Obsessed Network Drama / Obsessed Fest 2023

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Overview

Obsessed Network Drama, also known as Obsessed Fest 2023, refers to a string of controversies surrounding podcast hosts involved with the "Obsessed Network" series of true crime shows. In-fighting between the hosts of True Crime Obsessed Patrick Hinds and Gillian Pensavalle, and I Think Not! (formerly Obsessed With Disappeared) hosts Ellyn Marsh and Joey Taranto reportedly led to chaos at Obsessed Fest, held in Dallas, Texas in late October 2023. Over the following weeks, the controversy continued to garner attention online, generating widespread discourse in late 2023.

Background

True Crime Obsessed is a true crime podcast hosted by Patrick Hinds and Gillian Pensavalle. Started in 2017, the show has since expanded into a network of true crime shows, including Obsessed With Disappeared, later renamed I Think Not. Obsessed With Disappeared was initially hosted by Patrick Hinds and Ellyn Marsh, with Joey Taranto later replacing Hinds in February 2022.

Fans of both Obsessed Network shows first noticed interpersonal issues between the various hosts when Ellyn and Patrick unfollowed each other on Instagram in July 2022,^[1] with many fans speculating that it was Patrick Hind's perceived rude behavior toward Ellyn that led to their friendship breaking down.

Speculation continued on the subreddit /r/ObsessedNetwork^[2] over the following month, with some Redditors claiming that an argument over a TikTok video led to Patrick firing Ellyn and Joey^[3] and offering to sell their podcast to them or another network for $3 million.

On August 22nd, 2023, Redditor^[4] /u/Rizzie24 created a master post of links recapping all the discussions that led up to Obsessed Fest (shown below).

Developments

Following repeated questioning and failed moderation attempts on the True Crime Obsessed Facebook discussion group, Patrick Hinds released a statement^[5] on August 28th, 2023, dismissing rumors that Ellyn and Joey are fired and assuring fans that Ellyn and Joey will continue to release two episodes per week and will be part of an upcoming TCO tour (seen below, left).

Patrick uploaded another statement^[6] on September 6th announcing that Joey and Ellyn will be departing from the Obsessed Network amicably, but will still attend Obsessed Fest (seen below, right).

On October 3rd, 2023, journalist James Renner posted a Medium article titled "Obsessed Pest,"^[7] providing an in-depth look into the inner workings of Obsessed Network, with employees alleging that Patrick Hinds was routinely abusive, rude to women and particularly rude to Ellyn Marsh. Tensions reportedly came to a head when Joey Taranto defended Marsh against Patrick's "screaming" during a company meeting. Interpersonal tensions at Obsessed Network were exacerbated by the lack of an HR department, with grievant employees being redirected to Patrick's husband Steve Tipton.

Obsessed Fest 2023

Reports from Obsessed Fest 2023 were largely compiled in a megathread posted to /r/ObsessedNetwork on October 19th, 2023, with attendees describing instances of Patrick Hinds being sidelined or outright ignored by fans in favor of Ellyn.^[8]

According to a Google Doc compiled by Erica Bennet, another notable happening at Obsessed Fest was that Patrick Hind's memoir reading was only attended by five people out of 75 tickets sold.^[9] Moreover, Patrick reportedly behaved rudely with a woman wearing a shirt that read "Accountable-lebrity," going so far as to shove past her at one point.

At another point during the festival, Ellyn accused Terra Newell, another podcast host of verbally accosting her in an elevator, an incident that resulted in Ellyn and Joey being removed from the programming for the rest of the festival weekend (seen below, top). Other festival attendees accused Newel of faking a "PTSD" episode during which she shouted for Joey to get away from her (seen below, bottom).^[10]

On November 16th, 2023, YouTuber^[11] Austin Green posted a video documenting all the events leading up to Obsessed Fest, as well as responses from the management company in charge of Obsessed Fest (seen below). The post gathered over 300,000 views in a week.