Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura

Format

Former Navy Underwater Demolition Team (UDT), professional wrestler, actor and Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura examines various conspiracy theories on subjects such as global warming, the September 11 attacks, secret societies, government surveillance and secret weapons projects.

In the first season, Ventura teams up with a group of investigators consisting of skeptic Alex Piper, reporter June Sarpong and investigator Michael Braverman. In season two, Piper is replaced by investigator Daniel Kucan in a few episodes. In season three, Ventura's son, Tyrel Ventura, and Oliver Stone's son, Sean Stone, are part of the investigative team.

Ratings and reviews

The premiere episode was watched by 1.635 million viewers, TruTV's biggest audience for a new series launch. The next two episodes were watched by 1.586 million and 1.301 million viewers. Over the first three episodes the series averaged 1.5 million viewers, up 60% from the same time slot a year before. During January the show averaged 1.6 million viewers, helping truTV deliver its biggest month ever in prime time.

Critics who have reviewed the show include Linda Stasi of New York Post, who called it "mindless, good fun and a hoot to watch aging action stars still taking action", and Robert Lloyd of The Los Angeles Times, who wrote, "Whatever truth is out there, it's filtered here through what is arranged more as an adventure series than a documentary."

'Police State' criticism

An episode from season two entitled "Police State" caused some controversy when it investigated allegations that various prison-like facilities built around the country that are operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will be used during martial law for the internment of citizens who are deemed a threat to national security. Officials have said the facilities are emergency FEMA camps for the housing of civilians displaced by natural disasters. U.S. Representative Steve Cohen from Tennessee, a co-sponsor of a bill which aimed to create temporary FEMA camps for the housing of people affected by hurricanes or earthquakes in his district, was interviewed for the show.

Shortly after the episode aired, Cohen called for the removal of this program from truTV's lineup. He called the episode an "outrageous distortion and an outright lie," as well as "dangerous and irresponsible." He said "when the media purposely distort the facts to create confusion and mislead people, they must be held accountable. Unless we actively debunk false and misleading reports, we risk leaving the public with a dangerously skewed vision of this country." Cohen said he was "shocked and appalled" that Time Warner would air a program "so full of inaccuracies and irresponsible distortions."

Another allegation brought up in the episode focused on a private facility outside Covington, Georgia, that was stockpiling thousands of plastic bins alleged to be used as coffins for mass burials.

In a response to the criticism, Misty Skedgell, a Turner spokesperson, described Conspiracy Theory as an "entertainment program that appears on an entertainment network."

Although most of the episodes of Conspiracy Theory have been rerun, the "Police State" episode has been shown only once, owing largely to the controversy surrounding the content of the episode.

Production issues

After two seasons of the show, the creation of future episodes was in doubt when, on January 25, 2011, the Drudge Report announced that Ventura had filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), for what he calls "warrant-less and suspicion-less scans and body searches." Ventura, who has a titanium hip replacement, claimed that he sets off metal detectors and is always pulled out of line for lengthy pat-downs. The day of the announcement, Alex Jones, a consultant and frequent guest, said on his show that he had witnessed a pat-down of Ventura at the Atlanta International Airport while filming for Conspiracy Theory, during which Ventura loudly protested that "America is turning into East Germany." Jones said Ventura, who flew two to three times a week for Conspiracy Theory, refuses to fly commercially again, a vow he reiterated after his lawsuit against the TSA was dismissed in November 2011.

Although there were concerns that Ventura would not be able to continue hosting Conspiracy Theory as a result of his lawsuit and refusal to fly commercially, it was revealed in September 2011 that he would host a third season that would be completed and launched on TruTV sometime in 2012.

On June 26, 2012, Jones interviewed Ventura. When the two discussed the third season, Ventura confirmed that filming on the third season was completed in November 2011 and said the season was supposed to air in January or February 2012 but for unknown reasons had not yet aired as of that point. The delay led Ventura to suspect that the show was cancelled.

On July 31, 2012, Jesse's son, Tyrel Ventura, appeared on the Alex Jones radio show to discuss the upcoming third season. Tyrel dismissed allegations that the show was officially canceled, or that any of the new episodes were being censored. Tyrel said a change in management at the production company had caused delays. He also confirmed that the new episodes were still being finalized and edited for TruTV.

In May 2013, Ventura confirmed that the show has been discontinued and there will be no fourth season.

Unshown "TSA" episode

On October 30, 2012 Jesse Ventura made an appearance on the Alex Jones radio show and made it known that the final episode of the third season, an episode involving the Transportation Security Administration, would not be shown. He declined to mention what the reason was, only that "the decision was made at TruTV, if you want to know, ask them." Had the episode aired, it was to cover allegations that former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff made huge profits off measures he enacted for airline safety, especially with full body scanners that were manufactured by firms he invested in. Additionally, Ventura was to investigate alleged "cancer clusters" centered around TSA workers who were exposed to the machines on a daily basis.

David Icke walk off

On the premiere episode for season three, which focused on the conspiracy theory that shape-shifting reptilians are controlling the world in human form, Ventura interviewed the man who popularized the conspiracy, David Icke. Ventura met Icke at the Agora Theatre and Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio, in November 2011, where Icke was giving one of his seminars. During the interview, Ventura pitched what he called "hard questions" at Icke such as how much money he made off the conspiracy with book sales and speeches. Icke became insulted and an argument broke out in which Icke eventually walked off the set.

In an article published shortly after the incident, Icke said he got upset partly because he waited a long time for Ventura to start the interview. He said Ventura, who at the end of the episode concluded the reptilian conspiracy was false, should have stayed and listened to all of Icke's information and after "connecting all the dots," confirmed Icke's theories.

Criticism

In June 2013, Peter Hadfield revealed that a photo that was provided as evidence for a link between HAARP and the 2004 Tsunami in the first episode of the television show, was probably fabricated. The photo was introduced by the TV-show's lead investigator Raheem as a picture of the Aurora Borealis. Hadfield uncovered that the photo instead was advertised by the photographer as a photo of the Aurora Australis. Hadfield also revealed that June Sarpong's claim on the show that the tsunami was not preceded by "pretremors or any warning" is unsupported by seismological records and scientific papers.