TCO Throwback! Hot Coffee

True Crime Obsessed

Society & Culture, Comedy, True Crime

4.2 • 35.8K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2026

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hey Fam! Our bonus episodes are coming back in April... BUT WE COULDN'T WAIT! We wanted to share this throwback episode because IT'S WILD, but also because we talked about it in our recent episode about Andrea Yates and we thought... LET'S GIVE HER ANOTHER LISTEN! Have fun, enjoy, and whatever you do DO NOT GOOGLE THE PICTURES!!!

Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman ranked it in his top ten list. And more than fifteen years later, its infamy continues. Everyone knows the McDonald's coffee case. It has been routinely cited as an example of how citizens have taken advantage of America's legal system, but is that a fair rendition of the facts? Hot Coffee reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald's, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort, and to what end.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, Julian Bedevalli.
0:02.6	Hello, Patrick Hines.
0:03.7	Oh, fam, we are so, okay, so a couple weeks ago in the Andrea Gates episodes, we were talking about the documentary Hot Coffee. Yeah, because it's one of those things where, like, you think you know the truth. And it's definitely, Andrew Yates is much darker and there are a lot more layers. But Hot Coffee was one of those cases where, like, everyone was making fun of it. And really, if you knew what happened, like, it is not what the media made it seem.
0:23.3	It blew my mind.
0:24.7	I know. But hot coffee was one of those cases where everyone was making fun of it. And really, if you knew what happened, like, it is not what the media made it seem. It blew my mind. I remember watching this documentary, I was like, wait, what? So, fam, as you know, we've got our bonus episodes coming up. And we thought it's sort of like a lead up to that. We might throw in a couple of like throwback episodes between now and then. Talk about a throwback. This first aired January of 2019, so I don't even know who those two people are that you're about to hear. It is so wild because the thing that, whenever I think about a date like that, like the pandemic barreling towards us and we had no idea. Zero. Zero. Wild. And this is also, this case is my like insufferable GP fact case.
0:55.4	If I ever hear about it in the wild, I can't help but be like, well, actually, that's not. Oh, that's so funny. Like if I hear someone making fun of Stella, like I would be like, no, no, no. We've seen the photos and it was really bad. All she wanted was like her medical bills paid. Like it wasn't a big deal. McDonald sucks in this.
1:09.5	It's 100%.
1:10.7	They still have the best
1:11.5	fountain coke in the universe,
1:13.0	but they were super, super, super wrong here. was like her medical bills paid like it wasn't a big deal McDonald sucks in this. It's 100%. They still have the best fountain coke in the universe
1:12.8	but they were super, super, super wrong here. If I'm on a road trip, am I stopping for like a cheeseburger and a 10 piece? Like, no question. I don't understand why we... Hot mustard. Why they have to also be assholes. I know. Which they super were. I would like the follow of this to be called hot mustard and just a documentary about the sauce. Well, you got to make it.
1:28.3	I know. All right, fam. Have fun and joy. I would like the follow-up of this to be called Hot Mustard and just a documentary about the sauce.
1:28.2	Well, you got to make it.
1:28.8	I know.
1:30.5	All right, fam.
1:31.3	Have fun and joy.
1:31.7	Have fun.
1:32.2	We love you.
1:32.5	Bye.
1:32.8	Bye.
1:40.8	Jillian Pensavale.
1:42.6	Patrick Heinz. Ohna Oh it feels nice
	...

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