10 Scandal Documentaries About the Rich and Powerful You Can Stream Right Now

Are you into juicy stories about the rich and infamous? Do you love documentaries that dive deep into the scandalous details of wealthy Americans and their sordid outrages? Are you familiar with the German word schadenfreude and use it in regular conversation?

If so, you should watch one of these documentaries about scandals that have befallen this nation’s rich and powerful. From financial frauds to Hollywood horrors, these documentaries will keep you glued to your screen as you experience fascination, disgust, and joy, all in equal measure.

Stream on Netflix
“Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich” is a documentary miniseries about the late financier, based on James Patterson's 2016 book of the same name. Released in 2020 on Netflix, this four-part documentary features discussions with his survivors and staff members, as well as police chief Michael Reiter. It tells the story of how Epstein used his wealth and power to both commit his crimes and conceal them from the public.

Stream on Amazon Prime
“LuLaRich” is a documentary miniseries about LuLaRoe. This clothing empire turned out to be a multi-level marketing business, better known to people who have been burned by one as a pyramid scheme. It premiered on Prime Video in 2021 and features discussions with former employees, the company owners, and the sellers who found that a quick side hustle of merely selling leggings could lead to serious financial problems they never bargained for.

Stream on HBO Max
“Class Action Park” is a documentary about New Jersey’s Action Park, a water-themed amusement park known to locals as “Traction Park.” It was thus named for its almost nonexistent safety standards, which led to a lot of Gen X kids needing medical attention. The park was created by Gene Mulvihill, who allegedly amassed his fortune through pump-and-dump schemes. People from the New York City tri-state area had a complicated relationship with the park since there were almost no rules, which made it both awesome and physically perilous.

Stream on Netflix

“Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King” is a Netflix documentary about cryptocurrency investors who lost a lot of money when the QuadrigaCX exchange collapsed. It seems that its CEO, Gerald William Cotten, died in 2018 with millions of dollars in cryptocurrency owed to over 100,000 people. It could not be accessed because Cotten was the sole individual with the password and had become “unalive,” as the kids say on YouTube.

Stream on HBO Max, Amazon Prime

“The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley” is about the currently incarcerated Elizabeth Holmes, who founded the medical company Theranos. The company was going to revolutionize blood testing and save countless lives, but the slight problem was that its technology didn’t work. Very powerful figures like George Shultz and Henry Kissinger sat on the board of directors, but what’s really fascinating about this documentary is trying to pick apart what was going on in Elizabeth Holmes’ brain as she started dressing like Steve Jobs and talking in a very deep (and very fake) baritone voice, allegedly to make people respect her more.

Stream on Netflix
If you like watching rich people blow tens of thousands of dollars on a completely fraudulent enterprise on an island they can’t leave, then “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened” is the documentary for you. The story of the Fyre Festival, which was advertised as a music event on a lush tropical island, this Netflix documentary exposes entrepreneur Billy McFarland, who made the whole thing up, took everybody’s money, and eventually ended up incarcerated. “Fyre Fraud,” a documentary about the same topic that ran on Hulu, is also a good watch, but we recommend this one because it has the bottled water story. You’ll know it when you see it.

Stream on Kanopy, Amazon Prime, Apple TV
“The Queen of Versailles” tells the story of the billionaire Siegel family, who set out to build the largest house in America until the financial crisis of 2008 came along and stopped them right in their tracks. The billionaire family sees its income drastically reduced, leading them to pause construction and fire their servants, all while Jackie Siegel, the titular “queen,” tries without success to stop going on the compulsive shopping sprees that she used to be able to afford.

Stream on Kanopy, Amazon Prime, Apple TV
The Enron scandal may be over 20 years old, but watching how the whole thing went down in the documentary “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” remains as fascinating as ever. Based on the 2003 book of the same name, it examines the collapse of the corporation and the criminal trials that ensued for the company's top executives. The bit in which the documentary explains the company’s role in California’s 2000 electricity crisis is both maddening and mesmerizing, and decades after it all happened, the documentary is still a must-watch.

Stream on HBO Max
Woody Allen and Mia Farrow may not be the wealthiest people in all of America, but their combined celebrity when they were a couple certainly separated them from the rest of us in the unwashed masses. The documentary explores accusations made by adopted daughter Dylan Farrow that Allen had abused her and includes both her participation and Mia Farrow’s. Allen, Soon-Yi Previn, and adopted son Moses Farrow all declined to participate in the documentary, leaving the viewer with more questions than answers. But as a portrayal of distinguished celebrities seeing all their dirty laundry aired publicly, it’s pretty engrossing.

Stream on Netflix
If you haven’t heard of the Fellowship Foundation, watch the Netflix documentary “The Family”. An investigation into a secretive Christian group with significant political influence, it explores this conservative group and investigates its power over American politics, which is much more extensive than many people may realize. The series does suffer a bit when it uses actors to depict certain events, as that is somewhat jarring to viewers who have only signed on for a straight documentary and not a dramatization. But if you can get past that, “The Family” is well worth seeing and may make you aware of this organization and its activities for the first time.

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