Bentinho Massaro Sucks Part 1

Explicit content warning

02/21/22 • 83 min

2 Listeners

A Little Bit Culty

A Little Bit Culty –

Imagine a narsty blend of an Instagram influencer, spiritual huxter, Winklevoss twin, and Hugh Hefner’s ghost. These are the vibes that Bentinho Massaro is serving. He’s got all the scary charisma and shiny trappings of a culty overachiever, like thousands of social media followers, a grandiose plan to build a fully enlightened society by 2035, and he even claims to vibrate at a higher frequency than other humans. He’s also already achieved a rite of passage that’s becoming all too common among culty fuckwads: His name in headlines concerning the suspicious death of one of his followers at a Sedona retreat.

Our trio of guests in this double episode whistleblower extravaganza are coming forward to call bullshit on Bentinho’s special brand of mindfuckery. Jade Alectra, Keilan McNeil, and Jacqueline Graham were pulled into his mad world, and got themselves out. But they aren’t going radio silent. Oh hell no. Because they want you to know that this so-called millennial spiritual guru is less of a messiah and more of a walking, talking human Fyre Festival. In part one, Jade, Keilan, and Jacqueline share what made Bentinho seem so alluring and transformational at first, and what happened when shit started getting real.

The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business individual, anyone or anything.

A Little Bit Culty is proud to support the #IGOTOUT project, which empowers survivors of cultic abuse to share their stories online as a catalyst for education, prevention, and healing. Learn more at igotout.org

For more information on A Little Bit Culty and co-hosts Sarah Edmondson and Nippy “Anthony” Ames, visit our official website at alittlebitculty.com. Follow us on Instagram & Twitter @alittlebitculty

CREDITS:

Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames

Production Partner: Citizens of Sound

Producer: Will Retherford

Associate Producer: Jess Tardy

Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Little Bit Culty –

CREDITS:

Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames

Production Partner: Citizens of Sound

Producer: Will Retherford

Associate Producer: Jess Tardy

Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Previous Episode

Keely Griffin on Twin Flames & Other Dumpster Fires

A Little Bit Culty –

Speaking of soul-crushing scams that exploit the basic human need for love and belonging, we’ve got a doozy of a Valentine’s Day episode for you. We’re not labeling the organization at the heart of this episode a cult, but we are asking our guest Keely Griffin if loving and leaving Twin Flames Universe was the bad trip that reports published by Vanity Fair, Vice, and Daily Mail make it sound. Once a devotee of TFU, Keely shares what made the YouTubey, Facebooky spiritual community sound promising at first, just how quickly it went to the Upside Down, and how she’s coming back from the whole shitshow now that she’s out of its grips.

Oh and just FYI, the list of what TFU officially disputes about its bad press practically writes our show notes for us: They dispute that they promote harassment and stalking. They dispute that they engage in exploitative and cult-like practices. They dispute that they coerce members into changing their gender. A Little Bit Culty, on the other hand, does not dispute that the whole TFU vibe makes us want to throw up in our mouths a little bit. Happy Freakin’ Valentine’s Day.

CREDITS:

Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames.

Production Partner: Citizens of Sound.

Producer: Will Retherford

Associate Producer: Jess Tardy

Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

Additional Music Score by Will Retherford

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Next Episode

Bentinho Massaro Sucks Part 2

1 Recommendations

A Little Bit Culty –

He’s just one guy, but there’s so much culty shit flying around Bentinho Massaro that our first episode went into extra innings. Part two of our spotlight on the International Man of Alleged Assholery continues with Jade Alectra, Keilan McNeil, and Jacqueline Graham taking us into the pivotal moments that helped them wake up, pack up, and peace out of his toxic basecamp. They also share why they’re speaking out, even though it is all still painful AF; what’s helping them heal; and where they’re finding the joys of life after Bentinho. Blessed be the whistleblowers.