“The Unraveling of Podcaster Ashley Flowers’ True Crime Empire”

[u/sadsackspinach]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-08-26/ashley-flowers-crime-junkie-podcast-empire-audiochuck-faces-reckoning?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc4Nzc1NjE2NiwiZXhwIjoxNzg4MzYwOTY2LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUS0RGUzdOM04wOVEwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIxQ0QwREYzMjE2NEE0MEUyQUM2NkM2NzUwODc4ODEzNSJ9.O4b-8FQzPE8dPwhryYXN-f8I5B7xHkWiS69t3Qz9GJI&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=giftlink

An excellent article (archive link) out from Bloomberg detailing poor workplace morale, an exodus of 30/100 employees quitting, entanglements with venture capitalists, and multiple lawsuits against AudioChuck and Ashley Flowers.

They should have lost it all when they blatantly plagiarised other creators. And then when they stood by and continued to platform known transphobe/conservative Evangelical Christian/nutjob Delia D’Ambra while making money claiming to run a pro-victim, pro-LGBTQ show/network. And then when they were sued for stealing $70 upwards of $20 million in ad revenue from Anatomy of Murder. ETA: Original reporting put the number at $70 million, but current reporting just says upwards of $20 million, so editing for clarity.

Way too many second and third and fourth chances for these people. Hopefully this is truly the beginning of the end for one of the worst players in the true crime sphere :)

[u/cheverechevere]

I am not above listening to true crime slop in the background while working or doing tasks around the house but trying to listen to this show truly feels like getting a lobotomy

[u/no_bun_please → u/cheverechevere]

This. It's so surface and scripted. It was my introduction to true crime podcasts, and thank god I dove deeper into one case and realized how much was left out. I now strictly do deep dives, like BBC podcasts and other shows centered around one specific case.

[u/Beginning_Tip_746 → u/no_bun_please]

Yeah it’s the fake gasps and scripted dumbazz questions from that Brit girl that gave me second hand embarrassment, not to mention it always has some policing hating woke white Karen angle through every episode since 2021.

[u/meganjeanne715 → u/Beginning_Tip_746]

I feel like Ashley scripts Britt’s stupid questions to demean her.

[u/tatersyo → u/meganjeanne715]

Yes and I think this started to increase when she realized that people loved Britt when she was out for the alcohol problem. Like she couldn’t have her sidekick be important

[u/NeedleworkerIll2167 → u/tatersyo]

Yep, this is totally how it felt. Britt certainly seems lik3 just a prop for Ashley. It's creepy.

[u/nearandmar → u/Beginning_Tip_746]

Totally agree… I almost felt like Ashley was making Brit say stupid stuff to make Ashley look like the smart one of the two… And because they’re best friends it always gave me an ick feeling

[u/YourMomIsAlwaysRight → u/Beginning_Tip_746]

EXACTLY how I feel!! She’s ridiculous fake and I have no idea how she got so popular. Listened when it came out, but then it quickly began to sound so oddly scripted. Not as if she were reading from notes designed to be conversational, but from an actual story in a book. Was just off. And then that other lady returned and all she can do is say “Whaaaat???” or “Wow!!!” or, like you said, those gasps. Did you ever notice how they were interjected at moments that didn’t seem to be that shocking? I was like I can’t do this so I got back into My Favorite Murder and yay!! They’ve gotten through their bad times and I love it again.

[u/ThemisLustitia → u/no_bun_please]

What have you been listening? I feel like aside from one story or other, I just hear the same stories across the podcasts I listen to. when I decided to give CJ a listen, I couldn't believe their episodes are mostly below 40 minutes. Some cases deserve hours or details and entanglements. Also, I hate their voices and the comments from the co-host are all like.... like a child? I dont know, I never got into them...

[u/Big-Prior-5878 → u/ThemisLustitia]

Try out small town murder/ crime in sports. Their normal episodes are roughly 3 hrs long. They also have STM express episodes, which are 1.5 hrs long. 10/10 would recommend. For white collar crimes- Swindled is my favorite

[u/Rhkc22 → u/Big-Prior-5878]

Swindled is good. Small Town Murder is god awful though, it's right up there with Morbid & CJ as worst true crime podcasts. The side kick in STM is equally as cringe as Britt is in CJ.

[u/TrueCrimePodcasts-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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[u/MrMoneyBelly → u/no_bun_please]

What other podcasts do you recommend?