08/15/2026
It takes a decade to build a masterclass in investigative journalism. It takes a powerful producer a fraction of that time to try and erase it, while cashing checks from HBO.
For over 10 years, award-winning environmental journalist Jennie Erin Smith poured her life into writing Stolen World. She spent days combing through Smithsonian archives, traveled the world to interview the people involved. and painstakingly mapped out the complex, real-world underbelly of the international reptile smuggling trade.
When Eric Goode’s documentary series, Monsters of God hit screens and secured a major payout from HBO (he previously produced Tiger King and Chimp Crazy), large parts of it relied heavily on the distinct structural blueprint, character juxtapositions, and archival legwork that Jennie uniquely brought to light. For a year and a half, Jennie communicated and consulted on the project with Eric and his staff with the mutual understanding that her foundational work would be respected and credited. Instead, when the series aired, her name was completely omitted, and Goode walked away with the financial rewards while ghosting the person who built the foundation his roadmap that started off the series in the first episode. He did credit the author of the other book that other parts of the series is based off of.
Even outside observers are calling it out: Time magazine took notice of the heavy copying, and even show subject Tom Crutchfield openly agreed that the first episode reflects Jennie’s book, rather than the alternative narrative pushed by the production. When confronted directly about the appropriation of her decade long labor at the National Reptile Breeders' Expo this Friday, accountability was met with a brush off.
And the exploitation of Jennie's work likely doesn't stop with Episode 1. As viewers continue tuning in, there is a strong, well-founded suspicion that Episode 4, entitled "Operation Chameleon", is set to heavily strip-mine Jennie's proprietary research once again.
This isn't just about a TV series; it's about the deep-seated disrespect independent authors and investigative journalists face when powerful figures take their intellectual labor, use it to cash in big, and leave the true creator in the dust.
Jennie isn't looking to tear anyone down, she simply wants what every dedicated author deserves, recognition for the true story she spent a decade of her life building. Real journalism matters. Original blueprints matter. Let's make sure the architects of these stories get the credit they earned.
Note: This video was taken at the National Reptile Breeders Expo on Friday, August 14th, and I am giving rights to use it under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0). It features Jennie Erin Smith, author of Stolen World, and Eric Goode, producer of Monsters of God.
