Ruby Franke, the YouTube mom vlogger who had millions of followers but was sentenced to years in prison for child abuse, is to be the subject of another docuseries.
Investigation Discovery is launching Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence, a four-part series that explores the relationship between Franke and “rogue therapist” Jodi Hildebrandt.
Last February, Franke was sentenced to at least four years in prison, but which could be as much as 60 years, for child abuse. She appeared in court alongside her former business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, who received a similar sentence, after the Utah prosecutor said that two of Franke’s children – aged nine and 11 at the time – lived in a “concentration camp-like setting”. The women were arrested in August 2023 after Franke’s malnourished 12-year-old son climbed out of a window at Hildebrandt’s house in Ivins, Utah, and ran to a neighbor’s house in search of food and water.
It comes after Hulu launched Devil In The Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke, which premiered to nearly 8M viewers in February.
ID will premiere its series over two nights on September 1 and 2, streaming on HBO Max.
It will delve into Hildebrandt and Franke’s relationship from both women’s respective rise to power and extensive influence within the Mormon community to their eventual arrests in 2023 and explain the connection between the two and how the melding of Franke’s strict family values with Hildebrandt’s controversial beliefs created a microcosm of control, manipulation, and brutality that led to the emotional and physical abuse of the Franke children
The Hulu series featured Franke’s ex-husband and two eldest children, while the ID series will feature interviews with former clients and Hildebrandt’s niece, Jessi Hildebrandt.
Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence is produced by Pantheon Media Group, Velvet Hammer Media, and Chick Entertainment.
“With Ruby & Jodi: A Cult of Sin and Influence, ID continues to do what we do best—go beyond the headlines to expose the deeper truths behind cultural flashpoints,” said Jason Sarlanis, President of Investigation Discovery. “The disturbing alliance between Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt has captivated and horrified the public, and this docuseries peels back the layers of that relationship through exclusive interviews with family members, former clients, and experts to explore the broader implications of family vlogging and the devastating impact of family abuse.”
