with everyone else in the room, chant his name in unison, which is how we learn that X's real name is actually Abagunde Owali. I think I said that right, fingers crossed Afterwards. X forces Derek to delete the Facebook post and smashes Derek's phone, causing Derek to become so overwhelmed with terror that he vomits right there on the carpet in front of everyone. X, of course, makes him clean it up later.

Ashley: 37:37

I don't think I've ever vomited because I was so afraid Me neither.

Remi: 37:41

That has got to be some legitimate fear if it causes you to upchuck like that, needing some air. Zola steps outside onto the balcony just as the sun begins to set. She is joined soon after by X, who passes Zola a gun to take as protection for the evening ahead. Later on, at 9.17pm that Saturday, stephanie is dropped off at an opulent mansion to meet with her first client, while Zola and Derek are stuck waiting in the car watching dumb YouTube videos.

Remi: 38:11

At the next stop, zola accompanies Stephanie inside and is immediately confronted by a large group of intimidating men eagerly awaiting their arrival. Tensions only continue to rise from there over a discrepancy regarding a discounted price X had apparently offered the men as part of a special gangbang group deal. As the air thickens with hostility, zola hastily calls X to get clarification, while Stephanie, who is seemingly aroused by the uncomfortable situation, is slowly surrounded by the other men as the screen cuts to black. A title card then reads On October 30th 2015,. Stephanie Jasowski recounted the following on Reddit and for this section, I think I will let Stephanie herself tell her side of this story.

Zola clip: 39:02

We meet at the restaurant she work at.

Zola clip: 39:06

I was with my community leader, jonathan. This very ratchet and very black woman comes to take our order and listen. I know that they supposed to be flirtatious and everything, but not like she was. I'm a Christian, I fear God. So we exchange numbers.

Zola clip: 39:26

The next day she called me and she's like I'm an ex dancer, I'm broke, I need welfare. And I told her I don't fuck with that life no more. And she's like well, who do you fuck with? And I was like I'm an ex-dancer, I'm broke, I need welfare. And I told her I don't fuck with that life no more. And she's like well, who do you fuck with? And I was like I fuck with Jesus, my Lord and Savior.

Zola clip: 39:43

I told her that my good friend Abadwande Aluwale, who was promoted in Tampa, had invited me and my boyfriend to Tampa to be his guest for the weekend and she was like let me dance at the club he promoted. And I was like is that how that works? Because I don't know how that works In Tampa. The club don't let her dance because she dirty, but everybody loved me. Reason to be a jealous bitch number one. So she takes all these pictures and she pops off a back page ad and I was like back page ad, like what is that? At the hotel I stay with her because I'm worried about her safety. She wasn't getting any calls, so she puts my picture up with her picture and she ain't even asked. I was very put off.

Remi: 40:52

Nobody liked her. She made one dollar. I seriously question the legitimacy of that story. But Riley Keough is so fucking good in this movie.

Remi: 40:57

Returning to Zola's story, the group has just arrived at their final hotel spot for the evening and Zola once again accompanies Stephanie up to the room in order to ensure her safety. As the two reach the door, zola takes a moment to ask Stephanie if she's sure she wants to go through with this again and reassures her that they could. Just to ask Stephanie if she's sure she wants to go through with this again and reassures her that they could just leave right now if she really wanted to. Stephanie instead chooses to ignore Zola's plea and proceeds to knock on the door Without warning. The door suddenly swings open and Stephanie is violently yanked into the room by a large, unseen man. Reacting instantly, zola flees down the hallway and back to the hotel lobby, where she frantically calls X to explain what she had just witnessed.

Remi: 41:40

Minutes later, x arrives outside of the hotel, gun in hand and ready for action. Zola and Derek meet him out front and, though still visibly shaken, zola pleads with X to call the police, but X simply ignores her, preferring to deal with the situation his way. Surging with adrenaline. X forces Zola back upstairs to the room where Stephanie is being held, with a reluctant Derek trailing right behind them. Once standing directly outside the door, x pulls out his gun and positions it right at the peephole just before knocking. After a bit of banter through the door, x lowers his firearm and the door opens, revealing none other than Dion, the seemingly friendly guy Derek had met at the liquor store earlier, standing right there before them. Only this time Dion isn't smiling, he's holding a shotgun and forcing the group inside the room where another man even larger than Dion is standing by, also armed with another shotgun. Next, x is instructed to put his gun on the table and take a seat, just as Zola notices that Stephanie appears to be unconscious and slumped over in the closet.

Remi: 42:45

Turns out old Dion is a local pimp from right there in Tampa who is furious that X had been treading into his territory without permission. To make things right, dion demands $20,000 from X to release Stephanie and all will be forgiven Never one to back down. X counters with an offer of his own, suggesting that Dion pay him $50,000 to keep both Stephanie and Zola. Dion then molests Zola while considering his options as X covertly slips the small pistol he had given to Zola earlier out of her purse and into his hand. While still distracted, x turns the gun on Dion, aiming the firearm directly at his opponent's crotch. Now, with the upper hand, x disarms both men.

Remi: 43:29

While Derek retrieves Stephanie from the closet, just when it seems like the group is about to make their escape without incident, dion begins taunting X, daring him to pull the trigger. So X unflinchingly obliges without hesitation, shooting Dion squarely in the neck. With blood gushing from his wound, dion collapses onto the bed as X yells for the others to grab whatever they can and make a break for it. As the dawn begins to break, at 7am that Sunday, the crew heads back to their hotel and Stephanie nonchalantly tosses the guns from the robbery out of the car window into the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way Back at the hotel, they return to find the tall, burly woman blending a smoothie for X in the kitchen, as everyone else staggers in one by one in awkward silence. Zola takes the opportunity to once again ask for X to drive her back home, but before he can respond, derek explodes into another meltdown, ranting and raving about his girlfriend has been unapologetically prostituting herself, while treating him like total garbage.

Ashley: 44:37

I think a meltdown is appropriate in this situation. However, it should be more directed towards the whole murder that they just witnessed and near-death experience they all shared.

Remi: 44:46

Well, the argument escalates very quickly, with Stephanie continuously brushing off Derek's accusations as if nothing is wrong. Pushed to his breaking point, derek makes the impulsive decision to attempt suicide by sprinting towards the hotel balcony, hurling himself over the railing and landing firmly on the solid poolside below as Zola watches on in complete disbelief. Hours later, the group finally embarks on their long and painfully awkward drive home, where we see that Derek has miraculously survived but was badly injured in the process. From the driver's seat, x yells at Derek repeatedly, screaming don't die. As he recklessly speeds down the freeway, stephanie, who seems completely unfazed by the traumatic events of the past weekend, turns around in her seat, looks at Zola, smiles and says you know I still love you, girl.

Remi: 45:40

Zola responds by ignoring Stephanie, rolling down her window and gazing off into the horizon as she ruminates over the surreal experiences she had just been through over the past 48 hours. And that was Janixa Bravo's Zola. What do you think, ashley?

Ashley: 45:57

It is such a wild ride of a movie. It's fun, it's funny, but it's also full of action and, like Zola herself said, full of suspense.

Remi: 46:07

A lot of stuff happens on this crazy weekend of theirs and you're right, it really runs the gamut of being tragic, being funny, being frightening. It's a really, really well-made movie, in my opinion.

Ashley: 46:21

And we watched another movie not too long after this. I cannot remember for the life of me what it was called. Maybe you will, but it was about a young girl in Los Angeles, I believe, who was an aspiring pornography star.

Remi: 46:35

I had to just look this up, actually, but the film was released in 2021 and is called Pleasure, and I recommend it. Is a graphic film, but it is a very honest portrayal of this type of lifestyle.

Ashley: 46:49

It's certainly not as funny as Zola. I don't think there is much humor in it. A little bit, but not as much as this.

Remi: 46:57

Yeah, it's primarily not a comedy.

Ashley: 47:00

I would say but I like both of these movies because they kind of pull the veil back on the sex industry a bit and show it in a different light.

Remi: 47:11

Agreed. I feel like both films expose me to things that I would have never known. Again, this isn't my world. I will most likely never live in this world unless my life takes a drastic change later on, but it is interesting to find out how it all works, to find out how these people live, to find out how they make their living, how they get their jobs, how they meet people in the industry and make connections, and things like that. It's fascinating to me.

Ashley: 47:39

All in all, this made me want to watch Zola again, especially the clip that you played with Riley Keough reading her version of the tweets, or Stephanie's version of the tweets. That's one of my favorite parts of the movie.

Remi: 47:52

I do think that is probably the funniest portion in the entire film, when she is going over her version of things which are clearly not unbiased. All right, let's get into the release of Zola. Zola premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24th 2020, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Awards pre-screening and was planned for release later that same year, until eventually being postponed to June 30th 2021. Can you guess why, ashley?

Ashley: 48:27

I watched an interview of this. It was COVID. So Zola talked about how it was so exciting to be at Sundance and she was super stoked for the film's release in theaters. And then there was this long pause before she got to actually see it with other people.

Remi: 48:40

Yeah, it kind of killed all the momentum that this film had going for it, unfortunately. But in the United States and Canada, zola went on to gross $1.2 million in its opening weekend and $2 million over the five-day frame, finishing ninth at the box office, but fell 48% in its second weekend, finishing in 10th place, which I would also blame on COVID, because nobody was going to the movies at this time.

Ashley: 49:05

No, for like two years after, the only movies that people were going to see were those big budget box office hits.

Remi: 49:15

And even half of those were getting released directly to streaming at the time. This was probably the worst time to try and release a movie in theaters and I feel bad because this movie got overlooked and kind of forgotten as a result of that, Like we know, every A24 movie and when we came across this we had never heard of it before Zola currently holds an approval rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critical consensus that reads Zola captures the stranger-than-fiction appeal of the viral Twitter thread that inspired it and announces director-co-writer Janikza Bravo as a filmmaker to watch, which, per usual, I agree with the Rotten Tomatoes score, Except for last week with Chapter 27. That was all wrong.

Remi: 49:58

In 2021, Zola received seven nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards, including one for Best Screenplay. However, Asia Zola King, the very person whose viral Twitter thread inspired the film, was neither nominated as a writer nor invited to the ceremony. Feeling snubbed, King expressed her frustration on Twitter, writing. I think it's hilarious. Zola is up for seven awards and no one thought to invite me, nor include me in the writer's award category, as if there would have been a film or a script to write if I didn't um, write it.

Ashley: 50:37

I just looked it up on IMDb because usually whenever any sort of story or book is adapted, the original author is listed with a credit in IMDb under the writer category with something that's like story by or adapted by, and she is listed there with the parentheses that it's adapted from tweets by her.

Remi: 50:59

Then I personally think she should have been there and she should have been included in the nomination. Like she said, there wouldn't be a story if she hadn't written it first.

Ashley: 51:09

Well, all those celebrities we mentioned earlier Missy Elliott, solange Knowles and Erykah Badu they all tweeted about it and they actually reached out to her personally to comment on how good her I believe.

Remi: 51:20

But she did clarify that her issue was solely with A24, the film's production company, noting that writers Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O Harris had been incredibly supportive of her throughout the entire process, and that was Janicza Bravo's Zola Thoughts, ashley.

Ashley: 51:51

It's a shame that she kind of left this with a bad taste in her mouth about A24. I hope that she did end up getting some of the recognition she deserves. One good thing that happened with A24 taking over that I read is that not only did she get money for story rights life rights but they actually agreed to pay her 2.5% of the film's profits, which when it was under James Franco he only offered her 1%. So the demand of 2.5% was actually hers. A friend of hers who worked for a Nickelodeon show told her to ask for that and it sounds like they really treated her well and were really invested in having her have a lot of control for how the story is told. I mean, she's listed as the writer she worked a lot with Taylor Page and the director and writer and she's also listed as an executive producer. So it's just kind of sad that she kind of got snubbed at the end there a bit at the end.

Remi: 52:56

There a bit, I will say that I do think if Franco had been the one to do this project, she probably would have gotten screwed over and had next to zero creative control if he was running things, and the fact that this director seems extremely collaborative from every interview I read with any of the actors, anyone involved. She likes talking it out and working on the story and characters with people, especially the people who wrote them or will be portraying them, and I do not think she would have had that opportunity if Franco was at the helm.

Ashley: 53:24

It would have been a different movie, that's for sure. Just the fact that it would have been a male-dominated crew would have just changed the whole feel, I think, of the movie. Dominated crew would have just changed the whole feel, I think, of the movie.

Remi: 53:34

I'm picturing more of a Spring Breakers type thing if he had directed it, which I know. Some people like. That movie I'm not a fan personally. He's okay in it, I guess. But enough about the adaptation. Ashley, are you ready to tell me all about the true Twitter story behind this?

Ashley: 53:53

I sure am Buckle up people. Asia Zola King was born in Detroit, michigan. I couldn't find her exact birth date, but it's either in 1995 or 1996. Her mom described her as the type of kid who always put everybody in their place, including her seven younger siblings. She was a tough cookie and often got into fights at school. For example, one time a boy smashed a bottle over her head in math class because she was answering too many questions correctly.

Remi: 54:38

That's a bit excessive, don't you think?

Ashley: 54:41

Another time she was court-ordered to complete a few hundred hours of community service after she slammed a girl's head against the ground when the girl spit on her. From a young age, zola loved to be the center of attention. She dreamed of being Miss Michigan when she was younger and enjoyed singing. At 18, while still in high school and living at home, she started waitressing at Hooters with the goal of earning enough to get her own place.

Remi: 55:04

And I remember knowing quite a few girls who worked at Hooters and it is a well-paying career, from what others have told me.

Ashley: 55:11

I have a friend who used to work there. You get a lot of tips.

Remi: 55:14

That's what I hear. I heard the tips are like double the amount you would get at a normal restaurant.

Ashley: 55:19

I also heard that the management looks out for the girls to protect them against customers who try to cross the lines. Zola was popular with customers and realized she could bring in even more tips as an exotic dancer. Once a co-worker told her how much money she made stripping on the weekends. Zola's mom, who worked as a paralegal, wasn't excited about her daughter's new career prospect, but she also recognized that Zola was an adult and capable of making her own decisions. Nonetheless, she did take precautions. She warned her daughter to be careful, told her to quit and come to her if she encountered any trouble, and had Zola share her cell location with her so she would know her daughter was safe. Within no time, zola was quickly earning $1,000 per night in tips. She made the most money when she traveled to out-of-state clubs in Charlotte, atlanta and Florida.

Remi: 56:08

That seems like a really far drive from Detroit.

Ashley: 56:11

While Zola was doing pretty well for herself, she did run into her fair share of trouble. For example, she saw a bouncer get shot, dated an older guy who had his house raided while she was sleeping there, and associated with a group of credit card thieves. Each time she assured her mom she learned her lesson. One afternoon in mid-March 2015, 20-year-old Zola was waitressing at Hooters when 21-year-old Jessica Rae Schuwautzki came in to have lunch with a friend. Jessica was drawn to Zola and called her over to talk, mainly because she thought Zola was pretty.

Ashley: 56:44

Jessica's mom was only 15 when her daughter was born. She was raised in a troubled home, surrounded by drugs and alcohol. As she aged, she had a string of abusive relationships and started working as an exotic dancer at age 18. At Hooters, jessica and Zola started talking, vibing over their hoism, as it was described in the viral tweets from October 2015. Zola showed Jessica her Tumblr page and as she scrolled through, jessica noticed a shot of Zola in a red sequins thong with a rack of laundry behind her. Jessica asked if she was a dancer and they swapped stories about clubs they both had gigs at before the two girls exchanged numbers and Jessica said they should dance together sometime. Zola was lounging around watching the Powerpuff Girls on Netflix when she got a text from Jessica on March 26, 2015.

Remi: 57:32

Shout out to the Powerpuff Girls.

Ashley: 57:34

Jessica told her she was leaving for Florida soon with her boyfriend and wanted Zola to come with her to dance. Zola had actually been to Florida two months prior and made $15,000 over the weekend. So, even though she had just met Jessica and thought it was kind of weird, she was already being invited on weekend getaways. She was intrigued by the financial prospects. Her 20-year-old boyfriend, sean King, on the other hand, was not as enthused. He worked as a loan processor for a mortgage company, had known Zola since the sixth grade and although he wasn't jealous or worried about her cheating on him, he hoped she would stop dancing soon. Nonetheless, he was easily convinced that everything would be just fine. A black SUV pulled up at Zola's house around 8pm and Jessica's boyfriend of one month, 22-year-old Jarrett Scott, loaded her bags.

Remi: 58:21

One month, that's how long these two were dating.

Ashley: 58:26

Yeah, isn't that crazy.

Remi: 58:27

That is much shorter than I was thinking.

Ashley: 58:31

Zola was surprised to see a large black man in the car who wasn't the same one Jessica was with at Hooters a few days prior. Per the viral tweets, she sent Jessica a text about how she had a type and was surprised to discover the man who introduced himself as either his nickname, Rudy or Z I'm not sure. In the tweets Zola refers to him as Z had her phone. He laughed and said he wasn't Jessica's sugar daddy, just her roommate and long-term friend, and was using her phone for GBS Rudy, whose full name I'm not even going to try to pronounce, but it was similar to what Riley Kehoe says in the tweets that she's reading off as Jessica.

Remi: 59:11

Can I look at it really quick? I just want to read if it's spelled the same as it was in the film. Okay, it is definitely not the same name as it is in the film. This name is much longer and looks even harder to say, so I do not blame you for passing this one out.

Ashley: 59:29

Well, rudy was a 35-year-old Nigerian native. Rudy and Jessica met shortly after she started dancing at 18. He was introduced as the best friend of her booking agent. He comforted her after she was raped by a customer in a club and seemed to generally have her best interests at heart. He found her work at a different club and let her stay at his duplex near the Hooters in Detroit Per Jessica. She slept with Rudy twice, met his parents and accepted money from him to hire a lawyer. When she lost custody of her daughter, she claimed he initially kept her in the dark about how he made his living, but it wasn't long before it became obvious it was through pimping. He allegedly went to parties, preyed upon the drunkest girls there and made them backpage accounts within the week.

Remi: 1:00:13

This guy was just a pure predator.

Ashley: 1:00:16

The group spent the 17-hour drive to Tampa listening to Lil Wayne and Gucci Mane, only stopping to get gas or McDonald's. Jarrett talked about how he and Jessica wanted to get their own place, while Rudy cracked jokes and hyped up all the money they were going to make over the weekend. Although Zola was under the impression that the group would be staying at Rudy's fiance's condo, their first stop was a dingy hotel, but Jessica assured her it was just a crash pad for Jarrett while the girls were dancing. After dinner, Rudy drove Zola and Jessica to the Tampa Gold Club. Unlike in Detroit, where dancers are required to have some sort of license, the girls only had to fill out an application, show some ID and pay a small house fee.

Remi: 1:00:57

I didn't know that a license was required either. That's new to me.

Ashley: 1:01:01

After changing into the club's uniform tiny black shorts and pasties they took a selfie by the locker and got to work. Both girls agree it was a slow night, which is why they didn't stay for very long. I want to note that everything I'm about to tell you about how the trip unfolded from here is based on Zola's account. Jessica and Jarrett have their own versions, which I'll touch upon a little later, and Zola's account from here is what Zola told the Rolling Stone interview, not necessarily what she tweeted about.

Remi: 1:01:29

So this is the more accurate version of the story.

Ashley: 1:01:33

Yeah, tweeted about, so this is the more accurate version of the story. Yeah, a little later I'll kind of highlight what she had said was embellished, and it won't be surprised what was embellished and what wasn't. While waiting outside for Rudy to take them back to the hotel, jessica told Zola to hide her money and lie about how much she made. Zola asked Jessica to explain the nature of her relationship with Rudy and she was able to put two and two together that he was her pimp. At first she wasn't too concerned, since Jessica was an adult and it was up to her to make her own life decisions. However, she started to suspect Rudy had an aggressive side when he picked them up and told Jessica exactly what she was going to be doing to earn her keep for the rest of the trip.

Ashley: 1:02:12

Zola remained calm after Rudy checked the girls into a suite in a much nicer nearby hotel. As he was heading out, he told her to text Jessica the picture they took together at the club. Although she didn't realize it at the time, he used that picture to make both girls a backpage account. He then tossed Jessica a burner phone and told him that they would be getting a lot of calls. Zola flipped after he left and threatened to leave. But Jessica burst into tears and begged her to stay, saying she only invited her because she didn't want to be the only girl on the trip. Zola decided to stick it out, since she felt sorry for Jessica and was worried about what Rudy might do if she left. He did, after all, know where she lived and worked. Her only condition was that she was not going to exchange sex for money. Instead, she agreed to act as sort of a security guard for Jessica. She would search the men once they arrived to make sure they weren't undercover cops, delete any requests that came in for her services and turn the other way until Jessica and her customers were finished. Zola was shocked when the first guy only gave Jessica $100. She snatched Jessica's phone, took some body shots and made a new ad with the minimum fee of $500. Right away the phone exploded with potential customers. About half a dozen men came and went, one after the other, with Zola sticking to her routine. Rudy returned to collect the money several hours later. He was shocked at how much Jessica made and surprised Zola hadn't gotten any calls. Nonetheless, he gave Zola $500 and kept Jessica's portion of the profits with the excuse that she was behind on rent. He then had sex with her on the couch and left to rejoin his fiance.

Ashley: 1:03:50

Jarrett woke up at the dingy hotel around 4 in the morning and immediately started blowing up Jessica's phone. Since he didn't know Rudy was her pimp. She assured him she and Zola were dancing at another club that stayed open until 6. She made another excuse for their absence once 6 came and went. He then went outside, probably to distract himself and calm his nerves. He met a guy at a nearby gas station and asked for a cigarette to take the edge off. It sounds like he hung out with this guy for a little bit at the guy's house, drinking a few beers and smoking some weed. Once 7am hit, with no word from Jessica, he logged onto Facebook and posted a message on her wall accusing her of prostituting.

Ashley: 1:04:29

Rudy took the girls to Jared's hotel immediately. When Jared got back from his early morning wake and bake sesh, jessica was sobbing on the bed. Since she had family members who could see that post, rudy grabbed Jared's phone and promptly deleted it. He yelled about how he should kill Jared, but Jared didn't care and instead encouraged him to do it. Since the girl he loved was a whore. Rudy decided it was time to teach Jared a lesson. He considered having sex with her in front of him, but ultimately decided Jared would be the one to drive her to the day's clients. But first everyone needed to move to a new hotel, since Rudy was paranoid that Jared's new buddy would come looking for them. Since Jared told the guy that he came to Florida with two girls who earned money dancing, rudy once again left. After checking everyone into a new hotel Once alone, jessica unleashed her rage on Jarrett, who responded by punching and slapping himself in the face.

Ashley: 1:05:23

As the two were screaming at each other, zola grabbed her bag and headed to the pool because, as she said in her tweets, she was in Florida after all. She again contemplated leaving, but was still afraid about what Rudy would do. No matter how pissed she was at her new friend, she couldn't bring herself to leave her alone with Rudy. Rudy was furious when he showed back at the hotel to find Zola taking a nap. He demanded she get dressed, threw her the burner phone and instructed her to tell Jarrett where to drive Jessica for the night's calls. They drove to a few places and waited in the car until Jessica was finished. Then a special request came in, one that would involve five guys. Jessica agreed to do it for $5,000.

Ashley: 1:06:04

Jarrett walked Jessica to the door but came running back a few minutes later yelling about how the guy snatched her and slammed the door in his face. Rudy hurried over as soon as he was told what was going on. Jarrett and Zola stood behind him as he pounded the door, threatening to shoot if no one opened up. The threat did the trick. There were multiple beds in the hotel room covered with fake designer purses and lingerie. Jessica was cowering in the corner, clearly afraid. Turns out one of the guys was a rival pimp who offered to buy Jessica for $20,000, but Rudy scoffed and demanded she be handed over. On the way out he told hotel management that they probably wanted to call the authorities since there was a pimp working out of their establishment. It also sounds like this pimp is not the same guy Jarrett was talking to at the gas station earlier. It was just someone else.

Ashley: 1:06:52

Rudy gave Jarrett and Zola plane tickets home the next morning, despite Jarrett's pleas, a second round of face punching and threats to jump off the balcony. Jessica said she needed to stay and make more money for her daughter. As Zola was leaving. Jessica said she hoped they could still be friends, but Zola informed her they would never speak again. Jarrett and Zola's plane took off a few hours later. During the flight, she handed him her phone and showed him a picture of Jessica and Rudy having sex on the hotel couch. Jarrett later confirmed that he saw the photo and thanked her for showing him. Zola's boyfriend, sean, met them at the airport and drove Jarrett home.

Ashley: 1:07:28

Three days later, on April 1st 2015, 21-year-old Brianna Pello and 19-year-old Jessica Forgey were driving back to Michigan after a Cali vacay when Pello's truck broke down on a desolate stretch of highway three hours west of Reno. The girls didn't have cell reception, but a state trooper drove them to a gas station so they could connect to the Wi-Fi. The girls only had a few hundred dollars left between them and their parents couldn't afford a plane ticket, so they sent out an SOS to their friends on Facebook Not long after Pello got a response from Jessica. The two girls had hung out together a few times in Michigan. Pello had flirted with the idea of dancing, but had never done it before. A few days before her car broke down, she actually got a message from Jessica that sounded to me like it may have been her way of feeling Pelo out to see if she was willing to join her in Florida. That's speculation on my part, but she basically said something like I love money, I'll do anything for money, something along those lines.

Remi: 1:08:29

Trying to bait her in a way, trying to bait her in a way.

Ashley: 1:08:31

Nonetheless, jessica said she and her agent were actually on their way to Reno to dance at some local clubs and would front the girls the cash to get home. A car was arranged and took the girls to the airport to pick up Jessica and Rudy. When they landed he then instructed the driver to drop them off at the Atlantis Casino Resort. Once there, he took Forgy's phone, scrolled through her photos and made a backpage account for both girls. He threatened to beat them if they didn't go with Jessica to meet clients, but he ultimately allowed Forgie to stay behind and work the phones. After getting a call from a man seeking a threesome, he dropped Pello and Jessica off and took Forgie to the Peppermill Resort Hotel. Pello said she hid in the bathroom while Jessica had sex with the man. While Jessica insisted, the two girls both prostituted themselves willingly. Back at the Peppermill, forgie pleaded with Rudy to let her and her friend go home. He told her well, sure, but you have to earn your return ticket and then proceeded to rape her. When he took a phone call in the bathroom, she fled and called 911. Soon after Rudy brought Pello and Jessica back to the resort, pello was understandably terrified to discover that her friend wasn't in the room. When she asked Rudy about her whereabouts, he told her he kicked that bitch to the curb. He then got another call about the Backpage ad but realized something was up, since the caller phoned Pello's phone and not Forgie's as was listed in the ad. That seemed to spook him enough to decide it was time to leave Reno. When the elevator door opened, in the hotel lobby, a swarm of agents from the street enforcement team the agency assigned to investigate sex trafficking cases tackled and arrested him. Before being put in their own cars, jessica warned Pillow to not say a word. After the arrest, all three girls were referred to Awaken INC, a religious anti-trafficking organization. The Department of Victim Services put them up in a hotel and the two agencies arranged their flights home.

Ashley: 1:10:30

In July 2015, rudy was charged with sexual assault, sex trafficking, battery, attempted pandering and other felony counts related to a fight in jail. Pello and Forgie were present during the arraignment, but Jessica was noticeably absent. She defended him at first, but by the end of the year, with increased distance, she accepted some responsibility. Telling Rolling Stone quote I was helping other girls be put into that situation and, as someone who's been sexually abused, why would I do that? All I can say is that I was literally brainwashed by Rudy. Rudy pled guilty to one count each of sex trafficking and coercion with sexual motivation. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison on February 10, 2017. Pello Forgey and another unnamed victim testified at a sentencing hearing Per Nevada state parole documents. He became eligible for parole in July 2021, after five years. Although he was denied, his parole was granted in April 2023. He was released from the Northern Nevada Correctional Center two months later. His last registered address was in Bloomfield Hills, michigan, but he was not compliant with mandatory reporting requirements as of the recording of this episode.

Ashley: 1:11:46

Zola quit her job at Hooters after she learned she was pregnant in July 2015. On October 27th, she sat down at her computer and fired off the 148 tweets that changed her life. She was overwhelmed with how popular the tweets became almost immediately after she posted them. She actually deleted them once her followers started sending her Jessica's personal social media accounts, but by that time, they were already screenshotted and archived online. The saga got hashtagged, the story and trended worldwide. The day after the posts, she heard a radio DJ talking about them. The celebrities we've mentioned before tweeted about her and reached out personally. Bet and MTV covered the tweets and her thread even got rated on Goodreads.

Remi: 1:12:33

This would be insane to have happen to you. After posting something on Twitter, she was probably not expecting any of this.

Ashley: 1:12:42

In a November 2015 Rolling Stone article written by David Kushner, zola admitted to embellishing some of the more sensational details, like Jarrett's suicide attempt, in her tweets. Actually, he doesn't fall, he like gets caught and is dangling by a bush.

Remi: 1:13:00

Upside down or something. Yeah, okay that would have been funny.

Ashley: 1:13:04

Him being forced to watch as Jessica gave Rudy a blowjob. Was that in the movie?

Remi: 1:13:09

I believe he did make him watch, as she did some sexual act to him. I couldn't really see what it was. It wasn't a graphic scene or anything, but she was doing something and he was making Derek watch.

Ashley: 1:13:22

And Rudy dangling Jared over the balcony, shooting the pimp and throwing Jessica over his shoulder as they fled. She essentially said she got caught up in the moment and fed off the reactions her tweets were getting in real time. She also said she actually posted and removed the story twice before, when no one seemed to care about what she went through. To gather more interest this time she made her tweets darkly comedic, while preserving the gist of what happened. In the end, she didn't have regrets because in its essence, this is a sex trafficking story and people finally cared about what happened to her. In several interviews she's spoken about how she wanted to bring awareness to the prevalence of sex trafficking, including during this one on the Tamron Hall show.

A'Ziah King (Zola): 1:14:08

I guess I just want people to understand that this is because, for whatever reason, people think this topic is kind of taboo still. But I just want people to know that this is something that happens every day and it's something that can happen to anyone. I mean, it's not black and white, it's not a white van pulls up and throws you in the back.

Ashley: 1:14:25

It's you meet a really pretty, really nice girl at your job and you go on a trip like you always do, and you kind of just don't make it home. After Zola's tweets went viral, jessica and Jarrett gave their own accounts of what happened during that Tampa weekend. Per Jessica Zola only made $1 at the strip club and suggested prostitution to earn some extra cash, as she said she had done it before. She claimed Zola was the one to make them both back page accounts and was the only one to meet with customers the entire trip. While she agreed, rudy bought her a plane ticket home.

Ashley: 1:14:59

Her story was he did so upon her urging, since Zola wanted to keep going after a sketchy interaction with a group of men who spoke little to no English. Jessica obviously insists Zola wanted to keep going after a sketchy interaction with a group of men who spoke little to no English. Jessica obviously insists Zola's side of the story was completely fake and believes she made the thread for money and followers, though she did tell Rolling Stone she hoped it brought attention to sex trafficking. As of 2015, she was pregnant and lived outside of Flint, michigan, with her fiance, travis Barjoski, a 26-year-old aspiring DJ. I couldn't find anything else about her since then.

Remi: 1:15:33

Did you read her Reddit post?

Ashley: 1:15:35

I did and I basically just took away the main points. She just made it seem that she invited Zola on this trip to dance because she connected with her when they met and Zola was pissed that she only made one dollar at the club and decided to do all of this prostitution on her own accord.

Remi: 1:15:55

How closely would you say the version you read was to the version we heard from Stephanie in the film, because she is portrayed as sounding extremely ignorant in her section.

Ashley: 1:16:08

There isn't any mention about how she only fucks with Jesus or anything like that. But she does list out the reasons why she thought Zola was a jealous bitch. So it's not as absurd as it is in the movie, but it's clearly so different from Zola's stories and it doesn't actually completely match up with Jared's either. As for Jared's side of the story, he acknowledged threatening to jump off the balcony to see if Jessica cared about him, but he made it clear that everyone knew it was an empty threat. He said both girls went on at least one prostitution job together, but Zola left that Sunday because she really didn't want to do it. And he did say that Jessica went on more than one.

Ashley: 1:16:52

He also said the whole confrontation with the other pimp was completely fake and that no one offered to buy Jessica, but it did happen. As to Rudy needing to come and rescue her, there was just no offer to buy her for 20K. Lastly, he said he found out Jessica was in Nevada when she called him after Rudy's arrest asking for help. He did not come to her rescue. Zola briefly moved to California after her initial meeting with James Franco. Her and Sean were married at the time and returned to Detroit where their first daughter was born in 2016. While waiting for the movie deal to be finalized, she filmed an episode of a reality show called you the Jury, where a panel of jurors and I say that in the loosest sense of the term were tasked with deciding if Jessica had grounds to sue her for defamation for painting her as a sex worker.

Remi: 1:17:45

Was Jessica on the show as well.

Ashley: 1:17:48

I couldn't find that. I don't think so because in interviews as late as 2021, Zola said she and Jessica had not spoken.

Remi: 1:17:56

Okay, the show sounds completely pointless then.

Ashley: 1:18:00

So I don't know if they filmed separately or what happened, but I don't think they interacted. But the show was canceled before the episode aired and her and Sean divorced soon after. Zola returned to waitressing and bartending until the pandemic forced the bar to shut down. She then moved to Atlanta with her mom and sisters for a fresh start in May 2020 and released a five-track EP titled Zola, and here's a clip from one of her songs called Get Out of my Way, zola's second daughter was born in 2021.

Ashley: 1:18:51

Since then, she's focused on her writing, painting music and running her social media, including a popular OnlyFans account. Her tweets were published in a standalone movie accompaniment book called the Story, and that is the true story of Janixa Bravo's Zola.

Remi: 1:19:08

Zola has led a pretty crazy life for such a young woman and she seems to have a pretty great business savvy. So I don't think this is the last we'll be hearing from Zola. I think she'll be popping up somewhere in the entertainment business again at some point in time. But I think that it is a very eye-opening tale of how real human trafficking can be carried out and, despite the embellishments, I do think that it is a good story to promote that message of anti-trafficking.

Ashley: 1:19:43

When we talked about this too a little in the Sound of Freedom episode about child sex trafficking. It really typically isn't a big, scary white van patrolling the streets, kidnapping people and whisking them abroad. Most of the time when people find themselves in these situations it is because they are coerced by people they know and trust.

Remi: 1:20:06

Being manipulated away from their friends and family and everything they know to another location, and things just get worse from there. But yeah, it's fucking horrendous and terrible that this sort of thing even happens. But the story itself I believe I will save most of my thoughts for our verdict section. But is there anything else you would like to add? Or shall we get into our objection of the week?

Ashley: 1:20:33

The only thing I'd like to add is that, zola, if you are listening to this, we would love to have you on the podcast to talk about what your experience has been like since the movie, what you're doing now and anything else you would like to share with us. We will be tagging her on Instagram and, who knows, stay tuned.

Remi: 1:20:52

We will be reaching out to a few of the people featured in our past episodes to see if we can maybe get some of them in for follow-up interviews, but that's a project in the works. But now our objection of the week. Your Honor, I object. And why is that, mr Reed?

House of Gucci trailer: 1:21:10

Because it's devastating, to my case, overruled, good call.

Remi: 1:21:15

And I will kick things off this week. Just a little reminder. Our objection of the week is the most unnecessary change from adaptation of the true story into the movie and mine for this week. I can sum up in a single letter Z. In real life this man was referred to as Z and in the movie he was referred to as X. I don't think that that was necessary at all. I understand changing people's real names for legal purposes. X and Z. I'm pretty sure you could have used either one.

Ashley: 1:21:47

I didn't even catch that. I mean I did. I knew it was a change of letter, but I didn't even think to write that down. That's a really good one. I'm already going to pick yours. Mine was that Jessica slash Stephanie picked Zola up at 2 pm instead of 8 pm.

Remi: 1:22:02

And there were a couple of little things with like the amount of money she said that her friend made in a single weekend and smaller stuff like that. And of course, Hooters not being featured in the film was probably for copyright reasons. But yeah, X and Z, our objection of the week.

Ashley: 1:22:18

And now that brings us to our verdict.

Announcer: 1:22:21

At the conclusion of each episode, our hosts will deliver a verdict based on the film's accuracy. At the conclusion of each episode, our hosts will deliver a verdict based on the film's accuracy. If the film is an honest portrayal of the events, then it will earn a not guilty verdict. If the adaptation is mostly factual but creative liberties were taken for the sake of entertainment, the film will be declared a mistrial. But if the film ultimately strays too far from the truth, then it will be condemned as guilty and sentenced to a life behind bars.

Remi: 1:22:50

Since I started things last round, how about you begin things this round, Ashley?

Ashley: 1:22:56

So, coming into this episode, I was thinking a lot about whether the verdict is going to be based on the true story or the Twitter thread and I think, regardless of that, it doesn't really change my verdict. I'm going to go with a mistrial. I have a lot of notes here and, putting aside the things that Zola admitted to embellishing, which were in the film, there was still a lot of differences in the movie that diverged from the tweets. So, for example, the whole part about them going dancing when they first met and them texting all day the next day, I get they probably put that in to establish some sort of relationship so they would be able to have some fun scenes together and play off each other more.

Ashley: 1:23:41

There was a lot of other little changes, like how Z slash X got the pictures of the girls dancing, how she realized he was a pimp, how Jarrett slash Derek met the guy at the liquor store when really it was a gas station. So there was just a lot of little things like that. Why Z slash X kept the money from Stephanie. So just a lot of little details were changed and I just couldn't give it a not guilty verdict, even if we were only comparing it to what was tweeted. What about you, remy?

Remi: 1:24:16

I agree with you. I was thinking this could get a not guilty verdict when the story began, but as we progressed I kind of realized that the movie is based more on the tweets than it is the real story, and even in that respect they changed a lot of things along the way. There was a lot of random price changes, location changes, events were happening in different orders tons of little things like that. It is essentially the same story, but I think that enough of it was changed to warrant a mistrial in this scenario. So double mistrial on Zola. But what do we have coming two weeks from now? Ashley, again a very different type of film. We like to mix things up here.

Ashley: 1:25:04

Well, we just had so much fun talking about Jared Leto last week that we are doing it again, but this time we are going to be joined by Lady Gaga and Adam Driver, meaning we are talking about Ridley Scott's rather new movie, house of Gucci.

Remi: 1:25:21

Jared Leto's Razzie award-winning performance in House of Gucci, which we will be discussing, and I think we've only seen this film maybe one time. I remember it being kind of a mess and I am looking forward to Ashley being able to sift through all of that mess and create a coherent story for us to follow. What do you think, ashley?

Ashley: 1:25:47

I did read the book that the movie is based on and I'm glad I did. It is very, very detailed. One of the most interesting parts about it is it really breaks down the rise and fall and rise again of the Gucci brand and it's just very, very interesting all of that. But on the other side. Because it's just very, very interesting all of that, but on the other side because it was so detailed. There is so much I'm going to have to condense and sift through, but we will tackle that in upcoming weeks.

Remi: 1:26:17

I do feel kind of bad for you because when I was looking through some notes for House of Gucci there was an entire section of family members in the Gucci clan that were excluded from the film but were involved heavily in the real events, Literally like a whole page of a list of people. So my thoughts are with you, Ashley. I hope you can get through this without losing your mind.

Ashley: 1:26:40

Thankfully, when I was looking at the family tree that is in the front of the book, which is like two full pages long, the actual characters that really do play a role and that I will need to mention are far less than that. So that's at least one relief I've had.

Remi: 1:26:58

Well, until then, if you like what you heard everybody, please tell a friend I'm just going by word of mouth at this point and, of course, leave a comment and yada, yada, yada. But right now we are going to leave you all with a little sneak peek of House of Gucci.

Zola clip: 1:27:29

And until next time court is adjourned. Peritone worth style power. Who wouldn't care for that? I have been a Gucci all my life. It is an empire.

House of Gucci trailer: 1:27:35

You can help the family. Gucci is not exciting and everybody knows it.

Remi: 1:27:39

At least it's my name, sweetie.

House of Gucci trailer: 1:27:41

Our name, sweetie Gucci needs no blood. This is not a woman's game. Remember that. It's time to take out the trash. We're a family.

Zola clip: 1:27:57

Don't Miss. What game are you playing?

House of Gucci trailer: 1:28:01

No, I don't consider myself a particularly ethical person, but I am fair.