Bonnie Blue Trapped in Bali as ‘Bangbus’ Interrogations Ramp Up

Got to talk about Bonnie Blue again, the. adult content creator who was reportedly. arrested in Bali. Lot of updates since. we brought you this story. A, is there a. possibility that her potential criminal. case could be falling apart? B, could. she be deported by this weekend? And C, we may have just gotten word about who. snitched on her, how she was even. brought to authorities' attention.

There's a lot of updates. We're going to. break it all down with international law. attorney David DeFurio. Welcome to. Sidebar, presented by Law & Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. [Music]. Now, I got to say this real quick. If. you're putting things out on social. media, if you're in the content creation. game, you might be wondering how we're. able to put so many clips out there so. quickly. Well, I'll tell you, this is a. secret. This is something we used. It is. called Opus Clip. This is an all-in-one. AI editor that makes it so easy to cut,

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to create your videos today. I have not. used bang bus in a month. All right, so. we need to talk about the latest twists. in the Bonnie Blue saga out in Bali. Now, you remember the basics. Tia. Ballinger, 26-year-old British content. creator, got arrested last week during a. raid. Cops reportedly seized the bang. bus, the condoms, the Viagra, the whole. kit. She was apparently looking at up to. 15 years in jail under Indonesia's. brutal anti-porn laws. It's wild stuff. But here is where the plot has thickened. just in the last 48 hours since we.

covered all this. And it is, by the way, a master class in how a legal story can. pivot very, very quickly. So, first, the. supposed snitch who turned Bonnie in, he's apparently talking. According to. news.com.au, an expat who helped tip off police has. come forward. This person apparently. says they literally followed her quote. gangbang bus around Bali. They told the. media that the cops were initially. confused, saying quote, "They just.

couldn't comprehend it, but once it was. explained what she was allegedly doing, that she was allegedly quote bragging. about schoolies, and that the footage was going to go. worldwide," that is when authorities. moved in. Now, what was this snitch's. motive? Reputation. Flat out said, "Bali. is not Thailand. Bali is not the. Philippines. We don't want Bonnie Blue's. gangbang from Bali being posted and. shared around the world." And then, Bonnie herself faced the music and.

smirked. She was pictured walking into. an immigration office smiling. When. reporters asked if she'd make more. explicit content in Bali, she hit them. with this, "Subscribe and you'll find. out." Now, she did say that the bang bus. is over, okay? But here is the critical legal update. from the Daily Mail as well. Their. reporting suggests that this whole. potential case might be deflating. Why? So, according to their sources, Bonnie.

Blue and the three other men that were. arrested are now telling investigators. they weren't making pornography at all. They're claiming it was a quote. entertainment-themed reality program, that it was designed to look spicy for. social media, but within the bounds of. Indonesian law. And get this, a police. spokesperson is quoted as saying, "No. pornographic activities or acts have. been found in the collaborative. content.". So, if it's not porn, what's left? Well, here's where the police chief comes in. So, the police chief reportedly said, "So far, no pornographic elements have.

been identified, but there are strong. indications of traffic law violations. and immigration offenses." Now, the. investigation is reportedly focused now. on these visa violations, these alleged. visa violations. So, working on. commercial content while on a tourist. visa, traffic offenses with the bus. apparently being uh registered one way, but it was painted a different way. And. because of all this, the Daily Mail is. reporting that a deal may be in the.

works. So, potentially a fine for these. lesser infractions, and Bonnie Blue. would be deported as early as this. weekend instead of going to prison for. over a decade. Now, we've gone from an. international crime story to what might. be just a messy immigration spat. The. question is, will the authorities. believe this was just a reality show? Is. that a real defense? Are they going to. throw the book at her anyway? This is a. really serious issue. So, we want to. reset real quick. You've probably seen. Bonnie Blue online. By the way, in case.

you don't know, this is what we're talking about. I'm. the girl that rage baits, the one that. takes your son's virginity and has no. issue making your husband cheat. So, yeah, Bonnie Blue, Tia Ballinger, 26-year-old British adult content. creator known for her very. public, very provocative stunts. But. it's someone that I have a shower, makeup, hair, and then it's within. minutes, like completely destroyed. I. have just been. the players got a very red eye. And last. week, she took that act to Bali,

Indonesia. And that is where she was. reportedly arrested in a major police. raid. Authorities accused her of. producing pornography, which is a. serious criminal offense in Indonesia, not some minor charge. She was staring. down the possibility of 15 years in. jail. And that was the massive, scary. story as of earlier this week. But since. then, this case has taken some. incredible turns. We've talked about a. snitch coming forward, new reports that. the entire prison threat might be. falling apart. The latest development is. huge. There's more we want to talk. about. So, for that, let me bring on.

somebody who we just talked with last. time we were breaking this story. Very. fast-moving legal twists. International. law attorney David DeFurio. David, thank. you so much for coming back on to talk. about this because there's these new uh. developments. So, I want to start with. the new video that came out from The. Sun. Bonnie Blue arriving for. questioning at the immigration office in. Bali. And according to the report on the. scene, when asked by reporters if she. intended to make more explicit content. in Bali, she replied, "Subscribe and.

you'll find out." Feels a little bit. like poking the bear. It does. He First. of all, you did a great summary of where. we are now. But there's still a lot of. questions, and the most recent. developments raise new questions. The. video of her going to the immigration. authorities is interesting because she's. smiling, she seems happy. She doesn't. seem to be someone who is uh regretful. for her actions. She's scantily clad, which again, as we discussed last time,

is not really how you're supposed to. dress in Bali because Bali, despite it. being a tourist destination, is a very. conservative culture, and the locals. there are very conservative. They women. usually cover themselves, at least their. shoulders shoulders and and their. thighs, and she wasn't. And so, this. wasn't what you would expect her to do. if she's getting good defense counsel. and legal advice. You would think she. would be apologetic. She would try to. clear up the misinformation and uh.

reassure the Indonesian authorities that. she didn't intend to break the law. As. you also mentioned, it's not clear if. the Indonesian authorities have found. any pornographic materials, and that's. why maybe their prosecution won't go. forward on violation of the pornography. law. But you could also expect that it's. going to take them some time to look. through everything she has. Apparently, they have um you know, cards from her uh. video cameras. They have to look through. her phone. I don't know if she had a. computer that might have been seized as.

well. So, sometimes it takes a little. while to find content that is. disturbing. So, is it possible this idea. of creating a racy, entertainment-themed. reality program, that it was for. promotional purposes uh on social media. to get views, to get clicks, that. wouldn't be necessarily a violation, that there has to be actual sex acts. that are filmed, and would make it worse. if it was produced and distributed for. commercial purposes. If it's merely. making suggestive a suggestive stunt,

that wouldn't necessarily be a violation. of Indonesian law. That's right, and that seems to be what. she is saying. However, she would have. to be very clever if that's what. happened because she was simultaneously. putting up on social media that she. intended to engage in sexual activities. with these schoolies that recently. graduated or university students from. Australia. And so, it's at least. according to her public statements and.

what and things that she put on social. media, she had the intention of engaging. in sexual activities. Also, there's some. reporting to suggest that this game that. they were filming when they were raided. by the police was supposed to result. then in sexual activity. It's just that. the police came too soon. And maybe she. got lucky in that sense that they were. going to engage in some sexual. activities and film them, which would. violate the law, but they just didn't. get there yet, and the police came too. early.

Why do you think the police came out and. said this? So, the police spokesperson. saying there was no uh pornographic. activities or acts that have been found. in the collaborative content. I. mentioned the similar statement from the. police chief. Why would they make those. statements? I'm not sure. That doesn't seem very. wise, again, because. they probably haven't reviewed. everything yet, and maybe this police. officer is just trying to be um. very candid, or perhaps the police have. gotten the message that this isn't a. prosecution they want to go forward with.

so they're giving some excuses as to why. they will not go forward. And by the. way, as we reported last time, there. were like 14 men, I believe all from. Australia, who were arrested initially. They were released. Um, they were. apparently re-. uh, interviewed, so they were witnesses in. this. It seems maybe none of them, even. though I mean, when you look at certain. videos, uh, certain pictures, they had. like shirts on their faces, some of them. were shirtless. Maybe they all said they weren't. engaging in any actual.

activity. What happens if I say yet? Maybe they weren't caught before. something happened. I mean, does that. matter? Because again, 14 men, this was all a stunt, nothing happened? Yeah, it's it's not clear. Apparently, a. couple of the men were. detained, some were released, and some. were detained further, and all of them, as I understand, have had their. passports confiscated. So, they're not. going to be able to travel, leave the. island of Bali until they get their.

passports back or have immigration. documents that would enable them to. leave Indonesia. And so, they could also. be facing a prosecution in the future, but if they didn't actually engage in. any sexual activity and they didn't. engage in distribution of pornographic. materials, then they likely would have a. strong defense to a prosecution under. that law. What about this So, if this. core pornography charge is deflating, there's nothing there, what's left? I. mentioned before, so this idea of, uh, uh, immigration issues, vehicle.

registration issues. The Daily Mail. reports that along with statements from. her own publicist, it points the. investigation in this new direction, immigration violations. Speaking to. Newsweek, Bonnie Blue's publicist gave a. very specific update saying, "All we know is that they have court on. Friday, and today they're going to. immigration to make another statement.". And the publicist went on to detail the. conditions stating, "They still don't. have any of their phones or passports. and are still being interrogated daily.".

And crucially, regarding the charges, the publicist confirmed, quote, "Immigration officials have multiple. charges that they're investigating her. on.". So, let's talk about that. What do you. What first do you mean What do you. They're being She's being interrogated. daily by immigration, not police, right? That's interesting. Yeah, that suggests. maybe they don't have sufficient. evidence to charge her with a violation. of the pornography laws, but they would. like for there to be, you know, some.

punishment for her behavior, and so. they're turning to the immigration laws. One source suggested that what they're. looking at is that she was engaging in. work activities while on a tourist visa. So, she would be violating the terms of. her visa if she was actually working and. getting paid or. bringing in funding as a result of her. activities in Indonesia. That could be. one problem. You also mentioned the. traffic law violations. You know, Bali. is not a place that is highly organized.

in terms of traffic, someone who spent a. lot of time there, but perhaps that's. also a way that they could come up with. something that would be less than the. pornography charge, but would result in. some, uh, punishment for her. And also, my. guess is if Indonesia wants to defuse. this situation, they'll deport her based. on the immigration violations and not. give her another visa to return or give. her some issue her some warning not to. come back to Bali. What are multiple.

charges from immigration? Just to be. clear, like multiple charges from. immigration, not the prosecutor, not the. public prosecutor. Well, it it would be the the charges. that she violated the terms of her visa. I can't think of any other charge. that would be, yeah, would be, uh, credible. And what about this court. date for Friday? What can we expect? Well, that's curious because if they're. going to immigration route, it doesn't. seem like she would need to make an. appearance in court, at least not in a.

criminal court, which is what I. understand this appearance is. So, that's why I think there is still a. possibility that there could be criminal. charges, perhaps related to the, uh, violations of the porn- pornography law, but again, only if they find content in. the next few days that is sufficient. evidence that they think they can charge. that. Realistically, you think they're going. to try to deport her by this weekend, get her out, and that's the end of the. story, we don't want to bring in too. much attention to them? I think that's a possibility. They.

obviously rely so much on on tourism, and they don't want to dissuade people. from coming to Bali, but they also have. to pay attention to the Balinese, uh, population, which is very conservative, many of whom are probably, um, agitated by what she was doing and by. the news, uh, about it, and they want to make sure. that she is not treated better than any. other person under the eyes of the law. in Bali. How serious are the the traffic.

violations, right? The car was. registered, uh, under a certain color. and then was repainted, it hadn't been. taxed in several years. Is that serious. in Bali for as far as you know? >> from what I know, Bali seems fairly lax. on things like traffic violations, but. it. and and I don't think they're normally. enforced often, but perhaps that's just. a way that they can, um, that that they. can find to charge her with something.

less severe than the pornography. charges. I just want to backtrack to. something about how this started because. according to this detailed report from. news.com.au, this arrest, as I mentioned, was. triggered by a tip-off from within the. community. And you have this expat in. Bali who wished to remain anonymous, came forward as, you know, the snitch. This individual told the outlet that. they tracked Bonnie Blue by following. the famous. gang bang bus, right? They described the. police's initial reaction saying, "The.

way we tracked her wasn't particularly. complicated, we just followed her. through her gang bang bus.". But the cops at first, they couldn't. even understand what was happening. We. had to explain it to them that there. were about 20 guys and Blue. They just. couldn't comprehend it. And this person. stated that their motivation was very. clear. Explaining, "But once we. explained to them that she's driving. around in the gang bang bus, and that. she was bragging about sleeping with. schoolies, some of whom were barely. legal, and that the footage was going to. go worldwide afterwards, they confirmed.

that the activity was illegal and took. action." "But Bonnie Blue's Bali gang. bang is not where we want to be. reputation-wise. Bali is not Thailand, Bali is not the Philippines, the. business community doesn't want it, the. expat community doesn't want it, and the. local community can't even comprehend. it." And they added a key point about. the evidence saying, quote, "But. prosecuting them is really difficult. here because what the police had to do. is catch her in the act with the cameras. rolling, and they got there just.

before." What do you make of this. comment, these comments, David? Well, I think that's a really. interesting part of this, which is. perhaps she just lucked out because the. police came too soon. If the police. really wanted to catch her in the act, they should have waited until she was. engaging in sexual activities that were. being recorded that would violate the. pornography law. The The information. about the snitch is a very interesting. part of this story because when I first. read about the snitch, I assumed it. would be someone who was Balinese who.

was whose societal norms made them. offended by what she was doing. But. apparently, it was an expat. Yet, the. way the quotes from the expat sound, it's someone who actually lives in Bali, maybe someone who's been in Bali for a. long time, cares a lot about the, um, the the community in Bali and wants to. make sure that, um, you know, the right. type of people are coming to Bali, and. perhaps that's why this snitch was. motivated to do what he or she did. But.

it it's not surprising that someone who. was intending to report on her was able. to do so so easily because the bus she. had, that light blue bus with her name. across it, was very conspicuous, very. easy to follow, and also because she was. putting so much on social media, talking. about what she was doing, you could. match those things together and easily. piece together what she was up to. Interesting you say what she was putting. out online cuz that's the final piece. of the puzzle, the final piece of. context that makes this all very surreal.

because just days before her arrest, Bonnie Blue posted what is being called. right now as this cringe-worthy 7-minute. YouTube video. In it, she apparently bragged about her. plans saying, quote, "The official gang. bang bus is getting ready to make its. mark in Surfers Paradise, schoolies. isn't ready for the gang bang bus." And. the video then shows her staging a fake. visit to the Australian embassy and. waving around what appears to be fake.

official letters about a visa approval, which by the way, the reason this. matters, the reason this is ironic, is. because Australia had already banned. her. I talked about this for doing a. stunt. Now, she filmed clips of herself. flying first class, being swarmed at an. airport, there was a very clear Aussie. accent heard saying, "Fathers, lock your. sons up." And when you look at all of. that, and this was all not real. She. wasn't going to Australia, this was a. promotion of some kind. You think about, David, that social media activity. As I.

mentioned in our last video, and I'll. bring it up here, they said they were. seizing her Instagram account. They're. looking at her social media activity. When you see something like that, how. does that factor into all this? Well, that's another confusing part of. this because I watched that video, and. like you said, it's all about her going. to Australia when in fact she went to. Bali. So, maybe she's just clever enough. that she wanted to put out there a fake. story to distract people from what she. was really doing. That's the only thing. I can assume from that, or maybe that.

was just a way to get more viewers, more. hits, and and because she got so much. publicity in Australia the last time she. was there, maybe that's why she did that. as well. Hm, it's interesting. All right, we'll. see what happens. Um. David De Berry, thank you for taking the. time. Really appreciate it. Thanks, Jesse. And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us, and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can follow me on X.

or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time. [Music].