Notes from a Hired Pen: Listen to the words of a man who scams freelancers

Readers!

 

Last week, I took a few days off to frolic in the woods of western Pennsylvania. On my drive back, I started listening to The Wedding Scammer, a 2023 podcast from the Ringer. The title is a bit misleading because while yes the guy scams people over weddings, the podcast opens with him a stiffing a group of freelancer editors and writers.

I went into the podcast not knowing anything — not even the freelance angle! — and mostly enjoyed the experience of listening to it unfold. So if you don’t want it spoiled before you read my thoughts on it, go ahead and skip down to “Recent Bylines.” Spoilers start after Andy Richter.

 

 

The Wedding Scammer is about conman Carl Butcho. It’s told by by Justin Sayles, who in 2016 was a freelancer for a flash in the pan website called Newsaratti, which Butcho started under the name Michael Esposito, one of his many aliases. Sayles has still, as of the last episode that aired in August 2025, not been paid. I don’t think anyone from Newsaratti has. That scam was the start in a long series of cons that didn’t stop until Butcho was arrested this year.

While the subsequent scams weren’t in media (they had to do with catering, restaurants and weddings), the mechanisms of the cons, and the excuses for not paying people, were the same. Episode seven lit my hair on fire because it’s mostly recorded phone calls with Butcho, who, even after he knows he’s being investigated by a journalist who he stiffed, just keeps lying.

He’s going to move money from one account to another so he can make everyone whole. He’ll be sure to pay back his debts in a few weeks. He has documentation he’s going to send Sayles to prove he really really really tried to pay people, or that it’s not as bad as they say. But then he can’t send the documents because he’s moving. He’s been sick. He’s busy. His business partners won’t talk on the record because they’re worried about their reputations — and he swears they’re real but he won’t give Sayles their names. Then of course it’s not his fault. It’s never his fault. It’s his former business partners. It’s his past addictions. It’s because of his dad, yes the one he told many people was dead. Also, it’s not really fraud. The victims are the real frauds here. And then he turns on Sayles: his cash flow is bad because of the podcast. He’s suing Sayles because he made it all up. Why would he do that? Because Sayles propositioned Butcho and his husband, and they said no.

Just lie after lie after lie. And for some reason Sayles kept trying to give Butcho leeway, or tried to justify why he’s like this, when it’s obvious he just doesn’t give a shit about other people.

I’ve encountered versions of Butcho throughout my career. If you read my ebook, you know that I started freelancing full time because I worked at a magazine run by people like this, and I bounced when my paycheck did. Then there was the small publication that said the check was in the mail three times, then they couldn’t pay me because the accounts payable person was on maternity leave, then if I wanted to be paid, I had to show up at their office in New York City at a time when they might be open. There was the medium size publication who yes sent me a check, but it bounced, and then they said the replacement might bounce too and LOL of course any fees associated with that would be on me. And then there was Outside magazine who, according to editors I spoke to, forced junior staffers keep assigning to freelancers when everyone knew there was no plan to pay people they owed money to for old assignments let alone new ones. When this came out, the protestations of the people in charge sounded very much like Butcho, proclaiming how much this all hurt them personally. And of course, they money still didn’t come.

Part of this is narcissism on the part of the media company owners, perhaps a touch of psychopathology, but it comes down to they just don’t care about other people. They don’t value us or our work, so who gives a shit if they aren’t going to pay us. Just keep lying to keep the ball spinning so they can get more content, what are those peon writers or editors going to do about it? Some people scammed by Butcho were owed tens of thousands of dollars. They talked about the mental anguish the whole thing caused them, even years later, to the point that when Butcho promised once again he was going to pay people (which of course he didn’t), some didn’t even want him to have their information, in case he tried to suck more life out of them.

Because of people like Butcho, I have rules on who I will and won’t work with. I won’t write twice for people who don’t pay me on time, and I certainly won’t take on a new assignment for someone who still owes me for past work. I also don’t write for start up media companies, and it’s why I’m drop the word “lawyer” early into the trying to get paid process. I do not have the time for this shit, or these shitty people.

People like this are also why I usually submit an article and invoice on the same email. That way, there is no opportunity to use excuses like they didn’t get my invoice, or the email with the invoice got caught in a spam filter or whatever. It cuts off one avenue through which to lie.

I’m not as angry about this as I might sound, but listening to this creep use every single excuse I have also gotten about why I haven’t been paid over my nearly 21 years of full time freelancing sent me back to a time when I got scammed (and yes, hiring you to do work when they know they’re not going to pay you is absolutely a scam). There’s a lot of shame involved in being hurt by one of these conmen, even if it’s not your fault. That came back briefly, though I stuffed it back down by writing this.

I recommend the podcast despite dredging up that muck. First, it’s entertaining, but second it might imprint on your brain how these jerks are all charlatans and liars, in case one tries to scam you in the future.

 

Recent Bylines

“Personalization strategies, driven by community banking data,” Independent Banker 

“Customer experience through strategic innovation,” Independent Banker 

“2016 budget planning strategies for CIOs,” CIO Dive 

“8 early warning signs of Parkinson’s Disease,” AARP

“A new vision for breast feeding support in the United States,” UCSF Science of Caring

“From school-based clinics to AI, how four UCSF experts are reimagining health care delivery,” UCSF Science of Caring 

“A salute to veterans: Tuesday P. Brooks,” BingUNews

 

What I’m Reading

• Sinatra: The Chairman by James Kaplan. This is the second part of James Kaplan’s exhaustive Frank Sinatra biography (part one is The Voice). The Voice was 23 hours long. The Chariman? FORTY! But if anyone needs this much space, it’s Sinatra, given that he crossed paths with almost everyone in music, movies and TV for decades. I never felt bored, even though it was long. I was someone who used to listen to Fridays with Frank and Sundays with Sinatra as a kid and have tapes of the show that my dad made for me to mail to me when I was in college, so yes there was already an interest there, but I also re-listened — closely — to some Sinatra tunes I hadn’t payed attention to in a while. It really was an incredible voice. I can’t say Sinatra was a good man — the way he treated women was often despicable — but what a life.
• Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green. A few years ago, I had blood work done to be considered for an eczema medication that is advertised everywhere on TV. One of the things they were looking for was tuberculosis. TB? Isn’t that in the past? Green felt the same way until a chance meeting with Henry, a TB patient in Sri Lanka. This is a short book (I listened to it too), but Green uses the story of TB as a way to shine a light on inequality in the world, and how people die because of it. I feel so ashamed of this country sometimes (and I wasn’t able to take the eczema medication because it made me violently ill. Is there any way to shut those ads off?)
• The Next Always by Nora Roberts. This is the first book in the Boonsboro trilogy, focused on an inn and bookstore in Boonsboro, Md. But things have felt so bleak that when I found a copy in a little free library, I decided to read it again. The inn and bookstore are real places, which I’ve visited before when I was in a rush. But on my last road trip, I wasn’t in such a hurry. It’s fun to see a place you’re reading about, and the community that Roberts has put an anchor in. And the book is better than I remembered! I’ll be reading parts two and three at some point.

 

What I’m Watching

• Secrets of the Forest. This is a really wonderful NOVA documentary about how incredible forests are, and why we need to protect them.
• Only Murders in the Building (season 5). Another season of our intrepid and unlikely trio, trying to solve murders that keep happening in their New York City building. Maybe because it’s not so new and shiny anymore, but there’s been less attention give to the show. However, they are consistent in putting out a season every year, which can’t be said for other streamers. And it’s fun. There’s a scene with Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger, Dianne West, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Selena Gomez at a poker table, and someone asked how many Oscars were among that group? All of them have at least one one, except Gomez, who has been nominated. Just absurd levels of talent.
• Bird Brain. Another fascinating NOVA documentary. If you have access to Kanopy through your library, they’re all on there for free.
• Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. Speaking of the library, I checked this out on DVD. I’ve seen it before but boy do I love it, and I needed a jolt of the absolutely ridiculous. It’s about two middle aged BFFs who lose their job at Jennifer Convertibles and shake up their lives by going to an elaborate resort in Florida. It’s very silly. Jamie Dornan sings and dances. It also features “Pineapple Princess,” by Annette Funicello, one of my favorite beach songs of all time. If you need a boost, this is a good one.
• The Great British Baking Show (season 13). Another wonderful 10-week run in the tent. My favorite baker got knocked out before the semifinal, but what can you do. I’m not surprised who won. But I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it.

 

Nail Polish of the Week

Suzi – The First Lady of Nails by OPI. A rich, mossy green. My table is very autumnal right now, with my collection of faux pumpkins, real gourds, and a Loki goblet I bought for $10 the Disney Store outlet in Lancaster, Pa. I like fitting in. Oh and since I didn’t have a newsletter last week, the last color was Big Apple Red by OPI.

 

Until next time,

Jen A. Miller (she/her)

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