Two years after releasing the viral hit “Scamanda,” journalist and broadcaster Charlie Webster is back with a new podcast about a new scammer. The Apple Original podcast “Unicorn Girl” will premiere on Aug. 18, TheWrap has exclusively learned.
The full nine-episode season will be available to Apple TV+ subscribers at launch. Non-subscribers will be able to listen to new episodes weekly through Oct. 6.
“Unicorn Girl” zooms in on Candace Rivera, a woman who seemed to have the perfect life. After her divorce, she launched a multimillion-dollar business and a global nonprofit dedicated to fighting human trafficking all while looking flawless. But one summer, Rivera’s carefully crafted life shattered to the horror of her many friends. Rivera, also known as Candace Lierd, was ultimately sentenced to prison for nine fraud-related felonies.
Much like “Scamanda,” “Unicorn Girl” isn’t just about telling a wild true crime story. The podcast dives into Rivera’s circle of friends as it mirrors the confusion, doubt, anger and hurt they felt dealing with this master manipulator.
“I remember somebody asking me how did these people fall for it? They didn’t fall for anything. There was nothing to fall for. This is life. This is friendship. This is somebody who was emulating they were doing good,” Webster told TheWrap. “What I tried to do is show how deep manipulation can be, especially in deep friendships that they considered were real. I don’t know how you reconcile with that.”
In the wake of “Scamanda” — a podcast about how Amanda Riley faked and profited off of having cancer for almost a decade — many people reached out to Webster to tell her similar stories they experienced. “It was impactful to people and helped people make sense of people’s behavior and manipulation and narcissism in friendships,” she said.
But it was a book group that led Webster to Rivera. “People were like, ‘Well, this woman’s so fun. She’s having all this impact. She’s doing so much good.’ But then, on the other hand, I was hearing about how she was potentially lying and taking advantage of a lot of people,” Webster shared. “Then she gets arrested.”
Webster already knew that she wanted her next project to build off the themes “Scamanda” explored. Specifically, she wanted to work on a story that highlighted the moral conundrums that arise when you’re being manipulated by someone close to you, and she wanted the story to be about a woman who exploited her friendships. “A lot of the time, when it comes to manipulation and narcissism, we focus on intimate relationships,” she said. The more she heard about Rivera, the more intrigued she became.
The L.A.-based journalist was so drawn to this story that at one point she called her mom and asked if she should buy a plane ticket to Utah to investigate further.
“I just felt this is really special in my gut and really important. And she was like, ‘Fly to Utah. Go on,’” Webster recalled. “I remember looking at some of the headlines, and this is not what this story is. This story is so layered, so fascinating. Then I discovered it and became part of the process.”
Sorting through Rivera’s wild claims and often even stranger reality was an all-encompassing process that took Webster nearly two years. But now that it’s nearly out, she’s hopeful the podcast will resonate with listeners and help them process their own manipulation stories like “Scamanda” did.
“I do know that the people involved in ‘Unicorn Girl’ all feel — very humbly — that I’ve given them a voice and helped them really understand their own feelings. A lot of them blame themselves or had their own moral identity rocked,” Webster said. “We see red flags, and then we justify red flags. I think it’s important to tell those stories that are the reality of what we all go through.”
