It’s the story so many devoured through a riveting podcast, but a new audience is just learning about now.
And they have questions.
“Scamanda”, a four-part docuseries based on the #1 hit podcast of the same name, introduced the world to Amanda Riley this week. She is a wife, mother, and blogger who is sitting behind bars right now after stealing $100k from friends, family, and even strangers.
The docuseries will take a deeper look into the heinous lies Amanda told for money and attention, and dive a bit deeper into the present day condition of her family.
Because even though the podcast answered a lot of fans’ questions, many are still trying to piece together how much her husband knew – and if he was in on the scheme with her.
The “Scamanda” Podcast Story
To recap: the podcast and now docuseries explores the story of Amanda Riley, a former teacher and principal from Northern California. In 2012, Amanda revealed to her loved ones that she had been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She then started a blog to “document” her journey fighting the disease. This went on for nearly 7 years, during which time many of her friends, family, and online followers pitched in a total of more than $105,000 to cover medical expenses.
The problem? Amanda never had cancer. According to the US Attorney’s office, she “used her presence on these sites to ‘document’ her nonexistent medical condition and to aggressively solicit donations, supposedly to cover her medical expenses.”
She even went so far as to shave her head and falsified medical records. The podcast’s finale debuted in the summer of 2023, a year after Amanda was sentenced in May to five years in federal prison for wire fraud in the scheme, which she pleaded guilty to.
So now, what about her husband?
What Cory Riley Knew
Podcast fans have flooded Reddit with theories about how much Cory Riley, Amanda’s husband, did or didn’t know.
From the podcast, we know that close family members, including Corey, helped her set up websites to acquire donations and contributed posts to her blog. However, no charges were ever brought up against anyone else in the family.
We also know through the podcast that while Amanda was faking cancer, Cory Riley was battling his ex-wife Aletta Riley in court for custody of their daughter, Jessa.
He even cited his wife’s “diagnosis” and medical expenses to try and win custody of Jessa and get his child support payments lowered.
How much he knew remains a mystery still – unless you’re listening carefully, teases producer and podcast host Charlie Webster. She was asked, point blank, if he thought Corey knew what was going on.
“So the way I would answer this is,” she said to Glamour. “If you listen carefully to the podcast—and there’s four bonus episodes on their way after the final episode—if you listen very carefully to the nuances of what was said, it will give you the answer. People are smart. I was really careful to make sure that I stuck to the facts but also showed you the facts so you can decide.
Where is Corey Now?
With Amanda still in prison, and Corey not charged in connection with her crimes, he is a free man.
According to Charlie, Corey “is looking after his two kids in Texas, where Amanda is serving her sentence.”
Ah yes, let’s not forget the kids. The couple have two young boys, both of which were under their impression that their mother was dying all throughout this ordeal.
When you scan Reddit for fans discussing the podcast, this is the topic they get the most vocal about.
“I truly believe that there is no way that her husband and mother did not know (at the least, likely her brothers as well),” posted one commenter. “Sadly, the ones who were least likely to know it was a lie were her two boys, who were too young to psychologically understand what someone who really has cancer would look and act like, and the extent to which a cancer patient’s life would be dominated by appointments, medical equipment, etc.”
Time will tell if the docuseries will dive more into the lives of Corey and the boys. As he doesn’t have any social media accounts, it’s very hard to pinpoint more than what’s already been discussed.
But we’ll keep updating as we know more.
