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 "excerpt": "Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. is a 2022 Netflix four-part true-crime docuseries directed by Chris Smith about restaurateur Sarma Melngailis, Pure Food and Wine, and Anthony Strangis, whose $1.7 million con ended with a 2016 Tennessee arrest traced to a Domino's order.",
 "snippet": "Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. is a 2022 Netflix four-part true-crime docuseries directed by Chris Smith about restaurateur Sarma Melngailis, Pure Food and Wine, and Anthony Strangis, whose $1.7 million con ended with a 2016 Tennessee arrest traced to a Domino's order.",
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 "markdown": "# Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.\n\n**Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.** is a four-part Netflix true-crime documentary series, released on March 16, 2022, that follows the downfall of [Sarma Melngailis](https://www.edgepedia.org/sarma-melngailis), the New York restaurateur behind the vegan restaurant Pure Food and Wine, who funneled money from her business to a man she met online and went on the run with him before their 2016 arrest.<sup>[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81470938)</sup> The series was directed by Chris Smith, the executive producer of *Tiger King* and director of *Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened*, and is rated TV-MA.<sup>[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81470938)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bad_vegan_fame_fraud_fugitives)</sup>\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | March 16, 2022, Netflix; four-episode limited series, TV-MA<sup>[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81470938)</sup> |\n| Director | Chris Smith (*Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened*; executive producer of *Tiger King*)<sup>[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81470938)</sup> |\n| Subject | Sarma Melngailis, owner of Pure Food and Wine, and her husband Anthony Strangis, who used the pseudonym Shane Fox online<sup>[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81470938)</sup> |\n| Money involved | Melngailis wired Strangis $1.7 million over two years; the couple stole nearly $2 million from the restaurant and its staff<sup>[3](https://www.netflix.com/title/81470938?src=tudum)</sup> |\n| Arrest | May 2016, at a motel outside Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, traced through a Domino's pizza order placed under Strangis's real name<sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup> |\n| Outcomes | Melngailis pleaded guilty to grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, and a scheme to defraud, serving four months at Rikers Island; Strangis pleaded guilty to four counts of fourth-degree grand larceny and served one year<sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup> |\n| Reception | 88% Tomatometer from 25 critics and a 34% Popcornmeter audience score on Rotten Tomatoes<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bad_vegan_fame_fraud_fugitives)</sup> |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### The story the series tells\n\nMelngailis built Pure Food and Wine into a Manhattan celebrity destination at the forefront of the raw-food movement, publishing two cookbooks in 2005 and 2009, and was described in press coverage as the \"queen of vegan cuisine.\"<sup>[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81470938)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup> In 2011 she met a man using the name Shane Fox on Twitter, where he appeared in conversations involving her acquaintance, the actor [Alec Baldwin](https://www.edgepedia.org/alec-baldwin); the two grew closer over games of Words with Friends and met in person toward the end of 2011.<sup>[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81470938)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://time.com/6157641/bad-vegan-sarma-melngailis/)</sup>\n\n**The con.** Fox, whose real name was Anthony Strangis, convinced Melngailis that he could make her dreams reality, from expanding her food empire to making her beloved pit bull Leon immortal, but only if she obeyed his requests without question.<sup>[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81470938)</sup> According to the series, he told her he was an undercover military operative under constant surveillance, that a semi-divine group called \"the Family\" had blessed him with eternal life and unlimited funds, and that she could join him, with her dog, if she passed a series of tests that included sending him money.<sup>[5](https://time.com/6157641/bad-vegan-sarma-melngailis/)</sup> Over two years she wired him $1.7 million.<sup>[3](https://www.netflix.com/title/81470938?src=tudum)</sup> Strangis took control of the restaurant, made unauthorized business decisions, and siphoned money from cash receipts, Melngailis's personal funds, and her mother, while employees went unpaid and eventually walked out.<sup>[3](https://www.netflix.com/title/81470938?src=tudum)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://time.com/6157641/bad-vegan-sarma-melngailis/)</sup>\n\n**The fugitive months and arrest.** By 2015 the couple had disappeared from New York, traveling to Las Vegas and then hiding in [Pigeon Forge, Tennessee](https://www.edgepedia.org/pigeon-forge-tennessee).<sup>[3](https://www.netflix.com/title/81470938?src=tudum)</sup> Law enforcement found them at a motel in May 2016 after a Domino's pizza order was placed under Strangis's real name.<sup>[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81470938)</sup> After being brought back to New York, each faced felony charges: Melngailis admitted guilt to grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, and a scheme to defraud, while Strangis admitted guilt on four counts of fourth-degree grand larceny.<sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup> Melngailis served four months at [Rikers Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/rikers-island) and received five years' probation; Strangis served one year.<sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a39443030/sarma-melngailis-bad-vegan-true-story-now/)</sup>\n\n## Production and participation\n\nThe series is built around an interview with Melngailis, filmed over eight hours in 2019, along with her archive of journals, text messages, and emails with Strangis, and interviews with family, friends, investors, and former staff.<sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a39443030/sarma-melngailis-bad-vegan-true-story-now/)</sup> Strangis declined to participate.<sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup> The journalist Allen Salkin, who reported the saga for Vanity Fair in 2016, appears as a commentator.<sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup>\n\nThe four episodes are titled \"Mr. & Mrs. Fox\" (47 minutes), \"Happily Ever After\" (44 minutes), \"No Angels in Hell\" (56 minutes), and \"Everything Will Be Fine\" (1 hour 1 minute).<sup>[3](https://www.netflix.com/title/81470938?src=tudum)</sup>\n\n## Reception and dispute\n\nCritics responded more warmly than audiences: the series holds an 88% Tomatometer from 25 reviews against a 34% Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics consensus said its comprehensive scope and unusual fraud story outweigh its indulgence in true-crime salaciousness.<sup>[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bad_vegan_fame_fraud_fugitives)</sup> Reviewers noted the story's strangeness; the *Los Angeles Times* found the four-hour running length excessive for a case it summarized in a single sentence, while Time framed the series as a story about susceptibility to misinformation and coercive control.<sup>[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-03-22/bad-vegan-netflix-inventing-anna-the-dropout-hulu-we-crashed-apple-tv)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://time.com/6157641/bad-vegan-sarma-melngailis/)</sup>\n\n**Melngailis's objections.** In an April 2022 post on her website titled \"Bad Vegan Is Not a Documentary,\" Melngailis argued the series allowed confusion rather than correcting the tabloid narrative, criticized its marketing, and called the ending, which plays a friendly-sounding 2019 phone call with Strangis, \"disturbingly misleading,\" saying she was not in touch with him.<sup>[8](https://www.sarmaraw.com/writing/2022/4/5/bad-vegan-is-not-a-documentary)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup> Smith responded that the phone call occurred in August 2019, shortly before her master interview, and said, \"everything is shades of grey,\" adding that the filmmakers tried to represent events as accurately as the documentation and interview allowed.<sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup> The series arrived amid a wave of scam-centered titles including *[The Tinder Swindler](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-tinder-swindler)*, *Inventing Anna*, and *The Dropout*.<sup>[4](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)</sup>\n\n## References\n\n1. [Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives., Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81470938)\n2. [Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives., Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bad_vegan_fame_fraud_fugitives)\n3. [Watch Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives., Netflix Official Site](https://www.netflix.com/title/81470938?src=tudum)\n4. [Adrian Horton, \"'Everything is shades of grey': inside the bizarre world of Netflix hit Bad Vegan,\" The Guardian, March 22, 2022](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/22/bad-vegan-netflix-tv-show-inside-bizarre-world)\n5. [Judy Berman, \"Bad Vegan Is a Wild True-Crime Tale for an Era of Misinformation,\" Time, March 16, 2022](https://time.com/6157641/bad-vegan-sarma-melngailis/)\n6. [\"Where Is Bad Vegan's Sarma Melngailis Now?,\" Esquire](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a39443030/sarma-melngailis-bad-vegan-true-story-now/)\n7. [\"Netflix's 'Bad Vegan' shows how TV's scam craze went too far,\" Los Angeles Times, March 22, 2022](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-03-22/bad-vegan-netflix-inventing-anna-the-dropout-hulu-we-crashed-apple-tv)\n8. [Sarma Melngailis, \"Bad Vegan Is Not a Documentary,\" Sarma Raw, April 5, 2022](https://www.sarmaraw.com/writing/2022/4/5/bad-vegan-is-not-a-documentary)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series › True crime and investigative docuseries › Premiered 2006 to 2022*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
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