Dark Truth Behind Netflix’s ‘Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story'

The brand new Netflix documentary, [music] Evil Influencer, The Jodie. Hildebrandt story, is shifting the. spotlight away from mom vlogger Ruby. Frankie and squarely onto Jodie. Hildebrand, the life coach who. prosecutors [music] say abused children. and ruined lives. We are breaking down. what the documentary reveals and the. lasting fallout of this case with a. firstirhand account from somebody who. claims [music] she was directly. subjected to Hildebrandt's methods. Welcome to Sidebar presented by Law and.

Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Now, before we go any further into this, there is something that we use here at. Long Crime that can be very, very useful. to you. It's called Truthfinder. It is. the powerful public record search. service that we use to do research here. on Long Crime. But you want to talk. about a useful resource, you plug in a. name, you get address information, you. get criminal history, and let me just. say, this can give you some peace of. mind. Truthfinder is one of the largest. public record search services in the. United States. And with a paid.

subscription, you can get access to. unlimited reports about almost anyone. And that includes looking up registered. sex offenders in your area, too. So stay. informed, stay safe, check public. records with Truthfinder now at. truthfinder.com/lcsidebar. So if you followed true crime over the. last couple of years, you know the names. Ruby Frankie and Jodie Hildebrand. We. have dedicated countless sidebars to. full coverage of this disgusting story. And the story is chilling. You have a. popular family vlogger, a trusted life. coach in the Utah Mormon community, and.

a descent into extreme child abuse, all. under the guise of counseling. We all. saw the headlines when they were. arrested. We've seen other documentaries. like Hulu's Devil and the Family tell. versions of the story, but there is a. brand new Netflix documentary that just. dropped. It's called Evil Influencer, the Jodi Hildebrandt story. And it aims. to go deeper than anything that came. before. Because this, in case you. couldn't tell, focuses on Jodie. Hildebrandt. How she gained so much. power, how she isolated Ruby Frankie,

what really happened inside of that. house. But here's what even this new. documentary can't give you. A different. firstirhand account from somebody who. was in Jodie Hildebrand's orbit as a. client. because in just a little bit. we're going to bring on Stephanie. Collins, a former client of Hildebrand, who has spoken out before about this. alleged manipulation that she says she. experienced. She's going to talk about. what it was like inside that world. So, we're going to break down the new. series, the lasting impact of this story. with somebody who actually lived it. And.

of course, if you know the story, this. all centers on mom of six, Ruby Frankie, a huge mommy vlogger on YouTube with her. channel, Eight Passengers, and of. course, Jodie Hildebrandt, right? The. second half of this, this licensed. therapist, life coach who ran a company. called Connections. They met through. their tight-knit Mormon community in. Utah around 2019. Hild debrandt. presented herself as a spiritual guide, a counselor. She quickly became Ruby's. seemingly business partner, closest.

confidant, and over time, according to. prosecutors, Hildebrandt's influence. turned extreme and abusive. She. convinced Ruby that some of her children. were possessed by evil spirits and. needed severe punishment to repent. This. breaking point, the breaking point, came. in August of 2023. That's when Ruby's. 12-year-old son escaped from. Hildebrandt's home. He was emaciated, had duct tape on his extremities, went. to a neighbor for help. Police found his. younger sister in a similar state inside. of Hild Debrand's house. The children.

described being tied up and starved and. forced to do hard labor, subjected to. brutal physical punishments. Both women. were arrested in December of 2023. They. each pleaded guilty to four counts of. aggravated child abuse. at their. sentencing in February of 2024. A judge. gave them the maximum four consecutive. prison terms of 1 to 15 years each. So. that means the sentences could. theoretically go up to 60 years. Though. I will tell you under Utah's. indeterminant sentencing system, it's. really the board of pardons that will.

determine how long they can actually. serve. They're both currently serving. their sentences at the Utah State. Correctional Facility, but are held. separately. There's different housing. Their first parole hearing is apparently. set for December of 2026. So that's the. earliest possible date they could be. released. But this legal case, while. it's been resolved and they're in. prison, the huge lingering question. remains and is how did Jodie Hildebrandt. gain so much control to make this. happen. That is exactly what the new.

Netflix documentary tries to answer. That brings us to evil influencer, the. Jodi Hildebrandt story. And this isn't. just a rehash of the news headlines. The. documentary that's directed by Sky. Borgman, who also made Abducted in Plain. Sight, it tries to trace the how, right? How did Hildebrandt operate for years. within this community without being. stopped? You know, the film starts with. that critical moment, the security. camera footage of Ruby's son escaping, asking a neighbor for help. But then it.

rewinds. It pieces together. Hildebrandt's rise. It features. interviews with former clients of her. connections program and they describe. her methods isolating people from their. families using religious guilt as a. weapon creating a dependency on her for. spiritual guidance. A key point that the. documentary seems to emphasize is that. for a long time while the public focus. was on Ruby Frankie, right, the mom and. the influencer, the film seemingly. argues that it was Hildabbrand who was. the architect. The abuse happened in her.

home. The title itself shifts the focus. squarely onto her. And the documentary. also includes a chilling update from the. director because she claims she alleges. that according to her sources, even in. prison, Hildebrandt is reportedly. repeating her patterns, forming small. groups, and trying to counsel other. inmates. So, the series aims to be a. case study in perceived manipulation, showing how this influence built over. years, hidden in plain sight within a.

trusted community before it all. escalated into criminal abuse and into a. story that would be talked about around. the world. Now, the documentary gives us. a broader view through interviews with. several former clients. But to really. understand the personal dayto-day impact. of Jodie Hildebrandt's methods, you need. to hear from somebody who is in that. room with her. That's where our guest. comes in. Stephanie Collins was a former. client of Jodi Hildebrand and she has.

come out and explained the effect that. Hild de Brandt had on her life. Okay, I. want to bring her on right now to talk. about her experience, what she thinks of. the documentary, why she believes Hild. de Brandt was able to operate for so. long. Stephanie Collins, thank you so. much uh for taking the time. Really, really appreciate it. >> Yeah, thank you. Thanks for having me. on. >> Um, no, thank you for being here. Just. to start off, because I don't know if a. lot of people know your full story. Um, when did you meet Jodie Hildebrand and.

what were the circumstances of that. meeting or initial meetings where you. know they talk about her appeal. They. talk about how she got people to follow. her and listen to her. Can you explain. that initial meeting that you had with. her or how you were introduced to her? >> So I met Jod in December of 2018. Um, I. had gotten married that year and I had, um, my first baby in July and we were. obviously having a lot of marital issues.

and so I had gone to my LDS bishop and. asked him for help and he recommended. Jod as a therapist to us and so we. started seeing her in December of that. year. >> And what were those initial sessions. like? Um, at first I really liked Jod and I. trusted. I trusted my bishop. He didn't know her. personally, but there was someone else. in our ward that was seeing her and she. liked her. Um, she was also really.

expensive and so and the church was. paying for it for us and so I felt very. lucky to be there and cuz I could never. have afforded it um, on her own. And Jod. was very charismatic and she acted like. she had all the answers to our problems. Um she also took my side like right away. which felt great to me. >> And um as you like if you've seen the. new documentary or any of the. documentaries that have come out then.

Jod definitely like. >> was very much on the women's side and. against the men. And so for me that felt. really good cuz I was in a situation. where I felt like I was being abused. >> And what were some of the uh what were. some of the the guidance that she was. giving you? What were some of the. lessons plans or strategies that she. gave you and your husband? >> Um so she separated us into I had an. individual session, he had individual. sessions and then we both were in her.

men's and women's groups. And um she at. first it was helpful because I hadn't. had a lot of experience with therapy. before and so she introduced me to. things like boundaries and. um learning about codependence and kind. of taking like responsibility for just. myself and not for him. And that all. felt good and helpful. Um. and then it didn't get weird for a. little bit. like she definitely like put.

up. she put up this front at first that I've. heard other people talk about that she. was much more professional and like. taught you things that were very helpful. and then the longer you were with her. then the more she like got a little bit. looser and like a little bit you started. seeing behind. the door a little bit to how it was kind. of culty. Um, but at first I felt like, "Oh, this woman is going to help us.". And. >> what got weird? What What did she do?

>> Um, so one of the things that first got. weird for me is that is how she would. operate like in her groups. So she ran. the um her women's group that I went to. and she would really like call people. out like pretty aggressively in the. group. So like you had to report um the. things that you did like you had to. every day you had to track things. You. had to track how many times you were. triggered. You had to track um how many. times you were in distortion. Um you had.

to track if you kept your commitments, things like that. And if you if your. numbers weren't good enough for her, then she'd really like call you out in. the group. Um to where it felt kind of. like public shaming there. And then we. also had to make phone calls. We had to. make three phone calls a day to other. women in the group and talk through our. triggers which was really really. timeconuming and um it was just a lot. And one of the women that I talked to.

she kind of would just like bash Jodie a. lot whenever I called her and I just had. started and so I was like it made me a. little uncomfortable. So, in my session. with Jod, I told her about this and I. was like, "Every time I call so and so, then she just wants to like bash you and. I'm uncomfortable with it." And so, instead of Jodie maybe talking to her or. having me have a private conversation. with her, she told me that I needed to. call her out in the group and I was like. really uncomfortable with that. So, there were maybe like 10 or 12 of us in.

the group and she was like, "Hey, Stephanie has something to say." And she. like told me exactly what to say. and I. called this woman out in front of. everybody. It was really awkward. I. didn't feel like good about it. Um, but. then Jod was like praised me for it and. told me like this is how we hold each. other accountable. And I was like, okay, I guess I'm doing something good. And so. she kind of would make everyone. turn against the person that wasn't. doing things right. And um there are.

more situations like that where I. started feeling like. I'm in a cult like I'm only allowed to. talk to these people. We all have to. hold each other accountable to these. very specific standards or else you get. shamed. >> And what happened to your marriage after. all this? >> So like any any men in her group were if. they weren't sex addicts or porn. addicts, they were lust addicts just. because they were a man. Um and that. didn't feel helpful to me. And then she.

when I told her that I didn't want to be. with him, then she was like, "Well, he's. living in truth now." Like he's she. encouraged me to be with him because he. was like meeting with her and all this. stuff even though I kept telling her I. didn't want to be with him. Um which was. strange. So me and her ended up just. like arguing every session about whether. or not I should be with him instead of. her supporting my decision, which I. found really bizarre. And and was that. how there was a falling out between you. two? I mean, how when did you stop.

seeing her? >> Um, I stopped in the summer of 2019, maybe July or August, I can't remember, but I started feeling I and I. communicated this to her that I just. didn't really feel like I was getting. anything out of like meeting with her. anymore. And um because yeah, it was. like she wasn't supporting the things. that I wanted. Um, >> when I communicated that to her, then. she would try to convince me to stay. She would tell me that she was never I.

would never find another therapist that. could help me. And then she told me that. I was um an addict myself, that I was um. uh what did she a control addict. And so. she had me start doing an addiction. recovery program. She had me get a. sponsor. and maybe a month later I was like, "This is dumb." And then I like quit for. real. Um, but she really like tried to. get me to stay. She kept charging our. bishop. And so then it's like we had. more sessions that they'd paid for and.

so we kind of just kept going way longer. than we wanted to. >> And when this broke with Ruby Frankie in. 2023 and then you had more people coming. out and the whole world is now seeing. what was going on. What was your. reaction to that? Um, I was really I was. really surprised for a second because I. was like, "Oh, I haven't heard anything. from Jod for a while." Um, and then when. I I read about it and I was I was.

shocked and very sad at like the gravity. of it, but I wasn't really surprised. It. felt a little bit um. it felt validating a little bit because. I knew that there was something off. about her and I had talked to other. women in our group about it and they. were all just like they wouldn't talk. about her at all and because she's the. leader and so I felt like no one ever. believed me that there was something. weird about her and so it felt very. validating and also very sad obviously.

Do do you think when you look at it, does it make sense that she was capable. of abusing children? >> Yeah, it does. I mean, just based on. like the things that she would say like. and the punishments that she would. encourage and like I was shocked that it. got to that degree. Um, but I think that. Ruby was like they were just the perfect. mix to make that happen. I don't know. that Jod would have done that.

necessarily without Ruby, although she. did with Jesse, so maybe she would have, but. >> yeah. No. Um, unfortunately, I think. you're right. Uh, isn't is a very scary. combination. Uh, this documentary comes. out and I understand you watch the whole. thing. >> Did it resonate with you when you're. listening to these stories, you're. listening to Jodie Hildebrand? I mean, what stood out to you about it? Um, I. really I like that they had some more of. her clients on um, and there's been more. and more clients coming out um,

specifically about like the separating. husbands from wives and and that stuff. And I that didn't happen to me. Um but. it happened there were a lot of women in. my group that were separated from their. husbands and I'm just glad that more. people are talking about that and like. that's not normal. Like everyone. everyone in my group it seemed like. their lives only got worse when they. started meeting with her for the most.

part. Um and I think that she's hurt a. lot of people. You mentioned before how she was. charismatic. This documentary goes. through these methods of isolation, the. language that was used. What do you. think was like the single most effective. tactic that she uses or that she used to. to gain control? I think that the. empowering the women to make them feel. like they were the boss. I think that. that was very effective because most of.

her clients were Mormon and Mormon women. don't have any experience with being in. control of anything. And so when it. feels like, oh, this person's on my side. and. this person thinks that women can also. be spiritual leaders, um, I think that. that sucked us all in to this like. alternate reality where like we could be. the ones in charge and then the you.

start. implementing consequences on your. husband and then the therapist is there. saying she's right and if you don't do. this then these things will happen. Um, I think that that was really effective. in like scaring the men into compliance. >> Now, the director here mentions that uh. or alleges in prison that Jod's. reportedly trying to form groups and. counsel inmates. I mean, if that is. true, does that surprise you? Does that.

track with the person you knew? Because. she issued apology right in court when. she plead guilty and yet, you know, if. she's doing something similar behind. bars. What if that's true? What are your. thoughts on that? >> Oh, yeah. I believe that 100%. She I. don't Jod's not someone to back down. from like she I think that she actually. believes what she is doing and I think. that she's delusional. It doesn't. surprise me at all because I think that. in order for her to like accept.

responsibility for any of it, that would. tear down her entire sense of self. Like. I think that she is going to just keep. going and um it scares me of where she'd. ever get out. >> You you you've talked about. >> Yeah. You you you you've talked about. how she was um you know able to do this, right? And she was on this like approved. list of counselors. She was a licensed therapist. Do you. think the system failed? Um what needs.

to be done? I mean, the fact that she. was able to operate in the way that she. was, what do you think? >> Um, I think that there's a problem in. general with therapy, especially in. Utah, because um because of the church. and um Jod had a lot of influence in the. community because she was a member of. the church. And so in in the Mormon.

community, you tend to trust people just. based on their membership status. Um, and that's a problem. And then she. because her I think that the church. liked her at least at first um because. she's teaching. she's doing therapy through the lens of. religion. And um I think that the church. is maybe getting better with therapy, but like at least in the past it was. kind of like don't go to therapy because. who knows what they're going to tell. you. And if you do go to therapy, go to.

LDS family services or like an approved. therapist because. I don't know. I don't know why. Um but. Jod had a big influence in the church in. general. She was talking to at least. what she told me. She was um talking to. the young woman's presidency, the. general young woman's presidency. She. was trying to get meetings with um like. the prophet and the first presidency. She had told me about um apostles that. she was in communication with. Um.

sometimes she was teaching. uh her principles like in her own uh. ward like her own church um local. community. Um, she told me that she had. a pilot program with the missionaries. I. don't know if any of that is true. That's just what she told me. But she. had her heels in with the church itself. and she had a lot of influence in the. church. And um I always got the. impression that she was kind of trying.

to take over like get her doctrine. into the church at large which scared me. >> because obviously like the church at. large has a huge influence. And so um I. think that Jod had big plans for like. >> you know going even further than she. did. >> Listen I I don't know what was going on. in her minds. It's a scary place to be, but you make a good point. I mean, it's. it's it's something to be thinking. about. Um, you know, while I have you, I. wanted your perspective on something.

Um, while Jody and Ruby, they're in. prison, I do have to mention to. everybody out there that life has moved. on for the Frankie Frankie family in. significant ways. There have been some. major personal milestones. You see this. family trying to rebuild. So, Ruben, Ruby, and Kevin uh, their divorce was. finalized in March of 2025. Kevin was. awarded full custody of their four minor. children. Kevin remarried this past. November. He married a woman named Becca. Beavenon. His daughter Sherry, who's now. 22, written a memoir about her.

experience, shared a wedding photo, writing in part, "When I was younger, I. could always see he wasn't happy. I'm so. glad I was there to witness his love. story." She asked for kindness, saying, "You do not know my dad. He is a. wonderful man." Their son Chad, who's. 20, also got married this year. There's. again seems to be a clear effort to move. forward in the wake of everything. the. destruction that Jod left behind. Stephanie, from your perspective, when. you see updates like this, um, what goes. through your mind? Does it feel like.

there is a a path on the other side? I. know it's a very complex situation, but. when you see the Frankie family trying. to go on the other side of this, what. are your thoughts? >> Yeah, I mean, I do think that there is. I I worry a lot about the little kids. that were abused, I worry about their. future the most. Um, but yeah, I'm really I'm really happy. for all the the older Frankie family. that I hear about and like that they've. been able to move on and I'm glad that. Kevin has custody of the kids and.

they're hopefully all together and. healing and moving forward. Um, I do. think that. um, at least for me, like. seeing Jod and my experience wasn't. super drastic with her, like nothing. really crazy happened. Um, but I do feel. like I learned a lot from being with. like meeting with Jod and being part of. that. Um, it helped me figure out like. how to kind of sus out like behavior. like that in other situations and like.

how to really be able to stand on my own. two feet and not listen to things that I. don't feel are right. And I hope that. other people in that same situation have. like learned how to listen to their own. intuition and that hopefully overall it. can be a good thing. You know, Stephie, I'm I'm really. enjoying talking to you and I think you. have an important story to tell, an. important perspective. Um, which is why. it's confusing to me, and correct me if. I'm wrong. I thought this was really. interesting, but I believe you mentioned.

to our team that you actually had. several meetings with Netflix to be in. this documentary. Um, can you talk to us. about what that is and why they might. have chosen not to include your story as. part of this? >> Um, I think maybe because mine wasn't. typical. Like I don't um most of the the. stories that most documentaries have. focused on are like the separation of. the husband and wife and the keeping the. men away from their children probably. because that's what happened with Kevin.

Um, but there were other people that met. with Jod that and I guess that's why I. think my story is important is that that. wasn't the only situation. She had. people meeting with her that had eating. disorders. She had I saw someone come in. that had really severe OCD. Um, yeah, there were some other situations of like. abusive relationships and so she met. with all kinds of people and that wasn't. always her tactic. Um, although it was. common. >> Yeah. And so there were there were.

definitely other people affected as. well. >> Well, I hope people watch this and get a. sense of what um you know you. experienced and your thoughts on this. Um again, I think it's a very important. story to tell. I appreciate you uh. taking the time to come on here and. share this. I know it can't be easy, but. Stephanie Collins, thank you again for. coming here on Sidebar. >> Yeah, thank you so much. >> 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].