New York Weed Dispensaries Are Already Opening. 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. After a pre-taped segment where he boasted about exploiting homeless people, the alleged associate arrived onstage dressed as the host, and Dr. Phil promptly threw the stand-in off set. I think i may recreate the scene where 2 homeless crack heads dive to the bottom of a pool for a bag of crack. Jonathon Green, The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang (1984) offers a bit of a twist on that definition: bunfight n. a tea party, esp. on the Internet. I now pay the local homeless around my town to do the same things in bumfights. We just hit it off, McPherson says of their first encounter. Hell Jackass ripped off . 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. Bumfights might be an outrageous but forgettable one-day fad in 2018, netting scant cash for its creators. That was a really big day, Tanner tells Rolling Stone. Tanner and McPherson are not to be confused with the Bumfights producer who got kicked off Dr. Phil when he showed up dressed as Dr. Phil. According to DHL, the parcels were declared as Puzzle-unlimited collectors ED, Steamer Cap and Antique Train Collector E. [TalkingPointsMemo], Creative. For more information, please see our Finally, thanks to some good lawyers, here is the footage that was seized from the arrests. The two, along with two other Bumfights producers, settled a lawsuit by some of the men depicted in their videos in 2006, and pled guilty to misdemeanor battery in 2002 and were fined $500 and sentenced to community service at a homeless shelter. But here is where their respective stories begin to diverge. In that same civil-suit statement, Hannah said McPherson cared about him, and showed concern over his excessive drinking. You'd walk past the bay area and just throw a dollar at a bum and just point at another and they know what's up. [2] Advocacy groups were critical of the video. Bumfights is a video series produced by Indecline Films. See Movies in Theaters. Nov 20, 02 at 8:28am (PST) ^. Then bumfights came along. I slipped on a walk up there and lost my balance, Brennan says he told the officer. See Also Battle other bums and win SOL (50/50 chance). Police, a fire truck and an ambulance arrived a few minutes later. After initial deliberations, it was settled without a trial. For more information, please see our McPherson says he heard about the duo, particularly Hannah, and their hijinks from friends. Dr. McPherson and Bubeck each wound up serving three months. In early October 2017, Hannah was riding in his sisters car close to Swainsboro, Georgia, where he was born. According to a Georgia State Patrol investigator, an 18-wheeler ran a red light and crashed into the passenger side of the car, killing Hannah instantly. P2P smart contract on the way 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 event, featured on the DVD, along with another in which Brennan got BUMFIGHT tattooed across his forehead, became centerpieces in a 2002 criminal lawsuit filed by the Superior Court of California against the Indecline crew. 3:43. bumfights 4. 2023 Rolling Stone, LLC. You have to wonder what a guy who got his start filming homeless people smash into things considers shady. Its so perfectly fitting that the Bumfights guys got arrested for essentially trying to act out a dead baby joke. But few players in the Bumfights tale believe the film would have such reverberations through the zeitgeist of today. They certainly did not expect Bumfights to have either the sales success it had or its quaked cultural impact. with image of children struggling for sticky buns. [3], Ryen McPherson moved on to produce a similar reality video called Indecline: Vol. The original Indecline members could not reveal the buyers true names due to a non-disclosure agreement, and multiple reports on the pair who did not respond to multiple interview requests for this story concluded they were utilizing aliases in the media. I can see how easy it is to look at the situation and scream exploitation, McPherson says of his time filming homeless people, namely Brennan and Hannah. 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. At the time, though, we didnt realize it. According to both Tanner and McPherson, they observed Hannah chasing Brennan. But the prosecutions side of the case, as it turned out, was kind of hard to piece together, Ross explains, noting that his witnesses had built-in credibility issues. 2:52. As the films popularity grew, advocacy groups lashed out against it. 'Bumfights' producers detained in Bangkok for sending human body parts to Las Vegas. and our 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. 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. Filed to: where are they now Remember Bumfights, the deeply depressing 2002 video featuring homeless men goaded into doing stupid things like fighting each other and getting "Bumfights". 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? We will keep fighting for all libraries - stand with us! bum fights Easy to start: 1.) A chapter titled Jewish James Bonds recounts Sopers tension-rife mission with his cousin, a San Diego attorney named Barry Plotkin, who happened to be in Las Vegas for a law convention. on the Internet. 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! Privacy Policy. Backstory. 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). In my 30 years in law enforcement I have never seen somebody turn his life around the way he was able to, Willis, the La Mesa police officer, now retired, says of Hannah. However, with Rufus, I was always proud of him, McPherson says. We thought it was funny.. He calls his cousin a saint, saying Soper was helping people who were used and abused and paid to do horrible things.. McPhersons early videos were passed around La Mesa and beyond, catching the attention of Zach Bubeck, a Las Vegas native and freelance graphic designer living in San Diego at the time. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. If you guys like Jackass and/or bums then you'll love Bum Fights! He's also the subject of a San Diego Union-Tribune profile. 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. Wife wanted a divorce and I was so very close to losing my job at work. I'm not saying I agree with the producer of Bumfights, but he should be allowed to speak his mind if Dr. Phil is going to speak his. In the early to mid-2000s, there was a (thankfully) brief trend known as "bum fights." Which was essentially consisting of some sick jerks paying a couple of people living on the streets a negligible sum of money to fight in front of them while they placed bets or simply cheered them on. Uploaded by Anyway, McPherson and Tanner were questioned by police for a few hours before being released, and have since traveled on to Cambodia. web pages 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." 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. The next degeneration of gamified betting on Solana. 1: CAUSE FOR CONCERN (DVD) You will believe a bum can fight. The Guys Behind Bumfights Got Arrested For Trying To Mail Infant Body Parts From Thailand, The Best Coachella 2023 Performances Were Reflections Of Pure Joy, My (Non-Anonymous) Ballot For The 2023 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, HBOs White House Plumbers Delivers An Absurd Historical Snapshot And A Knockout Performance From Justin Theroux, The Rundown: Ted Lasso Has Created A Delightful Little I Think You Should Leave Conundrum, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 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. Topics bumfights, bum, fights, streetfights. KVFutureGamer 3.31K subscribers Subscribe 2.6K 316K views 4 years ago Here is an update video about the producers and stars of Bumfights.. Would fight like Tyson. 1It's Worse Than You Think. Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). Bumfights was in the center of it all, turning the anarchism knobs to 11. The debut release titled Bumfights Vol. This is a person, Hustings says of the target in the clip. 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. BUMFIGHTS VOL. 2,442 Views . ), Brennan says any acts of kindness McPherson may have offered him and Hannah the Las Vegas housing, the Thanksgiving dinner, monetary donations were all part of a ploy to continue to profit off of their pain. But they were super chaotic and violent and full of drugs and prostitutes and shit. Police Col. Chumpol Poompuang said the sender was a 31-year-old. Hed given up alcohol for good in 2002 because, as he told The San Diego Union-Tribune, his daughter wrote him a letter after hearing about his activities in Bumfights. People in La Mesa, namely the police, would let them be. DOWNLOAD OPTIONS download 1 file . dressed as the host, and Dr. Phil promptly threw the stand-in off set. See, this is why I only use FedEx for my dead baby heads. [deleted] 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. Scan this QR code to download the app now. My friend Justin, who brought this modern masterpiece to my attention, gets the kudos. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Interestingly enough, Soper met and hired Hannah before Hannah ended up on the video series that gave him any fame. In 2005, McPherson and Zachary Bubek were sentenced to 180 days in jail for failing to complete their community service. 'Bun fight' in slang dictionaries. You can clearly hear my voice, several times, telling Rufus not to hit Donnie, Tanner says of a clip. More like CKY except mean spirited, I guess. 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.. Can you imagine how scary that would be, especially for someone sleeping outdoors who knows that it is very dangerous to be sleeping outside? Addeddate 2020-12-30 04:49:43 Identifier bumfights-4-2 Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.6.4 Soper would later become Hannahs co-author for his memoir, A Bum Deal. To this day, it still sounds good, he says of the title. They are taking advantage of a vulnerable, minority population to make a profit. To optimize visceral consumer reaction to the product, they called it Bumfights. Is New York City Really Cracking Down on Weed Sellers? [3][4], The videos were originally produced in the early 2000s. Breaks Down His Killer White House Correspondents Dinner Set, Pharrells Something in the Water Fest Cancels Final Day Due to Severe Weather, Stagecoach: Kane Brown Breaks Mental Health Stigma With 'Memory,' Talks Depression, Bernie Sanders: Many GOP Leaders 'Don't Even Believe in Democracy'. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The world was listening to what we provided, he says. Everyday id watch the same shit on tv and youtube. Cookie Notice No.. canaanp 3 yr. ago Many believe the founding members of Indecline were the driving force behind the early media blitz around Bumfights, proud to have pulled the wool over the eyes of so many homeless people who got hurt for the price of a few beers. He has a wife and kids, and helps run a Facebook group with more than 50,000 members dedicated to providing information about area emergencies. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Kim Fowley's Estate Sued for Sexual Assault of Minor. They harass and assault homeless people, show bums taking shits and using drugs, instigate fights, its just offensive for the sake of being offensive. A film of bums Addeddate 2021-08-02 08:53:10 Identifier bumfights-2_202108 Scanner . Brennan and Hannah had each spent time in the U.S. Army, with Brennan serving in the Vietnam War. 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. . Bum fights producer exploits homeless people. But by then, Indecline had sold the rights to Bumfights for a reported $1.5 million to two Las Vegas producers, who began promoting the film under the pseudonyms Ray Leticia and Ty Beeson. Hannah agreed because he was drunk, he said, and wanted the money to buy more beer. 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. 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. McPherson, an aspiring filmmaker, was always tooling around town with a video camera. web pages (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.). 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.. Suspect Arrested in Connection to Killing of Black Trans Sundance Star Koko Da Doll 2. total posts: 17157. since: Feb 2002. Then he censored the man by forcefully removing him, leaving plenty of time for Dr. Phil to say everything he wanted. The company Indecline Films started Bum Fights in San Diego, San Francisco and Las Vegas. Later that year, however, Willis would arrest McPherson for his role in producing Bumfights. The latest Tweets from Bum Fights (@SolBumFights). The episode never aired but according to legend, it was meant to air on December 12th, 2006. 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. During one segment about a rash of violence against homeless people in the United States, reporter Ed Bradley intimated that McPherson and the other filmmakers were at least tangentially responsible for the attacks, including one in Holly Hill, Florida, that left a man dead. It wouldve been cool to talk to Rufus again. Beeson and Leticia released the three follow videos, volumes 2 - 4, including footage that was provided as part of their purchase of the business. 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. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Then, proceedings for the civil lawsuit against McPherson, filed in 2002, finally began in 2006. 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.. I can't take credit for that tagline. He says today he lives off disability payments from the Army and that hes now sober, having recently been discharged from a rehab facility. To this day, McPherson and Brennan say they were never the closest of friends, more like amiable acquaintances. 6 Favorites. Uploaded by Remember Bumfights, the deeply depressing 2002 video featuring homeless men goaded into doing stupid things like fighting each other and getting "Bumfights" tattoos? Uploaded by 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. We will keep fighting for all libraries - stand with us! I thought it was very cruel conduct, says Curtis Ross, then a deputy district attorney in San Diegos Eastern County. "It was controlling me with every move I made," he says in a polite Southern drawl. ), In early 2003, all the felony charges against McPherson, Tanner, Slyman and Bubeck were either dropped or reduced to misdemeanors. 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. (McPherson denies this claim. Brennan also says that during this period McPherson ordered him and Hannah to dress up like a cat and Tweety Bird and walk through Las Vegas casinos while being filmed. It was produced by Ryen McPherson, with friends Zachary Bubeck, Daniel J. Tanner, and Michael Slyman, as Indecline Films. Well, the guy exploits homeless people for profit. 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. When Brennan finally stopped, he says, he found himself in front of a La Mesa Police car. 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. They don't make bums like Cali 92 bums. After Brennan was hurt during a shoot, authorities showed up and intervened. The cop then instructed him to be more careful in the future. on December 30, 2020, There are no reviews yet. When he caught Hannah inside the Dumpster that morning, he got mad. He hung out with Brennan and Hannah one day behind a supermarket, where the two would cash in recyclable cans theyd found. Archived post. News outlets across the country and even overseas splayed clips and photos in critical reports. Brennan went down hard, with an awkward twist, and soon began complaining about pain in his right leg. The video series immediately garnered criticism. For more information, please see our Bumfights is a series of popular DVDs in which homeless people perform degrading stunts for which they are paid a few dollars and a lot of alcohol. There were two felony counts each of solicitation to commit a crime and conspiracy to commit a crime, stemming from several instances in which Indecline allegedly bribed Brennan, Hannah and other homeless people with money, booze and even doughnuts to participate in destructive behavior. Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). Dogheartedbaton. They told Wired they wished to use Bumfights proceeds to one day fund a legitimate film, and BBC News noted they were marketing the video as an opportunity to witness drunk bums beating each other silly. McPherson and Slyman believe it was an associate of Leticia and Beesons who infamously appeared on Dr. Phil, posing as the Bumfights creator. There was just nothing like it at the time, says Slyman, who links backyard wrestling videos, also heavily consumed back in the early 2000s, to the appeal of his Bumfights film. 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. Thats when my ankle snapped.. Soper says Hannah moved back there to be closer to family. 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. Well, the video's biggest "star" isn't a bum anymorethough he still has his infamous tattoo. 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. Search the history of over 806 billion "Guaranteed to be the most hilariously shocking video you've ever seen, Bumfights will piss on any other ruckus video ever made. They also include clips of teenagers. Eight years sober, Hannah explains how a lifelong addiction to alcohol brought him to becoming an unwitting gladiator for twisted teens. You must be at least 18 years old and you must agree that you are not offended by mature content to view this group. Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). It's like the Frank and Charlie of media. Rufus was just on a fucking rampage, McPherson says. . Does anybody i mean anybody know where i can find BUMFIGHTS THE MOVIE online I have looked everywhere..!!!! Search the history of over 806 billion Bumfights 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. Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. 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. As he brushed himself off, an officer popped out, asking him what happened and if Brennan was hurt. more reply Loading. 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.. 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. I went to turn around, because I didnt want him to hit me again, Brennan says. Amateur filmmaker Mikey Slyman, another friend of Bubecks, was brought into the fold, and the foursome founded a production company called Indecline. Though web-content producers can enjoy click-based revenue from ads, McPherson says, Theres not a platform thats going to stand by anything like that and let you monetize it, so [in 2002] we wouldve been fucked in that respect., The timing was right, Slyman says. on December 30, 2020, There are no reviews yet. We pulled up and we felt like Rufus was probably going to kill Donnie that day. Hannah later said during a deposition that he routinely drank at least four 40-ounce bottles of beer a day at that time, and often blacked out. Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). Uploaded by SlitScan Additional comment actions or his staff hates him as much as everyone else. [2] Community complaints led to the police investigating if any laws were broken by producers. The body parts were stolen from the medical museums of one of Bangkok's biggest hospitals, its administrators said late Monday. We had a lot of friends in La Mesa., Brennan says Hannah once dared him to jump off a hill near the entrance of La Mesita Park, and land on the concrete below. He's married to an "old flame," with whom he'd already had two children, and he's eight years sober. Not that that's anything like Bumfights, now that I thought about your question. They'd bloody each other up as if it's a championship fight. But Brennan tells Rolling Stone it was McPherson who instructed Hannah to slug him!, I went to turn around, because I didnt want him to hit me again, Brennan continues, and thats when my ankle snapped in half.. Their work was good. 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. There are no featured reviews for Bumfights: Cause for Concern because the movie has not released yet (). [1], By June 2002, 250,000 copies of the first volume of the series were reported sold for $22 each, according to Wired magazine. It was very obvious that the films glorified violence against people who were experiencing homelessness, says National Coalition for the Homeless director Megan Hustings. Tanner recently told Rolling Stone that, during the preliminary hearing, the Indecline defense had provided video footage that did not make the final cut of the DVD and countered the states claims. We will keep fighting for all libraries - stand with us! "You're ruining our canning route," Hannah snapped back. But when I do I'll drop a link to one of their segments. The two met next to a dumpster, according to the Union-Tribune: Soper, 65, doesn't usually pay much attention to his trash receptacles, but someone had defecated next to this particular one a day earlier, so he was watchful. US 'Bumfights' filmmakers wanted for shipping baby body parts from Thailand. We had money, we put it in an account, we took them to Vegas to get them set up with a better life, McPherson says. The worst quality in people besides cruelty is arrogance. Though McPherson says that Hannah misled investigators, the media and his readers about the nature of the relationship they shared, the thought of Hannahs death tears him up.