Someone slid into my DMs last week and asked me to have a guest on the podcast.
Now I get approached from time to time and most of the time it’s pretty straightforward. But this one stopped me cold. Because the person reaching out was Kristin M. Davis — better known as the Manhattan Madam — and she wanted me to interview the CEO of a company called Crowds on Demand.
So I did what any self respecting pothead would do. I went down the rabbit hole.
What I found was way more interesting than any interview would have been. And honestly? Way more disturbing.
What Is Astroturfing and Why Should You Care?
Before we get into the Manhattan Madam and the fake protest guy, let’s talk about astroturfing — because if you don’t know what it is, you need to.
Astroturfing is the practice of manufacturing the appearance of grassroots public support where none actually exists. The name comes from AstroTurf — the fake grass — because that’s exactly what it is. Fake grass roots.
Paid protests and astroturfing go hand in hand and in 2026 the industry is booming. According to public reporting, Crowds on Demand saw a 400% surge in paid protest requests in 2025 alone. That’s not a niche service anymore. That’s an industry.
And somebody is buying it.
Listen to the sesh:
Meet the Manhattan Madam: Kristin M. Davis
Let’s start with who reached out to me because this is where it gets immediately weird.
Kristin M. Davis — the Manhattan Madam — ran a high end prostitution ring in New York City that allegedly serviced some very prominent clients including Eliot Spitzer, Alex Rodriguez and David Beckham. She served time at Rikers Island, ran for Governor of New York in 2010, was contacted by Robert Mueller’s office in 2018 in connection with Russian election interference, and was later convicted for distributing drugs.
She has since founded Hope House to help women in need — and I’ll give her credit for that because second chances are real and people do change.
But now she runs a PR firm called Think Right PR that specializes in rebranding people and companies with — let’s call it complicated public histories. And she reached out to me to have Adam Swart, the CEO of Crowds on Demand, on my show to talk about the mechanics of fake protests and manufactured reality.
I’ll be honest. My first thought was — why would the Manhattan Madam be repping the fake protest guy?
My second thought was — actually that makes perfect sense.
Crowds on Demand: Your Reality Has a Price Tag
Here’s what Crowds on Demand actually is.
Adam Swart founded the company in 2012. It started with “celebrity experience” services — fake paparazzi, hired fans, that kind of thing. Over time it expanded into organized protests, political demonstrations, and publicity stunts using paid actors posing as members of the public.
In plain English — you can buy a crowd. Right now. Today.
| Service | What They Say | What It Actually Is |
|---|---|---|
| Celebrity Arrival Service | Professional crowd for your event | Hired fans to make you look important |
| Advocacy Group Creation | We create and staff advocacy groups with suitable leadership | Inventing fake grassroots organizations from scratch with hired actors as “leaders” |
| Protest Organization | Amplifying your message through demonstrations | Paid protesters starting at $39.99 per activist |
| Mergers & Acquisitions Support | Shaping public company deals | Manufacturing protests to tank a competitor’s stock price |
| Message Amplification | When other strategies have failed | When the truth isn’t working — buy a fake consensus instead |
A Washington Post columnist described receiving a marketing email from the company offering their “Celebrity Arrival Service” to politicians — promising to stuff events with paid actors to make candidates look popular.
John Oliver dedicated a segment on Last Week Tonight to them. They’ve been sued for alleged extortion. They’ve been accused of creating a fake Black Lives Matter organization in Dallas called Dallas Justice Now that sent letters urging wealthy white families not to send their kids to Ivy League universities. The same Republican marketing firm was also behind a pro-police group called Keep Dallas Safe.
Both sides. Same company. Same fake grass.
And demand is up 400%.
The Whistleblower Who Won’t Blow the Whistle
Here’s where it gets really rich.
Swart is now positioning himself as a whistleblower. He wants to come clean about the fake protest industry. Says he wants transparency. And to expose the manufactured outrage machine.
Except — he won’t name his clients. He won’t name his sources. And his company bio still openly boasts about creating fake advocacy groups from scratch.
Let me say that again. The guy who wants to blow the whistle on astroturfing still sells astroturfing.
Here’s a breakdown of what his own bio says versus what it actually means:
| What His Bio Says | What It Actually Means |
|---|---|
| “We create advocacy groups and staff them with suitable leadership” | We invent fake organizations and hire actors to pretend to be their leaders |
| “We shaped large public company mergers and acquisitions” | We manufactured protests to pressure companies into deals |
| “We amplify messages when other strategies have failed” | When the truth isn’t working we manufacture a fake consensus |
| “I want transparency in the protest industry” | I want to be the regulated gatekeeper of the very deception I pioneered |
When you’re whistleblowing you’re supposed to do it for the better of society — not for the better of your bank account.
He isn’t blowing the whistle because he grew a conscience. He’s blowing the whistle to become the “legitimate” face of an industry he built. It’s the same hustle with a press release attached.
The Inversion of Truth: Two Peas in a Very Shady Pod
Here’s what struck me most when I put these two together.
Davis uses her criminal past to create trust as an expert on corruption. Swart uses fake crowds to create the appearance of truth through manufactured consensus.
They are both selling the same thing — the idea that nothing is real, so you might as well buy their version of reality.
| The People | Kristin M. Davis | Adam Swart |
|---|---|---|
| Background | Manhattan Madam, convicted felon, Mueller witness | Former journalist turned fake protest entrepreneur |
| Current pitch | Reformed criminal turned PR expert on scandal | Fake protest pioneer turned whistleblower |
| What they’re selling | Trust through criminal credibility | Truth through manufactured consensus |
| The hustle | My past makes me an expert on deception | My deception makes me qualified to expose deception |
| What they won’t reveal | The full client list from her past | Current client list and protest contracts |
It’s not a reformation. It’s an expansion of the same hustle with better branding.
So Should I Have Him On The Show?
I asked my audience this at the end of the episode and I’m asking you here too — because I genuinely don’t know.
On one hand I don’t think I’ll get an honest conversation. He won’t name clients. He won’t name sources. And everything about the way this pitch landed in my DMs feels like exactly the kind of manufactured narrative his company specializes in.
On the other hand — sometimes the most interesting interviews are the ones where you already know the guy is full of it.
What do you think? Drop it in the comments. Should I have Adam Swart on Thoughts Off The Stem?
The Real Issue Nobody Wants to Talk About
Here’s the thing that actually bothers me most about all of this.
Most people can’t be bothered to protest. Real grassroots movements are hard. They require time, energy, belief and sacrifice. The fact that there’s a booming market for fake protests tells you something really important — the people with money have figured out that they can skip all of that and just buy the appearance of public support instead.
Your outrage is for sale. Your reality is manufactured. And most people scrolling their feed have no idea whether the protest they just watched was organic or ordered off a menu at $39.99 per head.
I basically assume at this point that anything I watch or read is at least partially bullshit. And honestly? That’s a really exhausting way to live.
So smoke one, think critically, and maybe — just maybe — question the next “spontaneous” protest you see trending on your feed.
Those are my thoughts off the stem. 🍃
🎙 Listen to the Full Episode
Everything Is Fake: Your Reality Is for Sale is out now on Spotify and YouTube.
I go deeper on both Davis and Swart, break down exactly how the fake protest machine works, and ask you directly — should I have him on the show?
👇 Listen or watch right now:
🎧 SPOTIFY LINK ▶️ YOUTUBE LINK
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The world is full of BS, King Palm isn’t – just like Thoughts Off The Stem. Relax and enjoy a longer smoother, full flavored sesh.
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Research links for the Sesh:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristin_M._Davis
