# Has A Millionaire Ever Used His Wealth To Induce People Into Humiliating Themselves? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 9, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455 "2004-06-09T15:05:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/1 "2004-06-09T15:05:43Z")
Are there any documented accounts of extremely wealthy people ‘hiring’ people to publically disgrace themselves? It would appear to me that the temptation to do so would be very strong, since several thousand dollars would be a sufficient sum of money to induce your average working person into humiliating himself, but it would only be the equivalent of a few dollars to a billionaire. For example, if you were a billionaire you could go around offering people $100,000 to publically wet their pants, or to wear a diaper in public, or to pick up a golf ball off of a table and deposit it in a waste basket across the room by clenching it between their butt-cheeks. Has anyone ever done anything like this? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/2 "2004-06-09T15:12:20Z")
[Matt Kunitz](http://www.nbc.com/Fear_Factor/index.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/3 "2004-06-09T15:12:30Z")
In Toronto, a millionare in the '30s plunked down in his will a big reward for the woman who had the most babies over a 10-year period. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/4 "2004-06-09T15:17:11Z")
Give a listen to the Howard Stern Show. He’ll occasionally have things such as this. Often times for much less money. Unless, of course, you don’t consider Anal Ring Toss “humiliating”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/5 "2004-06-09T15:23:27Z")
[These guys.](http://www2.bumfights.com/indecline/) They took advantage of several homeless people by offering them money (and not even that much.) They kept stringing them along to do more and more outrageous and humiliating things. Some of the guys have gone to the hospital for the things they made them do. ☹ They got in some trouble over it, too, as the two “bums” from the first video sued them, I think. I don’t know how that turned out. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/6 "2004-06-09T15:23:38Z")
The fools of the medieval courts of Europe did this sort of thing, and for a heck of a lot less money. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/7 "2004-06-09T15:29:35Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > It would appear to me that the temptation to do so would be very strong, since several thousand dollars would be a sufficient sum of money to induce your average working person into humiliating himself, but it would only be the equivalent of a few dollars to a billionaire. I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of this being a great temptation. Coercing people into humiliating themselves doesn’t even make the top thousand in the list of things I’m going to do when I win the lottery. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/8 "2004-06-09T15:30:04Z")
This is tangential, but this was the theme of the satirical book by Terry Southern and subsequent movie [The Magic Christian](http://www.fact-index.com/t/th/the_magic_christian.html), starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/9 "2004-06-09T15:32:25Z")
Dogbert (to passing man): I’ll give you $10,000 to wallow in that mud puddle (Man wallows) Dogbert: I don’t see how rich people could ever get bored. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/10 "2004-06-09T16:18:24Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > Are there any documented accounts of extremely wealthy people ‘hiring’ people to publically disgrace themselves? [Rupert Murdoch](http://www.fox.com/home.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/11 "2004-06-09T20:07:10Z")
No cite for this one; the source is the ever-reliable Mr. FOAF. John Byrne, the popular and prolific comic book virtuoso, started making serious money in the early 80s and unsurprisingly, it went right to his head. One day, to make a point to a friend he was walking through Manhattan with, he offered a complete stranger $10K to cut off all his hair on the spot. Hirsute Stranger did it. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/12 "2004-06-09T21:21:27Z")
Wasn’t this pretty much the idea behind _The Apprentice_? I would consider just appearing in Donald Trump’s presence to be mortifying. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/13 "2004-06-09T21:49:20Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > In Toronto, a millionare in the '30s plunked down in his will a big reward for the woman who had the most babies over a 10-year period. Does that count? That would be Charles Millar. From Panati’s Extraordinary Endings Of Practically Everything And Everybody > [@](#): > > Millar died in 1928 at the age of seventy-three, leaving a testament that is a parade of practical jokes, ones revealing how far the living will go for the dead’s money. To a judge and a preacher, fiery foes of gambling, Millar bequeathed lucrative shares in a racetrack, which would make the men, if they accepted the gift, automatic members of a horse racing club. They accepted. > To an outspoken group of ministers opposed to drinking, Millar left more than fifty thousand dollars’ worth of shares in a brewery. All but one of the teetotalers took the gift. To three acquaintances whose abiding dislike for one another kept them from associating under the same roof, Millar will his vacation home in Jamaica, which they were to share. And did, with acrimony. Let’s not forget the eighies game show People Will Do Anything For Money. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/14 "2004-06-09T21:53:56Z")
RealityChuck nailed it in one, but I would second his theme - most of the reality shows on TV are exactly what the OP is looking for. Fear Factor, Big Brother, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, dating shows, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/15 "2004-06-09T22:14:46Z")
This reminds me of one of the lousiest “Simpsons” episodes ever, where Mr. Burns hires Homer to be his “prank monkey.” The B-story of the episode – Smithers’ production of his Malibu Stacy musical – looked far more interesting, but unfortunately we got just a few snippets. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/16 "2004-06-09T23:17:34Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > I’m having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of this being a great temptation. Coercing people into humiliating themselves doesn’t even make the top thousand in the list of things I’m going to do when I win the lottery. It puzzled me too at first, but then I suspected the OP meant that it could be a great temptation for _other people_ to humiliate themselves for some money. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/17 "2004-06-09T23:22:38Z")
Does it have to be a millionaire? Hell, I’ll deposit $10 in a PayPal account to the first person here who does something humiliating in a photo, and posts it online so that we can see it. Of course, I’ll have to listen to ideas here, and it has to include some type of authentication in the photo so we know you didn’t just download something from [steakandcheese.com](http://steakandcheese.com). ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/18 "2004-06-09T23:22:56Z")
What came to mind for me was Anna Nicole Smith and whoever that old guy was she married. Whatever their intentions were, this seemed to be the result. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/19 "2004-06-10T02:19:31Z")
That’s the way I’d go if I was a billionaire. Why waste your money paying people to wet their pants, when you could be using it to convince playmates to have sex with you? ---
**Author:** ![Craneop2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Craneop2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Craneop2)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455/20 "2004-06-10T02:42:43Z")
Gong show?? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-millionaire-ever-used-his-wealth-to-induce-people-into-humiliating-themselves/249455.md?page=2)