Deep Fakes & Blackmail Threaten Mena Suvari in First Trailer
The wild story is inspired by the case against Raffaela Spone.
The plot behind "Deadly Cheer Mom" is so wild it's scarcely believable... so of course, it is inspired by a true story.
The upcoming Tubi thriller, starring Mena Suvari, tells the story of a cheerleader and her coach mom who find themselves at the center of controversy as salacious videos of the teen surface online and threaten everything they've worked for.
"You know I don't even like cheerleading? I hate it. And I especially hate my washed up mom," admits cheerleading captain Beth in the first trailer... except, it's not really her.
Hilltown Police/GMACheerleader Mom Charged With Deep Faking Videos of Daughter's Rivals Smoking and Drinking Naked to Get Them Kicked Off Team
View StoryWhen a full scholarship ride goes up for grabs at Rossmore Carmel University — but only for one cheerleader — all eyes are on the cheer captain, who also happens to be the coach's daughter.
"Shocking! Coach's daughter makes captain. Gee, I wonder if she'll get the scholarship too?" one of her teammates sarcastically ponders.
Her mom seems to agree: "My daughter is just as good as Beth; she is obviously one of the best cheerleaders in the city."
And when social media videos purportedly posted by Beth showing her chugging bottles of alcohol and smoking begin spreading online, her reputation starts crumbling faster than an inverted pyramid.
"It's a crappy deep fake," a teammate assures her. "It's a video that's been manipulated to make it look like someone is saying or doing something they are not."
Crappy they may be, but the videos quickly go viral — and Beth finds the number of people who believe her dwindling fast.
"Deadly Cheer Mom" debuts on Tubi on Friday March 25.
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View StoryMeanwhile, the wild story is inspired by the case against Raffaela Spone, a 50-year-old Pennsylvania mom who last year was charged with multiple counts of Harassment and Cyber Harassment of a Child, after prosecutors accused her of manipulating pictures and videos of high school girls to make it appear like they were stripping, smoking and drinking.
The bizarre case began unfolding in July of 2020, when Hilltown Township Police Department received reports of a juvenile being harassed via text message. During the investigation, more victims came forward — and police quickly put together that they were all members of the Victory Vipers cheerleading group.
The anonymous texter, who identified themselves as a "concerned parent", also encouraging some of the girls to kill themselves, investigators said.
The case took another sharp left turn in May of last year, when prosecutors suddenly admitted they could not prove Spone had used deep fakes — something many deep fake experts had been skeptical of her ability to do so all along.
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View Story"While investigators originally believed at least one video showed evidence of the use of so-called Deep Fake face replacement technology, police are at this point unable to confirm the video evidence was falsified," Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub said in a statement at the time, per The Washington Post.
He added that his office still intends pursuing her on the harassment charges, which he stands by.
Spone, who is awaiting a trial date, denies all charges. Her attorney Robert J. Birch slammed the police for what he described as a "sloppy, sloppy investigation."
"Her reputation right now is less than mud," he told The Post. "They have ruined her life, there's no question about it. … On Twitter, they have already convicted her. She's always going to be labeled the 'deepfake mom' or … a 'criminal mastermind.' How do you dig out of that?"
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