The Story: The Rise and Fall of Netflix's 'Cheer' Coach Monica Aldama

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Texas Monthly

Texas Monthly

Күн бұрын

Writer Sarah Hepola spent eighteen months on this story and discusses how Navarro cheer coach Monica Aldama has been “tested beyond reason.”
In 2020, Netflix released a show about a ragtag team of competitive cheerleaders from a small-town Texas junior college under the direction of a tough but loving coach. Cheer became an instant cultural sensation. But as quickly as the cast’s popularity soared, scandals began to mount. In this episode of the Story, Sarah Hepola recounts the challenges of covering the roller-coaster reputation of Navarro cheer for Texas Monthly‘s May 2024 cover feature: “What ‘Cheer’ Led to: How Viral Fame Upended Monica Aldama’s Life.”
FULL STORY: www.texasmonthly.com/arts-ent...

Пікірлер: 66
@keyawnspoor9903
@keyawnspoor9903 Ай бұрын
Just because they dropped her from the lawsuit doesn't mean she didn't help cover shit up
@vwboymom85
@vwboymom85 Ай бұрын
Ummm what about the allegations against her son!?! As a parent that would rock me more than anything else that happened
@pippin3168
@pippin3168 Ай бұрын
Uhhhh are we not going to mention the heinous charges against her son??? That story also somehow miraculously disappeared out of circulation. I’m sure she helped cover that up too
@tiamarrow6366
@tiamarrow6366 Ай бұрын
Yup and being that they’re from Texas….the “holier than thou” state, and Monica is religious…..it’s ironic that she covers up her sons crimes, meanwhile in the church it’s a well known thing that there’s been over a thousand confirmed cases of sexual abuse, and sexual assault by priests and the clergy against children.
@denisem5907
@denisem5907 Ай бұрын
What happened with her son?
@erinfraze
@erinfraze Ай бұрын
He was arrested and charged with possessing child sex abuse images.
@pippin3168
@pippin3168 Ай бұрын
@@denisem5907 the most vile of vile material was found on his hard drive. Read the court records at your own risk it made me sick to my stomach
@sargassum6190
@sargassum6190 Ай бұрын
What about her SON BEING ARRESTED FOR CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN?!?!?1 😢😢😢
@munchkinmunchkin
@munchkinmunchkin Ай бұрын
This is the biggest piece of PR for her I’ve ever seen
@OneBIGPlace
@OneBIGPlace Ай бұрын
I like how they just skip over the whole situation with Monica's son.
@Usernotfound31231
@Usernotfound31231 Ай бұрын
This is a bizarre video that treats being dropped from a lawsuit as tantamount to total vindication and exonerated of any wrongdoing. That didn’t happen, so why is it being presented as such? And why are other publications being belittled as if their scrutiny of the reputation she made for herself is now their responsibility to rehabilitate???
@tixer8629
@tixer8629 Ай бұрын
Well, when attorneys meet and agree to remove a defendant from a suit, we can split hairs about whether that exonerates or redeems someone, but it does tell us that there's not enough evidence that she personally did all the things she was accused of doing in the legal filings -- and that's good enough for me. I don't see Monica as an angel, but suspect some of her colleagues at the college did far worse than anything she did.
@cheleh87
@cheleh87 Ай бұрын
I used to be a competitive cheerleader and when the Netflix show Cheer came out, I could not get into it 🤷‍♀️
@SusieQZee
@SusieQZee Ай бұрын
Why is that? Did it seem scripted or heavily edited?
@cheleh87
@cheleh87 Ай бұрын
@@SusieQZee I’m not sure I just got kinda bored with it don’t get me wrong they are a talented team but I didn’t find the show very interesting I guess.
@twilightsun8109
@twilightsun8109 Ай бұрын
I felt bored too! It felt super dramatic. I like cheerleader nation/generation better! It felt more upbeat. I don’t know how to describe it but Cheer felt so dark and serious vibes
@cheleh87
@cheleh87 Ай бұрын
@@twilightsun8109 I completely agree & yes Cheerleader Nation was such a great show!
@SusieQZee
@SusieQZee Ай бұрын
@@cheleh87the main lady, Monica has the personality of a cardboard box.
@billyluzier4752
@billyluzier4752 Ай бұрын
Thank you for sharing this story. Very well done!
@tiamarrow6366
@tiamarrow6366 Ай бұрын
I feel like they should’ve expected for the show to be as big as it was because of Gabi Butler. I mean we all know Gabi’s story especially with being on Cali Smoed and she’s a huge cheerlebrity, so it makes sense the any show with someone like Gabi being on it…..it’s gonna be huge.
@mariella2884
@mariella2884 Ай бұрын
Jerry was not HER lowest point. That SA victim’s assault and subsequent coverup was not HER lowest point. As a journalist I would expect a bit more perception when it comes to someone’s wording. I too work with the public and that type of speaking shows you what you need to know. Her concern is with herself, so for those people I reserve my sympathy as they supply themselves enough. It’s those who can introspect and at the very least face that they may have played some role. Those who will ALWAYS put a victim first in the narrative because they recognize what actually mattered then…they deserve this “redemption” you speak of. The downfall of Navarro’s reputation wasn’t the worst moment. Be honest here. It was 2 young brothers separately beginning to feel predated on by Jerry, feeling like the worlds new fav could harm them. It was the moment that victim had her bodily autonomy stolen. GET A GRIP.
@AlyviaAshley
@AlyviaAshley Ай бұрын
Well said
@tessfromSF
@tessfromSF Ай бұрын
Such an odd video
@Twylinaelizabeth
@Twylinaelizabeth Ай бұрын
I knew Monica was abusing all of them the second that show started. The nurse guy was like “what is she doing?” And this was just what she was willing to let us see on camera
@Allinmyworld
@Allinmyworld Ай бұрын
I feel sorry for Monica but if I was her I would never do it again. She not only possibly lose her marriage, her family, her likelihood and jobs. That's a lot to lose. It was one thing when Jerry did what he did. His actions couldn't account for the whole team but afterwards better so fade back out of the spotlight. Sad i enjoyed the show but sad.
@Kimdone365
@Kimdone365 Ай бұрын
Why does this woman look like she’s about to cry talking about this?
@AlyviaAshley
@AlyviaAshley Ай бұрын
The downfall of Gabby in contrast to Ladarious would have been good to touch on as well. He was always the villain until he wasn’t
@abbyqmudd168
@abbyqmudd168 Ай бұрын
Gabby had a downfall too
@Bill.R.124
@Bill.R.124 Ай бұрын
This video told us little. I loved Monica and still wish her the best. Such a strong role model and leader to push those kids to such greatness and give some crappy little Texas school such a phenomenal reputation. Sh*t happens in any organization. Everyone has skeletons in their closet.
@sargassum6190
@sargassum6190 Ай бұрын
What about her son’s arrest for child sexually assault material? Why is she role modeling her son and cheerleaders to sexually abuse children? Starting to look like a pattern.
@tixer8629
@tixer8629 Ай бұрын
​@@sargassum6190 "Role modeling her son and cheerleaders to sexually abuse children"? What on earth does that mean?
@nanakinagra7699
@nanakinagra7699 20 күн бұрын
What about the allegations against her son? That was back in December so it could've have certainly been mentioned. Or the lawsuit Monica is now filing against the cheerleader who claimed Monicia helped cover up her SA? I understand how Aldama's reputation has been attacked but this piece comes across as one-sided in it's coverage.
@susieq2873
@susieq2873 21 күн бұрын
If a young girl on a team you are responsible for overseeing is raped, you help her file charges with the police- it’s that simple. Then the legal system takes over … there’s no reason to cover it up because the district attorney will decide if there’s enough evidence to prosecute. This decision should be in the hands of the DA not a cheer coach. Really should have been a clear cut moral decision for Monica.
@personincognito3989
@personincognito3989 Ай бұрын
As a non-american I find the whole cheerleading thing a bit crazy. Maybe we should have boy colleges and girl colleges. The whole culture of fraternities and college parties, it's so crazy. So much sexual abuse at that age because these young people are going from the "adolescents" stage to the " emerging adult" stage. It's a mess with young people who lack poor impulse control.
@tiamarrow6366
@tiamarrow6366 Ай бұрын
Yes! I also find it scary that a lot of the more well known Navarro cheer students (expect for Lexi, and Ladarius because Lexi just kept to herself and Ladarius was the only bold one who called Monica out) went to or at least were affiliated with Cheer Athletics specifically the ones in Plano and there was allegations of sexual abuse there too. I don’t know why it’s okay for in cheerleading specifically competitive cheer, for grown adults to cheer with young teens. When Cheer Athletics went onto AGT, they got asked who was the youngest and who was the oldest…..there’s was an almost 30 year old man cheering on the same team as a 12-13 year old. Now I’m all for grown adults participating in activities like cheer to keep their bodies active, but being on the same team as a literal child….absolutely not.
@erikaleonard2848
@erikaleonard2848 Ай бұрын
There are a few colleges sprinkled in that are not co Ed. Wells college in upstate NY was a girls college until few years ago they let a few boys in. And Holbart and Williamston in upstate NY I believe might still be split up. Girls live on one end of campus and the boys are kept all the way on the other end. Yes I'm from NY 😊
@AddyOkay
@AddyOkay Ай бұрын
Boy vs girl colleges wouldn't solve the issue since SA still exists between people of the same sex. The problem is that they are bad people who probably had terrible parents as well.
@iampiranha5005
@iampiranha5005 Ай бұрын
What about the victim’s redemption? How about the victims family? I wonder how the news outlets reporting on all of the lawsuits made the victim feel or how it impacted their family? I wonder how those kids she verbally abused feel and how theyre lives have been changed because of her verbal abuse? Booooooooo booooooooo tomato tomato boooooo im throwing tomatoes 🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅
@Usernotfound31231
@Usernotfound31231 Ай бұрын
Strong agree. A totally bizarre video.
@mariella2884
@mariella2884 Ай бұрын
Thank you! I had to rewatch this because by the end I couldn’t honestly believe how clearly biased it was? Mind blowing.
@tixer8629
@tixer8629 Ай бұрын
Uh... the "victim" and her attorney are the ones who shared the whole thing with the media. Sooo... yeahhh... no sympathy there.
@Usernotfound31231
@Usernotfound31231 Ай бұрын
@@tixer8629 There are multiple victims in this story. Which one are you attempting (and failing) to discredit? Monica Aldama spoke to media for this exact story- so according to your logic, she’s discredited too, right?
@tixer8629
@tixer8629 Ай бұрын
@@Usernotfound31231 I'm not discrediting anyone other than the KZfaq user who implied that the "news outlets" did something wrong by covering the story that the attorney for the alleged vicim of sex assault released to said "news outlets." You clearly can't follow logic.
@minuscaps
@minuscaps Ай бұрын
This is so biased.
@Deniseeee84
@Deniseeee84 Ай бұрын
How ?
@minuscaps
@minuscaps 23 күн бұрын
@@Deniseeee84she worked on the story for 18 months, and during her contact with her bonded or perhaps grew close and felt sympathy for her instead of remaining neutral.
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