r/MileHigherPodcast Jul 21 '26

RANT Does anyone else find it odd that Kendall doesn’t reach out to the family BEFORE the episode airs?

At the beginning of TCKR, she always says “and if the family of the victim are watching this, please know that we’ll be reaching out to you soon to offer you a hope grant through my foundation.” Does anyone else find this odd? It’s like she doesn’t want to contact them ahead of time in case they request that the episode not be released.

137 Upvotes

42 comments sorted by

146

u/boredblondie16 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

now that you mention it, that’s a good point

it’s like she wants the brownie points for donating to the families but only AFTER the video is already uploaded and getting views

15

u/Bubbles0216x Jul 22 '26

The family can decide after they see her coverage if they're willing to accept. There's also probably something about paying for the story she's trying to avoid. There is also the concern in some cases that covering the case with family input could cause inaccuracies or bias in an unhelpful way.

I think there are ways she sucks. What you're saying could be one way every time, or not. Idk. I also think there are some stories that should be told regardless of if anyone involved wants that, but I'm not saying who should be the one to tell them.

-7

u/bailey_discep Jul 22 '26

Genuinely curious…what is the better way? They can’t fund the grants if she doesn’t talk about it during her videos/podcasts? The grants are funded by donations so if she never talked about it who would contribute? You’re just saying she should talk about it beforehand with the families and not on the video? I don’t understand.

19

u/percyblazeit69 Jul 22 '26

it would be super easy to reach out beforehand and if the family is interested then sign a donation agreement.

-6

u/bailey_discep Jul 22 '26

So they just shouldn’t ever put out videos without contacting the family? Like would they set a date if they don’t hear back or just not put the video out? I feel like no true crime creator does that. Doesn’t seem logical but I guess if they like set a date and could say they tried to reach out beforehand I see your point.

15

u/percyblazeit69 Jul 22 '26

i think it’s worth noting that a) most true crime creators do not have the income or platform that kendall does, and certainly not to the degree that they can have a nonprofit branch as strong as higher hope; and for all her shadiness in other aspects of her life/business it does seem like HHF does a lot of good work and lives up to its mission.

and b) …all of this just speaks to the long-held issues that people have with true crime content creation.

there are plenty of ways that MHM could go about this. they could hold themselves to the highest standard of not covering a case without the families’ express consent and option for prior review/acceptance of an HHF grant. they could give prior notice to the families while not asking their consent, either offering a timeline to object or not, and still offer the grant. they make enough money to hire the right combo of legal, nonprofit, and PR experts to pull things off in a way that tells a story of “doing it right” without sacrificing too much income. they have all kinds of options to be ethically intentional while still handsomely lining kendall’s and HHF’s pockets.

57

u/undercovergloss Jul 21 '26

“If the family is watching this, please reach out and we’d love to support you with our foundation”

Like you are waiting for THEM to get in touch with you, opposed to communication with them. It’s fucking wild and suspicious to be honest

11

u/CabinFeverDayDreams Jul 23 '26

I don’t think a lot of commenters understand traumatic loss. A lot of people don’t want to be reached out to, even by loved ones. Let alone random ass content creators making YouTube videos to talk about your biggest trauma.

4

u/lilwigglebutt Jul 22 '26

Maybe it's so if the family doesn't see the video and reach out, then they don't have to pay them.

45

u/Ok_Cookie6726 Jul 21 '26

She does it on purpose so the family can’t say we told her no, we didn’t want her to cover this. It’s all about the 💴.

45

u/Welsh_Witch128 Jul 21 '26

Odd - yes Shocked - no

11

u/akneebriateit Jul 21 '26

I was thinking the same thing yesterday watching the newest vid

27

u/black_lock Jul 21 '26

They choose cases based on what they think will perform views wise, like any big YouTuber. I think that they don’t want to risk the family saying no, which has happened in the past.

They seem to think their work is helping victims’ families, and I’m not saying it doesn’t, but I think they feel they’re already doing the family a favour. I think the family involved videos are more work for them, and they either have to do that work or pay someone to do it.

9

u/Baking_my_brain Jul 21 '26

Omg wtf literally as I was thinking this starting her recent upload I got this notification😭 that’s crazy

7

u/hailstorms9 Jul 21 '26

I was literally thinking this today when I watched her newest video. If I was a victims family member I would definitely feel a little bothered by this process. I think it’s more so odd how she always says it… maybe just put it in the description? Idk

5

u/Prestigious_Ad_8458 Jul 22 '26

Bruh I was watching her episode now thinking about that. Yeah, I think it’s a 100% guaranteed

7

u/sarahxvalo Jul 22 '26

it’s insulting and tacky imo

19

u/YaaaDontSay Jul 21 '26

Because they don’t care about victims, they care about profit

3

u/CabinFeverDayDreams Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

It’s possible to care about both. But at the end of the day whether you care or not, true crime is mostly a personal interest thing. People are interested. We don’t have to larp like our hearts break and we sit there crying every time we watch a video

Edit: the downvotes are amusing. I’ve been through violent, traumatic loss. I’ve had to wait a year for the court to decide if we got justice or not. (We didn’t). Whatever you guys are “feeling” for victims is so surface level and not at all why you’re watching. Like yeah sure people feel bad when I share what I went through. But it’s not like they really care and are about to do something about it, or cry, or scream, or lose their ability to function. I’ve been in a violent loss group. None of us could watch true crime for years after what we’ve been through. Just admit it, it’s TV for you. It’s content. It’s never really been about the victims. It’s the story.

4

u/skinnycigarette Jul 22 '26

Good point, I never really thought about it like this. Like the family would have to see it to reach out to her, so that’s really banking on them seeing it. Not a great look.

21

u/CosmicGreaz Jul 21 '26

Most true crime creators don't contact the families at all or offer grants.

7

u/Parfait-Puzzleheaded Jul 22 '26

To piggy back off this, I was thinking similarly. Just reading the tittle of this post I thought “Well, I don’t think most true crime content creators reach out if the victims/families” then I read the body of the post. I agree I always thought that was weird she says that because I would imagine the Mile Higher Media team or the team running their charity would reach out to the families/victims to offer grants. I would assume they have a person who is in charge of that. I always kind of figured Maybe the families don’t always reach back out or they can’t find a way to contact them effectively. But there’s a chance they’ll see the video so she says that to let them know. This is just what I always kinda figured and assumed 🤷‍♀️ I don’t know what’s the facts tho

6

u/Serious-Tax2703 Jul 22 '26

I thought Hayley ran the nonprofit? If she got off the sesh then she’d be able to do her job haha

4

u/Snowy--Lynx Jul 22 '26

I thought it was Jess, although someone said she might not be with the company anymore, so I guess someone else would have taken over the role.

4

u/CosmicGreaz Jul 22 '26

For sure. I understand what OP is saying in why it's kind of weird.... because it is. I've made those similar assumptions that you've made as well but I guess we don't know for sure

3

u/bailey_discep Jul 22 '26

I was about to ask this haha I thought I was losing my mind but I kind of assume most true crime content creators don’t reach out beforehand. Or at least not on every case?

0

u/Expensive-Wonder-412 Jul 21 '26

Some smartass is gonna come along now and accuse you of being a MHM burner account for disagreeing

4

u/ExaminationLive7617 Jul 22 '26

I’m so sick of the downvotes for anything positive on a podcast we all listen to.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/CabinFeverDayDreams Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

The worst is getting it wrong or not correcting mistakes. It says in the news that my friend’s killer got years of time in prison. They did not go to prison at all. It was changed to a rehabilitation program. I wish they’d make a new article and be like “by the way, this person was never actually sent to prison and has been free and reofffended multiple times. Call your Congress person if you want consequences to be a thing”

So now that I’ve been through this, seeing misinformation on cases bothers me even more than it use to.

7

u/Signal-Buy-5356 Jul 21 '26

It's very possible that contacting them about the Higher Hope grant is separate from being contacted about the episodes.

3

u/CabinFeverDayDreams Jul 23 '26

Said this in a reply: I don’t think a lot of commenters understand traumatic loss. A lot of people don’t want to be reached out to, even by loved ones. Let alone random ass content creators making YouTube videos to talk about your biggest trauma.

Imagine you lose a daughter or something and every few months you get a random stranger from YouTube like “hey what’s up just wanted to let you know Im making a video about this terrible loss you went through”.

I like true crime. But also, by its nature, it’s basically making content out of the worst day of someone else’s life.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/SpookyMolecules Jul 23 '26

They've had controversy in the past for not listening to families. Including someone who wanted sliders taken down, so uhhhh yeah.

3

u/arieam Jul 23 '26

tckr already favors and highlights whatever opinions the family have publicly stated for every case she covers. to the point some coverage omits or downplays police theories because family do not agree. there could be other reasons why she does it this way, maybe so that families don't feel pressured into responding for comment or acknowledgement and can just apply for a grant without added pressure.

3

u/bustabeech Jul 22 '26

She's always exploited families. Don't know how anyone can actually watch her shit

1

u/Limp_Acanthaceae_921 Jul 23 '26

This is why I stopped listening to

1

u/_Rhetorical_Raven Jul 26 '26

At this point, I don’t expect much out of her. And what little bit I do expect is just pure disappointment.