In public, Patrick Hinds is the life of the party. As cohost of the popular podcast, True Crime Obsessed, Hinds has gained a reputation as a gregarious, charming, and funny man and he holds court in the ballrooms of true crime conventions like CrimeCon and Obsessed Fest. There are countless photographs online with his fans, in which his mouth is open, as if in mid-laugh at something they’ve just said. His rise to fame from Broadway raconteur to the nice guy of true crime was inspiring to many. And much of that journey is told in his new book, Failure Is Not Not an Option, which is promoted as the story of a chubby, poor gay son of a lesbian who succeeded in spite of it all.
But last month, whispers of bad behavior circulated on Reddit following the departure of Obsessed Network’s popular podcast, I Think Not (once called Obsessed with Disappeared), which is hosted by Broadway actress Ellyn Marsh and Joey Taranto. Taranto replaced Hinds as cohost on that podcast in 2022. I Think Not is no longer a part of the company and the scuttlebutt is that Hinds was jealous of the success of his long-time friend Ellyn’s podcast and petty in-fighting had led to the split and the last straw had something to do with the unapproved use of a sound clip from the movie Bridesmaids of all things. But that all seemed too ridiculous to believe.